Thursday- No kidding, It was a banana!

Now that Caitie is successfully launched, we planned an errand day. We would take the 1.5 hour train trip from Florence to Rome and pick up the back of Caitie's winter clothes we stored at the Rome airport then return to Florence where we could turn the bag over to Caitie. First, though, we had time left on yesterday's hop on/hop off bus that would enable us to take the ride out to the nearby resort area of Fiesole. So, there we were this morning at 9:10, sitting in the front row on the top level of the first hop on/hop off bus of the day. We rode it for two hours, getting another fire hose dose of Florence. As soon as it dropped us back off at the train station we went inside in search of reservations for the express train to Rome.

What happened next seemed amazingly fast to me, but slow motion to Mike. I was in front, saw the smashed-up ripe banana on the floor and stepped over it. Mike was looking up to read the time schedule, missed seeing the banana, stepped on it and did a deep split on the floor. He let our a scream of pain that got the attention of many of us in the area. People rushed to help him, most helpfully a football (soccer) player. The pain was bad, and he lay on the floor of the train station in absolute pain- his leg hurt very bad. Among the crowd watching it was recognized that we spoke no Italian, so a volunteer called the ambulance for us. Thankfully this was not an emergency, as the ambulance took twenty minutes to get there. During the twenty minutes crowds gathered to watch, then disbursed. One man signalled me with the universal "tip the bottle" hand sign to ask whether he was laying on the ground due to a bit too much partying. I came to his defense, of course, pointing to the slime on the bottom of his hiking boots. By then, the janitor had finally cleaned the mushy banana off the floor. At one point, when the pain had subsided enough, we broke out laughing at the absurdity of laying on the floor of this huge train station due to slipping on a banana. Such a cliche.

Eventually the ambulance showed up and they scraped Mike off the floor and into the back of an ambulance. I was permitted to ride along, and with assurances that the sirens were just to help us with the traffic, we set off for the orthopedic hospital. By this time, Mike was certain that his leg wasn't broken and he was just holding on for dear life as the ambulance jogged through the rocky stone streets of Florence.

In the hospital Mike was taken to the exam room of the emergency entrance and I remained in the waiting room. It took about an hour total for the exam, x-rays and pressure bandaging. He sprained his leg and has to use crutches for the next week. With help from the taxi driver we made it back to our hotel where he leaned on me to get upstairs and onto the bed. The reception clerk offered to call around to find crutches for us to rent, although our return coincided with lunch making him unable to do anything for several hours. Hopefully Mike will have crutches later today so that he can get around on his own.

The desk clerk agreed to waive the rule about food to allow me to get Mike some lunch to eat in our room. So, we just finished a sandwich and a peach and we are in for the day. Caitie planned to visit us after school orientation this afternoon, as she was hoping for another shopping foray. So, I may go back out onto the streets later in search of an electric teapot, tea bags and a couple of coffee cups.

Wondering how much this cost? So are we. They collected Mike's passport when we arrived in the emergency room but they discharged him without asking anything about insurance or payment. He walked out with his passport, his x-rays, a prescription for ibuprofen and a slimy hiking boot. We aren't sure whether we will get a bill in the future or if an accident is covered by the National Health Insurance program as it is in New Zealand. When Matt was hurt in an accident there we had no charge, nor when Mike developed an infection as a result of a horse riding accident. Apparently we would have to pay for an illness there, but not an accident. Hope that's true in Italy.