The Don's Inspection

The morning after the emergency surgery brought a brilliant, crystalline Adriatic dawn that washed the blood and terror from Castello di San Corvo. At seven o'clock in the morning, Elena was already at Matteo's bedside in the recovery suite of the clinic. With practiced, gentle fingers, she palpated the dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial pulses on his right foot. The arterial pulse was strong, bounding at a healthy seventy-eight beats…