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Ezio leaned over Rosa, concerned about her increasing pallor and the dazed expression on her face.
"Stand aside! Let me look at her!"
He backed up as a skinny man with black hair straggling around his shoulders pushed him aside. The man, whom Ezio assumed must be Antonio, placed a gentle hand on Rosa's forehead before turning his attention to the wound in her leg. So that was the way it was, Ezio thought, allowing himself a flash of disappointment. Such a spirited woman would have made a fine pursuit.
Antonio was probing the wound now, and Rosa shrieked, her eyes flying open. "Get this thing out of me!"
"What's happened here?" Antonio said to Ezio, holding her leg still with his thin, strong fingers.
Rosa cursed him roundly. Ezio, trying to restrain his amusement and admiration of her spirit, quickly filled Antonio in on the events that had led to her wound. He had barely finished when Rosa grabbed Antonio by the collar, pulling his face down close to hers.
"Get. It. OUT!"
"As you wish. Now, hold still."
Ezio moved over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and pressing her back against the table. "It will be over soon."
The string of curses that made up her response was enough to turn the air blue. Antonio ignored her as though she wasn't speaking, turning instead to Ezio. "I will need your help."
"Anything." Ezio let go of Rosa's shoulders, moving to Antonio's side.
"Hurry up, idiots!" Rosa said, but she didn't move, and her voice had lost a lot of its edge with her pain and increasing exhaustion.
Antonio handed Ezio a clean, folded piece of linen. "Hold this. When I remove my hand from the wound, press this against it. Be ready."
Carefully, Antonio broke off the head of the arrow, which was protruding from the side of her leg. Then he swifly drew the arrow out of the wound.
Rosa screamed. "Son of a bitch!"
Ezio hastily pressed the cloth against the wound, staunching the flow of blood.
Antonio watched for a moment, then nodded. "Well done, Ezio. You work well under pressure—that's good. And with difficult patients." He smiled at Rosa, whose teeth were bared with the pain.
"She is spirited, this one," Ezio said. He looked at Rosa, swallowing the concern he felt at the pallor in her face. "You'll be all right, now. The worst is past."
Rosa grunted, struggling to get her elbows underneath her and sit up. "I hope you both die of the plague, you bastards." She fell back, wincing.
Another woman, this one in skirts, pushed Ezio aside and bent over Rosa, crooning a song. Rosa appeared to accept this help in better spirit, clasping the woman's hand in her own.
Antonio motioned to Ezio to leave the two women alone, walking with him away from the table. "I thank you for your help. Rosa is very dear to me. If I had lost her …"
Uncomfortable with the emotion, Ezio waved a hand to cut off Antonio's words. "What can I say? I have always had a soft spot for women in distress."
Antonio chuckled. "Yes, so we've heard."
"What?"
"Don't look so surprised, Ser Ezio. We've heard all about you. Welcome to Venezia!"