Osthavula
Deliciously insightful one
The Nightingale was shot! Soon enough, the entire hospital was talking. It took an ambulance's time for the journalists to get wind of it, and it took more than an ambulance full of people to stop people from getting close to her. Luckily, and suspiciously, the hospital had kept all irrelevant personnel in safe distances, and Olympia got a single room providing her status. She herself was sent to the emergency room for examination, while Bernadette was allowed to sit in the room. She couldn’t see Olympia immediately out the surgical room, but the doctor had assured her that the songstress will be sent here at once, and a person like Bernadette being in the corridor will attract more unwarranted attention. From the room, the uproar at the entrances seemed but an echo in the shower. The window was shut tight and curtained, a bouquet stood wearily in its shadow. The stale light shone on the painting above the bed, making the blue sea washed out and pale. It was a decorative patient room, but no matter the effort of making it comfortable and vibrant, it was still in its essence a treatment room for the ill.
After some hours, someone opened the door. Collette was the first to step in, with a strange expression that she was frowning and confused together. Then it came Andy. The usual quiet man now carried a tense demeanour, and he would have been intimidating with his tightening fist and strong arm under his work-man shirt. His expression, however, didn’t tell his thoughts. He walked towards Bernadette, taking his bowler hat off and pressing it on his chest. “You have my gratitude, Mrs Horowitz. Are you well? I heard you have witnessed the incident.”
Collette was behind him, but it seemed like her thoughts had floated somewhere else, leaving an elegantly standing husk.
Upon the arrival of the actress’ husband, Bernadette shot to her feet, the pale light bringing out only the whiteness in her cheeks, allowing the blue eyeshadow to give her entire face an arctic appearance. Only her thin eyebrows expressed her emotion, betraying her experience of relief and terror upon seeing Mr. Carlyle. He was steady-hearted despite the circumstance, but he was someone Bernadette felt quite indebted to.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Carlyle, Andy,” she grasped his hand in hers, “I only wish I could have done more for her, this incident is a terrible one indeed. And, as you say, I saw it happen, but I was hardly any use to the force. If only I could remember more, I’d track the assassin down myself. Oh, Mr. Carlyle, please forgive me for my ineptitude in this situation. I don’t deserve your gratitude, not at all. Oh, and Collette, thank you for being so level-headed. I am discovering my own emotions are rather helplessly hard to control.”
In her journalistic life, Bernadette had seen a lot. She had spoken to people whose families had been devastated by some consequence or occurrence, and remained static and approachable throughout every one. Even at the death of her own father - a rather slow, painful death she had been privy to - her lip scarcely trembled, and her tears were released in her own time. Not once was control lost, except in her privacy, or in the company of her wife. Yet here she stood, in the room of the Siren, who was having her wounds tended to elsewhere, facing her husband and confidant in the aftermath of the situation hours after it, and yet she was still struggling to stand still.
“Come, sit down, I have been told our Olympia is in capable hands. They were kind enough to put her in a private room to avoid the stares of fans, after all,” Bernadette said. Upon leaving Andy’s touch, she closed her eyes for a second, feeling her breath in her chest and heart within her, and managed to exhale slowly. With her breath came the tension, the adrenaline shock, and some of the fear. Not all of it though. The true fear was lingering somewhere behind her sternum, threatening to ring in her ears: the assassin knew where Olympia was going to be. The meeting point of the Inn was a good one - in public, but inconsequential enough as to not matter to the public. No one would merely run into the star there. If one wanted to find the Nightingale, they would do better to hang around Soso, or Klokklsby. And yet… that hadn’t been the case. It was a calculated thing, Bernadette decided, judging by the assassin’s exit. He left nothing useful in Bernadette’s mind but a vague height and a masculine presence. Nothing concrete. That is what scared her the most - Olympia had been targeted, and she was targeted at a specific time and place.
She sat down, and expressed her relief that both Andy and Collette were safe.
