Chapter 10 #3
Dominique ran from one meeting to the next all day, with constant interruptions about the wedding.
She felt like a juggler in the circus, and spent every day putting out fires.
She had been managing to call Marie-Aurélie every day, and she and Clément were blissfully happy and busy planning their wedding.
He had found an enormous villa to rent in Saint-Tropez, and they were all going to stay there for the wedding.
Saint-Tropez would be crowded in July, but also fun with great restaurants, discos, and bars with lively people-watching.
Marie-Aurélie told her the villa looked fabulous in pictures.
Dominique was really looking forward to the trip and to seeing her mother so happy.
Marie-Aurélie was excited to be a first-time bride, and Dominique thought it was sweet.
Clément was taking wonderful care of her.
The ankle was slowly healing, and hopefully by July she’d be able to dance at her wedding.
There were no serious problems with Felicity’s wedding, just a million details to oversee. She had found Felicity distracted and distant for the past month. Pre-wedding stress was clearly getting to her and setting her on edge.
* * *
Violet, on the other hand, was having a ball.
She and Jamie were out constantly, going to events and seeing their friends, and introducing each other to their respective social circles.
He had taken her to the season openers of both the Yankees and the Mets, and Violet had enjoyed the games thoroughly.
She loved showing off her World Series ring, which was bigger and more unusual than any engagement ring, and suited her better, and no one else had anything like it, which delighted her.
Jamie grew more crazy about her every day. It was a love match to be sure.
* * *
Dominique had just gotten home late from the office.
Bill was due in half an hour, and she had to unpack her groceries.
Her chef was unavailable that night, and she had put together a very casual dinner of some of Bill’s favorite things.
She was going to call it a picnic and set it out on the gleaming counter in her kitchen.
The phone rang while she was juggling his favorite ice cream flavors into the freezer, and she smiled when she heard his voice at the other end.
Since he wasn’t there yet and he was calling, she assumed he was going to be late, which was a relief.
She wanted to take a bath and change before he arrived.
She already knew what she was going to wear, a new pair of lavender jeans with a big casual matching sweater, and she had ballerina flats the same delicate color.
“Wow, I hope your day was saner than mine. Mine has been crazy from beginning to end. And if I get one more email asking me to solve a problem, I’m going to throw my computer out the window,” she said, breathlessly.
“I’ll help you,” he said, dreading what he had to say to her.
He sounded tired. “Well, don’t throw me out the window, but I’ve got another problem to add to your list, a big one.
I’m at the hospital with Eileen,” he said, sounding serious.
“She had a car accident today. She’s going to be all right, but she was very lucky.
She got broadsided by an eighteen-wheeler.
The driver was high on something. She’s got two crushed vertebrae, which is painful as hell.
They have her on a morphine drip and she was in surgery for hours.
The surgery was successful, but it’s a big deal.
We’ll set her up at the house, with a hospital bed and all the equipment she’ll need.
There’s a nursing shortage. She’ll need three shifts a day.
We can probably get one, but I’m going to have to cover part of it, and it’s important, if she slips or falls, or falls out of bed, she could wind up paralyzed, and we can’t let that happen.
So I’m going to be on nursing duty for a while.
I won’t be able to leave the house. Dominique, I’m so incredibly sorry.
There’s nothing I can do. I love you, but I owe her this.
I’ve got to be there to get her through it.
It’s not about romance, it’s about family.
She’s my family, and I can’t let her down.
The kids would never forgive me, and I’d never forgive myself if something happens and I’m not around to make sure everyone’s doing their job.
” Dominique was silent for a moment as she digested what he had just said.
She could hardly object to his taking care of his severely injured wife.
He was doing the right thing, for Eileen, but Dominique was trying to understand what it meant for her.
“It sounds awful,” she said sympathetically, feeling dazed.
“It is. She’s lucky to be alive. And the boys aren’t even here to help me. We could all take a shift then. But for right now, I’m going to be on duty most of the time, to keep an eye on things and make sure no one slips up. I can’t leave the house for a while.”
“I understand. What does that mean for us?” she said softly, feeling selfish and guilty for asking, but she wanted to know.
Bill took a breath before he answered. “Two months, maybe three. If she’s lucky, six weeks.
We have to have her immobilized for now, and then there will be a lot of physical therapy involved.
I can help with that too.” It sounded like a terrible time for Eileen, but it would be hard for him too.
Exhausting and grueling. “I’m going to have to work remotely while this is going on.
” Her heart skipped a beat when he said it.
She knew what he was saying now. There would be no stolen moments.
He wasn’t going to see her at all. “If we see some improvement or find more nurses, I’ll race into town to see you, but the way it looks right now, that’s not going to happen for some time.
Probably more like two months than three, but that will depend on her recovery, and I think six weeks is unrealistic, and they just said it to encourage her.
” And what about encouraging me? Dominique thought.
What was she supposed to do for the next two or three months? Just lead her own life and forget him?
“If you can get away for half an hour or so, I could drive out there and meet you for coffee and a quick kiss,” Dominique suggested gently.
“Of course I want to, but it all depends on how much Eileen can do for herself, and how her recovery is, and if we have enough nurses. For now, I’m stuck.
They don’t know when she’ll get out of the hospital, maybe in a few days, when we have the nurses in place, and I know exactly when I’ll be on duty.
But for now, my love, I’m afraid this is it.
Phone calls and texts and a very lonely couple of months for me too.
I just can’t do anything about it.” Nor could she.
She had no control of the situation. She already wasn’t getting enough of Bill, enough quality time, and she couldn’t do anything about this.
They just had to get through it, one day at a time, and some days would be harder than others.
“I wanted to come into the city to see you tonight, but I’m exhausted.
I’ve been here all day, and I don’t feel right leaving her.
She’s a mess after the surgery. I’m going to stay here.
I’ve got to go back in now, but I wanted to let you know that I can’t come to the city tonight, and God only knows when after this.
Thank you, Dominique, for understanding.
” She felt as though she had just walked into a wall, or fallen off the planet.
She had no idea when she would see him again.
She already knew it wouldn’t be anytime soon.
“I love you,” Bill said softly. “I promise, I’ll come to see you the minute I get a break. ”
“I love you too. Call anytime,” she said, her eyes full of tears he couldn’t see.
“I will, I promise, and the minute I can get loose here, I will.” She knew he would, but when? And in this grave situation, she had no claim on him at all.
He hung up a minute later to go back to Eileen, and Dominique sat in her kitchen, staring into space.
She went and took a pint of rocky road and a pint of cookie dough ice cream out of the freezer and one spoon, took the tops off the containers, and started eating.
She didn’t need a fancy chef, or a nurse.
She just needed him. The prospect of not seeing him for two or three months had hit her hard.
Harder than either of them knew. Eileen wasn’t the only one who had been broadsided by an eighteen-wheeler that day. Dominique had taken the hit too.