The Rome Prophecy

48

‘So, who are you today?’

Sylvio Valducci smiles at the cleverness of his opening question as he lowers himself on to a hard bedside chair.

The young woman sitting a metre from him says nothing.

If she’s faking, he knows he’ll be able to tell.

He can always tell.

The little actress might be able to fool Verdetti, but not him. ‘I asked you for your name. Who are you?’

The answer comes creeping back in the voice of a frightened child. ‘Suzie.’

Valducci leans forward on his elbows. ‘Good. Thank you for telling me that. Suzie, my nurses say you’ve been drawing. Can I see? Would you like to show me what you were drawing?’

‘No.’ She puts her hands across a sheet of crayoned paper on her lap.

‘No?’ Valducci smiles and pretends to peek at the picture. ‘What is it? I’d really like to see.’

She looks down at her knees. ‘I don’t want to show you. I don’t have to show you if I don’t want.’

‘Then tell me about it, Suzie. What’s in the drawing?’

She thinks for a minute, then gives in to the trade-off. ‘Romans.’

‘ Bene. I like Romans. What are they doing in your picture?’

Grudgingly Suzie takes her hands away and lets him see.

Valducci doesn’t know what to make of it.

It’s a scribble.

Thick red and orange lines rubbed hard on to the paper like a three-year-old would. There’s a sort of stick man in black lying down as though he’s sleeping, but nothing to suggest he’s Roman. Then there’s a bad drawing high in one corner of a star that looks more like a crucifix. ‘Can you tell me what the picture is about, Suzie?’

She shakes her head and looks down at her knees again.

‘Why not? It’s lovely; I’d just like to understand it a bit more.’

‘It’s not lovely, it’s horrid.’ Nervously she twists her hair around her fingers. ‘It’s not supposed to be lovely.’

‘It’s not? Why not?’

Suzie bites her lip and buries her chin further into her chest.

Valducci kneels in front of her and sits back on his heels so he can see her eyes. ‘Please don’t be frightened of me. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help.’

She turns her head to one side to avoid his gaze.

He lets out a sigh. ‘Why won’t you talk to me, Suzie?’

She finally looks his way. ‘Because you’re a stranger. Momma told me not to talk to strange men; they might be bad people.’

Valducci tries to reason with her. ‘Aah, now I see. Normally Momma would be right. But not this time. This time is different, because you’ve been brought to my hospital, and all my doctors and nurses are trying to help you. So you see, I’m not a bad man.’

‘Momma says you’re bad.’

He’s not so easily put off. ‘No, Suzie, you said your momma had told you not to talk to strangers because they might be bad men, and that’s usually right. But as I just explained, you were brought here to me so I could help you, so I’m not bad, am I?’

‘Momma says you’re bad.’

Something about her tone intrigues him. ‘When did Momma tell you that?’

‘Now. She told me just now.’

He looks around melodramatically and then back at the patient.

‘Is your momma inside this room, Suzie? Only I don’t see her.’

Suzie shakes her head and painstakingly avoids any contact with his eyes.

‘I thought not.’ He lets out a disappointed sigh. ‘You shouldn’t lie. You know we really can’t help you if you lie to us.’

Suzie doesn’t look up. ‘I didn’t lie.’

He looks quizzically at her.

‘She’s not inside the room. She’s inside me.’

Valducci doesn’t see it coming.

Suzie’s right hand flashes.

Two fingers jab hard into his eyes.

He topples backwards on to the floor.

‘Do you see me now?’ Suzie bellows, standing over him, her alter changed.

Valducci clutches his face. His pupils are burning. A red cloud billows up behind his eyelids.

‘Tell me! Tell me, imbecile! Do you see me now?’