The rest of the week went well until Friday. Opening night of the opera season was that night and we had all been working hard that entire week to ensure a successful evening. Everyone, including and especially Carlotta and the managers, wanted everything to be perfect and management was confident that opening night would be unforgettable. Unfortunately, they were correct, for indeed it was unforgettable.
I should have known it would not be a very good day, for I awoke with a headache that Friday morning. I blamed it on nerves and took a couple of aspirin for it before leaving for work. Once I got there, I joined everyone else in getting things ready for the opening. We all worked feverishly and by five o’clock that afternoon, it appeared as though management’s prediction would be borne out. Even Carlotta seemed in a good mood aswe all took a break before setting things up on stage.
At six, we all came back from our break and started setting things up on stage before the doors were to be opened at seven and the curtain rising at eight. At exactly fifteen minutes before seven, we all heard a horrendous crash that came from the ampitheater. We were all absolutely stunned for we could not imagine what that noise could possibly be. Carlotta, especially, seemed shaken. Her face turned an ash-gray color and I was afraid that she would get sick right there on the stage where she was standing. One of the stagehands finally peeked out from behind the curtain and then exclaimed, “Oh, mon Dieu! Oh,mon Dieu!”
Carlotta, at this point, could no longer restrain herself. She walked up to where the stage hand stood, pushed him aside and opened up the curtain to look out. She drew her breath in sharply and then, putting her head in her hands, said softly, “I knew this day was too good to last. I should have known something was going to happen!”
I was more curious than frightened so I went over to where she was standing and opened the curtain to peek out and I will never forget that sight. The enormous crystal chandelier which had hung so majestically from the ceiling was now on the floor of the ampitheater, shattered into a million pieces. “Oh, my God!” was all I could mutter. Workmen and ushers were running around in every direction, trying to find the cause of this disaster. Finally, I heard one of them shout and point to the ceiling. I looked up to where he was pointing and I saw a large, gaping hole at the spot where it had hung.
Just then, Jean-Baptiste came running up from the stairs that were just offstage on the left. He cried out, “Joseph, I need you and the rest of the stage hands to go out there and help move the chandelier. Carlotta and Roberta, I need you and the rest of the ladies to go to the dressing rooms and stay there until I return.”
“What about tonight’s performance?” asked one of the dancers
from the chorus.Carlotta looked at her disdainfully. “Tonight’s performance
has been cancelled! Come, gentlemen! I need your help!”
With that, Jean-Baptiste turned and went back down the stairs.
Joseph and the rest of the stage hands followed. The rest of us went
back to the dressing room as Jean-Baptiste had ordered.
As we all waited for Jean-Baptiste to return, some of the chorus members changed back,into their street clothes. Others were still in shock and either stood around in small groups of two or three, or they sat down on the few available chairs in that room. All of us could hardly believe what had just transpired.
About an hour later, we heard someone knock on the door. Carlotta called out softly, “Qui est la (Who’s there)?” “C’est moi, Jean-Baptiste. Est-ce-que je puis entrer (It’s me, Jean-Baptiste. May I come in)?” “Bien sur (Of course)!” she said as she opened the door to let him in.
Everyone but myself immediately went up and crowded around
him as he came in the room and began to pepper him with questions.
He put his hand up to silence everyone and then began to answer as best
he could. “Ladies, this has not been a very good opening night but
I assure you that it could have been much worse! First of all, I
would like to thank you for cooperating by coming here to the dressing
room and waiting. That made my job and the job of the insurance inspector
much easier. The second thing I would like to say is that no one
was seriously injured in tonight’s disaster but had this occurred an hour
later, I shudder to think what might have happened. The third thing
I would like to say is that this appears to be just a terrible, terrible
accident. The insurance inspector is still looking around but it
appears that the opera house had a leak either in the roof itself or in
the space between the ceiling and the roof. At any rate, the bolts
holding the chandelier to
the ceiling rusted through and you saw the results of it tonight!”
