Back in Business
Chapter 6
Author's Note: Last chapter! Yay! I really hope you enjoyed this tale, in spite of the fast pace at which the story went. Like I said before, detective arcs and suspension are not exactly my strongest points and, although it took me over a year and a half to finish this fic, I only found a way to lead the mystery quickly up to the solution a couple of weeks ago.
A few minutes earlier...
"Uhh...I can't...focus..." Ella tried to steady her balance on her bike as she rode home from delivering pizza to Mr Roberts, who lived near St Giles' Church, close to Newtown Road.
"Ooh, I feel sick..."
Sure enough, she was. She had gone from taking two pills a day to four or five. She couldn't care about how many pills she had taken or how many days it had been, as long as the pain in her leg was kept at bay. But she could carry on like this for so long and now she was feeling dizzy and nauseous.
"Keep it together, Ella. Pedal faster, you're almost home..." She whispered. And pedal faster she did.
Just as she turned round the corner and approached home, her vision started to blur. Sunspots danced before her eyes.
She arrived and tried to park the bike, only to almost fall off and kept a sweaty hand on the wall to steady herself.
"Just cook...some minestrone...then I'll call it a day..."
Her legs almost gave way as she reached the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Norman looking at her oddly. Was that a slice of chocolate cake in his hand? "Talk to him later..." she whispered and, supporting herself on the doorway, she let herself in.
"Ah!" she clutched at her chest as it started to hurt. "Kitchen. Now," she willed herself.
But as Ella entered the kitchen, the pain in her chest increased and she felt like throwing up. She took a few deep breaths and counted to ten before composing herself to a degree and switching on the gas-powered stove she always used. But just as she tried to lift a pan of water, her head started to spin and her leg started to hurt, this time combined with more pain in her chest. Ella lost her balance and bumped on the stove, knocking it over and it tumbled to the floor, knocking over the gas canister and starting a fire.
She was hyperventilating and sweating. "Fire exting..." She took a step forward with her good leg and fell down. She tried to get up, but it was as though there was a dead weight on her body. With effort, she dragged herself halfway out.
Ella was shaking all over. She couldn't breathe properly, with the smoke that now filled the Cafe and her lungs and heart feeling like they were being squeezed.
She managed to reach the doorway that separated the kitchen and the Cafe's dining area, before she passed out. The smoke alarm started beeping.
"Action Stations!" Steele bellowed as he ran into his office and sounded the fire bell. Elvis and Penny ran into the garage area to collect their helmets.
"James, best you get going now," Sam patted his nephew's shoulder and hurried off to catch up with his coworkers. James ran down the driveway, found his skateboard and zoomed off in search of Sarah and Mandy.
The firefighters boarded Jupiter and Sam took the wheel as Elvis, who sat between him and Penny, reached for the button that turned the siren and lights on.
Mandy found a phone booth close by and immediately dialed her mother's mobile number. "Come on Mam, pick up..."
After three rings, "Nurse Flood speaking."
"MAM! Mam, it's Mandy, you have to come quick, it's an emergency!"
"What is it, darling? Are you hurt?" "Not me, Mam, I think it's Ella! She's very sick!"
"What do you mean?" "She was all sweaty and walking funny! She must have been taking too many painkillers, like you said to Dad! Something bad must have...oh NO!"
"Mandy?! What happened? And how did you know I was talking to Dad about painkillers?"
"Mam...I see smoke... I think it's coming from Bella's Cafe!"
After a second's stunned silence, Helen said, "I'm coming." And abruptly hung up.
"...And when I marked the map according to the places the Invi-, er, Ella, had carried out rescues, I found that most of the rescues she had carried out had taken place in areas closest to Bella's Cafe!" Sam was explaining as he drove.
"But what about her fire extinguisher?" Elvis asked, "She had said that someone took it on the day Dilys' kitchen was on fire."
"She was lying. She had used her own extinguisher that day."
"But what about her leg?" said a very worried-looking Penny. "She can't be able to rescue someone with a wound like that, could she?"
"Well, she could carry out rescues that are easy for her," Sam explained. "She only got the injury about six years ago, she must have had plenty of time to heal." "But?" Penny asked. "But we know that it must be a really bad injury, if it took that long to heal. Maybe it's still healing."
