sat very still as she waited for Chantal to continue. She could see how upset she was.
‘He slammed down the phone and came back into the kitchen. His face was drained of all colour and he was trembling. At the same time I could hear footsteps on the stairs coming up from the ground floor of my apartment block. Then hammering on the door.’
‘Who was it?’
‘His wife. I had no idea he was married. It transpired that she’d been caring for her sick mother in the south of France for a few months. A friend had tipped her off that her husband was being unfaithful and had given her my address and phone number.’
‘So what happened when his wife arrived?’
Chantal cleared her throat. ‘She started shrieking at him. Hitting him in the chest with her fists. He grabbed her wrists, fending off the blows as he tried to placate her. He said he could explain everything. How pathetic! The evidence was there before the poor woman’s eyes, for heaven’s sake. I found myself feeling sorry for her.’
‘So, did she start shouting at you?’
‘No, that was the strange thing. She barely glanced at me. It was her pig of a husband she was mad with. I’d heard enough about his womanising as she continued to hurl abuse at him. I just wanted it all to stop. So I opened my door and asked them both to leave.’
‘And then?’
‘They noticed me at last. His wife grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door. I continued to hold the door wide open. She was still shouting. I told them both again to get out of my apartment. After they’d gone I went into my bedroom. My brain had gone numb. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep.’
No, she couldn’t tell her any more of the agony that had come afterwards, not now anyway. She wanted to move forward with her life. She was a different person from the innocent, trusting woman she’d been. The heartbreaking experience later that night had changed her for ever. She couldn’t even speak about her miscarriage.
‘I’m sorry, Sidonie, to burden you with all this.’
Sidonie leaned across and patted her hand. ‘Thank you for sharing a confidence with me. I feel privileged to have been told something of your background. You always seemed so quiet and withdrawn when you first started working in Emergency. I hadn’t realised the suffering you’d been through. If ever you need a shoulder to cry on …’
‘Thanks, but I’ve done all the crying I’m going to do. The past is over. It’s the present and the future that are important to me now.’
She must have fallen asleep after Sister had gone back into the ward. The sun, which had been shining full into her window, had dipped below the rooftops of the hospital. She became aware of someone being in the room and turned to look at her bedside chair.
‘I hope I didn’t wake you?’
‘Julia! What a lovely surprise.’ She held out her arms at the sight of her cousin then winced as she unwittingly moved her damaged ankle.
Julia rose to her feet. ‘Don’t try to move, Chantal.’ She bent down and kissed her cheek. You looked so peaceful when I came in. Sister said you would probably be waking up soon.’
‘Oh, it’s so good to see you again. How did you know I was here?’
‘Well, Bernard phoned Sidonie this afternoon to say he was coming in to Orthopaedics to check on the patient he’d chosen for teaching purposes tomorrow morning. Bernard always asks their permission, checks these patients carefully and makes sure they know that he will be supervising his students all the time. I remember when I was one of his students I was always so impressed with the care he took to ensure the patients knew exactly what they were letting themselves in for.’
‘I love to hear about when you were one of Bernard’s students and you found him so difficult and demanding as a professor while you were studying with him for that prestigious exam in orthopaedic surgery.’
Julia laughed. ‘He was only being difficult, he told me afterwards, to ensure I got the best results. After that I managed to thaw him out and … well, you know how it all ended. Marriage and a baby on the way. Anyway, Sister Sidonie told Bernard you were in the side ward here, having sprained your ankle and stretched the ligaments. That must be really painful. I just had to come and check how you are and if there was anything you need.’
‘I can’t fault the way they’ve treated me. Right from the time Michel picked me up off the beach’
‘Michel? What on earth were the two of you doing on the beach together?’
Chantal, well aware of the insinuating grin on her cousin’s face, quickly set her straight with the basic details, starting with the important fact that they hadn’t gone to the beach together. Michel had arrived just as she’d tripped up on a killer of a stone absolutely lying in wait for her.
‘Ah, I see. So Michel brought you back to hospital, set up your treatment and then disappeared.’
‘He’s coming back this evening to check on me. How’s young Philippe?’
Julia’s expression softened. It was always obvious that she adored her husband’s son from his first marriage.
‘He’s fine. Marianne—you remember our brilliant housekeeper who’s been with the family since she was sixteen? Well, she’s at home with Philippe. We told him we were going to see you but that he couldn’t come to see you this time because he had an early start tomorrow. School in the morning, so it was an early night tonight. Marianne was giving him supper when we left and we’ll be back in time to read him a bedtime story.’
Chantal gave a nostalgic sigh. ‘I always loved the bedtime stories you and I had when we were staying together at your house or mine in Montreuil before Mum and I went to live in Paris, didn’t you?’
Julia smiled. ‘We lived more like sisters in those days, just like our mothers had been, didn’t we?’
Chantal giggled. ‘And because our mothers are identical twins I used to wake up sometimes in the night at your house, calling out for my mother. When your mother came in I was convinced she was mine. Oh, hello, Bernard.’
Her cousin-in-law came over and kissed her cheek. ‘How are you getting on, Chantal? Are they treating you OK?’
‘I’m being spoiled rotten.’
‘Even by the exacting Michel?’
Someone else was pushing open the door. Chantal watched as Michel advanced into the crowded side ward. He grinned as he overheard Bernard’s comment about him.
Bernard shook his colleague’s hand. ‘Sorry, Michel, I didn’t know you were coming back this evening. Such devotion to duty.’
Michel raised an eyebrow. ‘And on my day off too!’
‘Actually, we were just leaving. Promised to be back home before Philippe goes to sleep. He adores Marianne but there’s nothing like a paternal voice reading the bedtime story, is there?’
Bernard held out his hand to help his wife as she got to her feet.
She
