The Martyr’s Curse

Epilogue

Nineteen days after the operation to put his shoulder back together, Ben was ready to leave hospital. Dressing took a long time, with his arm in a sling and thirty-five stitches pulling whenever he moved. But it felt good to be getting out of here.

‘I suppose you’ll be going home now,’ Silvie said on her final visit to his room.

He replied, ‘I don’t have a home.’

Silvie looked as if she’d been expecting him to say that. ‘But I do,’ she said. ‘Nothing special, but I’d like you to come and live in it with me until you get your strength back. You need someone to look after you.’ She smiled and added in another tone, ‘Besides, I kind of like your company.’

‘What about your job?’ he asked.

‘I quit. Decided to move out of my apartment, too. Fresh start, new job. Full-time in charge of getting you fully recovered.’

‘With just one arm?’ he said, eyeing her sling.

‘Hey, I’m not Superwoman for nothing, you know.’ She looked at him. ‘What do you say, Ben?’

He said yes.

They spent the next six weeks together. Silvie had rented a small beachside place in the Bay of Biscay, near La Rochelle, where she’d spent part of her childhood. As Ben gradually regained his strength, they went walking on the beach, watching the boats and the sunsets over the bay, and joking about how they could still hold hands with their good arms. Her sling came off soon afterwards. Ben was healing well, and not long after that, the doctors said he could start doing without his. His shoulder was very stiff at first, but with time and exercises, full mobility would eventually return.

In the meantime, they had nothing but the warm days, the sea, and the tasty French dishes Silvie regaled him with, to build up his strength and put back on the weight he’d lost. And they had each other. Gentle days, tender nights. For a time, it seemed as if it could go on for ever.

But they both knew that wouldn’t happen. It was too good a thing to spoil it.

One sunny August morning, Silvie woke to find him gone. His sudden departure came as no surprise to her, and she smiled when she read his note. All it said was:

Where he’d gone, she had no idea and didn’t try to guess. She didn’t know if she’d ever see or hear from him again, and tried not to think about it too much.