“I hope dearest Norberto and Ruth will be able to cope with the news,” she said after. “Lord knows, I must be. Any help I can provide any of you, Mr. Carlyle, do please tell me.”
Andy sat down quietly beside Bernadette. On his way to the hospital, he had thought long and hard about what to do in the future. It didn’t take too long, for they already had planned ahead. It was hundreds and thousands of starry nights before that Olympia and Andy had sat together and discussed what they should do, should anything serious happen to both of them. The process was hardly common in a normal household, but they saw it necessary in their long marriage and yet longer and darker career planning. The difficulty only lied in how to explain it to someone else. Someone like Bernadette.
“I thought I will wait for my wife to be here when I explain, but it is easier for me to explain it first. You might have noticed that the hit was preplanned, and that implies that either my wife or us both are under surveillance. In this circumstances we will approach all action with caution. However, with our hands tied, our children are free. They have their own life and we are determined to stay separated…”
But Bernadette must have known they too have the membership of Editors. Andy put it carefully that his intention was not to separate them from the society’s life, but to let them free of consequences of their action… Perhaps separate them from their action completely so that they may achieve what they want. It would be difficult to manage entirely, but it had always been that each member of the family leads a different life. Including Andy and Olympia.
“You need not bear any guilt or responsibility for my wife’s misfortune, for it initiated long before today. From what I have heard you have taken care of my wife the best that anyone could have offered, giving her the company in her difficult times. But I ask you of this favour, should our children…”
He paused, like a cow regurgitates its food he chewed his words slowly and cautiously.
“... Or their close associates look for your help, Mrs Horowitz, and only if it is convenient and not jeopardize your position, then consider giving them your aid. Even so, I understand if you turn it down, and you have right to do so. I hope I am wrong but even you are in a delicate situation.“
Collette caught his eyes, and came to herself from her swimming of thoughts. “He had mentioned you today. We were given tasks to study activities in respective cities. He had given your position to someone else due to your convenient absent.”
“Whom we have no idea where their loyalty lies.“
A delicate position… Bernadette had not paused to consider her own standing on the earth. Olympia had been targeted, and that target, as Andy had confirmed to her, was related to the Editors. She never even thought of her own danger. But it was real. If Olympia was almost killed… who else would be next? Her back straightened as Andy spoke, and she slowly digested his words, until Collette began speaking, to which she looked up. “My… position?” Bernadette asked. “You mean, my position in the Editors? Or my occupation?”
It seemed like the ambiguity had created some misunderstanding, but to explain plainly in a room that they didn’t know if it was secure enough, was a little too dangerous. Collette stepped closer to Bernadette and spoke lowly, while her eyes darted to the corners of the room. “We were given tasks to research about cities, the task for New Neptune was given to two other writers. “
“I see… well, perhaps I will speak to Inge if I can, try to involve myself. I fear being apart from Inge will put me at risk more than if I am close enough to keep an eye on him. We’ve already discussed our chagrin over Inge, and I’m only more on edge. Andy, I do hope you are filled in on our anxiety over Inge. If not, I believe you should be.”
“I do share part of the worry. My discussion with Inge had lasted a long while, repeated after each meeting on the topic of Cassiopia. But he had, I should say, stronger opinions as compared to our last. “
“That’s what twigged us off to his changes,” Bernadette said. “Collette, Olympia and I met yesterday to discuss how we would work to keep each other stable and safe in the face of a potential threat from Inge… perhaps this is why I feel so indebted to you, I didn’t manage to fulfil the deal, and it was just one day later… of course, you are Olympia’s husband so I trust you as much as I trust her. So… if Inge has set people jobs to do, perhaps we should keep a closer eye on him. How we should go about that, I am not certain of; I have methods through my occupation that I could exploit to keep close to him, but I will not put my staff, my paper or anything else of the sort in jeopardy. I just won’t do it. And considering Olympia’s… well, this occurrence, I wouldn’t imagine her to have the strongest capabilities at the moment. I feel we’re in a weak position…”
Bernadette closed her eyes for a minute, leaning her head back. Weariness was weighing her down. The light of the place, the stress and the unknowability of the future made it impossible for her mind to shut down, as much as her body begged to.