"Are we there yet?" Penny turned to look out of the passenger seat window. Elvis noticed the look of mingled concern and hurt on her face mirrored in the window and covered her hand with one of his. She gripped his hand tightly without facing him and sighed.
'Oh Luca, what happened to you?' she thought.
Ella's thoughts before passing out...
I have...failed. For the second time in my life...I have failed. It's all my fault...I did this to myself...I wanted to believe that I was still able-bodied enough to do this again...
I thought I was rid of the pain...the nightmares...the trauma...The trauma of getting injured on the job...trauma of letting Joey down...letting Matt, Ada, Angie and the others down...letting myself down...
And I was jealous...Very jealous...I see them doing what they do almost every day...They're so good at it too. So lucky to be who they are. I could have been them...I wanted to be there with them...And I still am jealous. If I hadn't rescued Joey that day, I would still be a firefighter.
Like Sam. He's everyone's hero, just as I was once.
Elvis. He loves his job, just like I once did.
And Morris...Oh, Morris. I missed you so much after we lost contact. I should've asked you for your address in Pontypandy. Heh, I had forgotten that you were living in Pontypandy now. It was quite the shock to see you again. I did what I had to do. As much as it hurt me to do it, I had to avoid you. I didn't want you to know what happened to me.
I didn't want you to see me like this. And...
I was worried that we might not be friends any more if you knew what happened. How could we ever be friends if I can't even do most of the stuff we used to do together?
I'm sorry...So sorry...
Mandy, a slightly groggy Norman and the Jones twins watched as Sam parked Jupiter outside the Cafe at the same time as Nurse Flood's smart-car came hurtling down Pandy Lane. As the firefighters got out and prepared themselves, Helen parked the car, got out and rushed over to Sam with her medical kit, "Sam, Ella is still inside and she might not be in good shape. You'll have to bring her out carefully, unless the Invisible Hero has already rescued her."
"Oh Helen, you have no idea," Penny sighed. She had taken charge of entry control duty and already collected Elvis' oxygen tag. Sam gave her his tag and went to roll a hose out of Jupiter. Penny then went up to Elvis, "You will find her quickly, right?"
"Don't worry, Penny, we'll get her out," Elvis smiled hopefully and put on his oxygen mask. Sam kicked the door of the Cafe open and went in with the hose, followed by Elvis. The beeping of the smoke alarm could easily be heard from within the building.
"Mam! We know who the Invisible Hero is!" Mandy shouted as she ran up to her mother and Penny. "It's Ella!" She brandished the green poncho in front of them.
Penny gasped, "Where on earth did you find that?" "Norman did, Penny," Mandy replied.
"Oooh, navy blue! What on earth has happened?!" Dilys hollered as she came out to witness the commotion. Then she noticed Norman's slightly green face, "Oh, Nor-man precious, are you all right?"
While Sam and Elvis carried out their rescue, everyone talked amongst themselves providing each other with explanations about Ella's alter ego and Norman mysteriously avoided telling Dilys how he got so poorly in the first place.
"Ella?" Elvis shouted. "EL-LA!"
"The fire's coming from the kitchen, Elvis!" Sam called, "Grab the extinguisher over there and help me put the fire out!"
"Roger that, Sam!" As Elvis went over to the wall where the fire extinguisher was hooked, he noticed an arm sticking out of the kitchen doorway. "Sam! I found her! I think she's out cold on the floor!"
Sam dropped the hose, went over to where Elvis pointed and knelt down beside Ella's unconscious body. She was lying face-down on the floor and looked like she had been struggling to crawl out of the kitchen. He took her in his arms and checked her neck for a pulse. It was weak. "Elvis, you have to get her out of here now! Hand her over to Nurse Flood and turn on the water before you come back in!"
"Here!" Elvis lifted up Ella over his shoulders and carried her out of the Cafe. Penny dropped the electronic board she was holding in shock, then ran over to get a stretcher from Jupiter, as Elvis delivered the patient to Nurse Flood, turned the water valve and announced to Sam via walkie-talkie as he re-entered the building, "Water on, Sam!"
"It's a gas fire, Elvis!" Sam replied, "You put out the fire while I concentrate on cooling the gas canister!"
