YANNIS (Cretan Saga Book 1) (84 page)

Nikos stared at him disbelieving. ‘What’s wrong with them?’

‘I don’t know. I’m not a medical man. Read for yourself.’ Dimitris passed the sheets of paper across the table.

Nikos read the letter twice. Attached to it was a list of names with ticks or crosses against each one. Most of them had crosses. ‘They say that all the blood samples except seventeen are negative and many of the skin samples, although having lepromatus cells, show no sign of activity. I just don’t believe it.’

‘Can there be a mistake at their end?’

‘It’s possible. It’s more likely that by the time they received the samples they’d changed consistency. How were they sent?’

‘By ship.’

‘That could account for it; could they be flown over next time?’

‘I’ll arrange something.’ Dimitris grinned. ‘‘It’s quite a good excuse to delay matters a little longer.’

‘You don’t have to placate Yannis,’ grumbled Nikos.

Yannis was furious when Nikos told him all the samples would have to be taken again as Athens was not satisfied with the results they were getting.

‘What about the medical? Do we have to go through all that again?’

‘No, it’s only the samples and blood tests. I’ll take the samples during the week and then the blood on Friday. I can have them in Heraklion by mid-day Saturday and they’re going to be flown to Athens. They should be ready for them to examine first thing on Monday morning.’

Nikos worked steadily. By the end of Thursday he had completed the skin samples and on Friday morning he was syringing blood from their arms into test tubes. Yannis stood watching him.

‘I do know what I’m doing,’ he assured him.

‘I just want to make sure you don’t drop it. I’d hate you to have to do it all over again.’

‘So would I! I’m beginning to be heartily sick of this island.’

‘That was how we felt at first. You get used to it after about ten years.’

‘You’ve grown so bitter, Yannis.’

‘What do you expect? All I ask for…’

Nikos held up his hand. ‘I know what you’re asking for, Yannis. Please believe me when I say it is none of my doing. I did my job. It was just unfortunate that it took longer than expected to get to Athens.’

‘Why they just can’t give it to us I don’t know.’

‘I may have the answer to that. It might only have been tested on recently diagnosed cases. Long term conditions could have a bad reaction and they want to avoid that.’

‘If they take much longer they’ll certainly avoid it! There’ll be none of us left.’

Nikos shot Yannis a quick glance. His face was disfigured with nodules; his voice was soft, yet rasping, where the disease had taken its toll of his vocal cords. Apart from that he was a picture of good health and the thorough medical Nikos had given him bore this out.

‘I don’t think you have any cause to worry on that score. You all seem to be in pretty good shape.’

‘So did Carolas, but he died three weeks ago.’

‘I’d noted that his heart wasn’t strong.’

‘What else have you noted about us?’

‘That’s confidential.’

‘How can it be if it’s about us? It’s more important to us than any faceless bureaucratic staff in Athens.’

‘Yannis, I took an oath when I became a doctor. I can’t tell you about the medical conditions of any of your friends. All I can say is that on the whole, most of you seem pretty fit. You can include yourself in that, if it’s any consolation.’

‘I’d like to know exactly about myself.’

‘When we have all the results through I shall be able to tell you.’

‘And when will that be?’

‘When I’m able to get on with my work,’ snapped Nikos. ‘I’m only carrying out my instructions, Yannis. Don’t hold everything against me personally.’

Nikos resumed his duties in the hospital, going confidently to his meeting with Dimitris two weeks later. As he entered Dimitris shook his head.

‘Athens is still not satisfied. The results have turned up virtually the same. They want further samples in another month.’

Nikos groaned. ‘I can’t go back again. I’ve more than enough work here. There are new patients that I need to see. They could be urgent, more urgent than those on the island.’

‘You really feel that?’

‘I most certainly do.’

‘In that case I’ll write and tell them they have to wait until you’ve cleared your backlog of patients or they have to send a replacement.’

Nikos nodded. ‘I’d be grateful. I am needed here. Maybe I could return in six months.’

‘Yannis won’t be very happy,’ remarked Dimitris.

‘Yannis will have to put up with it. I’ll write to him and say Athens are investigating the results and it will be some time before we receive them.’

‘Good idea. Keep him quiet for a while at least.’

