Between Shadow and Soul
By Mamatots
Chapter 3
SOME ROAD OUTSIDE LONDON
Two Days Ago
"We should get a dog," Villanelle stated pragmatically. "One of those really big ones. What are they called?"
Eve looked up from the map she surveyed, offering, "A Great Dane?"
"No. The poofy ones…with the little barrel," Villanelle gestured toward her neck, taking her hand off of the wheel of the camper van.
"St. Bernard," Eve corroborated.
"Yes! That is the one."
"They slobber. Like a lot," Eve rejected with a scowl, adding, "Besides, the barrel is a misnomer."
"Miss Who?" Villanelle did not know this word.
"Misnomer. Folklore. A Myth," Eve clarified.
Villanelle grimaced.
"What about a dachshund?" Eve suggested, "They have cute faces."
"A wiener dog, Eve?"
"Yeah. What's wrong with a wiener dog? They have floppy ears." Eve leaned over to Villanelle and tickled the top of her ear.
The blonde looked at Eve deadpanned. "You cannot trust the Germans."
Eve narrowed her eyes in confusion. She was never quite sure when Villanelle was joking.
"Seriously, Eve…they will crap in your shoe."
Eve cackled. "The dog or the people?"
Villanelle raised an eyebrow. "Both."
Eve continued to look over at the young woman driving them toward their immediate destiny. She wasn't sure who was leading who at this point in their mission to extinguish The Twelve but being here, in this moment, with Villanelle felt right.
She reached across and tucked a wayward strand of golden hair behind Villanelle's ear. This gesture was returned when the younger woman leaned her cheek into Eve's touch. Eve watched her smile then she felt a soft kiss on her hand. Villanelle was not one to say much in terms of casual conversation, but her smile and her eyes told Eve all she needed to know.
Villanelle reached up and took Eve's hand in hers, and they continued down the road in silence, holding hands.
HOSPITAL - LONDON
Present Day
Daylight was spreading as Eve sat in the front of Anish's car, waiting for Pam to return.
"Should I circle the building?" Anish asked.
"No," Eve replied, "Give her a few more minutes."
Anish was parked on a side street, behind the medical building, but the trickle of people passing was increasing as the sun became brighter, making him more uneasy.
"Stop the tapping," Eve stated firmly.
"What?"
"The wheel. You're tapping it."
"Sorry, I fidget when I'm nervous."
"Well, it's annoying so stop."
"Sorry," Anish said softly, crossing his arms.
The back door opened, breaking the hushed tension, and Pam slid inside.
Eve turned to face her, "Well?"
"There's a side door that building services uses. We can enter there. I took out the camera."
"Good, let's go," Eve responded.
"Here, put your hair up," Pam handed Eve a cap which the older woman accepted to hide her long, dark curls. Eve also took a medical mask from Pam and put it on, stepping out of the car and crossing the road behind her.
"This way," Pam said over her shoulder, her face also covered with a mask.
They were told there was no Jane Doe brought to the morgue last night which was a relief to Eve. That was as much information available, so she insisted they find a way inside the building.
She and Pam made their way around the side and down a paved path edged with manicured shrubs. Pam stopped behind an oversized, metal electrical box. Squatting, she pulled Eve down with her.
"That door there," Pam whispered, pointing.
They crouched there a few minutes, hidden by a shrub, until a uniformed man pushed open a heavy door, propping it while pulling out a bulky rubbish bin.
Pam made a quick motion behind the janitor's container and through the open door with Eve right behind her. They found themselves in an electrical room that led to a hallway which led them past a janitorial closet then past a laundry room.
Both kept their heads down and their faces covered as work force past them. Eve noticed a nurse coming out of a supply closet, so she stuck her foot inside to stop the door from closing. She whistled at Pam who turned and stepped inside with her.
The women found a stack of folded scrubs, each pulling on a pair over their clothes. Eve traded her cap for a cloth covering. She silently offered one to Pam.
Back out in the hallway, Eve felt slightly relaxed now that she and Pam blended with hospital staff. She took the lead, finding a map of the building on a wall near a lift.
Pam pointed to the morgue in the basement. Eve pushed the up arrow instead.
When the lift doors opened, three people in white coats stepped out, talking among themselves. Eve snatched a stethoscope from a passing pocket. She draped it around her neck then pushed level 4 for Intensive Care.
Alone in the lift, Pam bluntly asked Eve, "You can handle this, right? Whatever we find out?"
"No," Eve acknowledged, bile collecting at the back of her throat, "but I need to know."
"I understand."
The lift dinged its arrival, and the door slid open. Pam followed Eve who inconspicuously walked past the nurse station desk. There was so much activity that nobody even glanced their direction. Eve motioned to Pam to search the opposite side of the large room. Beds on both sides were full of patients, all on various levels of medical machinery with beeps and alarms monitoring the hospital's most critically ill patients.
Eve discreetly peeked around curtains, some only half drawn. Most patients were covered in equipment, making it difficult at first glance to determine if they were even female or male. She was at the last bed on her side before she realized. She looked across the room to Pam who shook her head.
This is it, she thought, tugging on the closed curtain. She moved closer to this patient. It was a woman. She was intubated and bruised with an arm in traction. It was not Villanelle.
Eve's heart sank, and the floor felt as though it dropped out from under her. She steadied herself against the end of the bed.
"How's she doing this morning?"
Eve turned toward the voice, finding an older, heavyset nurse.
"Good," Eve didn't know what to respond, "Um…better."
"This will remind you to slow down when driving, won't it dear?"
"Yes," Eve replied, adding flippantly, "Or walk."
Suddenly, an alarm went off for one of the beds across the room. Nurses rushed to assist. Eve slipped past them, finding Pam already down the hall, motioning for her to join.
"This area is Post-Surgery Recovery," Pam pointed to a sign printed on neon orange paper which was taped to clear, sliding doors that "MUST REMAIN SHUT", according to another bolded sign taped to them.
Eve looked through the glass. This was a smaller, dimmer room with only six beds. There were three patients, two on one side and one in the middle bed opposite them.
"Eve," Pam started.
"I know," Eve put her hand up to stop her.
Villanelle.