"What have you done to this man?" she asked, pointing her cane at Nikolas, before lowering her head and walking toward her room, muttering, "What did I do wrong raising him?"
Nikolas took the cup with his trembling hands and sipped at the coffee. "This coffee is bitter," he observed as he lit a cigarette. "All right Doctor, I am ready to listen to what you have to say. I will not interrupt. But for the love of God, speak the truth."
"I will Nikolas, put your trust in me."
"Put my trust in you? I'll put my dagger in you if you don't tell me the truth!"
"First of all, please note that I am stuck in the middle here. Between you, Elder Anna, and your son."
"Elder Anna?"
"Yes."
"Anna is an Abbess?"
"Yes Nikolas, she is. But the church changed her name and her identity."
"And my son?"
Just then, the old woman fumbled back onto the veranda, knocking over a chair before falling down. The doctor looked at her in disgust as Nikolas hurried to pick her up and wipe her bleeding forehead. She placed her hands on his face, gently touching it, as she studied his lips, cheeks, mustache, and neckline with her sensitive fingertips. Then turning to her son, she yelled, "This is a good man, Vassili! What have you done to him?" Gropingly, the old woman searched for Nikolas's hand. "Who are you? Who is this man?" she asked her son.
Vassili snarled, "He is Captain Nikolas of the Royal Greek Navy, Mother, and this is none of your business. Why don't you just go sit down and leave us alone."
The doctor sighed deeply. He had taken millions of drachmas from Anna's mother to keep Nikolas in Egypt when he had amnesia and to obstruct his recovery. She would not be happy to learn that Nikolas had recovered his memory and returned to Greece. "Anna has not seen her son since birth. Her mother made sure of that. Anna thinks her son died at birth. Just like she thinks you are dead."
Nikolas's anger could no longer be contained. He grabbed the doctor, hitting him hard on the face and throwing him across the room on the couch. Slowly and purposefully, he struck him again and again until he saw blood running down from his mouth. The doctor smiled ghoulishly, bringing his tongue to lick the blood from his lips as if savoring the salty taste.
"How could you?! How could you? You evil scoundrel!" The old woman got up and walked toward her son, raising her cane. She hit him hard with it, striking his body repeatedly. The doctor moaned.