“If we are to… keep an eye on Inge… or to do anything like this, we need a stronger group… but that won’t come easy… tell me, who did he put up to look into New Neptune instead of me?”
“Mr. Arris and Miss Johie.” Read Collette from her own memory pages. “I’ve never met them personally. From my understanding, Miss Johie was from New Neptune. “
Bernadette nodded, “Explains why he’d put her on New Neptune… Mr. Arris though, I thought his background was tourism. Cassiopia and Oriyon are much more tourist-heavy. Well, I’m sure there methods to his madness... I’ll get in touch with them, it’d be a place to start. And of course, I didn’t answer you earlier Andy, I had to think about it awhile but… if… anything does happen to you, I’ll do whatever I can, within limits, to help your family. As I said, I have my own rules, but I’ll do what I can. I trust you. I want you to trust me with your hand as well.”
“ And Mrs Horowitz, we placed our faith in you too. We don’t normally disclose our business but I think we should place exceptions for each other. Not only have we lost our old source of collecting information. “ He paused, hoping she would get the reference. “But we have enough new recruit that we didn’t know of to confused us. Stay vigilant. “
Collette’s lips twisted as he mentioned “new recruit”. Whatever she thought of did not seem to comfort her.
Source of collecting information… yes, that kickstarted this whole thing. If the Smith was referring to who Bernadette thought he was, then his death was the one that seemed to be the change of Inge’s attitude, as far as Bernadette was concerned. She nodded slowly. “Then we must convene as a group. We cannot afford to fall behind. When Olympia is better, or even before. We mustn’t allow anything to happen to the Editors.”
From the corridor they could start to hear a ruckus. There were people talking, almost arguing. One of the voice was directing them, almost roaring. In the midst of it was the voice of something being dragged and rolled through the floor. Andy sprang up from his chair to peeked at the window on the door, then he seemed to become relaxed, and pull the door open. A band of staff rolled in Olympia on her wheel bed, and together they moved her carefully onto the sickbed. The ruckus remained, from the sound of it some journalists managed to slipped through the entrance. The doctor who followed the bed in now explained to Andy that Olympia’s was stabilized and should recover with plenty of rest, and intensive continual care for the next two weeks. Apparently, the bullet had avoided critical organs but some tissue still needed healing. She also regained some consciousness but still under the influence of the anaesthetic.
Bernadette stood up as Olympia came in, catching a glimpse through the door of the scuffle. News travelled fast, and the hospital must have been the source. The hospital, and the minimal people around the Inn. The power of social media saw to it that the world would soon know about Olympia’s fate, and the world included journalists. But, even though this would be the perfect story for any journalist, Bernadette was sickened by what she heard, and what she anticipated happening. Could a lady not have her privacy? In fact, as she considered, some of the people causing the cacophony must have been from the Capers. What else was supposed to happen though, they were doing their job, telling people the stories they wanted to hear.
She shook her head, approaching Olympia, “I’m so relieved to see you’re getting the care you need. I won’t see you down like this again, my girl, rely on that. Thank you for being so resilient.”
Olympia in a surgery gown had no glamour like she was at stage, and the rare sight of her with no painted lips made her appearance pale. But there was no more convincing look of a waning vampire duchess than her current state. She parted her lips contemplating a reply, while her strength had failed her and so she smiled, moved her hand to Bernadette’s hand and patted it remarkably gently.
Bernadette smiled, took Olympia’s hand and kissed it. She didn’t say anything more, and simply stepped away, to make space in case Andy or Collette wanted to speak to her.
Andy pulled his chair beside Olympia and said no more. Collette nodded to each and everyone in the room, before bowing out and left through the corridor. From the window, the flash of her blonde hair disappeared opposite to where the sound of journalists came. The woman and her husband made a solemn picture when Andy was so absorbed he heard no more of the environment.
