After early mass, as I was grabbing a coffee in the refectory, Jesús Manuel García asked me to accompany him and bring Don Pietro Stella to the hospital. It seems that his condition has worsened this week, and his doctor, a Prof. Giuseppe Naso, wants him to receive a blood transfusion immediately.
Well, immediately is only a figure of speech. After breakfast Jesús Manuel and I brought Don Stella to the Emergency at famous Roman "Policlinico" Umberto Primo. The attendant at the desk seemed bored and diffident when we brought him in, but when he looked at the doctor's analysis, his comment was a surprised "Urca!" He directed us to bring Pietro Stella immediately into an inner waiting room, and then sent the two of us out of the area, down the hall and around the block to another series of waiting rooms for visitors. This is how we spent the whole morning.
After three-and-a-half hours we were told that it would be another hour before they could test his blood, and another two hours after that before they could make a decision. Since we were not even allowed to say with him through any of this, we decided to come home. Around 3:00 we'll make a call and see what is happening, but things are serious and it seems they want to keep him there over the weekend.
This was the morning I was going to dedicate to packing for my return trip to San Francisco tomorrow… but there is little to worry about there. I've got almost everything ready by now, and a number of items I will be keeping in my office here for my May teaching tour.
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