“The inspector was able to find this out so soon?” Carlotta asked. “He’s still working on it but, yes, Carlotta, he feels that this is what happened.” “How is it that the inspector got here so soon?” I asked from where I was seated. “It seems that the inspector for our insurance company loves opera. In fact, in over thirty years, he’s never missed opening night here at the opera house. fortunately for us, both he and the chief of police were here tonight, standing in line waiting to get in when this all happened.”
“I guess we ARE lucky,” I said softly, slowly shaking my head. Jean-Baptiste continued, “Ladies, there is one more thing I’ve been asked to tell you. Management feels that due to all the excitement as well as with the investigation still going on, that you should all go home and get some rest. Opening night will be postponed until tomorrow night when they...and I...hope things will be settled down. So I must ask you all to please go home and be back here by five tomorrow evening. Carlotta, I’m sure this excitement isn’t good for your voice so I reallly must insist that you go home too and get some rest.”
“As you wish,” she said as she gathered her
things to leave. As if on cue, everyone else did the same and in
a short time, everyone had left the room with the exception of myself and
Jean-Baptiste. After everyone had left, Jean-Baptiste came over to
me and asked, “Are you all right? You look terrible!” “I feel terrible!
I’ve has this headache all day and I really didn’t need this to happen.”
“This was just a horrible accident. You had nothing to do with this
at all. I want you to
go home now and get some rest. Be back here tomorrow evening.
I’ll put the costumes away.”
He closed the door behind me as I left the room. My head was starting to hurt so bad at that point I could hardly see where I was going. As I walked down the hall to go out the door of the opera house, I saw Carlotta stading by the door talking to Andre. As I got closer to the two, I overheard Carlotta say, “You know, in the old days, before they started hiring foreign workers, there weren’t disasters like this!” I thought of saying something but I remembered Erik’s advice and decided to remain quiet. No sense antagonizing her, I thought. She’s not worth it!
I managed to get home that night and went to bed immediately. I wish I could tell the reader that I got some much needed rest but I cannot. As I laid in bed that night, all I could see was that shattered chandelier and Carlotta’s face.
The headache stayed with me all that night
and the next day as well. I stayed in bed for as long as I could
with the curtains to my window closed but nothing seemed to help.
I finally gave up on my efforts to sleep and got up around noon.
The apartment was quiet as I walked to the kitchen. When I went to
the cupboard to get some mint tea, I noticed the note that Mme. Fontaine
had left. The note said that she and the rest of the family would
be out shopping that day and would not be back until late that afternoon.
Good, I thought to myself, I can have some peace and quiet and maybe get
over this headache. After drinking some mint tea and eating some
dry toast, I took some more aspirin and laid down again. My head
felt better after awhile so I got up and got dressed. Since it was
nearly four o’clock, I decided to take a short walk before going to work,
thinking that some fresh air would help my aching head. On my way
out of the apartment house, I picked up my
mail from the concierge. Since I only had one letter, I put it
in my purse and decided to read it after I got to work.
As I walked to the metro station, I noticed my head was starting to hurt worse again. I hoped that my head would feel better as I descended the stairs but the lights in the metro stop just made it feel worse. I finally decided to call the opera house from the metro and let Jean-Baptiste know I would not be in that evening, but when I tried to call, all I got was the operator saying that that number was no longer in service. That’s strange, I thought, I know this is the right number. I’ll just have to tell Jean-Baptiste I’m too sick to work.
I arrived at the opera house at about four-thirty, nearly a half an hour early. Andre let me in and was surprised to see me, and perhaps a little concerned as well. ”Bonjour, madame,” he said as he opened the door for me. Then he added, “You don’t look so good. Aren’t you feeling well?” “Not really, Andre. That’s why I came in early. I hope that maybe Jean-Baptiste will let me have tonight off. I tried to call earlier to ask him but I couldn’t get through. The operator said the line was either disconnected or no longer in service.”
He shook his head and said, “We’ve been having problems with the phones all day.The managers had to borrow a cell phone from the insurance investigator just to find a replacement for the chandelier.” “Will they be able to replace the chandelier very soon?” “They don’t think so. The managers want to have something that matches the old chandelier and that might take some time. The workmen did manage to patch the hole in the ceiling, though.”
