by A. E. Radley
She took the papers, thankful for the distraction. Tired and stressed, she told herself. Just tired and stressed.
12
It was six o’clock in the evening when Victoria returned to the hospital. She marched up to the reception desk and whisked off her sunglasses.
“Holly Carter, s'il vous plait.”
The receptionist nodded and started typing on her computer before frowning, “Carter? C-A-R-T-E-R?”
Victoria sighed. “She may be listed as Clémence Dubois…”
“Ah, oui.” The receptionist smiled. “You are the lady who has come to take Clémence home?”
“Holly. Carter.” She was losing her patience with the whole Clémence Dubois scenario.
“Of course.” The receptionist ducked her head. “I will call Doctor Fontaine for you. Please, take a seat.” She gestured to a row of plastic chairs lined up against the wall.
Victoria slowly turned to look at the chairs. She sniffed disdainfully and stood tall, refusing to move. She couldn’t recall the last time she had been asked to wait in a reception area. And certainly not in plastic chairs.
The receptionist made a telephone call, and within a few moments Charlotte Fontaine arrived.
“Bonsoir, welcome back.”
“Merci.” Victoria nodded.
“I see your legal team have been working hard. Our legal manager told me that everything seems to be ready for Holly’s departure tomorrow.”
“Indeed.” Victoria offered a tight smile.
The last time she had been at the hospital she had felt off balance. The shock of seeing Holly again, the fear that she could be barred from seeing her in the future. Now she felt more like herself, more confident. She had an expensive lawyer behind her, and soon she wouldn’t have to kowtow to the hospital staff.
“I also had a call from the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Once the judge approves everything, I shall forward Holly’s medical details to them,” Charlotte said.
“Wonderful,” Victoria said without feeling. She was very much aware that they were still standing in reception.
“I’m afraid Holly is unwell at present,” Charlotte admitted. “Nothing too serious, but she does have a migraine. It is common with her type of brain injury, and I think all of the excitement today has caused it.”
Victoria frequently suffered with tension headaches and migraines and felt a sliver of sympathy for Holly.
“Shall I come back tomorrow?” she asked.
Charlotte chuckled. “Oh, no, no. She would be furious with me if I let you leave without at least saying hello. She is in her room. Please, follow me.”
Charlotte indicated the elevator with her hand. They walked over, and Charlotte pressed the button to call the cart.
“She needs to lie down and take things slowly until the migraine passes, but I know she is eager to speak to you. I believe she has many more questions.”
“I feared she might,” Victoria mumbled.
“Problème?” Charlotte asked.
The elevator doors opened, and both women stepped in. Charlotte selected the correct floor.
“Holly only worked with me for under a year,” Victoria explained. “And we were not, in anyway, close. Quite simply, I know hardly anything about her.”
Charlotte nodded. “From my experience, you will know a lot more than you think. For example, someone with memory loss may ask if they have siblings, and we may be able to say, oui, you have a brother. But until a patient can connect with that fact on an emotional level, it will only be a statement and not a feeling.
“You may not have the facts and figures, but maybe you can provide something better? A description of how she has a messy desk? An observation that she hates early mornings? How she sings when she files documents away? Maybe these real-life observations will help more than the cold, hard facts.”
Victoria hadn’t considered that. Maybe she did have worthwhile information to offer Holly. She could use her eye for detail to explain what Holly was like as a person rather than a list of vital statistics about her life.
The elevator gently bounced to a stop, and the doors opened.
Charlotte led the way down the corridors.
“What Holly needs most is love and care,” she said.
Victoria nearly laughed out loud at the thought. Charlotte turned to face her, and Victoria offered an unsure and mildly terrified smile.
They stopped outside a wooden door that looked like it hadn’t seen a fresh coat of paint since the eighties. Charlotte held up her hand for Victoria to wait a moment. She softly knocked on the door and opened it a crack.
“Holly, are you well enough to see Victoria?”
She heard a soft mumble from inside the room, and Charlotte gestured for Victoria to enter.
“I’ll return later,” she promised.
Charlotte backed out and closed the door behind her as Victoria hesitantly entered the small room.
She squinted in the dim light. The window was covered by shabby curtains to keep the glare of the lamppost out. The lodgings seemed more like a prison cell than a hospital room. She’d seen some of the wards earlier that day, they were large, shared spaces. She assumed that Holly had been assigned a room of her own due to the amount of time she had spent in the facility.
But the room was dated to say the least.
While the downstairs looked like a modern building, here they appeared to travel back in time. There was a sink, Victorian in style, and a shelf with a paltry selection of toiletries.
Beside the sink was a small, wooden writing desk with a few tatty books lined up neatly on the top. An old schoolhouse chair was tucked underneath. A rickety chest of drawers and a bed were the only other pieces of furniture in the dreary little room.
Her examination of the room complete, Victoria had no choice but to look at Holly who was laying on the bed. Holly was smiling, though her eyes were tear-filled. The contradiction made Victoria’s heart ache.
“Excuse me if I don’t get up,” Holly whispered slowly.