"Right you are, Sam!" Elvis unhooked the fire extinguisher and put out the fire. It took some minutes for the canister to fully cool down. When it was all done, Sam and Elvis assessed the damage. Most of the kitchen was black and charred.
"She's not going to be happy when she wakes up," Elvis remarked.
"If she wakes up," Sam said, looking worried. "She's in bad shape." They took off their breathing apparatus as they walked out of the Cafe.
Ella was lying in a stretcher, an oxygen mask fitted over her face and her hair, now undone from its crown braid, flowed down her shoulders. Penny was putting her CPR skills to practice and desperately whispering words of encouragement to her old friend. Dilys and the children stood aside, watching the scene anxiously.
Elvis knelt down to help Penny, while Sam consulted with Helen, "Have you found out what has happened to her?"
"I'm afraid she has had this coming for a while now," Helen replied grimly. She had found Ella's painkillers and read the label, "She has been overdosing on Codeine for at least three or four weeks. All that, combined with the stress of carrying out secret rescues and running a Cafe at the same time has overwhelmed her. We can't do much for her while we're here, so we need to take her to Newtown Hospital to be stabilized."
"Why Newtown? We have a hospital right here in Pontypandy," Elvis piped up.
Penny answered the question, "Not so much a hospital as a clinic. Besides, the prescription for Luca's painkillers came from Newtown Hospital, so the doctors who treated her leg there must have known what had happened to her. Please, hurry!"
"She'll deteriorate if we take her in Jupiter. I'll call Tom to organise an air-lift," Sam nodded and did just that. Elvis radioed Station Officer Steele from Jupiter's radio to explain what had happened.
"W-WHAT?!" Steele spluttered when he heard the story, "I see...I must call Chief Fire Officer Boyce immediately!"
Boyce too had a similar reaction and immediately called Tonypridd Fire Station to let them know that their missing comrade had resurfaced in Pontypandy. Unknown to him, a young fireman who was eavesdropping on him took out a mobile phone and dialled a number to make a call of his own.
Meanwhile, Dilys talked to the kids, "Oh, Mandy, did you say that my Norman found the Invisible Hero's honcho?"
"Poncho, Mrs Price. And yes, Norman did! He solved the mystery!" Mandy, Sarah and James smiled at Norman, who grinned back in spite of his aching tummy.
"Looks like I really am the best detective ever in Pontypandy, Mam!"
"Of course, poppet!" Dilys hugged her son proudly, "And that means you can have ALL the cake you want!"
"Cake?!" Norman pushed his mother away in horror. "CAKE?! Uuggghh!" He put his hands to his mouth and ran home to throw up in the bathroom as the girls laughed at him and Dilys and James looked confused.
W-where...where am I? Ella's eyes flew open and she took in her surroundings. Wait, am I...standing?!
I can't be standing, I just fell unconscious a few minutes ago! Wait, this place...
"Oh dear, I hope they make it out in one piece!" a voice exclaimed. She whipped around and her eyes widened.
Ifan Johnson! With Nia and Ravi! "Ifan! Guys! HEY!" Can't they see me or anything?! I'm waving my hands in front of their faces! They can't even hear me! Then...
Could I be...dead? No, no...Maybe this is some kind of dream...But then, why here? Why this moment?
Only one way to find out...
She dashed into the burning building and didn't stop until she found what she was looking for.
And what she found, shocked her.
"We're almost there now!" Tom Thomas said. He was piloting Wallaby-1 to Newtown Hospital, with Penny and Helen watching over Ella.
"Very good, Tom, keep going!" Helen replied. She was holding Ella's wrist and checking her pulse. "No change in heart rate so far," she told Penny, "She is quite fit, so that should be a good thing."
Penny said nothing. She was still saddened and struck by the changes in her friend's life. Even though the slim young woman lying before her had longer hair and a little more meat on her bones than she remembered, this was definitely an older, maturer-looking Firefighter Luca, now no longer a firefighter. A tear rolled down her cheek as she stroked Ella's hair and prayed for her to hold on.
"Oh my giddy aunt..." Ella whispered in shock.
