Emma smiled at her phone as she thought of her mother frantically pacing around the house, imagining that Emma was taking part in orgies in the hostels. She was grateful for the extra money though. She did plan on staying in a few hostels even though her mother had sent the extra money it was part of the experience, but knowing that she did not have to made her feel a bit better.
She text her mother a quick thank you and went back to watching the couples as they filled the tiny restaurant. Emma’s meal arrived and she ate it in silence. She felt sadness weighing down on her. She knew she had her entire life ahead of her, but she wanted so badly to be loved like the other women in the restaurant. She could see a sparkle in their eyes when they looked at the men they were with and she wanted to know what made them look that way.
Emma paid her bill and walked back to her hotel. Loneliness filled her and she wondered if she would be able to stay away from her parents as long as she had planned. They were her entire life, the only thing that kept her from feeling lonely. It hurt her to admit it, but she was already missing them.
Once she arrived back at the hotel she undressed and made her way to the shower. She tried her best not to be afraid, but it was the first time she had ever been in a strange place by herself. All of her fears began to surface as she showered. She tried to calm herself but was not successful; she decided to quickly get out of the shower and dress as fear began to take her over.
Emma walked to the television and turned it on. She thought a nice show would get her mind off of the fact that she was completely alone. She also found that the hotel had left a few packs of tea next to the coffee pot and thought that might help her relax.
Emma made her tea and climbed into her bed and began watching television. She was glad that they had some of the shows she was used to seeing back home and that they offered them in English. She had spent a bit of time learning enough Italian to get her by but not enough to understand an entire television show.
That night was one of the worst nights of Emma’s life thus far. Just after falling asleep, she jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Everything that she had eaten at the restaurant came back up. Her stomach reeled in pain as she sat on the bathroom floor clinching it.
Sweat broke out on her forehead and she shook all over. Emma had never felt this way in her life and she thought that she was dying.
She grabbed a towel and wrapped herself in it before laying on the bathroom floor and falling asleep.
The rest of the night continued in much the same way. Emma would wake up, heave until her stomach had nothing left to give, then fall back asleep.
When Emma woke up the next morning she barely had any strength left in her. She pulled herself up to the sink and looked into the mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair stuck to her face from the sweat. Her complexion was pale and her lips almost white.
Emma looked over to the bathtub knowing that she could not go anywhere looking the way she did, but also knowing she had to find a doctor and quickly.
She stumbled over to the tub, placed the plug in the drain and began filling it. She pulled her pajamas off and let them fall to the floor. She carefully climbed into the bathtub and leaned back into the hot water.
Her heart began to pound and her head began to ache, Emma’s vision blurred and she closed her eyes grabbing onto the side of the tub.
She took a deep breath and pulled herself out of the tub. She had not been able to relax or wash the way she had intended, but she knew she needed to see a doctor immediately.
Emma grabbed the towel that lay on the bathroom floor and felt her way back to her bed. She knew she would have to relax before she could call a doctor.
Everything quickly went black for Emma and the next thing she knew she was waking up lying on the hotel bed feeling as if she were going to die. She rolled over and reached for the phone.
“Front desk,” she heard a voice say.
“Please connect me to a local doctor,” Emma’s voice was weak.
“Right away, ma’am,” the voice said.
Emma waited as the front desk quickly connected her with a doctor that was only a few blocks away.
“Dr. Silvio Nicolella’s office,” a voice quickly answered.
“Hello,” Emma began, “My name is Emma and I am on vacation. I need to see the doctor as soon as possible I am very sick.”
The receptionist asked Emma what her symptoms were and Emma struggled to put the words together to answer her, but soon was told that although the doctor was canceling all of his appointments for the day due to the air conditioning system going out he agreed that Emma could come in right away and see him.
Emma hung up the phone, then called the front desk again. She told them to charge her card for another night knowing that she was not going to be traveling that day.
Emma groaned. My first day away from my parents and I am sick. What a great way to start my year,’ she thought to herself. She pulled herself out of bed slowly and began to dress. She slipped on a pair of yoga pants, a T-shirt and tied her hair up on the top of her head. She knew that she looked bad, but she felt bad and did not care about anything but going to the doctor.
Emma had the front desk call her a cab. Even though the doctor’s office was only a few blocks away from the hotel she did not want to chance walking there and passing out on the way.
Emma climbed into the cab when it arrived and the driver took her to Dr. Nicolella’s office. Emma quickly paid the driver and headed into the building. As she walked through the door, she was hit with a blast of heat that made her feel as if she had stepped onto the sun.
The doctor quickly opened the side door for her allowing her to access the examination rooms.
“Uh, I sorry for hot,” the doctor said.
Emma looked up at him, he was a beautiful man obviously just starting his career. He had dark skin, dark hair and the most beautiful brown eyes Emma had ever seen. She could tell by his physique that he worked out. He was everything that any woman would dream of and Emma quickly became aware of her appearance.
The doctor led her to a room where he told her to put on a gown. She smiled at his broken English and nodded her head. She wished that she had met him under better circumstances and when she was looking better. Emma sighed as she changed into the examination gown and sat on the table.
The doctor came back into the room just minutes after he had left her.
“I am Dr. Silvio Nicolella,” he began. “You call me Silvio.” He smiled at Emma as he spoke putting her at ease.
“I’m Emma,” she replied.
“Emma,” the doctor said, pausing as if he were thinking about her name, “You are sick no?
Emma put her hand on her stomach and nodded her head yes. The doctor began to examine her by taking her temperature, looking in her mouth and pushing on her stomach.
Emma thought she was going to throw up on him right there when he pressed on her stomach and winced in pain.
“Hmm,” the doctor said as he looked at Emma, “you eat?”
“Yes,” Emma began not sure what he was asking her, “well not today.”
“What did you eat,” he asked.
“Last night at, Serenade. Agghiotta di lumache,” Emma did her best to pronounce the words correctly. The waitress had to tell Emma how to say it when she pointed to it on the menu. She had no idea what she was ordering, but wanted a true Italian experience.
The doctor laughed loud and looked at Emma, “Snail,” he said, trying to hold back his laughter, “food poisoning,” he said.
“I have food poisoning,” Emma gasped.
The doctor shook his head and gave her a bottle of medicine that he had in the cabinet.
“Help your stomach,” he said, placing one hand on his stomach.
The embarrassment that Emma felt as overpowering. One day away from home and she was in a doctor's office suffering from food poisoning. The doctor handed her a piece of paper.
“Write hotel name. Room,” he said.
Emma had no idea why he wanted the name of the hotel or her room number, but she was not going to argue with him. She wanted to get back to her hotel take her medicine and relax. She wrote down the information that he requested along with her name.
“Rest,” he said as he took the paper from her. He walked out of the room and Emma began to get dressed. It took everything she had not to break down crying right there. She knew that it was a mistake to leave home. She decided that she should just wait until she was feeling better and go back to her parents where she knew she would be protected. A tear streamed down her cheek as she thought about what a complete failure she was.
Once she was dressed, she wiped her face with her hand and headed out the door. The doctor was waiting for her along with a cab driver. The driver explained that the doctor had called for him to drive her back to her hotel. Emma assumed that was why he wanted her hotel name. She smiled at the doctor as he walked her to her cab and made sure she was comfortable.
“Rest,” he repeated before shutting the door.
Emma leaned back against the seat and watched the people walking along, enjoying their life as hers was falling apart. It only took a few minutes before the cab arrived back at the hotel, Emma paid and made her way back to her room.
She thought about the doctor telling her that she had eaten snails and was not surprised that her body had reacted the way that it did. She probably would have thrown up in the restaurant if she had known what she was eating.