by Agnès Ruiz
“Do you really think you’ll find favour by camping out in my living room?” she asked, deciding to avoid the usual explanation of the small age gap between Zoé and her.
It was becoming tiring. Particularly as she had no intention of justifying herself to this stranger. Neighbour or not, she had no reason to know more about him, nor him about her. She had no relationship with the majority of those who lived in her building, and it suited her just fine. She wouldn’t do any different with this newcomer. Just as well he understood that now.
“I’m worried that through your negligence, my ceiling will fall on my head”, he announced, this time with a squeaking voice.
“Is it that bad?” she panicked.
“I repeat, come and see for yourself.”
Joanna agreed. After all, she only had to go one floor below.
She should get changed. Finally, she reckoned that she would only make a quick return trip. Just to check out what he was talking about, likely exaggerated by her neighbour, then come back home to call a plumber or a plasterer or some other repairer that proved necessary.
“As long as it doesn’t cost me and arm and a leg”, she considered. Her home insurance would undoubtedly cover the cost, anyway. She wasn’t at fault. She couldn’t be...
7
When her downstairs neighbour closed the door to her flat behind her, she suddenly felt uneasy, as nobody knew she was there. Not even her daughter, who would undoubtedly need an eternity before she realised she was absent.
It wasn’t a cheerful thought. What if he were a serial killer? Was he really just a simple tenant? People tended to trust handsome men like him...
Without thinking, Joanna tightened her bathrobe around herself, like armour. The man seemed to think nothing of it. He moved forward and they found themselves in the living room. The room was a complete shambles.
She could have thrown an unkind comment, or had a dig at him. He stalled, and abruptly turned towards her.
“It looks like a poltergeist has been doing Zumba in here.”
Better and better, Joanna thought. It was he who was joking. Was that the only explanation, then for the state the room was in?
Then, she noticed two buckets on the floor. In an almost automatic movement, she lifted her eyes up to the ceiling and a horror show suddenly appeared. Yes, there definitely was, not one, but several leaks. And it was coming from her flat, without a doubt.
“Oh, my God!” she cried.
She stepped back to grasp the full size of the damage.
“I think a plumber would be the most likely to be able to do something about that.”
Joanna frowned, looking back at him. Then she remembered his exclamation. He was using sarcasm! Great!
“You should have come earlier”, she finally grumbled, her features full of criticism.
“I only got back yesterday. The damage was already done... I moved the furniture whilst waiting to speak to you. And I took photos.”
“Irrefutable proof of my guilt”, she announced, harshly.
“That’s not how I saw it. It’s more convenient for the insurance.”
Joanna carefully walked around the room, suddenly ashamed. The sofa was clearly useless. It was just below, and even though he had only moved it now, it would still be useless. A bookcase had been moved, and was currently in the middle of the living room. She hoped his books hadn’t been touched. He had a lot. She wanted to go behind it to continue her observation and put her hand on the shelves.
“Be careful”, she heard.
A moment later, she felt the neighbour pull her back and she cried out in surprise. She bounced off the sofa and was sprawled out over him on the floor. They realised only then that it was the falling bookcase that crushed them against the sofa. The books escaped like imps from a box. One of them, a dictionary, hit a plaster stand which was holding a fern. They couldn’t do anything to stop the pillar from collapsing onto the neighbour’s right leg. The plant and its pot fell just near Joanna’s arm.
Then came the silence. A calm, only disturbed by the dripping sounds of the drops from the ceiling which still fell with a surgical regularity into the buckets.
“Is everything OK?” Joanna finally heard.
She regained her senses and got up, aware that everything was OK, indeed. The flat was even more of a disarray, but OK... It was nothing compared to what could have happened. Crushed by a bookcase. Yuck! She winced. She had always loved reading, not to the point of dying, though.
“I... I don’t think I am”, groaned the man sprawled out on the floor.
“What is it? Are you hurt?” she panicked.
He nodded in confirmation.
“I don’t think I’m doing so well... my leg.”
Joanna removed the plaster pillar and lifted up the neighbour’s trouser-leg.
“It’s broken!” she spluttered.
Unable to look at it, she turned away and felt a violent retching. She just about managed to stop her stomach from unleashing itself on the floor.
“What is it? Do you not feel well? Call an ambulance. You need to be looked over.”
Joanna turned back to face him. She must have been as white as a sheet, but she gave him a faint smile.
“You’re worried about me? Really?”
“You looked as though you were about to faint”, he said.
8
He looked deeply into her eyes, checked her over with care. Joanna suddenly felt terribly vulnerable. How was it possible? She was fine: shaken but unscathed. He had an open fracture. She could see a bone sticking out. That was what had made her retch. He was worried about her. She couldn’t turn back. The world had turned upside-down. Since when had anybody worried about her that much, really?
“Are you always like that? Worried about others whilst forgetting about yourself?”
He groaned and closed his eyes. She understood he was in pain and didn’t want to admit it. What good does talking about it do? She was annoyed at herself.