Her brother Matt, aka Fireman Matteo di Luca, was standing over the comatose form of her younger self, pushing the beam that had fallen on her leg away from her. Little Joey was crying, but otherwise unharmed.
"Sorella! Sorella!" Now Matt was nudging her, "Sister, wake up! We have to go!"
Young Ella didn't stir. Joey was still crying.
Ella watched sorrowfully as Matt reluctantly gave up and instead took off his breathing apparatus and fixed the mask over his sister's face. He then hoisted Joey onto his shoulder and ran out as fast as he could.
Oh, Matt, mio fratello, I can't believe you did that! And you didn't even tell Mamma and Papa! You poor thing...
Hang on, there's something different about all this...The setting, the fire, it all looks so drab, but my younger self looks more...high definition.
On an impulse, Ella reached out and poked her younger self.
O Dio, I can actually feel her, I mean, myself! I...I think I know what I must do...
She reached down and hoisted young Ella over her shoulders in a fireman's lift.
After assuring Dilys and the kids that Ella is going to be fine, Sam and Elvis drove to Newtown Hospital in Jupiter and just as they parked and stepped out, they saw Wallaby-1 leave the hospital's helipad. They walked into the hospital and met Helen, who updated them on Ella's condition as they walked to the ward she was kept in.
"Dr Atkins is an old friend of mine. She has agreed to treat the excess drugs in Ella's system. She is lucky to be still alive; Things would have been much, much worse if she had overdosed for more than two months."
"Can we see her?" Elvis asked.
"Only Penny is allowed to be by her side for now. Station Officer Steele also called to say that her family and friends in Tonypridd have been told that she is here. Ah, here we are."
They arrived at Ella's ward, just as Penny stepped out of it. Her friends noticed how sad and worn-out she looked.
"She's still unconscious. Dr Atkins says that it may be ten hours before she wakes up."
"We'll come back in the morning to see her," Sam said gently, patting her on the back. "Helen will stay here and call when it's time."
Penny nodded and let her friends lead her out of the hospital.
All right, so if my calculations are correct, Angie should be driving the bus here in 5 minutes...
Younger me is heavier than she looks. I mean, I'm heavier than...Oh, I think she's awake...Better put her down. O Dio, she can see me! She doesn't seem to believe what she sees...Oh well, here, put your arm around my shoulders...
There's the window at the back! The very window I myself barely jumped out of 6 years ago. I don't know how I even managed...
C'mon, ready, steady, JUMP!
We did, er, I did it! We're out. OK, younger me seems to be taking Matt's breathing apparatus off. Ooh, she tried to get up and fell down.
And right on cue, Angie's arrived. Just like she did when I was in that very situation.
She looked shocked and scared. She comes running to the young me and hugs her. Young me is crying now, crying with relief and anger and a whole mix of emotions. Then...wait, what?
I don't remember this. She actually limps towards me.
What do you want?
She comes closer, smiles rather sadly...and shoves me violently.
YAAAH!
*GAHSP!*
Ella's eyes flew open yet again. She tried to sit up, but can't. Her body felt heavy.
She looked around. Her surroundings were mostly white. She rolled her eyes. Newtown Hospital. Of course. She blinked a few times, then sighed. "Thirsty..."
"Luca?" A familiar voice asked.
Ella's eyes widened as she followed the sound of that voice and came face-to-face for the first time in 6 years with Penny Morris.
"Would you like to sit up?"
Guilt and sadness enveloped Ella. She nodded and Penny helped her sit up on her hospital bed. Penny then held a cup of water to Ella's lips, "Here." Ella gulped gratefully and didn't take her eyes off Penny. She then lay back down.
"Are you feeling better?" Penny asked.
"No."
"What do you mean? You just collapsed from a dangerous drug overdose and you're still not better?"
"Morris...not that...it's just. You wouldn't understand."
"Luca, you're my best friend. You know you can tell me anything." "Really?" Ella asked bitterly, "We lose contact just once in our lives and suddenly this happens!" She gulped back a sob. "I had hoped to never meet you until I was better enough to-"
"To do what? Join the Fire Service again?" Penny replied. "...I don't know," Ella cast her eyes downwards, "Oh, Morris, what happened to me 6 years ago was horrible..."