“That’s good,” I said, putting my hand to my head. “Do you have a headache?” Andre asked. I nodded my head. “I’ve got some aspirin in my desk. Would you like to have some?” “No, thanks. I took some earlier this afternoon,” I replied.
Just then, Jean-Baptiste came into the building. “Bonjour, Andre. Oh, good, Roberta.You’re here early. I need you to help with some last minute mending.” Before I could say anything, he continued, “I realize that you’re not feeling well but this will only take a few moments and then I’ll send you home. Besides, you really should have called in sick.” “I tried to but I couldn’t get through,” I said.
He looked at me with a puzzled look on his
face but Andre spoke up in my defense and said, “The phone lines have been
out all day. Even the managers have had to borrow the insurance investigator’s
cell phone in order to call out.” This time it was Jean-Baptiste’s
turn to shake his head. “So much for the perfect opening night!”
he said as he and I walked down to the workroom. As he opened to
door to the workroom, he said, “A couple of the chorus members pulled the
drawstrings out of their crinolines and Carlotta managed to tear the hem
on her skirt in all of the excitement last night. I’ll work on her
costume if you’ll put the drawstrings back into the crinlolines.
Then I’ll make you some coffee. If you’re still feeling bad,
I’ll send you home after that.Is it a deal?” I nodded and sat down
to work.
I had just finished threading the drawstring through the casing on the second crinoline when Jean-Baptiste returned with two steaming mugs of coffee. I collapsed the crinoline and placed it as best I could into the costume bin along with the other that I had finished and then sat down at the work table. Jean-Baptiste seated himself opposite from me and placed a mug in front of me. As I reached for it, I pulled my hand back and said softly,“That’s right. I can’t have any.” “Any what?” he asked. “Anything with caffeine in it,” I replied. “Why not?” he asked as he sipped his coffee. “I promised I wouldn’t drink anything with caffeine anymore.” “Promised who?” he asked. “A friend,” I replied. “Why doesn’t this friend want you to give up caffeine?” he asked. “My friend has his reasons,” I replied.
Just then, Carlotta appeared at the door. “Jean-Baptiste,” she cried, “I need your help.I may have broken the zipper on this dress.” As he stood up and took the dress she had draped over her arm, she saw me and said, “You! What are you doing here, toad?” Before she could say anything more, Jean-Baptiste took her arm and said, “Let’s go to your dressing room and see what we can do with this, shall we?” He led her out of the room and closed the door behind them as they left.
I sat back for a moment and tried to relax. The coffe was still warm and I could smell its wonderful aroma. I nearly reached out to pick up the mug Jean-Baptiste had placed before me but I stopped myself. No, Roberta, you promised, I thought to myself. Then, to distract myself, I reached for my purse and took out the letter I had placed there earlier that afternoon.
Even though it was a letter from my daughter, it was probably a mistake to open it and read it. Normally, I would have been overjoyed to hear from my daughter and had I been feeling better, I would have been ecstatic since I had not heard from her in several months but reading the news she had written combined with my headache literally sent me reeling.
I do not remember much of that late afternoon in early October but I do remember seeing a bright flash and then the room growing dark. I also remember feeling hands on my shoulders and hearing a voice that said soothingly, “Steady, Roberta.” In addition, I remember feeling a strong set of arms around my waist and being led downstairs, but other than that, nothing.
I woke up sometime later in a place I had never been before. I was in a room, perhaps the size of a small bedroom that was sparsely furnished with only the cot I was lying on, a small table and a chair. The only source of light was a single candle placed in the middle of the table.
“You’re safe here. Rest, now,” a voice said just as soothingly as before. I felt a cool hand stroke my forehead. It took me a moment but then I realized that I was with Erik. “Where am I?” I asked, my voice sounding somewhat hoarse.
“You’re with me. We’re in my...office,
you might say.” “Where’s that? Oh, my head,” I moaned as I
put my hand on my head. “Be quiet now,” Erik said as he put a cold,
damp cloth on my forehead. Then he touched my ankles, and after finding
them cold, he took off my shoes and began to massage my feet. He
stopped after a moment, got up and left the room. He returned after
some minutes holding a hot water bottle. After wrapping it in
a handtowel, he placed it on my feet. He then left the room again.
