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She frowned slightly, a question on her face, and he grinned.
‘You got the milk from your love affair with the man at the cheese shop down the road.’
She raised just a finger to tap him in reprimand but it was a momentous undertaking. She sat back exhausted, and gave a slight wheezing laugh. When she’d settled down, he carried on with his story, keeping anything that would over-excite her from his imaginary tale.
She fell asleep, as he described reading her favourite childhood book, Le Petit Prince, in the sunshine.
He stayed with his mother for a long time watching as she slept. She looked peaceful.
There was a soft tap on the door, and it was Doctor Cordeau. ‘I found Henri – he said he would be back shortly.’
Gilbert nodded, relieved. ‘Thank you.’
The doctor nodded. ‘I think if you don’t mind I will stay here with you, just outside.’
He placed a chair outside Berthe’s room.
Gilbert’s lips wobbled, he nodded, not having the words to convey how grateful he was for that.
The hours passed and Henri did not return.
Doctor Cordeau offered to go find him again.
But Gilbert was angry now. ‘No,’ he said, flatly. ‘He’s been told twice now.’ He closed his eyes. ‘He obviously does not want to be here when it happens.’
Doctor Cordeau nodded, but he offered no condemnation for the boy. ‘Try not to hold it against him, soon you will be all the other has.’
Gilbert’s lips shook as tears began to fall once more. ‘I can’t promise that, doctor.’
It was two in the morning when Berthe Géroux slipped away. Gilbert had been staring at her and still didn’t see the moment it happened, but Doctor Cordeau did. When he pronounced it, it still came as a shock, and Gilbert slid onto his haunches and cried, burying his face in his knees.
The doctor stayed with him as he sobbed, bringing water and more whisky for the shock.
He must have fallen asleep sometime before dawn, because he woke up to the sound of knocking. When he went to open the door, he found Madame Lambert in her pink frilly robe, her thin face twisted in pity. ‘Oh Gilbert, oh my dear—’
Doctor Cordeau must have told her, he thought.
Gilbert’s face crumbled. ‘Thank you, madame. I am grateful that you have come but I—’ he swallowed, ‘I can’t be around anyone right now.’
‘Someone told you already?’ she breathed, clutching her chest with a slim hand.
He frowned. ‘Told me? I was there—’
‘What!’ she cried. ‘You saw it? But how then are you… still… here?’
He stared at her incredulously. She wasn’t making sense. ‘She was my mother, madame, I was not going to leave her to die alone, where else would I be? I don’t understand.’
Dawning comprehension was lighting on Fleur Lambert’s face. ‘Berthe!’ she cried, sinking against the doorway. ‘She – she’s gone too?’
He frowned. ‘Too? Isn’t that why you are here?’
She shook her head, and clapped a hand over her mouth in horror. Behind her there was the sound of rushing feet. It was Doctor Cordeau. His face appeared stricken. ‘Oh, Gilbert, I have terrible news.’
Gilbert looked from him to Madame Lambert in confusion. An anxious knot was beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. The word ‘too’ was sitting there like something about to explode.
‘Oh, my dear, boy,’ said Madame Lambert. ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, especially now, hearing about dear Berthe…’
He blinked. ‘What is it?’
