Love, Anger, Madness_ A Haitian Trilogy - Marie Chauvet [17]
“Go get Dr. Audier,” I say to Jean Luze.
He quickly carries her into their room and runs off.
I hear his steps creaking on the stairs and it’s now my turn to lean over Félicia.
“My God, what’s happened to her?” Annette exclaims, hands on her heart.
She can’t play innocent. Acting is not her strong suit. She didn’t want these complications. She’s nervous, and she’s nervous that she’s nervous.
I avoid answering. I am busy rubbing Félicia’s hands.
“Leave the room, Annette.” That’s all I say.
Félicia and I are alone. I rub some alcohol on her cheeks, slap her and call her name. She comes to and starts sobbing.
“Claire! Claire!”
Oh no, I don’t want to hear anything. I’ll take care of her as always, but I don’t want to hear her secrets. Spare this poor old maid!
“Claire! Claire!”
“Keep quiet. You will just make things worse and you will lose the child.”
Jean Luze returns with Dr. Audier. She hides her face in her hands and bursts into fresh sobs. After examining her, Audier gives her a shot and prescribes a few days’ bed rest.
“You better not leave her side,” he advises Jean Luze in a low voice. “She’s had a terrible shock.”
He is full of repentance. He kisses her and whispers something in her ear.
I am still there, watching every move.
“Nothing happened, I swear, nothing,” he repeats, now in a louder voice.
Does she believe him? She touches his face slowly, full of tenderness, as if she has already forgotten everything. What confidence she has in him!
“There’s no hemorrhaging, that’s good!” the doctor declares. “Just simple fainting!”
I see him out and then return to Félicia’s side. The injection has put her to sleep.
I turn to Jean Luze with the most sincere expression I can muster and ask:
“How did this happen?”
He looks at me casually.
“I have no idea. I was in the living room and I heard her scream …”
Oh, what good liars we are, both of us!
He did not go to work this morning. The door to their room is closed and Augustine has brought them breakfast in bed. Annette seems more nervous than last night. She paces up and down, eyes on their door. Why has he shut himself up with Félicia? What is he going to promise? The door opens in the afternoon and Jean Luze emerges, somber and so distant that it would take superhuman courage to approach him. Annette nevertheless calls out to him, and he looks at her with intentionally unconcealed antipathy. I hide in order to hear their conversation.
“It’s over, Annette,” he says, “I hope you’ve understood this. Félicia’s life and the baby’s life depend on your behavior. You have to control yourself.”
“But I can’t, I just can’t …”
“Let’s not overdo it, shall we.”
His tone is cutting.
“I love you.”
“Quiet.”
“Living like this with you but not with you, and to keep quiet? That’s too much.”
“In that case, Félicia and I will leave. I got married to have a home, children, to be done with being a man-about-town. I don’t want problems, understand? I don’t want trouble.”
His voice is so hard that I doubt ever having seen them in each other’s arms.
“So, you didn’t love me?”
Silence.
“So, you didn’t love me?”
He answers with total astonishment and profound contempt.
“Love you? Come on.”
There is another silence, during which I regret not being able to see the expression on Annette’s face. Mine is stubborn and unhappy. Is it because I think I could plead our case much better?
“No need to leave the house.” Her voice trembles.
“All right then?” Jean Luze asks.
“All right,” she answers.
They each return to their own quarters. I run to lock myself in my room. His words were a slap in her face, and I feel their heat on my cheeks. All right, she said. It’s not all right. I plan to fight this. I will not accept seeing this affair end so pathetically. If Annette resigns herself and turns the page like a good sport, well, I