“I’m going to get dressed then take you to the hospital”, she announced.
“No... wait.”
“No, I won’t be long.”
She failed to say “don’t move”, but pulled herself together just in time. No doubt he wouldn’t appreciate it. But then... what did she know about him? So little. The experience could have been interesting any another time.
As promised, Joanna returned at least ten minutes later. Her long brown hair was tangled and still damp from her bath. She had removed her bathrobe to put on jeans in no time, and a blue t-shirt, showcasing sport and the seaside. Her bag under her arm, she leaned towards her neighbour.
“I’ve brought backup, my daughter, Zoé.”
“You’re not pulling any punches anyway”, Zoé commented as she eyed up the room. “Awesome decor!”
This time, Zoé seemed to appreciate that her mother had disturbed her to call for help. She observed everything around her, almost laughing at the monstrous damage.
“Ok, Zoé, we’re not here for sightseeing. Take his right arm.”
“Yes, yes... all right.”
“Ready to get him to my car?” Joanna asked, concentrating on her movements.
Her neighbour hid that he’d already tried to hoist himself up by crawling towards the armchair. It had been a dismal failure, doubled with an excruciating pain which radiated throughout his whole body.
He nonetheless felt that it would be much easier this time, with the young woman and her daughter. They also could have called an ambulance. He was so disgusted. After all, it was only a broken leg... The ambulance men surely had better things to do than coming here while another option was conceivable...
“Let’s go!” he confirmed, gritting his teeth.
He soon found himself standing up, his weight resting on his left foot. He wasn’t going far, anyway.
“Can I go back now?” Zoé asked, no longer interested by what was happening.
“Thank you for your help”, the neighbou
r replied, with a grin.
“No, Zoé, not yet”, Joanna interrupted.
“Why? I’ve got stuff to do.”
“It won’t be long, I promise you. I would just like you to help me get him to my car. After that you can go back to the flat.”
“There’s no way you’ll be able to take him in your yogurt pot! You might end up breaking his other leg, it’s so small!”
“Because it’s too small”, Joanna automatically replied. “Anyway, it’s not that small. And we can push the seat back as far as possible.”
“Or take my car?” the neighbour suggested, suddenly worried.
“Why would I drive your car? No, it’s useless. Mine will be fine, I tell you. At worst, you’ll get in the back. Yes, that’s a very good idea,” she judged, as if she was talking to herself.
The neighbour pointed out where his documents were, and Joanna placed them in her hand bag without any further ado.
Stumbling along, they got to the pavement. They settled him on the seat then Joanna slipped behind the wheel. Zoé had already left with her earphones back in, and did not even hear her mother ask her to let her friend Linda know to cancel their night out.
Joanna entered the traffic. Her neighbour apologised for ruining her evening.
“Why do you say that?”
“I heard you with your daughter. You had other plans rather than driving a lame duck to the hospital.”
“You too”, she shot back.
“Yes, mop up my floor and throw out my mouldy sofa.”
“You are becoming unpleasant.”
“It’s because of my leg, it hurts like hell”, he argued.
For a moment Joanna wondered if he was joking, or if he was exaggerating the damage in his flat as much as he was about the state of his health.
Nonetheless, she was responsible for it all: the leak and the fracture. After all, it was she who knocked over the bookcase and unleashed everything that happened...
She assured him that she would compensate him and that her insurance would cover everything necessary. She would more than likely have additional costs, she thought. She should postpone her kitchen renovation. It wasn’t the first time. Last year it was because of the poor revenue at the seaside hotel. She preferred to lower her salary. Her brother thought it was a good idea. He didn’t go as far as doing the same. Her father welcomed her move and made an effort on his part, too.
This year, at least, for the peak season, they could employ the same staff thanks to their trivial savings, she enthused. Anyway, her kitchen could wait another year. Now, she told herself that she would wait as long as necessary. She reproached herself for not having an expert check everything sooner, because her plumbing was indeed showing warning signs. She had been negligent to concentrate on more important things, always more important...
9
A curious silence filled the car. Joanna was suddenly worried about the loss of sound and wondered if he was still there.
“You think I’d jumped out onto the road?” he reasoned, in a muted voice.
“No need to be rude. I wanted to make sure you were OK. That’s all. I couldn’t hear you anymore”, Joanna scowled.
“Sorry”, the young man begrudgingly agreed. “Calm down, I’m not dead... Not yet.”
“Oh, please, it’s not funny!”
“I know...”
Some time went by before they continued:
“I shouldn’t have... It’s just that... I’m in so much pain and I’m trying to concentrate on not telling you to step on it.”
“We’re here.”
Joanna arrived at the roundabout. She indicated to change direction towards the main entrance of the emergency room of the hospital in the Côte Fleurie.
She had made it in record time, she estimated.
Quickly, her neighbour was taken in and Joanna was asked to move her car which was blocking the traffic.
She could have left. However, she still felt responsible. She could at least stay until he had a room. After seeing the open fracture, she guessed he wouldn’t be going home today.
She found an empty space then went back.