"Dr Atkins told me. She had all your medical notes from the previous doctors who had treated you. Luca...I thought I'd lost you forever. We all did. Why did you try to avoid me in Pontypandy that day?"
"You...you wouldn't...Because I didn't want you to see me like this..!"
"But what's so different?" Penny asked anxiously, "You're still the same Luca that I once shared a flat in England with."
"I'm not a firefighter any more. I thought that we'd never be able to hang out again. We can never do half the things we used to. We can never go abseiling or climbing or...or hang-gliding or...or surfing! We can never talk about our rescues, because I failed at one! I can't do anything! Because I'm useless!" Ella sobbed out the last word and broke down.
"I'm sorry, Morris...I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Ella turned her face away as she cried and felt her friend's arms envelope her tightly, but not too tightly. She rested her head on Penny's shoulder and wept out the last 6 years' worth of frustration, fear and sadness as she returned the hug back.
"Oh, Luca, if only I had known..." Penny's voice quavered, she was close to crying, "I'm sorry I forgot to give you my Pontypandy address before I moved."
"I forgot to ask..."
"Now then..." Penny withdrew and wiped Ella's eyes, "We have a lot of catching up to do."
"But first, you have to see it," Ella pushed her blanket aside, "I've never shown it to anyone."
"Your leg?"
Ella nodded. She looked around furtively and then rolled up the right leg of the hospital-issued pajama pants she wore. Penny gasped.
Starting halfway at Ella's thigh and ending just below her kneecap was a large angry-red scar. Around the scar, the skin was dry and raw pink, indicating that it had received second-degree burns 6 years ago. When Penny looked more closely, there were barely-visible suture marks, indicating that stitches had been made.
"You poor thing! How could this have happened to you?!" Penny tentatively reached out and touched it. Ella drew in a breath and spoke again.
"The joint was bunged up so much that the doctors actually considered amputation at some point. I'm just glad they didn't..." Her bottom lip trembled as she rolled the pants leg back down.
Penny and Ella talked and talked at length. As they talked, Penny understood how insecure and ashamed Ella felt about her non-firefighter status and tried her best to comfort her and convince her that there was more to their friendship than being just two female firefighters who loved sporty activities. She also learnt about Ella's life in Italy and they shared memories of Bella with each other.
"So, are you here by yourself or did Sam and Elvis come along too?"
"They couldn't come, Station Officer Steele needed them for rescues, but they said they'll visit soon and send their best wishes. Oh, actually, Chief Fire Officer Boyce said that he had made some calls and..."
"Sorella!" At the sound of that voice, Ella gulped. "Oh," Penny said, understanding what had happened.
A young brown-haired man who Penny recognised as Ella's brother, Auxiliary Fireman Matteo di Luca, commonly known as Matt Luca, burst into the room followed by a slightly older blonde-haired woman in a bus driver's uniform that Ella recognised as her old friend, Angie Grant, Welsh cafe owner and occasional bus driver in Tonypridd.
"Oh, Ella, thank goodness you're alright!" Angie cried, rushing to sit on the other side of Ella's bed and grabbing her hand, "Matt called me as soon as he found out!"
"Nice seeing you again Penny," Matt nodded at Penny, who smiled in greeting. Then he rounded on his big sister, "What were you thinking, skipping town like that? Ada was furious! Mamma and Papa were worried sick! And the doctor didn't even give you clearance to leave."
"I'll apologise to Ada when she visits," Ella replied stiffly, "And it's because of Mamma that I left! Can you even imagine the things she would say to me if she took care of me at home? She'll say things like..." She switched to Italian and mimicked their mother, "{Oh, darling, look at the bright side! Now you don't have to worry about a job where you might die young and unmarried!}"
"What?" Penny asked. Matt translated for her and she raised an eyebrow, "Wow, I knew Mamma Luca had little to no concept of tact, but this is ridiculous!"
Matt redirected his attention to Ella, "And you!"
"I think I'll go and see if the Pontypandy boys are here yet," Penny said and hastily walked out, sensing that there was going to be a mini family argument.
"...You never even told me that you left! Was I supposed to just...know that you were going to run away and leave us all in a lurch?!" Matt's voice was now getting angry.