It was time for Bernadette to leave husband and wife alone. Olympia was back in the hands of the man who could truly shield her. “Goodbye, Olympia, Andy. I’m glad to help as little as I did.”
She turned and exited, asking a staff member for a quiet way to exit the building. She did not want to battle through journalists, even if she recognised some. She would not be saying a word. Not about Olympia.
After some hours, someone opened the door. Collette was the first to step in, with a strange expression that she was frowning and confused together. Then it came Andy. The usual quiet man now carried a tense demeanour, and he would have been intimidating with his tightening fist and strong arm under his work-man shirt. His expression, however, didn’t tell his thoughts. He walked towards Bernadette, taking his bowler hat off and pressing it on his chest. “You have my gratitude, Mrs Horowitz. Are you well? I heard you have witnessed the incident.”
Collette was behind him, but it seemed like her thoughts had floated somewhere else, leaving an elegantly standing husk.
Upon the arrival of the actress’ husband, Bernadette shot to her feet, the pale light bringing out only the whiteness in her cheeks, allowing the blue eyeshadow to give her entire face an arctic appearance. Only her thin eyebrows expressed her emotion, betraying her experience of relief and terror upon seeing Mr. Carlyle. He was steady-hearted despite the circumstance, but he was someone Bernadette felt quite indebted to.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Carlyle, Andy,” she grasped his hand in hers, “I only wish I could have done more for her, this incident is a terrible one indeed. And, as you say, I saw it happen, but I was hardly any use to the force. If only I could remember more, I’d track the assassin down myself. Oh, Mr. Carlyle, please forgive me for my ineptitude in this situation. I don’t deserve your gratitude, not at all. Oh, and Collette, thank you for being so level-headed. I am discovering my own emotions are rather helplessly hard to control.”
In her journalistic life, Bernadette had seen a lot. She had spoken to people whose families had been devastated by some consequence or occurrence, and remained static and approachable throughout every one. Even at the death of her own father - a rather slow, painful death she had been privy to - her lip scarcely trembled, and her tears were released in her own time. Not once was control lost, except in her privacy, or in the company of her wife. Yet here she stood, in the room of the Siren, who was having her wounds tended to elsewhere, facing her husband and confidant in the aftermath of the situation hours after it, and yet she was still struggling to stand still.
“Come, sit down, I have been told our Olympia is in capable hands. They were kind enough to put her in a private room to avoid the stares of fans, after all,” Bernadette said. Upon leaving Andy’s touch, she closed her eyes for a second, feeling her breath in her chest and heart within her, and managed to exhale slowly. With her breath came the tension, the adrenaline shock, and some of the fear. Not all of it though. The true fear was lingering somewhere behind her sternum, threatening to ring in her ears: the assassin knew where Olympia was going to be. The meeting point of the Inn was a good one - in public, but inconsequential enough as to not matter to the public. No one would merely run into the star there. If one wanted to find the Nightingale, they would do better to hang around Soso, or Klokklsby. And yet… that hadn’t been the case. It was a calculated thing, Bernadette decided, judging by the assassin’s exit. He left nothing useful in Bernadette’s mind but a vague height and a masculine presence. Nothing concrete. That is what scared her the most - Olympia had been targeted, and she was targeted at a specific time and place.
She sat down, and expressed her relief that both Andy and Collette were safe.
“I hope dearest Norberto and Ruth will be able to cope with the news,” she said after. “Lord knows, I must be. Any help I can provide any of you, Mr. Carlyle, do please tell me.”
Andy sat down quietly beside Bernadette. On his way to the hospital, he had thought long and hard about what to do in the future. It didn’t take too long, for they already had planned ahead. It was hundreds and thousands of starry nights before that Olympia and Andy had sat together and discussed what they should do, should anything serious happen to both of them. The process was hardly common in a normal household, but they saw it necessary in their long marriage and yet longer and darker career planning. The difficulty only lied in how to explain it to someone else. Someone like Bernadette.
