Chapter 10
Oise is annoyed. Actually, she wanted to have already prepared the accommodations for her people yesterday. She managed half of it, but then France had not stopped crying. Now she has strapped France to her back, grabbed her cleaning utensils and is moving on to the next shelter. After half an hour she is done and just enters the second to last shelter when France starts crying again. She sits down on one of the chairs and nurses the crying girl, while her gaze wanders through the staff apartment. She pauses. What were those stains on the floor?
When France has finished drinking and has fallen asleep, Oise takes her back to the main house to her bed. Then she plugs in the baby monitor and runs back to the shelter to take a closer look at the stains. They look like blood. She looks around further and notices more drops at the entrance. But there are no stains on the carpet under the chair. Oise puts the small table and the two chairs aside and picks up the carpet.
There are drops again, which then end suddenly. A cellar flap? Since when were the shelters basements? Confused, she looks at the hatch. She grew up here and knows every nook and cranny. There have never been cellars here. Someone must have dug a basement after the fact. She bends down and lifts the hatch. Stuffy air comes towards her.
It smells of feces and urine. A single light bulb spreads a dim light.
She is about to close the flap again in disgust when she hears someone moaning.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Slowly she descends the stairs.
A man is lying on a sagging bed. "Hello? Monsieur?"
He does not move. Oise steps closer to him. Carefully almost she touches his arm, he feels hot. "Monsieur?" He still doesn't respond, his breathing shallow and irregular as if he can't breathe properly. His hands are cuffed in front of his chest.
"Oise?" "Pierre, good of you to come. I'm down here. " A head appears at the top of the stairs. "What are you doing there? And since when has there been a basement here?" "There's a man here, I think he needs help!"
"Wait, we're coming down." Pierre and his brother Matthieu come down the stairs. Pierre also tries to address the man, but again he does not respond.
Matthieu unties the man, then takes him upstairs with Pierre and lays him on the bed. "Oise, call a doctor. He needs to get to the hospital as soon as possible." Oise picks up her cell phone and dials 911. Then she remembers Catherine, who is looking for a friend after all. I wonder if this is the one she's looking for. Where on earth did she put her phone number? She searches her pockets.
Excitedly, Catherine comes running into the room. "You won't believe who just called me! Madame Lefebre found an injured man matching Steve's description in one of the staff quarters in the basement. He is unresponsive and is being driven to the hospital in Thiès right now." It's been a long time since they all got to the cars that quickly. After an hour, they are back in Thiès. When they arrive, the man is still being operated on. They sit impatiently in the waiting room. Hopefully he will pull through. Madame told Catherine something about the man having trouble breathing. Hours pass, then they finally see a doctor and rush up to him. "Excusez-moi? Madame Lefebre has informed us. We suspect that the man admitted is our missing friend. How is he?" "According to the circumstances. The pneumothorax he has from a broken rib was still treatable. We removed the bullet and gave him antibiotics as an IV. He's also on a fever-reducing medication. I think he's going to be fine." "Can we see him?" "You'll have to be patient, he'll be moved to the monitoring ward in an hour or two, then you're welcome to see him." "Okay, merci, docteur."
They sit back down in the waiting area. Chin gets coffee for everyone. Even Tim is excited and hopes that everything is okay with Steve.
Catherine has withdrawn somewhat from the others. For a long time she just looks outside, then she takes her cell phone and dials the number of her agency contact.
"Lieutenant Rollins? Are you all right?" "Yeah, I ..., I just wanted to say that I'm leaving the Agency. The job here is done, the report is in front of them."
"Are they sure? They know we value them and their work and hate to lose them." "Yes, my mind is made up. I will return to Hawaii." And in thought, she adds, 'And try to win back the man I love.'
"As you wish Lieutenant. All the best to you, then." "Thank you."
A nurse steps up to them, "If you'd like, you can join your friend now."
"Merci." Catherine enters the room first. He is lying on his back hooked up to various monitoring devices, plus a breathing mask sits on his face to help him breathe. Slowly, Catherine walks toward the bed. Then tears spring to her eyes and she turns away. Stunned, Danny also stops beside her. "That's not Steve."