Anna was worried. Maria had suffered another stroke in her sleep. She had risen to help her mother wash and dress only to find her snoring heavily and nothing would wake her. All day Anna and Marisa took turns to sit beside her, waiting for any change in her condition, until finally her breathing quietened and became regular. They exchanged glances, neither was sure if this was a good or bad sign.

‘I’ll try to rouse her.’

Marisa nodded, biting her lips anxiously. ‘Should I fetch uncle Yiorgo?’

Anna did not answer her niece. ‘Mamma. Mamma. Open your eyes and I’ll give you a little drink. Come along now. You heard what I said. Don’t be difficult. Marisa and I will help you sit up.’

The eyelids flickered and dropped again. ‘Mamma, please try.’

Maria opened her eyes and shut them again. Anna breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Help me,’ she said to Marisa, and between them they lifted Maria up a little higher in the bed. Anna wrapped a towel beneath her chin and held a cup of water to her lips. ‘Just a few sips.’

Her eyes still closed Maria tried to drink, much of it dribbling from the corner of her mouth. ‘That’s fine,’ Anna assured her. ‘You can have some more in a while. Rest now, and I’ll make some chicken broth.’ Maria made no sign that she had heard her daughter. She lay immobile on the pillows, appearing to be asleep.

‘Come into the kitchen with me and help me make the broth, Marisa.’ Anna led the way and closed the door behind them. ‘I’m sure she’s had another stroke.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘There’s nothing I can do.’

‘What about a doctor?’

‘He could do nothing. Strokes are not like illnesses.’

Anna spooned a little of the chicken broth into her mother’s slack mouth, hoping some would be swallowed. Marisa seemed to have lost all initiative and Anna had to direct her to do the most simple and obvious tasks, until Anna insisted they changed places and Marisa tended to her grandmother whilst she organised a meal for when the men returned from the fields. Yiorgo returned early, his face strained and worried.

‘How is she?’

‘There’s no change. Marisa’s feeding her chicken broth.’

Yiorgo nodded. ‘Anything you want me to do?’

‘No. I’ll be ready when Yannis comes in. I think we should get a message over to the island. I’ll write a letter and ask Davros to take it over tomorrow.’

Yannis read the words on the crumpled piece of paper that Flora delivered to him and hurried down to the quay. ‘Davros, will you take me over?’

Davros shook his head. ‘Too much of a risk; I don’t want my boat impounded.’

‘I’d make it worth your while.’

Again Davros shook his head. ‘You’d be seen, bound to be.’

‘My mother’s ill. It might be my last chance to see her,’ pleaded Yannis urgently

‘You get over and I’ll bring you back. Save you the walk to Aghios Nikolaos.’

Yannis turned away dejected. It would have been so easy for Davros to take him over. Now he would have to ask Manolis if he would take the risk and if he agreed it meant waiting until early evening. By then it could be too late.

Yannis waded the last few yards to the shore, hoping no one had seen him slip over the side from Manolis’s boat in the darkness. He walked up the rutted path until he reached the farmhouse and opened the kitchen door. Anna flung her arms round her brother.

‘I’m so glad to see you.’

‘What’s the news of Mamma?’

‘She had another stroke, in her sleep, two days ago. She’s failing fast, Yannis.’ Anna looked at her brother with distressed eyes.

‘What can I do?’

‘There’s nothing anyone can do. I just thought you’d want to see her.’ Tears welled up in Anna’s eyes and Yannis held her in his arms.

‘Of course, Anna. You did right.’

Yiorgo looked at his older brother. ‘You ought to get those wet clothes off, and have something warm to eat. You don’t want to catch a chill.’

Thankfully Yannis stripped off his trousers and socks, giving them to Anna to place before the fire whilst he donned those provided by Yiorgo. He walked quietly over to his mother and looked down at her. She appeared old and worn out. He took her hand in his and sat beside her bed in silence. Anna brought him a bowl of soup and some bread.

‘Come and eat,’ she urged him. ‘You can do no good by just sitting and looking.’

Yannis obeyed his sister, watching as she raised her mother a little on the pillows and tried to spoon some soup into her mother’s mouth. He pushed back his chair and returned to her bedside. ‘Mamma, can you hear me?’ He imagined that her eyelids flickered just a little. ‘Mamma, it’s Yannis. I’ve come to see you.’

He tried again and again to rouse her from her stupor, until her eyes finally opened. Full recognition shone in them, along with pleasure before they closed again and Yannis bent and kissed her cheek.