Ella's voice quavered as she replied, "Matt, think about what would've happened if I told you. Mamma may not always succeed in having her way, but she eventually does. She would've gotten you to tell her my whereabouts if I had told you. And in a way, it's good that you moved to Newtown. You're your own man now.
"I'm sorry Matt. You too Angie, especially since you were the only one who knew where I had gone." "You knew?!" Matt rounded on Angie, who gazed steadily at him, "Yes, I did. And all the better for it. I helped her get discharged. I drove her to the airport and not even Mamma Luca knew a thing."
"You...you don't even trust your own brother?" Matt said, looking hurt. Ella put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, "Fratello, I love you very much and I do trust you. I definitely would have told you that I would high-tail it to Italy. I just didn't have time. Everything was done at the last minute. Even Auntie Bella didn't know that I was coming to Roma to live with her until I called her after I landed."
A few seconds of silence later, Matt took Ella's hand in one of his own and sighed. Ella then changed the subject, "Angie, how is Joey?"
"Oh...well, he's quite a big boy now. He's very good at soccer. He has nightmares from time to time though, so he's seeing a therapist who said that gaining closure one day might put a stop to that."
"Sorella...you were very brave that day," Matt said, his anger subsiding, "Brave, but very careless." "Si, I know," Ella said and gave him a hug. He returned the hug a little too tightly and was rewarded with an instant "Ow, my chest."
"Sorry," he smiled apologetically, "Here, lemme help ya. Angie, can you fluff that pillow?" Together, they got Ella into a comfortable sitting position with her back against a pillow.
"More visitors," Penny smiled from the doorway and ushered in Sam, Elvis, Station Officer Steele, Chief Fire Officer Boyce and two other firefighters that Ella and company immediately recognised.
One firefighter was a dark-skinned young man with black hair and a wide smile. The other was a tall woman of about Steele's age, with an austere elegant face, piercing green eyes and short choppy auburn hair slightly tinged with white. Ella noticed with a little amusement that Station Officer Steele was gazing at this remarkable lady firefighter like a lovestruck teenager.
Their names were Fireman Ravi Karia and Station Officer Ada Delaney of the Tonypridd Fire Brigade.
Matt and Angie got up to salute Ada, but she shook her head with a slight smile and gestured for them to sit back down. Ella looked oddly at Angie, then remembered that Angie had applied to be an Auxiliary Firefighter at Tonypridd before she left.
"Hi Ella," Ravi smiled sadly at Ella, "How are you doing?" "Still getting there, Ravi, still getting there," Ella nodded.
Ella then saluted both Ada and Chief Fire Officer Boyce and greeted them, "Ada. Sir."
"Firefighter Luca, you truly are a sight for sore eyes!" Chief Fire Officer Boyce came up to her and shook her hand. "That's ex-Firefighter Luca to you, Sir," she smiled sadly. "Ah, yes, well anyway...Station Officer Delaney..." He stepped aside to let Ada sit at the foot of Ella's bed.
"Ada..." Ella began, but Ada's soft, authoritative voice cut her off mid-sentence, "Are you alright?"
Ella stared at her former superior officer as though she had grown an extra head. "You're...you're not angry with me for leaving?"
"I was, yes. Even though you overlooked protocol that night, you put your own life on the line for the right reasons. But you disappointed me by putting young Joey, as well as yourself, at risk," Ada explained. Ella blushed with shame. Ada continued, "And I am also very disappointed that you didn't confide in me about how upset you were for the whole day before the rescue."
"I'm so sorry, Ada, really. I didn't mean to put Joey at risk. All I wanted was to rescue him," Ella hung her head. "And I didn't think you'd notice how terrible I was feeling that day either." "Can't hide anything from Ada, Ella," Matt nodded. "Aaaand she forced me to spit it out afterwards too."
"What are you on about?" Penny asked. Then a deafening shriek filled the air.
"ISABELLA PIA DI LUCA!"
Sam and Elvis, who were standing closer to the door, were then pushed away roughly by a petite, plump middle-aged woman, followed by a thin man of the same age, who looked like an older version of Matt. Penny realised that on closer inspection, the woman looked like a blonde-and-white-haired, fiery-tempered version of Bella Lasagna; Papa and Mamma Luca had found their missing daughter at last.