“I thought I will wait for my wife to be here when I explain, but it is easier for me to explain it first. You might have noticed that the hit was preplanned, and that implies that either my wife or us both are under surveillance. In this circumstances we will approach all action with caution. However, with our hands tied, our children are free. They have their own life and we are determined to stay separated…”
But Bernadette must have known they too have the membership of Editors. Andy put it carefully that his intention was not to separate them from the society’s life, but to let them free of consequences of their action… Perhaps separate them from their action completely so that they may achieve what they want. It would be difficult to manage entirely, but it had always been that each member of the family leads a different life. Including Andy and Olympia.
“You need not bear any guilt or responsibility for my wife’s misfortune, for it initiated long before today. From what I have heard you have taken care of my wife the best that anyone could have offered, giving her the company in her difficult times. But I ask you of this favour, should our children…”
He paused, like a cow regurgitates its food he chewed his words slowly and cautiously.
“... Or their close associates look for your help, Mrs Horowitz, and only if it is convenient and not jeopardize your position, then consider giving them your aid. Even so, I understand if you turn it down, and you have right to do so. I hope I am wrong but even you are in a delicate situation.“
Collette caught his eyes, and came to herself from her swimming of thoughts. “He had mentioned you today. We were given tasks to study activities in respective cities. He had given your position to someone else due to your convenient absent.”
“Whom we have no idea where their loyalty lies.“
A delicate position… Bernadette had not paused to consider her own standing on the earth. Olympia had been targeted, and that target, as Andy had confirmed to her, was related to the Editors. She never even thought of her own danger. But it was real. If Olympia was almost killed… who else would be next? Her back straightened as Andy spoke, and she slowly digested his words, until Collette began speaking, to which she looked up. “My… position?” Bernadette asked. “You mean, my position in the Editors? Or my occupation?”
It seemed like the ambiguity had created some misunderstanding, but to explain plainly in a room that they didn’t know if it was secure enough, was a little too dangerous. Collette stepped closer to Bernadette and spoke lowly, while her eyes darted to the corners of the room. “We were given tasks to research about cities, the task for New Neptune was given to two other writers. “
“I see… well, perhaps I will speak to Inge if I can, try to involve myself. I fear being apart from Inge will put me at risk more than if I am close enough to keep an eye on him. We’ve already discussed our chagrin over Inge, and I’m only more on edge. Andy, I do hope you are filled in on our anxiety over Inge. If not, I believe you should be.”
“I do share part of the worry. My discussion with Inge had lasted a long while, repeated after each meeting on the topic of Cassiopia. But he had, I should say, stronger opinions as compared to our last. “
“That’s what twigged us off to his changes,” Bernadette said. “Collette, Olympia and I met yesterday to discuss how we would work to keep each other stable and safe in the face of a potential threat from Inge… perhaps this is why I feel so indebted to you, I didn’t manage to fulfil the deal, and it was just one day later… of course, you are Olympia’s husband so I trust you as much as I trust her. So… if Inge has set people jobs to do, perhaps we should keep a closer eye on him. How we should go about that, I am not certain of; I have methods through my occupation that I could exploit to keep close to him, but I will not put my staff, my paper or anything else of the sort in jeopardy. I just won’t do it. And considering Olympia’s… well, this occurrence, I wouldn’t imagine her to have the strongest capabilities at the moment. I feel we’re in a weak position…”
Bernadette closed her eyes for a minute, leaning her head back. Weariness was weighing her down. The light of the place, the stress and the unknowability of the future made it impossible for her mind to shut down, as much as her body begged to.
“If we are to… keep an eye on Inge… or to do anything like this, we need a stronger group… but that won’t come easy… tell me, who did he put up to look into New Neptune instead of me?”
