Even with the smallest of movements, her muscles screamed. It’s so strange to experience pain in all the muscles that I studied with Theodore, she thought.
Pepe brought a towel soaked in hot water. She exclaimed in dismay when she saw the bruises on Lia’s body.
Lia, sitting on the edge of the bed, dropped the clothing in her hand, surprised by the loud noise. “Pepe, please. My heart almost stopped,” Lia said. She no longer had enough strength to pick up the clothing, so instead, she lay on the bed. Her muscles pained as she began to relax.
Pepe lent over Lia, carefully cleaning all the blood and dirt off of Lia’s body with a hot towel.
In very much pain, Lia clenched the bed sheets each time the towel touched her skin.
Pepe, distressed at Lia’s small whimpering sounds, exclaimed, “What is this! You are so cut up and hurt, and you can’t go to a doctor? What do you want me to do if you get more hurt than this?”
Lia knew that Pepe spoke only from a place of love. She remembered Betty, and how she would scold her the exact same way. Lia smiled through the pain at the fond memories. “I’m just bruised. It looks bad, but it doesn’t hurt that much,” Lia said, trying to sound like she was not in as much pain as she was.
“I promised the head maid. If there is even a single wound on you…!”
“It’s okay, Betty isn’t here. I brought this on myself,” Lia said, trying her best to console Pepe, but her tears would not stop.
Glancing into the mirror, she understood why Pepe was crying. Even by Lia’s standards, the cuts and bruises that coated her body, looked terrible. Her pale skin did her no favours at that time, everything standing out starkly.
As Pepe began to clear the wounds around Lia’s ribs, she cried out in pain, “Pepe, stop.”
“Does it hurt there?” Pepe asked.
“Yes, it does. It’s really bad there, it hurts a lot.” Pepe panicked a little and didn’t know what to do. “I’ll go get another towel,” Pepe said, moving towards the door.
But before she could leave, the door swung open to reveal Claude standing there. He looked down on Pepe’s teary face before his eyes landed on Lia laying on the bed.
“Let me take a look,” he said, walking towards the bed.
Lia, surprised to see him in her home, clutched the sheets more tightly, her knuckles going white.
“How….?” Lia asked.
“I was waiting outside, I wanted to see how you were doing. But when I heard screaming and crying, I thought I should come to take a look. I thought I might be able to help.”
He sat on the side of the bed where Pepe had been sitting a minute ago. His fingers gentle, he pushed around her swollen bruised ribs.
“Please stop, it hurts!” Lia said, crying out in pain.
“I need to make sure they aren’t broken because if they are, we have to call a doctor.”
“No doctors…”
“I know that you don’t like them, but it might be necessary.”
Lia bit her lips and held back her moans. The area was inflamed and the skin around her bruise was white.
Claude gently pressed down on her wound with his palm. “Is it hard to breathe?” he asked.
“A little difficult, but not too bad.”
“How about the pain?”
“It hurts…. It really hurts.” Lia didn’t want to sound weak, but the pain was too much to deny.
Claude looked down at her, saying, “It seems like it’s cracked. It’s not broken, so relax.”
As soon as Claude moved away from her, Lia put on a shirt that Pepe had brought for her. She almost cried out in pain as she moved, but she didn’t want to show it. Why did he come here? Perhaps he came to ask me again if I am the lady he saw?
Claude stood watching Lia button up her shirt.
“Stop moving around. You need to lie down. Tell your maid to bring you something for inflammation.”
“Okay….”
“I’ll wrap your bandage, if you would let me?”
“I would prefer if you didn’t,” Lia said. She swung her legs to the side of the bed, tears forming in her eyes from the effort.
Claude helped her sit up straight. Unable to help himself, he stroked her back, and Lia’s mouth dried at his slowly moving hand.
“I’m…. not the lady you’re looking for,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Claude nodded as if he believed her, even smiling warmly. “To be honest, I don’t care if you’re that lady or not.”
“Then why are you here?” Lia asked.
At that moment, there was a tap on the window. They both glanced in the direction of the sound.
It was late into the night, and rain began to fall. Thick waves of water fell from the sky, blanketing the city.
“Start the fire,” Claude said to Pepe who was still standing at the door to the bedroom.
She did as she was told, starting the fire in the fireplace.
Claude’s hands guided Lia back down onto the bed. Hair covered his face, but Lia could see that his blue eyes were trembling.
“I need a witness.”
“A witness?”
“The doctor ran away. The police believed everything he said.”