“I’d be angry if you did.” Victoria placed her handbag and coat on the small desk. She picked up the chair, gently placed it beside the bed, and sat down. “I hear today has been a little much for you?”
It was surreal to see Holly in pieces. The girl had always been so well put together, never showing Victoria weakness no matter how bad things got.
“Yeah,” Holly admitted. “It has been quite a big day.”
Victoria smiled. “If you want some peace and quiet, I could—”
“No.” Holly raised her voice and started to sit up. Quickly she thought better of it, though. She closed her eyes and lowered herself down again. “No, I’d prefer it if you stayed. For a while, at least.”
Victoria nodded and sat quietly, not sure what to do next.
“Have you changed your mind?” Holly whispered.
“About?”
“About taking on a brain-damaged wreck. I’m sure you have a life of your own…”
“Well, if you’re going to be this depressing, then yes, I might leave you here,” Victoria quipped. She picked a piece of lint from her skirt.
“You changed clothes,” Holly pointed out.
“Yes, I was in a travelling outfit. When it became clear I wouldn’t be travelling, I changed.”
Holly chuckled softly.
“Is that amusing?” Victoria asked. She looked up to meet Holly’s eyes.
“Yes,” Holly said honestly. “I didn’t know people had travelling outfits.”
“Well, I do.”
“I can’t remember flying; do I like flying?” Holly asked.
Victoria had no idea. She thought back to the journey to Paris. Holly had been efficient as usual. She searched her memory further, trying to pick up on nuances that she wouldn’t have cared about before. She recalled Holly gripping the armrests during take-off. But then many people did that.
If she were afraid of flying, Victoria would have been the last person she wou
ld have told.
“You never spoke of a fear of flying,” she replied honestly.
“Good,” Holly replied. “Do you… do you know when I might be able to leave?”
Victoria blinked. Suddenly she realised how out of the loop Holly was. A hive of activity was happening around her, but no one had properly spoken to her and given her the details of what had been decided. That was going to change.
“Actually, yes,” she said. “My lawyers have managed to get us an appointment with the judge tomorrow morning. You and I will have to attend court, and you will have to answer some questions about your understanding of my having power of attorney. My lawyer will go through these questions with you before we go to the courtroom. Once that is done, you will be discharged from the hospital and into my care.”
Despite the painful migraine, Holly’s face held an ever-widening smile.
“Then we will have to go to the American Embassy,” Victoria continued, “so that you can have your photograph taken for your new passport. That will be issued within the hour, and then we will be going straight to the airport and onto New York.”
She noticed a small tear falling down Holly’s cheek. Suddenly another, and then another joined it. She stood up and sat on the edge of the bed. She gently stroked the girl’s short brown hair.
“Holly? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m happy,” Holly said. “I’m not sad, don’t worry.”
Victoria smiled down at her and nodded. Using her thumb, she wiped the tears from Holly’s cheeks.
“I just can’t believe that after all this time, someone finally found me. And I’m going home,” Holly whispered.
Victoria withdrew her hand and clasped it in her lap.
“I’d given up hope,” Holly continued. “I thought I’d be thrown around in the French legal and medical systems for a few years before being kicked out. Then I’d be stuck in France, not knowing anyone. Not being able to communicate. Sure, I know some French, but they always talk to me in English, trying to jog my memory.
“And then you turned up. And now I’m going home. Even though I don’t know anything about it, I don’t have a clue what is coming next, I feel… I feel… whole. More… like myself. Like I’m finally getting somewhere. Finally, I’m on a journey back to being me. And I can’t thank you enough. I promise you that I will pay you back for everything you have done for me, I don’t know how, but I know that I will, somehow.”
“Shh,” Victoria soothed. “You don’t need to pay me back. You don’t need to worry about such things.”
“It feels like this is all a dream, and I’m going to wake up.”
“I assure you that this isn’t a dream. However, you do need to rest.” Victoria placed her hand on Holly’s upper arm and squeezed gently through the sweater sleeve. “You need to be at your best for court tomorrow.”
Holly nodded. “You’ll be back tomorrow?”
“Of course, at nine o’clock.” She stood up and replaced the chair under the desk. She picked up her coat and bag and stood in front of the bed. “Get some rest. Some sleep will do you good.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry I haven’t been better company.”
Victoria couldn’t help but feel that she had somehow been let off the hook. If Holly had been fit and healthy, then she surely would have had a hundred questions to throw at her. Questions she couldn’t answer. Awkward silences that may have caused Holly to become concerned.
“You’ve been fine. Rest. I’ll see you in the morning,” Victoria said.
“I’ll get my travelling outfit ready,” Holly teased.
Victoria chuckled. Holly had never been one for jokes when she had worked for her. She presumed that she was now seeing the real Holly, the one beyond the shy assistant. She wondered what other surprises lurked.
“You do that,” she replied. “Good night.”
“’Night,” Holly mumbled.
Victoria paused for a moment, watching as Holly closed her eyes and started to allow sleep to take her. She shook her head, wondering why she was standing around. With a final sneer at the room, she took her leave.
