Henri arrived home from a very boring art gallery soirée. He poured himself a glass of whisky and checked his messages. One from Mimi. He called her number. A male voice answered, not Patrick.

“Can I speak to Mimi?” Asked Henri

“Who is this?” Said the man

“It’s Henri, a friend of Mimi and Patrick” Said Henri

“Aah OK. Hello Henri, Mimi has mentioned you often. This is her father, Raymond. We’ve been trying to contact Patrick since the accident but he’s not answering his phone”

“What accident. What happened? Is she OK?” Asked Henri, shocked.

“A lorry hit her car just as she was entering the main road from the Chateau. They’re still carrying out tests” said Raymond, his voice trembling.

“I’ll try to get hold of Patrick – please send me the details of the hospital” said Henri

Henri finished the call and starting phoning around for Patrick. He had several numbers for him, not just the one that Mimi used. After a few attempts, a woman answered.

“Can I speak to Patrick?”Asked Henri

He heard the woman call Patrick to the phone

“Hello – who’s this?” said Patrick

“It’s me, Henri”

“Why are you calling me on this number?” Said Patrick, obviously annoyed.

“Because your fiancée is in hospital after someone hit her car!!” Said Henri angrily.

Patrick was silent and Henri could hear the sound of waves lapping in the background.

“Are you going to answer Patrick? Where the hell are you?” Henri could hear Patrick talking to the woman in the background.

“Yes, yes. Look Henri can you get to the hospital – I’m tied up here for a while?” Said Patrick

“Obviously”. Said Henri, furious. He ended the call.

Henri threw some clothes into a case. He checked the address that Raymond had sent him and headed out of Paris.

Mimi’s parents were sitting in the corridor when Henri arrived at the hospital in the early hours of the morning. He introduced himself and asked how Mimi was.

“She’s in surgery now. All we can do is wait. Did you reach Patrick?” Said Raymond

Henri lied and said he hadn’t been able to reach Patrick. Mimi’s parents had enough to worry about.

They sat and waited for several hours, drinking coffee and making small talk. Mimi’s mother Genevieve asked again if Henri had managed to contact Patrick. Henri offered some excuse about bad signals and changed the subject.

As dawn was breaking, the surgeon came out of the operating theatre and told them that Mimi had come through the operation successfully but she would need to stay in hospital for another few weeks.

Genevieve burst into tears and Raymond looked shaken. Henri put his arms around them both and held back his tears. The surgeon allowed them a few minutes to see Mimi. Henri waited outside and tried to contact Patrick again, without success.

“How is she?” Henri asked when they came out.

“She’s still sleeping. They said to come back later today” said Raymond

Henri was relieved. He said he would find an hotel but Mimi’s parents insisted he came back to the Chateau. They headed back there and Genevieve made them something to eat and poured them a drink.

“Let’s eat and we’ll go back to the hospital as soon as we’ve had some rest”. Said Raymond.

Still no response from Patrick.