Aurélie

Chapter Thirty Eight

The white double doors with square Perspex windows swung open as a young male doctor strode through to the waiting room. Seb squeezed Aurélie's hand, his knuckles white, forcing Aurélie to look up sharply. The doctor walked briskly over to the reception desk. He leant over the high counter where the intray was brimming with patients notes. 

He took a sheaf of papers off the top tray and got a pen out of his breast pocket. His head bent over as he scanned the notes. The three of them craned their necks trying to get a peek at Lena's admission notes. The nurse on reception leant forward and spoke quietly to the doctor who looked down at her and murmured a reply. His tone just low enough to prevent them from hearing anything. He looked over his shoulder at them before looking back at the nurse, they both nodded at each other and then he spun curtly on his heels and walked over to them. 

"I'm Doctor Wilson, are you waiting for Lena?" He asked in a polite Californian accent. 

"Yes," Rory said, standing up before Aurélie and Seb could reply. 

"She just came out of surgery. We are hopeful that it went well. Her leg was broken in two places, relatively clean breaks so we have been able to put pins in place. We wouldn't normally pin it but both breaks are close to joints so we decided to place metal pins in to ensure the mend is strong." 

Aurélie had stopped listening to him. Her thoughts had gone back to Lena, an image of her crumpled on the floor. How long had she been there until Seb had found her? 

"You'll be able to go through and see her soon. She's still asleep and she'll be groggy until the anaesthetic wears off. I should add, Lena gained quite a lot of bruises when she fell. It does look much worse than it is, please don't be alarmed. Remember while she sleeps she can hear you. Please try and keep noise to a minimum when you see her so as not to waken her before she's ready. She's just been to a room in intensive care. I'll be back in a couple of minutes to walk you through." He nodded at them and then returned back down the corridor and through the double doors.



It felt like an eternity until Doctor Wilson came back. Aurélie looked up and checked the time, it had been only ten minutes. She looked across at her father, he looked absolutely wrecked. Not the relaxing time he had expected in Paris. 

"Okay, follow me please," Doctor Wilson instructed. They all stood up and walked behind him, Rory leading the way. Aurélie walked alongside Seb, he hadn't let go of her hand since they sat down. 

"She's going to be fine, Seb," she whispered gently.

"I know, Relie," he said, but his brow was furrowed. He took a deep breath and looked away, staring at the back of the doctor's head as if he was trying to read his mind to find out how serious it really was. 

They were led down corridor after identical corridor. She didn't think she would be able to find her way back out. Aurélie wondered how many sick people were in here, lying in beds attached to wires, machines beeping around them as hopeless family members looked on. Making temporary homes on uncomfortable bedside seats or pacing the endless corridors. Hunched over tables in a sparse canteen as they compared vital statistics with strangers while nursing cold cups of tea.



The door had a white board outside. It stated the date, Lena's name, age and medical diagnosis, complete with time of surgery. They hesitated outside the door. 

"You can go in now, I'd recommend a few minutes with her. Visiting hours have ended but I think you should be okay to check in with her." He leant across and opened the door for them. 

Rory  entered first, his shadow casting long shapes on the floor. At first Aurélie didn't see her godmother. The curtains were pulled tightly closed and a door to the left led off to another room, supposedly a bathroom. 

A large machine was beeping to the right of a single metal bed that had a blanket and bed sheets neatly tucked in. A small shape was in the middle of the bed. 

"Lena," Seb whispered, letting go of Aurélie's hand and moving forward. Rory remained at the back of the room, close to the door. He shifted from one foot to the other and stared at Lena as she lay nestled in the pillows. A dark bruise covered half of her face, one eye swollen shut, the other closed. Her right leg lay above the bed covers, attached to a hoist to keep it in place. Wires were on the back of her right hand, feeding information back to the machine. 

Seb went to the left of the bed and gently scooped his hand under Lena's, running his thumb over her delicate hand. 

"We're here now. Aurélie's here with her dad, Rory." Lena slept soundly on. Aurélie gulped and stepped froward next to Seb. 

"Hello, Lena," her voice was shaky. "We got here as quickly as we could. Sorry we weren't here when you went into surgery." Her voice broke and she lifted a hand to wipe away a tear. She looked over at her father but he was staring at his own hands and looking uncomfortable.

 "Dad?" She wanted him to come forward and let Lena hear his voice but something was holding him back. "Do you want to go and get a drink? We could be here a while until she wakes up naturally." 

"No," he surprised her with his gruff voice. He cleared his throat and rubbed his forehead. "You go and get a drink with Seb, I'll stay here with Lena." He moved to sit in the seat on the opposite side of the bed, next to the heart monitor, his back to the curtained windows. 

"Are you sure Dad?" 

"Yes," he said firmly and looked at his daughter. 

"I'll bring you back a coffee." She left the room quietly with Seb who shut the door silently behind them. Once they were out in the corridor they both took a deep breath.

"She looks awful, Seb." Aurelie's ran her hands through her hair. 

"She looks tiny," he replied. He put an arm around her shoulder, she wasn't sure if it was to comfort her or because he needed someone to lean on. 

They walked down the corridor and followed the signs for the canteen.