Snowfall in Venice

The Unveiling

THE UNVEILING

One evening after dinner, The Don asked us to join him in his office for cognac and a chat. As we sat warmed by the open fire, The Don asked us a question. "If Angelina's operation is a success, and you receive your reward, what will you do with it?"

"We haven't talked much about it, but Gayle and I want to spend our lives helping as many people as we can. Our goal is to organize a charity focusing on medical care for injured children." The Don nodded and made notes on his pad.

Nothing else was mentioned about the reward or our future plans, so we discussed Italian politics until it was time for bed.

Between outings with Carlos and our weekly clinics, time passed by quickly. Soon it was the middle of November and time for the final and crucial operation on Angelina's face. As far as Gayle could tell, Angelina was keeping to her pledge to not look at her face in a mirror until all the procedures ended.

While the young girl waited on the table for the operation to proceed, we carried on a lively conversation, switching easily from Italian to English and back again. Angelina kept inquiring about Pietro's arm, wondering if he had fully recovered. Both Gayle and I suspected there was a hidden motive behind the inquiries because Angelina had confessed that when she saw Pietro leaving the villa, she thought him quite handsome. I was oblivious to the undercurrents; I was anxious to get started with the operation.

The procedure took much longer than I had anticipated. I knew by instinct that I was trying for a level of perfection that just wasn't achievable.

Finally, I finished and turned to Gayle. "Now we have to wait for the healing to see the final result. I know she will never win any beauty contests, honey, but at least I think we've improved on the worst of the botched operations."

With six weeks left before Angelina had to decide if she would participate in the annual Christmas town square parade, Gayle decided to take one more step. She met with Angelina several times each week, showing her how to do her hair and how to apply makeup. She did the cosmetic lesson by having Angelina watch as Gayle applied makeup to her own face.

Angelina had finally stopped wearing her full-length black robe and now just went around the villa with a black veil covering only her face. Gayle and I both noticed that the young girl was rapidly transforming into a slim-figured young woman.

The night before the Christmas festivities were scheduled to take place, we were having a deep discussion in our suite. The conversation was about the possible reaction of The Don if Angelina refused to take off her veil at the parade. I wasn't sure that Benedetti would proceed with his threat to cut off our hands if Angelina's operation failed to meet her expectations.

However, Gayle felt differently. "I am telling you, Mark, Benedetti took an oath, and he was deadly serious. Carlos loves us both, or at least he loves me anyway, and he confessed that he would have to carry the threat through if The Don ordered him to do it."

I tried to calm her down. "Look, sweetheart, we've done the best we could do. Let's look at the bright side. If Angelina is brave enough to take part in the parade without her veil, we get the reward from The Don and can finally get on with our lives again."

I tossed and turned all night long. Gayle wasn't sleeping much better. She occasionally emitted noises that were seemingly driven by a series of nightmares. I knew instinctively I had called on every ounce of experience and talent during the reconstruction of Angelina's face. I could only hope now for the best.

Finally, daylight filtered gently through the bedroom windows. I dressed quickly and went in search of a badly needed coffee. I was surprised to see The Don already seated at the breakfast table dressed in a purple satin dressing gown and smoking the first cigar of the day.