He came back a few minutes later with a folded blanket draped over his
arm. He unfolded it and put it on me and then said, “I’ll be back
later. Stay in bed, now and rest.” He turned, took the candle
and left the room leaving me in darkness. Strangely enough, I was
not frightened by all of this. The darkness,combined with the cold
cloth on my forehead and the warmth of the hot water bottle and blanket
all seemed soothing somehow and I felt like I was a child again being cared
for by a concerned parent.
I must have fallen asleep for I woke up sometime later just as Erik came back into the room. “Good, you’re awake! How do you feel?” he asked as he placed his two bags and candle on the table which was next to the bed.
As he lit the candle, I replied, “A little better.
What time is it?” I took the cloth off my head. It had gotten
warm and was just slightly damp. I must have kicked the hot water
bottle of my feet at some point because Erik leaned down and picked it
up off the floor near the foot of the cot I was lying in. “A little
past seven,” Erik answered as he returned to the table and began to take
the
things out of the bag.
“Oh, good. I haven’t slept that long.
Maybe I can still go upstairs and see if Jean-Baptiste needs me for anything
before the performance,” I said as I took the blanket off and sat up on
the edge of the cot. “Seven in the morning,” Erik said quietly as
he poured some 7-Up into a cup for me to
drink. “Seven a.m.?!” I exclaimed and I started to get up quickly
but I was just as quickly reminded as to why I had sleeping on the cot
in the first place because my head and my stomach started to protest my
sudden actions rather violently.
“Now take it easy! You’ll just make yourself
worse!” he said as he put his hands on my
shoulders and forced me to sit back down on the cot. “Here, take
this,” he said as he handed me the cup of 7-Up. “It will settle your
stomach.” I took the cup and began to drink from it. He continued,
“Now, not too fast. You’ll make yourself sick even more than you
are now.” I obeyed and began to sip at the carbonated beverage instead
of draining the cup, which is what I had intended to do. “There,
that’s better. I also brought you some water biscuits as well to
help settle your stomach. I took the liberty of calling your French
family to let them know you’re all right. I also called the company’s
doctor and set up an appointment for you later on this morning. This
company is very fortunate to have such a doctor. Most doctors in
France don’t work on Sundays.”
“Why are you doing this for me?” I asked as I finished drinking the 7-Up. Taking my cup and refilling it from the large bottle, he replied, “I know what it’s like to be in need and not have even one friend around to count on. Besides,” he continued as he handed me the refilled cup, “I told you I would be your guardian angel.” He leaned over and grabbed the box of water biscuits (those are crackers, for those of us born on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean). He opened the box and took out a package of biscuits, still wrapped in cellophane. He unwrapped the biscuits, handed me one and said, “You’ll have to excuse my fingers. I don’t usually entertain guests in the room I work out of.”
“You work here? Doing what?” I asked as I took the biscuit from his hand. “I am the company’s exterminator,” he replied. “But I thought you said you had sung with the company,” I said, somewhat puzzled as I ate the biscuit. “I did,” he replied softly with a sad tone to his voice. “But why are you working here as an exterminator now?” I asked as he began to put everything back into the bags on the table.
“That’s a long story. Perhaps I’ll tell it to you sometime, but for right now, I need to get you to the doctor’s. Can you put your shoes back on?” I nodded and he continued, “Can you walk by yourself?” I nodded again and he continued, “Let’s go then.” He held out his arm for me to take and we left the room, taking the bags and the candle with us.
As we started out, I said, “I know that I asked this earlier, but where are we?” “We’re on the lowest level of the basement, next to the lake,” he replied softly as he led me to a small boat tied to a ring that was attached to a pylon at the water’s edge. “A boat? I don’t remember getting on a boat when I came down earlier,” I said very softly, more to myself than to anyone else, as Erik got in and held my arm to steady me as I, too, stepped in the boat and sat down on the bench seat.
