Page 111 of The Last Library of Paris

‘I’m not leaving Alain,’ Guy said before I could ask him to fetch it. ‘He needs help. We need to get him to hospital.’

‘We do,’ I said. ‘But we need to make sure it’s safe to move him.’

‘My mother was a nurse in the last war,’ said Sylvie. ‘She has been teaching me how to care for injuries like these.’

‘She has?’

‘Sometimes people come to her,’ Sylvie said vaguely. ‘If they are in trouble.’

‘Resistance?’ I asked.

But Sylvie didn’t reply.

‘When Alain is stable, you all need to leave,’ I said.

Sylvie looked alarmed.

‘I will stay here with Alain until we can get him to the hospital,’ I said. ‘The rest of you should go. Keep yourselves safe.’

‘Absolutely not,’ said Sylvie just as Guy said: ‘I will stay.’

‘This is my responsibility,’ added Marcus. ‘I’ve brought this trouble to your door. I will stay here.’

‘No.’

‘I have a gun,’ he said.

‘But they’ll be looking for you,’ I pointed out. ‘You being here makes us a target.’

Marcus looked thoughtful. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I’ll go and I will send help for you all.’

I took a breath, feeling the adrenalin still coursing through my body.

‘Here’s what we’re going to do,’ I said, still in organisational mode. ‘Guy, where is your bag?’

‘Under the table by the window.’

‘Right. I’ll fetch it. You stay here with Alain. How is he doing?’

Guy shrugged helplessly. ‘He is breathing. But it sounds strange.’

Sylvie clutched my arm. ‘Drugs,’ she said. ‘Alain might have drugs.’

‘Does Alain have a bag here, too?’ I asked Guy.

‘He does. It’s with mine. Smaller.’

I nodded at Sylvie. ‘I’ll bring whatever’s in there. And water?’

‘Yes, as much as you can.’

Guy rubbed his face, leaving a white streak across the soot. ‘Why would Alain have drugs?’

‘We’ll explain later. Marcus?’

His head whipped round at the sound of his name. ‘Yes?’

‘Come with me.’