Anna’s eyes filled with tears. ‘You’ve done her good, Yannis. That’s more response than I’ve had.’

‘I think she knew me.’ The lump in Yannis’s throat made it difficult for him to speak.

Yannis returned to the table, not noticing that his soup had grown cold. He ate automatically, his eyes fixed on the motionless figure in the bed, no longer seeing his mother, but remembering Phaedra. The pain of the memory was not as acute as it had been, more a gentle ache. He felt very much that he had lived through this before.

‘You must go to bed, Yannis. You’re exhausted.’

With an effort he withdrew himself from his reverie. ‘I’m fine.’

‘You’re not. You’re almost asleep sitting there. Go and lay down on my mattress. I can easily wake you if there’s any change.’

‘What about you?’

‘I’ll be staying down here with Mamma. You don’t need to worry about me.’

‘Are you sure?’ Bed had suddenly become a very attractive idea.

Anna nodded. ‘You’ll feel much better when you’ve rested.’

Without any more argument Yannis climbed the stairs as he had so many times in his childhood and laid himself down fully clothed on Anna’s mattress. Within a matter of minutes he was asleep.

Dawn was just breaking as Yannis felt his arm being shaken. He sat up, uncertain where he was before he woke completely. ‘What is it?’

‘Mamma.’

Without further ado Yannis followed Yiorgo from the room. Anna was bending over her mother’s bed, Marisa and Yannis standing together by the fireplace.

Silently the three stood and looked down upon their mother. Her face, distorted by the recent stroke, seemed more peaceful than earlier, although her breathing was shallow and strained. How long he stood there looking down, remembering his mother as she had been when he was a boy, Yannis did not know. He was startled by Anna giving a choking sob and turning away. Yiorgo pulled the sheet over his mother’s face and turned to comfort his sister. Yannis continued to stare at the sheet. He had seen death so many times, yet the final moment always took him by surprise. It seemed incredible that one moment you could be breathing and alive and the next you had stopped and were declared dead. In a way he could not explain he felt there should be a short while in between to prepare the witnesses for the event. He sucked in his breath.

‘Is the brandy where Pappa used to keep it?’ Yiorgo nodded. ‘Then I think we should all have a little, then Anna and the children must go back to bed for a short while and rest.’ He poured a measure of brandy for each of them and watched whilst they drank.

‘To bed,’ ordered Yannis.

Anna shook her head. ‘I must see to Mamma first.’

Yannis poured himself another brandy that he drank quickly. ‘Would you like me to help? I’ve helped before.’

‘No, I’d rather do it alone.’ She waited patiently whilst the children slipped back upstairs obediently and Yiorgo picked up the brandy bottle and followed Yannis into the kitchen.

‘Anna can cope.’

‘I know that. It just seems rather unfair that she should always be the one to do so.’

The brothers sat, an uneasy silence between them, as they sipped at their drinks. Yiorgo rolled a cigarette and offered it to Yannis who shook his head. ‘I don’t any more.’

Yiorgo drew on the thin cigarette, breathing in the acrid smoke.

‘How’s the farm doing?’

Yiorgo shrugged. ‘It keeps us going. It’s easier now I’m running so many more sheep and goats. I’ve taken on a couple of youngsters from the village to help me pull down Babbis’s farmhouse.’

Yannis looked surprised. ‘You can afford to employ?’

‘We’re not short of money. Pappa left us plenty. I’ve your share in the cupboard when you want it.’

Yannis smiled at him. ‘What do I need money for? Besides, Pappa gave me more than my fair share when I went to Heraklion.’

‘It will be there if you need it.’

‘How much?’

About fifteen hundred drachmas.’

‘What! Where did Pappa get so much money? Did he win on the lottery?’

Yiorgo grinned. ‘He was a ‘middle man’ up until the war.’

‘What might that be?’

‘He stored whatever was delivered until a boat arrived. Don’t you remember the heavy packing cases we had to shift when Pappa broke his leg?’

Yannis did remember. ‘You mean Pappa handled smuggled goods?’

‘Of course; he and uncle Yiorgo worked together.’

Yannis whistled through his teeth. ‘What a simpleton I was!’

‘When I returned I went through all his papers. He kept a little book. It took me a while to realise what it meant. There was always a date and a record of the amount paid to him. He kept it in a box in the cupboard. I shared it out. A portion for each of us.’