“Mr. Arris and Miss Johie.” Read Collette from her own memory pages. “I’ve never met them personally. From my understanding, Miss Johie was from New Neptune. “
Bernadette nodded, “Explains why he’d put her on New Neptune… Mr. Arris though, I thought his background was tourism. Cassiopia and Oriyon are much more tourist-heavy. Well, I’m sure there methods to his madness... I’ll get in touch with them, it’d be a place to start. And of course, I didn’t answer you earlier Andy, I had to think about it awhile but… if… anything does happen to you, I’ll do whatever I can, within limits, to help your family. As I said, I have my own rules, but I’ll do what I can. I trust you. I want you to trust me with your hand as well.”
“ And Mrs Horowitz, we placed our faith in you too. We don’t normally disclose our business but I think we should place exceptions for each other. Not only have we lost our old source of collecting information. “ He paused, hoping she would get the reference. “But we have enough new recruit that we didn’t know of to confused us. Stay vigilant. “
Collette’s lips twisted as he mentioned “new recruit”. Whatever she thought of did not seem to comfort her.
Source of collecting information… yes, that kickstarted this whole thing. If the Smith was referring to who Bernadette thought he was, then his death was the one that seemed to be the change of Inge’s attitude, as far as Bernadette was concerned. She nodded slowly. “Then we must convene as a group. We cannot afford to fall behind. When Olympia is better, or even before. We mustn’t allow anything to happen to the Editors.”
From the corridor they could start to hear a ruckus. There were people talking, almost arguing. One of the voice was directing them, almost roaring. In the midst of it was the voice of something being dragged and rolled through the floor. Andy sprang up from his chair to peeked at the window on the door, then he seemed to become relaxed, and pull the door open. A band of staff rolled in Olympia on her wheel bed, and together they moved her carefully onto the sickbed. The ruckus remained, from the sound of it some journalists managed to slipped through the entrance. The doctor who followed the bed in now explained to Andy that Olympia’s was stabilized and should recover with plenty of rest, and intensive continual care for the next two weeks. Apparently, the bullet had avoided critical organs but some tissue still needed healing. She also regained some consciousness but still under the influence of the anaesthetic.
Bernadette stood up as Olympia came in, catching a glimpse through the door of the scuffle. News travelled fast, and the hospital must have been the source. The hospital, and the minimal people around the Inn. The power of social media saw to it that the world would soon know about Olympia’s fate, and the world included journalists. But, even though this would be the perfect story for any journalist, Bernadette was sickened by what she heard, and what she anticipated happening. Could a lady not have her privacy? In fact, as she considered, some of the people causing the cacophony must have been from the Capers. What else was supposed to happen though, they were doing their job, telling people the stories they wanted to hear.
She shook her head, approaching Olympia, “I’m so relieved to see you’re getting the care you need. I won’t see you down like this again, my girl, rely on that. Thank you for being so resilient.”
Olympia in a surgery gown had no glamour like she was at stage, and the rare sight of her with no painted lips made her appearance pale. But there was no more convincing look of a waning vampire duchess than her current state. She parted her lips contemplating a reply, while her strength had failed her and so she smiled, moved her hand to Bernadette’s hand and patted it remarkably gently.
Bernadette smiled, took Olympia’s hand and kissed it. She didn’t say anything more, and simply stepped away, to make space in case Andy or Collette wanted to speak to her.
Andy pulled his chair beside Olympia and said no more. Collette nodded to each and everyone in the room, before bowing out and left through the corridor. From the window, the flash of her blonde hair disappeared opposite to where the sound of journalists came. The woman and her husband made a solemn picture when Andy was so absorbed he heard no more of the environment.
It was time for Bernadette to leave husband and wife alone. Olympia was back in the hands of the man who could truly shield her. “Goodbye, Olympia, Andy. I’m glad to help as little as I did.”
She turned and exited, asking a staff member for a quiet way to exit the building. She did not want to battle through journalists, even if she recognised some. She would not be saying a word. Not about Olympia.