4 He thinks he’s a duke
4
He thinks he’s a duke
Isabella
Two hours later, I’m back at Guy’s Hospital. I haven’t mentioned the accident to anyone in my family because I’m fine and I don’t want to worry them. Plus, they’d ask a thousand questions, and I don’t have the energy for that. I’ll tell them eventually, when it’s all over. Or not, who knows?
I had a quick shower, changed my clothes, ate a sandwich while Duke stared at me with his tail wagging, and told Cinthia everything that had happened.
She also searched for his name on social media. The result was the same as mine: nothing. Cinthia realised how guilty I was feeling and advised me not to get upset, that these things happen. But… I don’t know, it’s not that easy. Someone was hospitalised because of my carelessness. It could have been serious. It wasn’t, but it could have been. My Virgo ascendant won’t let me forget that detail. And I know myself, and I know that I’ll only feel calm when Benjamin is well.
That’s why I’m here, to take a closer look.
I speak to the girl at reception and see a familiar figure at the desk. The nurse is the same one as before, Sam. She recognises me straightaway, smiling as I approach.
“You’re back.”
I nod, smiling at her. “Is he awake?”
“Not yet. If you want to stay with him, visiting hours are until 9pm.”
I look at the clock. It’s 7.15pm.
“Of course, I’ll stay here.”
The woman agrees and beckons me into the wardroom. Benjamin is still asleep, and I’m not sure what to do. I pull up a chair next to the bed and sit down. My palms are slightly sweaty, even though I’m not hot. I once again analyse his masculine face, his thick, drawn eyebrows. However, staring at Benjamin makes me anxious, as if I’m pushing him to wake up. I’d better do something else. Before leaving the house, I decided to bring my e-reader with me. I open it to my latest read and start flicking through the pages.
The story I’m reading is a marvellous book with a Romeo and Juliet vibe, but even that can’t distract me. Every five seconds, I look away from the screen and check on the man lying in front of me. Time passes, seeming to drag on. Soon, visiting hours will be over and I’ll have to leave, which means it’s going to be a long night, because I doubt that I’ll be able to sleep peacefully without knowing how he’s doing. I’m lost in thought when I notice him move.
Benjamin opens his eyes very slowly. He’s sleepy, and it takes him a while to focus on me. He stops for a moment, seeming to recognise me.
“Wasn’t that a dream?” Benjamin mutters.
I get up from my seat and approach him, quietly. I can’t work out whether it’s a question or a statement, but I don’t want to frighten him.
“Benjamin, you’re in hospital,” I say as calmly as I can.
He jumps and reaches to pull out the drip again, but I touch his forearm.
“No! Don’t do that, or they’ll put you to sleep again.”
I sound like a mum talking to a naughty little boy, not a big man like this. Benjamin stops again, looking calmer than before, although frightened. Very frightened. His gaze meets mine in a mixture of confusion and despair. Something touching, which goes straight to my heart.
“I know it’s confusing, but…”
“I don’t understand,” he mumbles.
I’m the one who stops talking now. Has he forgotten what happened before? My God, is his recent memory impaired?
“I’m…”
“Isabella Kato,” he adds. “I remember. Your name is Isabella, and you ran me over with a…” Benjamin hesitates, “scouter, smooter…”
“Scooter,” I say, holding back the urge to laugh. Poor chap. He’s confused and it shouldn’t be funny, but it is.
“Yes, that’s right,” Benjamin continues. “And you also said that it’s 2022. That’s impossible.”
“Why?” I frown.
Benjamin takes a deep breath, his gaze lost in his surroundings, staring at every corner full of astonishment and indignation.
“Because I’m not from that era. Because I have duties, a title, a sister who needs me!”
OK, now I don’t understand anything. What is this madman talking about?
I sit on the edge of the bed.
“What do you mean?”
Benjamin rubs his eyes, then his messy hair. Bending reveals his muscular arms. For God’s sake, the man is panicking in front of me and I’m noticing his fit body.
I need a man yesterday.
“Benjamin, talk to me,” I ask once again.
His brown eyes meet mine again.
“I am Benjamin Gerard Waldorf. I was born in 1785, and I am the Duke of Waldorf.”
A shiver runs down my spine. Jesus, I’ve broken the man with my scooter. He’s out of his mind.
“I think you’re confused, and…”
“I’m not confused! Stop repeating that word. I am who I say I am,” he insists.
“A duke from the past?” I ask. “Like Kate and Leopold?”
“Who?”
OK, it’s hard for a man to understand a reference to a romantic comedy, so I’ll overlook this serious offense.
“Are you telling me you’re a two hundred-year-old duke?”
He nods. I remember the research I did on the tube and then at home. The man I found with his name was indeed a duke, although I didn’t pay attention to the name of the title.