“Your husband is with the doctor”, she heard upon her return.
“He’s not my husband”, she shot back.
“Whatever. You can admit him. He told us you have his documents.”
Joanna blushed when she realised the employee was right. She had forgotten, only concentrating on the fact that they had taken her for his wife. Perhaps the nurse still thought she was his girlfriend and not his neighbour? However, Joanna thought it best not to comment on their relationship. In the end, it was of little importance. She would complete the hospital registration as well as she could, according to the information she could find in his wallet.
She was told how to find the admission office. Of course she could not answer the personal questions, especially who his next of kin was, just in case.
“But he is conscious. You can fill in this part as soon as he is available”, Joanna said.
The woman confirmed and asked her to wait for him to come out of the examination by the emergency doctor.
“You can go to the waiting room.”
Joanna agreed. Her night out had gone down the drain, anyway, no pun intended. She thought about the bathtub that she had left full. Should she ask her daughter to empty it? Suddenly, a horror scene filled her thoughts. It would result in filling the pipes even more and cause the neighbour’s ceiling to cave in. Better to not touch anything until a specialist was called in, she guessed, shivering over nothing but that nightmarish thought.
She pulled out her mobile phone and dialled the number of the plumber who usually worked at the seaside hotel. He was a reliable professional, even if he was quite expensive. She couldn’t allow herself to be stingy right now. The damage was already substantial. She left him a message on his voicemail.
Finally, her neighbour returned and she stood up to meet the emergency doctor.
“Paul? It’s you! Well I never, what a coincidence. I forgot that you worked here.”
They embraced, visibly happy to see each other again.
“Ah, you see. How are you, Joanna? You seem well, not like your husband, or boyfriend?”
Joanna laughed, embarrassed.
“Neither one. He’s my neighbour.”
“And his flat is threatening to cave in”, the man argued, lying on a stretcher.
“Administration has some forms for you”, Joanna informed him, holding his file. “I couldn’t answer all of the questions. We hardly know each other.”
“We don’t know each other at all, you mean”, Guillermo Voily scowled, waving a piece of paper under his nose. “My name is spelt with a ‘y’.”
“Don’t have a go at me; I made a mistake, that’s all.”
The neighbour was still ranting, correcting his forms. Joanna pointedly turned away, rolling her eyes. She happily found herself again with the emergency doctor who smiled at her, visibly pleased that they had met by chance.
“Well, Joanna, I’ll let you both go, I have patients to see... And it’s not even the peak season yet.”
“What’s going to happen to Mr Voily?”
“He will be operated on. And he’ll need his leg in plaster. But it’s a rather nice fracture. No splinters. The x-rays will confirm everything.”
“Pleased to see my dear neighbour has done a good job”, the casualty groaned, closely following their conversation.
“You take care of your papers, Mr Voily-with-a-‘y-and-not-an-‘i’.”
“It means nothing to you what I’m enduring, then, because of you? Are you that insensitive?”
“That’s not what I meant... Of course I’m sorry about everything that’s happened. Does it hurt that much?”
This time, she noticed a small smile on her neighbours face. With that, he was laughing at her expense. How could she reproach him? It was he who was in the most unpleasant position.
10
T
he emergency doctor placed his hand on Joanna’s forearm to attract her attention, and with his head slightly to the side asked:
“Would you like to go eat somewhere with me, one of these evenings? If you are free, of course.”
A smile bloomed on Joanna’s lips, and her heart skipped a beat.
“That would be delightful. Call me.”
She wrote her number on the back of a seaside hotel business card, and gave it to him. They embraced to say goodbye, and he hoped only a brief one, Paul murmured. Joanna laughed, confirming with a simple nod of the head.
“And you, Mr Voily, take care of yourself. I wish you a speedy recovery.”
The doctor left to see another patient before the neighbour could object.
Joanna stayed to observe the way Paul moved through the chaos of the emergency room where suffering and frustration mixed together. A woman went to him to question him about something. He took the time to answer her, indicating a place before steering his new patient towards a consultation room.
“You should watch out for yourself”, she heard behind her.
She looked back at Guillermo Voily.
“What do you mean?”
“He has a crush on you.”
“And that’s bad?”
“Maybe not. Except he likes women too much. That’s all.”
“What do you know?! You don’t even know him. Not to mention that it’s none of your business!”
She hardly appreciated having anybody involve themselves in her private life. Especially a neighbour who was a stranger to her. Yet, an ache in her heart awoke. Perhaps he wasn’t wrong to mention it. Paul was a handsome man. Even in high school he attracted the teenagers. Joanna was not indifferent to his charm. Then, during sixth-form college Paul chose different subjects. They lost each other. Now, she learnt that he’d continued his studies in medicine. And she... she had met her American. She gave birth to her daughter and continued working at the seaside hotel.
A terrible feeling of being at a standstill hit her. Would she stay here forever, in Normandy? She loved her region, its greenery, the sea air and even the waves. The famous rain that everybody laughed at. Undeservedly so, most of the time.