"Ciao, Mamma, Papa," Ella deadpanned. She and her entire family were used to her mother's over-the-top displays of emotion.
"Ciao, Penny," Benita di Luca smiled at her daughter's best friend. Then she turned to Ella.
"{How could you DO this to us!}" she hollered in Italian, "{You do not even call us or email us or come home! Going away without even a postcard just to stay with that good-for-nothing banshee who calls herself your Aunt!}"
"{See, Papa, this is EXACTLY why I left! Just look at the way she talks about Auntie Bella!}" Ella's nostrils flared in anger. Nobody disses her long-lost Aunt like that, not even her parents.
A shouting match conducted entirely in Italian erupted between mother and daughter, which nobody but Matt and Papa Luca, called Marco by anyone who is not his children, understood. The native Welsh-and-English speakers stood around uncomfortably, not knowing what to do, until Marco decided to introduce himself to the Pontypandy firefighters and good-naturedly greeted Penny, "I've always thought of you as my other daughter with good reason!"
"Was it always like this at home?" Sam whispered. Marco sighed, "Si, si, my wife and daughter are very fiery towards each other. They can be too much alike at times and it can be quite destructive. But when all is said and done, blood is thicker than water and they know it."
"Wooow," Elvis replied quietly. "This has been waiting to happen though," Matt joined the conversation with an arm around his father's shoulders, "On the day my sister got injured, Papa delivered a letter that came from our long-lost Auntie Bella. We didn't even know Mamma had a sister until that day and only she knew why we'd never heard of her till then. We were all excited and wanted to meet her, especially since she wanted to go to Italy to take care of our terminally-ill grandmother. But Mamma still resented her, because of the past and opposed it. A fight like this happened and Papa wasn't there to see it."
"But I did hear everything from the garden," Marco replied sadly. "I took Ella's side, of course," Matt said, "But then Mamma made it a little too personal and Ella ended up stomping off to work in a terrible mood. She was upset for the whole day and I think it affected her performance at work."
Suddenly the room went silent. Sam and Elvis looked at the scene before them, then looked at each other in confusion. Marco and Matt turned around and what they saw made them roll their eyes and smile.
Benita and Ella were hugging and tearfully whispering in Italian to each other.
Penny smiled, "Just as well." Then she added to Sam and Elvis, "Oh, by the way, I just remembered. Mamma Luca almost always talks in Italian, but she can actually speak and understand English pretty well. So if she ever decides to talk to you, just talk back to her in English."
"But why does she talk in Italian all the time?" asked Elvis. "My beloved is afraid that if she talks too much English in an English-speaking country, she will lose her grasp on the Italian language forever," Marco smiled.
"{And yes, the Cafe is a success}," Ella said to Benita, "{You should come over to Pontypandy one day and see me in action!}"
"{And I guess I was wrong about my sister after all}," Mamma Luca sighed, "{Maybe I should send her a letter and see if we can mend our relationship.}"
Ella smiled, "{Oh, Mamma, now you're talking. It is NEVER too late for anything.}"
"{Quite right, darling}," her mother replied with a mischievous grin. Then she got off her daughter's bed and sidled up to Sam.
"Uhhh..." Ella opened her mouth, then shut it immediately. Mamma Luca took Sam's arm, looked at him and purred something in Italian. Yes, purred.
"W-what?" Sam asked and looked at Ella, but the slight blush on his face indicated that he seemed to understand to some extent what Benita was on about. Ella's face immediately screwed up in disgust and outrage. "Papa!" she complained.
Her father laughed nervously, "Anyway, I think we had better be leaving. We'll come and see you tomorrow, bambina." He kissed his daughter on the forehead, then secretly pressed something into her hand and whispered, "This might come in handy the next time you decide to go to Italy alone."
"{You think about it, eh, my girl?}," Mamma Luca asked as her husband took her hand, "{Now that you have your own Cafe, maybe you might finally be able to find a husband!}"
"Mamma, I don't want to," Ella retorted in English, "I've told you a million times, I've got better things to do!"
"*sigh*{Very well, but don't come crying to me if you have another life-threatening accident and you are unable to give me grandchildren! You MUST at least make this dream come true for me, I mean all of us!}"
Now Ella was truly annoyed. And she had one word with which to express it. "Magari."
