AFTER THE FALL

This adventure (and I use that term lightly) is set in the medieval, non-hill town of Florence. Spoiler alert … I’m ok.

David had two appointments at Careggi, the UCLA-like hospital nestled (much like Westwood) at the foothills of the northern part of Florence. It’s a problem David has had for a couple of decades which, of course, needs periodic monitoring. Today appointments were set morning and afternoon. No, they couldn’t be one after the other … 10.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. only. So our plan was to take the tram into town for lunch … then David would go back to Careggi and I’d walk to the American Consulate to pick up my renewed passport. With document zipped into my purse, I’d tram back to Careggi, and we’d drive home.

David’s morning appointment went very well.

Our destination on the rive gauche [wink] was a trattoria called POKERIA BY NIMA. I had seen it on someone’s Facebook post, and found one of the locations near the Arno. For the uninitiated, poke is Hawaiian food … a bowl of rice topped with all kinds of flavorful, Oriental ingredients. Fish, raw or marinated. Edamame and ginger and garbanzos and nuts and other assorted veggies. Ponzu and spicy shoyu. Here the list included tomatoes and olive oil (it is Italy, after all). You can pick a bowl from the menu or create-your-own. Two proteins, four toppings, two condiments, two sauces. Sesame seeds optional.

I had black rice topped with tuna, salmon, edamame, pickled ginger, avocado, mango, slivered almonds, pomegranate seeds, ponzo, olive oil (it is Italy, after all), sesame seeds. David opted for white rice … and his choices included octopus, carrots, cucumber.

The shop is cutely tropical, including a suspended surfboard as a light fixture, and we walked to tables at the back … oops, watch that little step … and sat down at one of the several tables, all with high stools. Chopsticks or forks … we used chopsticks.

We liked it immediately. Hawaiians would say it was ono … in Pidgin English “broke da mouth” …locally, delizioso. We had some leftovers … earmarked for kitties (and possibly us [wink]).

We put everything into one bowl, and with bowl in hand, I walked to the counter to get a lid. But … oops, I did not watch that little step … and was falling. Food flew everywhere, rice and fish and edamame flying like confetti … that was a cat treat, I thought in s l o w m o t i o n … as I landed on my right hip. David gasped and rushed over. My hip hurt, my left ankle/foot hurt, I was dazed but not confused. I did not hit my head, and I think that because I was holding a bowl, I didn’t brace my fall (and possibly saved my hand/arm/shoulder from injury).

Shall we call the ambulance?, the staff immediately asked.

I was helped up, then sat on a stool, too high to let me put my head between my knees (I’m a dizzy blonde on a good day) … because I didn’t want to lie on the restaurant floor. I leaned forward as best I could … a bag of frozen edamame and a damp cloth. As I got dizzier, I knew it was shock (I’d just read that for the driver’s exam book). I asked them to call EMTs. I didn’t want to realize the next day that one of those little bones in my foot was broken. I needed my left foot for the clutch … at my first driving lesson was the following Wednesday.

The siren announced the EMT’s quick arrival. They had me, yep, lie on the floor. The older guy was so kind, I was immediately reassured. They asked what happened and I explained. My blood pressure and pulse were even lower than usual … and I can only imagine that my SPF-50 skin was a lighter shade of pale. They put on a cervical collar. I was rolled, hospital-style, into a sturdy plastic sheet … they grabbed the straps at each corner and hoisted me up … then onto a gurney. As I was wheeled outside to the ambulance, I waved to the bystanders (like an NFL player, to assure the fans that he is ok). Can you take me to Careggi?, I asked. No, they answered, we’re going to the closest hospital, Santa Maria Nuova. And no, they didn’t let David work the siren.

Two hospitals in one day. Rick Steves never wrote about this tour of Firenze.

I insisted that David go back to Careggi for his appointment … his tests, part of a series, are more important than my ankle. We stayed in touch via WhatsApp.

