Dear all, life is very demanding at the moment. Illnesses. Divorces. Friends. Mobile phone broken. Broken laptop. Hospital. Family. And somewhere in between there should be time for my hobbies and myself. Sometimes it's hard to find time. I hope you are still interested in the story and forgive my long silence.

I hope you're all doing well :)

The Coincidence.

Elsie felt someone lift her left hand, turn it back and forth a few times and then gently lower it again. She then felt a hand on her forehead, exerting gentle pressure. Now something cool and round was pressing on her chest.

She tried to lift her eyelids, but they seemed too heavy, she turned her head to the left and right and moaned. Elsie tried to say something, but no words came out of her mouth, her tongue seemed to have forgotten how to move. Apart from unintentional babbling, nothing came out. She tried to open her eyes again. In vain.

"There you are again!", Elsie heard a male voice say, she could recognise relief in it.

She scrunched up her brows and tried to lift her eyelids and eyebrows. She hoped that the brows would pull the eyelids up like a fish on a line.

But as soon as she opened her eyes, she reflexively closed them again. Her eyes seemed too sensitive, the daylight was too bright.

Tentatively, she opened her eyelids again to acclimatise her eyes to the brightness. Millimeter by millimeter, as her field of vision increased, Elsie tried to find her bearings. But it was difficult as she struggled with her blurred vision.

After a few blinks, she was able to recognise her surroundings, as well as the person leaning over her at the bedside. To her great surprise, however, it was not a dark-haired man with the stature of a protective bear. He hung the stethoscope around his neck with a practised movement as he stood up.

Still mentally disorganised, Elsie tried to sit up, but she couldn't seem to get up without help. It was only when someone reached under her arms that she managed to push herself up.

"Don't rush it. Your circulation needs some time to stabilise again.", the specialist advised her.

Elsie leant her head against the headboard of the bed and breathed in and out heavily a few times. She found herself in the bed of her hotel room.

"You. What ... ? Then ... I wasn't ... was not mistaken yesterday. Why ... ? But ... ? What are you doing here?", Elsie wanted to know in a croaky voice.

"A few days ago, this year's medical and health congress was held in this little town.", he replied calmly, visibly pleased that his patient was cheerful, grinning delightedly through his moustache.

"A ... a few ... days ago? Charlie just read in the paper yesterday that ... Where is he? Where is Charlie? But ... what are you doing ... here?", Elsie asked anxiously, as the whole situation seemed strange to her and Charles was not here, she was worried that something had happened to him.

The man took a fluid step to the side and pointed with his hand to the corner where the round table was. Charles was sitting there in one of the armchairs, his hands folded in his lap, his head resting on his chin on his chest. He seemed to be asleep.

"He never left your side, day or night. Except the few times he was literally forced to come downstairs by Mrs. Dewshine."

When she saw Charles, she calmed down again. Only now did it occur to her that she herself could be the reason why he was here. She looked down at herself and noticed her thickly bandaged hand and a few puncture marks on the crook of her elbow. Her mind was racing and her head ached. In search of liquid, she looked at the bedside table and found a glass of water on it. She reached for it and brought it to her mouth with a shaky hand. The doctor supported her in her endeavour by her forearm.

When she had the liquid in her mouth, she coughed in shock and choked. Dr. Clarkson helpfully took the glass from her and put it back.

"Oh dear! What's that?", Elsie asked in astonishment.

Elsie's cough caused Charles to jump up from his armchair as if stung by a tarantula, her question was lost. With a few steps, he reached the foot of the bed and leant on it with his hands. Ballast seemed to fall from his shoulders when he saw Elsie sitting upright.

"Elsie, you're awake! What luck!"

"Then I'll go and check on our other patient.", Dr. Clarkson said amusedly to Charles, who scrunched up his face in embarrassment at the doctor's words and grumbled awkwardly. "I will inform Lord and Lady Grantham of Mrs. Carson's condition. I'll stop by again in the evening. Until then, please stay in bed and try to eat and drink a little something. Fluids are especially important!", with these words, the doctor nodded contentedly and said goodbye to the Carsons, patting Charles on the shoulder as he passed.

"What has happened? How many days have passed? I'm confused.", Elsie began to pester Charles as the door slammed shut, assuring them of togetherness.

Charles sat down on the free (his) side of the bed and pulled his wife close to him. Protected in his arms and supported by his shoulder, Elsie realised how tiring it was for her to sit.

"The cut on your finger has become infected. As you probably noticed. You had early sepsis." All the incomprehension that Charles had initially harboured against Elsie's stubbornness disappeared as soon as he realised that Dr. Clarkson seemed to have reached his limits with the treatment. And so there was no time for reproachful remarks at the moment. All that mattered was that Elsie was conscious again and on the road to recovery.

Elsie didn't know what to say. A feeling of guilt came over her.

"You were unresponsive for four days.", Charles continued. "For four days, you had bouts of fever followed by chills. In addition, the bacteria spread more and more. The redness has already reached your upper arm." Charles gently stroked Elsie's bandaged arm.

Elsie was speechless. "I'm sorry, Charlie."

"I'm relieved to be able to talk to you, not upset. You don't need to apologise. Dr. Clarkson became increasingly concerned about your condition when it didn't improve after two days despite infusions. He was on the verge of admitting you to hospital.", he continued, adding after a pause: "But with the infrastructure here, that didn't turn out to be so easy."

"And on top of all the worries, you had to sit here the whole time. I ruined our honeymoon.", Elsie's guilt grew when she thought about how she would have felt if she had seen Charles in such a state. She remembered all too well how torn she felt when Charles had his heart attack and was left helpless. And that was only hours, as Dr. Clarkson's treatment was immediately effective.

He didn't want to burden Elsie's conscience and didn't tell her about his frayed nerves over the last few days, saying only: "Mrs. Dewshine has made sure that I've come out of this chair from time to time." Charles closed his eyes as he took a relaxed, deep breath and savoured the feeling of the soothing oxygen expanding his lungs. At last, the tightness around his chest was gone. "Sometimes her loud, obtrusive manner even reminded me of our lovely Mrs Patmore."

Charles began to stroke Elsie's head, lost in thought, and continued in an amused tone: "You can't imagine what I've been up to in the last few days, my beloved Elsie."

"Will you tell me?" Elsie asked, exhausted, as she slid down Charles a little and got into a more comfortable position. She rested her head against his chest. She realised that her strength seemed to be waning again. He noticed Elsie's change of position and hoped that she was really just tired and not slipping back into unconsciousness. Charles closed his eyes and took another deep breath as he reviewed a few moments of the last few days in his mind's eye. Surprised by his own actions, he began to laugh lightly to himself. He wasn't sure yet whether he could tell his wife everything.

"I can only imagine that you won't believe everything I say. Some things don't even seem true to myself when I think about them now."

"Is that so? What wild adventures did you have?", Elsie asked curiously.

Charles hugged Elsie close to him when he heard his wife's question. He loved the way she was.

He was infinitely grateful to finally be able to feel her weight on his body again. And so he began to talk.

The chapter is a bit short and still doesn't tell us anything about the stranger. But be honest, who would have guessed Dr. Clarkson was here at first and not the stranger ;-)

It wasn't possible for me to add this chapter to the next chapter, so I had to separate it. - It just didn't fit for me. However, the next chapter is as good as finished and also longer and should finally tell something about the stranger.

I would be delighted to receive kind words from anywhere in the world.
Take care of yourselves, even when life is whirling around :) :) :)
See you soon!