“Do you remember much of last evening?” he asked as he leaned down to untie the boat. He then retrieved the pole that was on the floor of the boat, and sticking it into the water, he began to propel the boat back at first and then, putting the pole into the water on the other side of the boat, began to propel us forward away from the side of the lake we were on towards the other side.
“Not very much at all. I only remember being led downstairs. Where are we going?” I said in reply to his question. “To the other side of the lake. We’ll be able to get out of the opera house from there,” he replied as he propelled the boat along. “I thought there were only two entrances to the building, one for the public and one for the rest of us to use,” I said, as I tried to see through the darkness to what I hoped was our destination.
He chuckled softly and then said, “There are more entrances than those and most of those even the managers don’t know about.” I turned around as he was standing in the boat behind me and looked up at him. He must have seen alarm in my face because he quickly added, “Now there’s nothing to be concerned about. I use these entrances to go about my work undisturbed. It’s hard enough to catch rats around here as it is and the last thing I need is to have management poking its’ nose in my business anytime they feel like it.”
I turned back around and closed my eyes.
The sudden movement had made my headache worse and I had no desire to pass
out again. We reached the other side of the lake and Erik eased the
boat to where it would come up to the side of the walkway which was on
the boat’s left side. He got out of the boat and tied it to the pylon
itself as there was no ring to tie it to. He then extended his hand
to me and helped me out of the boat. Then we walked on the walkway until
we came to a small door. He opened it and we through it and stopped
for a moment so he could light the candle again as it had gone out while
we were on the lake. As he did so, I could see that we were at the
foot of a long flight of stairs leading up to another door. We ascended
the stairs and when we came to the door, he opened it and we walked though
the doorway into a short hallway that ended
at yet another door. We continued and walked up to it and as
Erik opened it, he asked, “How are you doing? Will you make it?”
“I think so. The darkness seems to help
my headache a little. I’ve never been in this part of the opera house
before,” I replied as we walked through the doorway. “We have just
now left the opera house. As you can see, we’re now in one of the
thousands of steam tunnels underneath Paris. These tunnels criss-cross
and traverse under all of Paris. Most of these are very old, some
dating back to the time of the Paris Commune. I often use these tunnels
as shortcuts from the opera house to the other businesses that I have contracts
with,” Erik explained as we entered what seemed to be an extremely
long corridor. Although the corridor was quite dark and our way lit
only by the candle Erik had brought with us, it seemed pleasantly warm,
no doubt due to the steam
pipes that formed the walls on both sides of us.
“You have contracts?” I asked softly as we continued walking, the copper pipes glistening from the dim light the candle cast about us. “Yes,” He answered softly, “I work as an exterminator not only for the opera house but for the Cafe de la Paix, two boulangeries and an epicerie not far from where you live.That’s how I know where you live. I see you out and about on occasion when I’m doing my rounds.”
“Your rounds?” I asked. “Yes,” he replied, “I have to set my traps every day and so I’m kept quite busy going between my...clients, you might say. I don’t get paid very much but one boulangerie and the epicerie give me good discounts on their produce and the money I make meets my needs adequately. Good, we’re nearly there,” he finished saying as we came to still another door.
“Nearly where?” I asked as he opened the door and we walked through the doorway. “Why, nearly to the doctor’s, of course. Look, I know that this seems to be a rather strange route to take but I thought that this might be easier on your eyes than taking the metro or a taxi,” he said as we started ascending yet another flight of stairs.
I suppose so,” I said as we went up the stairs. My
head was starting to hurt so bad again that I really did not care how we
got to the doctor’s office. When we got to the door at the top of
the stairs, Erik opened it and we entered into a room with more pipes on
the walls and what appeared to be a large furnace. “We’re in the
furnace room right now. When we go through that door, we’ll be in
the basement proper of the building where he office is located. The
building is nearly always
well-lit so you may want to brace yourself,” he said as he opened the
door leading into the rest of the building. He was not joking, because
when he opened the door, the furnace room was flooded with light.
My eyes had become so accustomed to the dark on our trip to the doctor’s
that I had to cover them when he opened the door. Even so, it was
not enough for I cried out in pain and started to fall when Erik grabbed
me by the waist and said, “I have you. Hold on to my arm. We’ll
take it slow and easy to the doctor’s.”