The ER nurse checked my pupils with a little flashlight and took off the cervical collar … no IVs, no blood work … I waited for x-rays, icing the top of my slightly purple foot. It was the first time I used a bedpan. I learned the Italian words for “panties” and “bra” … the nurse learned the English words for mutandine and reggiseno.

The waiting area was divided by curtains, two beds per zone. Next to me was a sweet, soft-spoken 90-year-old lady. Both the nurse and I complimented her on how well she looked. She had fallen onto her chest, and seemed scared and nervous. We held hands for awhile, and sometimes her voice was so quiet, I just replied with a smile. She said her husband was in the waiting room. At one point, she said she was cold, so I asked the nurse for a blanket. (When I was discharged, I went back to say goodbye to her. She looked even more fragile. I hope she is ok …)

An orderly came to take me to radiology. Along hallways and corridors, through automatic doors, we arrived. The tech appeared … young, dark hair, neatly-trimmed beard, slim in that Italian way that makes guys look so good in jeans and a white shirt. Take as many x-rays as you want. He took a couple of my right hip … ok. A few of my left ankle/foot … ok.

Back to the waiting area, David had arrived from Careggi. He said that he couldn’t do a sleep test when he was too nervous, too worried. (His nurse, who I had met on previous appointments, called me the next morning to see how I was doing. Grazie Elizabetta.)

There was no swelling or hematoma. Yet. Just sore. The doctor came over and said the x-rays were all good. They would bandage my ankle and said I could go home … 5 days (showering, since we don’t have a tub, with it covered in plastic), pain pills and anti-inflammatory as necessary. I took an ibuprofen.

The bill … 50€.

I wasn’t sure how well I could walk, having been lying down since I fell down. But I was able to limp, slowly and cautiously, to the station … to take the tram back to Careggi and our car. Cobblestones are quaint, but not comfortable on a sore foot, weak ankle, tender hip. Glad I was wearing cushiony crocs.

The passport had to wait for another day …

Tram and car. Home and ahhh.

Dinner was courtesy of David. He has studied with The Linda … and had asked the restaurant for a poke bowl to replace the one that went from bowl to ceiling to floor. We ALL enjoyed it.

I put my clothes into the hamper. I relaxed in a shower, double bagging my leg up to the knee. I took a Valium. I went to bed.

The next day, there was a small hematoma on my hip and light purple could be seen around the bandage on my foot. The day after … a little sore, a little tender, and some general body aches. My foot was better, and I was able to wear 2-inch heels (low by my standards) to dinner a couple of nights later. A girl’s gotta look cute.

On Day 5, the day I can remove the bandage, there was a zumba exhibition. Outside on grass. The practice is Saturday … My heart wants to dance, but my foot has decided it should rest. As my friend Beverly would tell me, you have to respect the injury. And the dancer in me knows you have to pay attention to the dance surface. So this time, I’ll be applauding from the front row.

BROWN-OTTI

BROWN(ies) … soft and fudgy, with pieces of walnuts.
(Bisc-) OTTI … diagonally cut and twice baked.

This super chocolate cookie stays fresh longer than classic brownies … and the additional of candied orange peel adds a delicious Italian flavor.

1–¼ c. sugar
4 eggs
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Grated rind from 1 orange
1 cup cocoa
5 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup candied orange rind, diced

- Preheat oven to 325°F (160° C). Line 2 cookie sheets with silpats.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
- Add cocoa … on low speed so it doesn’t spray out of the bowl (and onto you).
- Stir in flour and baking powder.
- Add chocolate chips, walnuts, and orange rind.
- With wet hands, form dough into 4 to 6 logs, depending on length, approx. 3 inches wide and 1 inch high. Place on cookie sheets.
- Bake 10 minutes until just firm to touch.
- When cool enough to handle, transfer to cutting board. Slice each log on the diagonal into pieces about 1 to 1–½ inch wide. This is wider than classic biscotti.
- Return slices to cookie sheets, bottoms down, staggering each row so the cut surfaces are overlapping only slightly to keep the cookies upright.
- Bake for 5 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE.
Makes 50 or more cookies.
Enjoy!