“Papa?” His daughter was talking to him in his dreams.
“Papa's here, darling Noemi. Papa will be here as long as you need.”
“Papa.” It was repeated, sharper. “I'm hungry.”
Someone was jostling him awake.
It was his daughter. His Noemi. Alive and vibrant as she had been before the disease <name it> struck her. She didn't even have the scars that marred his flesh, although it had ravaged her form.
“Thank you, Mother Maria.” He grabbed his daughter. Holding her, he remembered when she was nothing but a tiny scrap of a baby, still mewling and howling from birth. He'd held her then, clutching her close to him, keeping her safe warm with his body. For one moment, she was his baby again, dear and sweet and fragile.
Then she pulled away, smiling. “Come on, Papa. Do you have any berries?”
His pantries were empty. He hadn't wanted to leave her side and few were willing to come to a house that had been stricken by <disease>. His sisters had stayed at the family villa. The servants had long fled in fear of their own lives. “I'll get you berries,” he promised her, “I'll get you all the berries you want.”
“And that crusty bread?”
“Anything you want, darling. Anything at all.”
His daughter was still alive. There were miracles in the world. He crossed himself as he left, holding onto his daughter with the other. She tugged ahead. She always wanted to be moving. That had been the worst of seeing her ill. She was never still for so long. Even in sleep she was restless, turning so that her thick auburn hair covered her face. She chattered about the marketplace and her favorite stalls. He couldn't let go. What if this was really his dream? What if it all dissolved when he could no longer hold her?
Impatiently, Noemi pulled out of his grasp. “You're too slow, Papa. I'll race you to the market. Bet I can beat you.”
She ran off around a corner and out of sight. “Wait,” Carlo shouted. “Noemi?”
Her face peered around the corner. “Papa. You're too slow. It's no fun if you don't run too.”
Maybe this wasn't a dream. “Wait for me.” He took off after her.