We walked slowly out of the room and walked down a hallway to the elevators. Erik, still holding on to me, pressed the elevator button, and in a moment, the elevator doors opened and we walked into it. He pressed another button, the doors closed, and we rode up. It soon stopped and we got out. He led me down another hallway to a door made of opaque glass, opened it and we walked into the doctor’s waiting room. Leading me to a chair, he made me sit down, and after ringing the small desk bell, he sat down in the chair next to me. A moment later, a gray-haired gentleman appeared. Erik rose and walked over to him and they conversed for a few minutes. Then the gray-haired gentleman walked over to where I was seated. My head was hurting so bad at that point that all I could do was put my head in my hands.
“Madame,” the gray-haired gentleman said, “I am Dr. Leblanc. This man tells me that you are quite ill with a headache. Is that true?” “Oui, monsieur,” I replied. “Tell me, where does it hurt exactly?” he asked. “Mostly on the right side, behind my right eye, but it seems to spread out all around,” I replied.
“Is the pain constant?” He asked. “Oui, but sometimes it seems to hurt a little less than other times,” I answered. “Describe the pain to me,” he said quietly. “At times it’s a stabbing pain and then it will subside into a dull ache,” I said. “Was there anything unusual about this headache?” he asked. “I don’t think so. Oh, wait,” I said, trying to think through the pain, “I saw a bright light just before I started to faint.”
“Hmmm...just as I thought. Madame, you seem to have what is known as a classic migraine headache. I have some medication you can take. It’s two pills--one for the pain and the second is for the nausea.” I shook my head and said, “Monsieur, I don’t think I can take that medication. I’ve tried it before and I end up vomiting and in worse pain than before.” “Well then, about all I can do is to give you a shot of some very strong pain killer but I must say that I hesitate to do so, for I am not sure how you will be able to get home. You will be unable to drive or even walk for very long,” the doctor said softly with a kind note to his voice.
“I will make sure she gets home safely, monsieur le docteur,” Erik spoke up. “Very well, monsieur. Bring her to my examination room and I will prepare the shot,”the doctor said as he started walking toward the examination room. Erik walked over to me and, taking my arm, we followed the doctor. We walked into the room at I found it was similar to every other examination room I had been in. It had the usual examination table, a small desk, a chair, a metal stool, and a dressing area in the corner. “This won’t take long,” the doctor said as he prepared the shot. After he finished doing that, he then said, “You’ll have to pull down your slacks and panties.” I did as the doctor asked and I noticed in doing so, that Erik turned his head away from me. Always the gentleman, I thought as I pulled my things down. The doctor continued, “You may want to bend over and take a deep breath. This might sting a little.”
I leaned over and, holding onto the edge of
the table, I breathed in sharply as the doctor administered the shot.
I dislike shots immensely and this one was no different. I felt the
pain of the needle and a burning sensation radiating out from my buttocks
going down first to my right leg and then my left. Probably darvon,
I thought as the burning subsided. “There. All over now,” the doctor
said as he disposed of the needle. Continuing, he said, “I would
ask that you stay in my waiting room for about fifteen minutes to make
sure there will be no adverse effects. Then you can go home,”
Turning to Erik, he said, “Make sure she gets home all right. Does
she live alone.”
“No, she’s staying with a family here in Paris.” “Good. Tell them to make sure she stays in bed for at least eight hours, preferably longer.” He then turned to me and said, “There is one more thing I would like to ask you. Do you have these headaches very often?” “More often than I used to,” I replied as I finished buttoning my slacks. “When you’re feeling better, I want you to set up an appointment with me. There might be some ways you can keep this from happening so often. You may go and sit down in the waiting room now,” and he then motioned for me to go back into the other room.
Erik and I walked back to the waiting room and sat down. I could feel the shot taking effect already because the pain in my head began to subside and my eyes did not seem to be as sensitive to the light coming from the table lamps in the room. I was feeling drowsy so I put my head back and must have fallen asleep because Erik nudged me at what seemed like only a few minutes later. He said softly, “The doctor feels that it would be safe now for you to go home. I’ve already taken the liberty of calling a taxi. It should be here any moment and will be meeting us at the front of the building. Are you able to get up and walk?”