13
The next morning, a nurse was waiting to escort Victoria to Holly’s room. He remained stoically silent the whole journey and merely gestured to Holly’s door before walking away. Something didn’t seem right, but she didn’t have time to think about it right now. She had a limited amount of time to get Holly to the courtroom.
She knocked and entered the room, the empty Louis Vuitton holdall that she had picked up the evening before in her hand.
“You!” Holly exclaimed. She sat at her desk, fire dancing in her eyes.
“Me?” Victoria questioned. She placed the empty holdall on the bed.
“You! There is no way that I am going anywhere with you!” Holly shouted. She jumped to her feet and swiped the holdall off the bed, throwing it towards Victoria.
Victoria caught the bag before it hit her face. She glowered at Holly, wondering what kind of insanity she’d walked into.
“We don’t throw Louis Vuitton, Holly,” she said in her coldest tone. “Now, would you mind enlightening me as to what the hell is going on?”
“You are what is going on.” Holly pointed at her. “You are such a fraud.”
Victoria opened her mouth to again ask what was happening, but Holly cut her off before she could.
“I looked you up! Thank god I did before I was stuck on a plane with you! Did you think that they don’t have the Internet in backwards old France? Huh? Well, they do! Ice Queen, that’s what they call you. And the Dragon. No one has a single nice word to say about you. I read article after article. They all say that you are a backstabbing, manipulative, cold-hearted witch who only cares about herself.”
Victoria looked down at the floor, trying to keep a lid on her irritation.
“And you’ve been here, acting like you’re my best friend,” Holly continued. “Being nice and charming, but that’s not you at all, is it?”
Victoria sucked in a quick breath.
“Not going to deny it then?” The triumph in Holly’s tone was clear.
Victoria looked up, pinning Holly with a stare. “Are you finished?” she asked.
“For now,” Holly said.
“Good. Then allow me to reply in regards to my denial. Am I going to deny that journalists, competitors, ex-employees, and even my ex-husband have called me the Ice Queen or the Dragon? No. Am I going to deny that the press enjoys printing tales of my difficult nature, my inability to hold down a personal relationship, and my struggle to be heard as a powerful woman in a male-dominated corporate environment? No. Have I been called backstabbing? Yes. Manipulative? Yes. I haven’t seen cold-hearted in print, but I’d be happy to take your word for it.”
She threw the bag onto the bed and took a step closer to Holly.
“I’m aloof. Difficult to be around. I don’t suffer fools gladly, or indeed at all. I have exacting standards, and punish those who cannot reach them. Arrival is not some high school newspaper, it’s a critically acclaimed, multinational magazine published in twenty-three countries every single month. I am the editor-in-chief of the American edition and every other editor around the world looks to me to set an example. Arrival is valued at more than three hundred and fifty million dollars and, with no word of exaggeration, that is because of me. I carry the company on my shoulders. So, no, I’m sorry, but I don’t have the luxury of being a sweet, approachable best pal to the world and I make no apology for that.
“Am I the best person to care for you? Absolutely not. Do I wish you any harm? No. Will I do my best to ensure you are looked after and provided with everything you need to make a full and speedy recovery? You bet I will. I may be cold-hearted, but I am all you have at the moment. And, if you wish to go your own way once we reach New York, then you have my word that I will assist you in doing just that. I’ll do my best to continue to maintain my nice and charming act as best I can, but now you’ll know the
truth of the dragon beneath the mask.”
She hadn’t raised her voice once. She’d maintained an even tone, stood less than a metre away from Holly, and never let her gaze waver.
Holly stared at her for a long while, shock and horror clear on her face.
“I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” Holly took a step back and fell into her chair. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
“I think perhaps you’re remembering me and who I am.” Victoria sniffed and took a step back.
“No, not at all. You’re a complete mystery to me, I don’t remember a thing,” Holly confessed. “I think that’s why I went off the deep end like that. I thought that you were tricking me somehow. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said those things. Of course, the fashion world must be very cutthroat, people will say things like that. There’s bound to be gossip. Especially about someone like you.”
Victoria cocked her head to the side. “Well, some of it may be gossip, but most of it is rather accurate…”
Holly licked her chapped lips nervously. “You should leave me here,” she said. “I think this is probably just an indication of how much trouble I’m going to cause you.”
Victoria nodded. “True, but I’m sure you’ll be much more trouble as time progresses. Just as you were before.” She offered a small smirk to Holly to show that she was joking.
Holly grinned. “That bad, huh?”
“Utterly abysmal, you wouldn’t believe how long it took you to get coffee,” Victoria deadpanned.
She picked up the holdall and held it towards Holly.
“Now, pack your bag with whatever you’re bringing, and meet me in reception in five minutes.”
“Are you sure?” Holly asked.
“Are you?” Victoria returned.
Holly looked at the holdall and then up at Victoria. She quickly nodded her head. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Then so am I. Five minutes, Holly.” Victoria spun on her heel and left the room.