Her mother's face went purple with anger and, to everyone's surprise but her family's and Penny's, she started ranting in English, "UGH! Children these days have NO respect for their elders! Why do they never do as they're told, Marco, why..." Her loud voice died away as her husband escorted her out of the ward.
"...And she always speaks in English whenever she doesn't get to have her way," Penny chimed in. Sam and Elvis nodded.
"Well, I think Ravi, Angela and I better be on our way as well," said Ada, her voice clear and soft, "The station can only be left alone for so long. It was nice seeing you again, Matteo." She patted Matt's shoulder and as she walked out, Steele smiled warmly at her, "Pleasure to meet you, dear la...Station Officer Delaney."
"The pleasure is all mine, Station Officer Steele. And good day," to the surprise of the Luca siblings and the firefighters, she smiled back at him.
"Well, um," Sam replied, "This has all been very interesting, but we must get going now. Emergencies wait for no one! Get well soon, Ella!" He waved at her.
Ella's smile slowly faded as she waved at him and watched him leave. Reality sunk in for her yet again.
Then she looked down at the thing her father had given her. It was a 100 Euro banknote.
After two days in hospital, Dr Atkins declared that Ella's body was completely free of painkillers. She also told Ella to never take painkillers again, because she should have stopped taking them over three weeks after the accident. What she didn't know, however, was to explain why Ella's leg hurt throughout the years.
"This might not be a physical thing," explained Dr Atkins, "It might have something to do with your feelings on being injured. You may need counselling for that, I'm sure."
As Ella did not wish to visit Tonypridd in a hurry, Penny arranged for her to stay at her cottage, while the Pontypandy community helped repair her kitchen, which would take over a week and a half.
Ella enjoyed this, as it meant that she got to re-establish her friendship with Penny. But it did have its drawbacks, though she did her best to hide her disappointment.
For instance, the day before the last day of kitchen repairs, Penny took the rest of the day off and was dropped at home by Sam on his way to bring in a new set of tyres for the rescue vehicles. Before he went on his way, Penny invited him for a cuppa with her and Ella, but he declined.
"Oh please!" Ella pleaded, mostly for Penny's sake, "Are you sure you don't want some tea?"
"Thank you, but I will be alright!" Sam smiled, "It's only a pretty short trip. Say, how are you doing now?"
"Much better, thanks," Ella replied, with a fake smile, "I will be able to move back into Auntie's, that is to say, my Cafe very soon and work again, so I'm glad about that."
"*CHK* Station Officer Steele to Jupiter! Sam, do you read me?" Steele's voice came from the radio. "*CHK* Loud and clear, sir, what is it?" Sam replied.
Ella sighed. An emergency.
Of course.
"Looks like the tyres will have to wait, girls, it seems that the Pontypandy Pioneers need to rescue Trevor from a pretty high spot again! See you later!"
"Good luck Sam! Don't forget to call Tom for backup!" Penny called out and waved as he sped off.
Ella was silent. Her friend looked at her. "You look upset, Luca. Something wrong?"
"Nothing, Morris," Ella lied. "Well, I think I may have a headache."
"Let's go inside then," Penny said warmly and walked into the cottage.
Ella stared at the road for a few seconds before following Penny.
I'll never be a firefighter again, she thought sullenly. I'll never be able to give someone hope during their hour of despair again.
Unlike him, I'll never get to be the hero next door of my town ever.
Unlike Fireman Sam.
Not quite The End. But a Good Place to Leave It Thus.
And there we have it! The story of why Bella left and how a solution of how to bring Bella's Cafe back into the show was made! To be honest, this fic was written when Season 9 came out, so Ella's arrival was set before Heroes of the Storm and the new Season which aired today. I do hope one day that Bella does come back to Pontypandy though. I really do. Maybe they might introduce a new character or reintroduce Bella, since I found out that one of Season 10's episodes is called "Pizza Pandemonium."
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and, oh my gosh, this is the longest chapter I've ever written!
PS. Fireman Ravi Karia is an older version of Ravi Karia from a show called Joshua Jones, which was created by Fireman Sam's creators. And no, I don't own him.