“I think so,” I said as I tried to get up from the chair I had been sitting in. Erik, who had been standing over me, then took my hand and helped me out of the chair. After helping me put my jacket on, he then led me out of the doctor’s office. As we walked down the hallway to the elevator, I stopped and said, “This shot is really effective. I forgot to pay the doctor. I really should go back.”
As I turned to go back to the doctor’s office, Erik grabbed my arm and said, “There’s no need. I’ve already paid him.” “What?! Erik! You shouldn’t be doing that!” “Now, now,” he said with a smile on his face, and then seeing that I was somewhat put out, he added, with a firmer tone in his voice, “You’re in no shape right now to do anything. When you’re feeling better, you can reimburse me but for now, you need to go home and get some rest. We’re nearly at the elevator and I don’t want to keep the taxi waiting. We can settle this later.”
I looked at him for a moment and the shook my head and said very softly, “You win this round anyway. I’m in no shape to argue with you. Let’s go.” We continued down the hallway until we got to the elevator. We got in and went down to the ground floor in silence. I had noticed that he was wearing his burn mask instead of the one he had been wearing earlier. I wonder when he changed masks, I thought to myself. It must have been while I was resting in the waiting room of the doctor’s office. I also wonder why the doctor didn’t seem surprised that Erik was wearing a mask. I don’t remember hearing the doctor ask any questions regarding Erik. Or maybe he didn’t even notice. But I wonder how Erik knows him. Erik is just the company’s exterminator. How would he know which doctor to take me to?
With all these questions swirling about in my mind, the pain began to return, although somewhat muted by the darvon. As we entered the small lobby of the building, I looked through the glass doors leading out and noticed a taxi was parked outside. Erik opened the door of the building and, putting his left arm around my waist, he opened the passenger door of the taxi with his right hand. After helping me in and closing the door, he walked around to the other side of the taxi, got in as well, and sat down behind the taix driver. He then gave the address of the Fontaines to the driver and paid him immediately as well.
“Erik, you really don’t have to do this. I
should be able to get home by myself,” I said softly as he sat back in
his seat. “My dear, I promised you that I would be your guardian
angel. Besides, what makes you think you can manage to get home when
you forgot you hadn’t paid the doctor for his
services, can you answer me that?” Even though his voice was
stern, I noticed the twinkle in his eye. I could only shake my head
and smile a little. “I thought so,” he continued, “Let’s get you
home.”
The taxi mad its way to the Fontaines rather quickly. It was still Sunday morning and traffic was somewhat light,even thought it was nearly ten o’clock. The traffic would not get very heavy until noon when everyone would either be coming back from Mass or would be going out for Sunday dinner. “Will the Fontaines be home?” Erik asked as the taxi drew next to the apartment building and parked.
I nodded my head and said as we got out of the taxi and walked up to the front door of the apartment building, “Yes. Like most Frenchmen, they only go to Mass twice a year-- Christmas and Easter. I imagine that Mme. Fontaine is making Sunday dinner right now as we speak. Will you be coming in as well?”
He shook his head and said, “I’m afraid this is as far as your guardian angel can take you, but, promise me that you’ll do as the doctor said and go to bed.” I nodded my head as he continued, “My dear, I don’t like to see you like this. After you feel better and come back to the opera house, we can resume our lessons, and no doubt, I will be giving you a lecture on eating right and getting enough sleep. That is, if Bouquet doesn’t do it first.”Then cupping his hands, he placed them on both sides of my face. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me, but he did not. Instead, he only said, “A bien tot. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that, he left me and walked away, silent as usual.
I went into the building and walked up the stairs to the Fontaines’ apartment and went in. As usual, they were only too glad to see me and very concerned as well since they had not seen me for the last two days. However, they could tell immediately that I was in no shape to talk and that all of their questions would have to wait until later. I did as I had promised Erik. I went straight to bed and did not leave it until the next morning.