“Wait,” I say, taking my phone out of my pocket. I open Google once more and enter his name. The same result as before appears on Wikipedia, and yes, this Benjamin was the Duke of Waldorf. There’s hardly any information on the page nor any images. I hold out my hand, showing the phone screen.
“This one?”
Benjamin squints, looking lost.
“How do you do that? What kind of book is it that has no pages?”
Book?
“This is a mobile phone .” He still doesn’t understand. I insist, “A phone.”
“What?”
Wow, this guy is taking this thing about being from the past very seriously, to the point of pretending not to recognise objects.
But… he doesn’t seem to be pretending.
I scratch my head. I don’t know what to do or how to respond. I’m still thinking when Nurse Sam appears at the door.
“Ah, you’re awake! How do you feel, are you calmer?”
Benjamin takes a deep breath before answering. “No, I’m not. How can I be calm if I’m in the future?”
The nurse nods slowly up and down. “Future?”
“Yes!” Benjamin continues. “I’m not from here, nor am I from this year. I don’t recognise anything around me; I’m in indecent clothing; and I need to go home!”
She presses her lips together in a thin line, looking at me.
“It’s 9pm. You need to go, but the doctor is here if you want to ask him anything.”
I want to. I have all the questions possible and imaginable.
“Well, I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”
His expression flinches. “To go?” Benjamin asks.
“Yes, Benjamin. Visiting hours are over. Stay here and I’ll be right back to talk to you.” The nurse touches his arm and then leads me down the corridor.
Benjamin and I exchange one last look, and it’s as if he’s asking me to stay. As if I’m the only person he trusts. And then I realise that, if it were up to me, I would stay. That if visiting hours didn’t exist, perhaps I would stay all night so that we could talk calmly until he felt better.
I’m a silly woman, but I can’t help it.
Nurse Sam and I reach the corridor. She walks up to a middle-aged doctor and waits until he has finished talking to another nurse.
“Doctor, I’ve just spoken to the guy who was hit by the scooter,” Sam says.
The grey-haired man looks at her from behind his glasses, taking the clipboard she holds out to him.
“What happened?”
“He thinks he’s from the past,” she tells the doctor. “The tests are normal, but I think he’s confused after the crash.”
The doctor nods, looking at the spreadsheet. He doesn’t seem surprised. If the hospital’s daily routine is anything like those medical TV shows, I imagine this kind of situation is common.
“And you’re with him?” he asks me.
“Yes… well, I was the one who ran him over, so… I guess so.”
“He’ll be discharged tomorrow morning; there’s no reason to keep him here.”
It takes me a while to understand, but the way he talks, it sounds like I’m his chaperone or his carer. Only… I don’t stop being one, do I? At least, until they find some contact details for the guy.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t worry about it.”
He doesn’t seem the least bit worried.
“And what do we do if he thinks he’s from the past?” I ask.
“There’s nothing you can do. The best thing is to wait and, if he doesn’t improve, it’s best to book a psychiatrist and a neurologist.”
So much information. And I can’t help thinking that he’s alone and scared.
I look at Benjamin’s room once more, determined to take a chance.
“Can I talk to him for another fifteen minutes?” I ask the doctor. “I promise not to push it.”
I at least want to say that I’ll be here tomorrow.
He looks at the nurse, then at me again. “Fifteen, and no more than that.”
I let out a breath, agreeing. When I come back into the room, Benjamin is still looking lost. He looks so disorientated that I immediately feel the urge to hug him.
“Benjamin…” I say, and he looks at me. The doctor says there’s nothing we can do but wait, but I wonder if it’s better to help him at this difficult time. Maybe it is. It doesn’t cost me anything to ease his burden. “Or would you prefer me to call you Your Grace?”
He seems surprised by the question and equally relieved. As if someone finally understood him.
“Do you believe me?”
I’m not comfortable lying, but I’m not the priority here.
“I think so. If you want me to treat you like a duke, Your Grace can rest assured.”
The hope that shone in his eyes died instantly. He lets out a humourless laugh.
“No, you don’t.”
Damn it, why do his words touch me so much?
“I believe it,” I insist.
Benjamin just shakes his head.
“Look, I can’t stay here for long, but I wanted to say that I’ll be here tomorrow for your discharge.”
He frowns. “Discharge?”
“Yes, they’ll let you go home.”
Benjamin lowers his gaze, clenching his jaw. “My home is in another city, in another century.”
Silence. Jesus, what a situation. How am I going to console this man? “Where do you live?” I ask.
“The city of Bath. 52 Brock Street.”
I take out my phone and type the address into Google again. The information is that the house is a museum and has been for the last forty-five years. In other words, he doesn’t know where he lives, just as he doesn’t know who he is.
“Right. Look, it says here that it’s a museum… nowadays.”
Benjamin shows no reaction, as if he had already been hit with so much bad news that one more wouldn’t make any difference.
“In other words, I have nowhere else to go.”
Yes, that’s right. Unless…
No, that would be crazy. I may be feeling guilty, but offering to take the guy home would be too much. He’s a stranger who could attack and kill me. Do I want to be in tomorrow’s news? God forbid.
I look at him again. Damn it, why can’t he look dangerous? Why does he have to look so… gentle? And why, God, do I feel like it might not be a bad idea to help him?
Life goes on, I remember Cinthia’s advice.
Life goes on? You’d think so.
What a pain in the arse. That look of disappointment on his handsome face is my undoing.
“You’ve got it,” I say. “Tomorrow, when you’re discharged, I’ll take you to my flat.”
* * *
Benjamin
I stare at Miss Isabella for a moment before speaking.
I really hoped that I was dreaming. That when I woke up, that jumble of names, smells and things was just a delusion of mine. That I would be home, safe, with my sister who is now alone. For heaven’s sake, I need to go back.
I’m not someone who gets carried away by my emotions, even though I’m desperate. I’m trying to act with reason, even if nothing, absolutely nothing , makes sense. How can I deny everything that surrounds me? I don’t recognise these objects, these clothes, this accent. If it’s not a dream, I’m crazy. But am I really? No, I don’t think I am.
I just want the girl in front of me to believe me.
“Your Grace, did you hear me?” she asks me, after a long pause.
The weight of being called that has always had a certain impact on me. In a perfect world, that title would never be mine. However, hearing her treat me in this condescending way causes a bitter taste in my mouth. As if I were a child being spared of the cruel reality.
“I heard you,” I reply. I don’t want to be rude to her. It’s not her fault that I disappeared into time. If someone came up to me and said they were from another time, I wouldn’t believe them either.
I’m not going to insist that she believes me either. I don’t even have the energy to do that.
“You don’t have to try; you’ve been through a lot.” Miss Isabella touches my arm. “Tomorrow, when we get home, we’ll—”
“I can’t go to your house, miss.” She tilts her neck to the side, a gracefully confused gesture. I continue, “I’m not going to bother you or your family.”
“Ah, it won’t be a bother at all. And I don’t live with my family; I live with a friend.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Is your friend a woman?”
“Yes.”
“Is your friend married?”
“No.”
“And you expect me to take shelter with two single women?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “I know you feel guilty about hitting me with a… scooter? But I won’t allow your honour to be ruined. That would be absurd.”
Miss Isabella seems to have realised what she said.
“Wow, that’s true. There’s this honour thing… look, here in the future, you don’t have to worry about that. Nobody cares.”
“Doesn’t anyone care about honour ?” What kind of fate has humanity taken?
“No, that’s not it. We care, but not like we did back then. Today we can live with whoever we want, without worrying so much about reputation,” she explains. “I know it sounds confusing but trust me. Taking shelter with me won’t harm anyone, I promise.” She touches my skin again.
Once again, as much as it doesn’t make sense, I can’t feel anything in her words other than honesty. A shiver runs through my body at the warm touch. A touch of comfort. I don’t know her, but I want her around. Even though she’s lying, she seems to be the most real and tangible thing around me.
She seems to be… worried about me. Really worried.
“Why do you care?” My gaze meets hers. “You’re not responsible for me, miss.”
“I want to help you. I’m sure you’d do the same for me.”
Would I? Yes, I would. I would never let a woman get into trouble if I could help it. The thought reminds me once again of Abigail. I wonder how she is, what she’s doing without me. I’m the only family she has left.
The annoying noise of the overhead box next to me gets faster.
“What happened?” I ask Miss Isabella.
“Are you nervous?”
Yes, of course. How could I not be?
“I thought about my sister. I thought…” I stop talking. Nothing I say will make any difference.
She comes closer, attentive to my face.
“Benj… Your Grace, let me help you. We’ll find your sister or someone from your family, and we’ll sort everything out.”
Isabella doesn’t know what she’s saying, but I understand why she’s saying it. She doesn’t believe me, and I know that because I see pity in her beautiful eyes. But what can I do? If this is a dream or a nightmare (although I strongly suspect it isn’t), one day or another I’ll have to wake up. And if not, what will I do on my own in a totally different world from the one I know?
I’m proud, but not stupid. She’s offering me help, albeit out of pity, and I have no choice but to accept it.
I want to scream, pull my hair out, and punch a wall. But what good will that do? I need to think clearly about how to act. How to find out what the hell happened, and then how to get home to Abigail.
Now, Miss Isabella is my only chance. If pretending to believe that she believes in me is the way back, then so be it.
“That’s fine. I’m very grateful for your help.”
She smiles, a smile that lights up her delicate face, full of relief.
“Excuse me?” The nurse’s voice sounds at the door. “Time to go,” she says to Miss Isabella.
“Right. I have to go, Your Grace, but I’ll see you tomorrow.” She takes her hand and starts to walk away. “Rest, and don’t worry – everything will be fine.”
I agree, even though I’m not so sure.