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Chapters (63)
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  63. Acknowledgements

He follows her down a narrow hallway that leads to the back of the flat. The room is modest in size, with a single bed and small chest of drawers. But it’s the window that catches his attention. An amber light slants through the glass, and he steps closer to see that it looks over a courtyard. The branches of two lindens, with soft gold leaves going brown at the edges, almost touch the glass. It will be nice to wake to the sound of birds. He tells the woman it’s perfect and that he can move in straight away. As they discuss the particulars, the slamming of a door is followed by someone clomping into the flat. ‘My son,’ the woman says, ‘late as always. So, now you can meet him. He’s in his last year at the lycée. So busy, we hardly see him these days.’

A handsome boy with light brown hair and clear grey eyes pokes his head through the doorway. ‘Szia, mama.’ He frowns. ‘Who’s this?’

‘Our new lodger. He’s a first-year student at the Sorbonne.’

‘Lodger?’ His face darkens, and he turns abruptly on his heel.

‘I’ll be just a minute,’ she says, and follows her son. The flat is small enough that he can hear everything they say.

‘I don’t want some stranger living here.’

‘We talked about this,’ the woman says. ‘We need the money.’

‘What about Katerina, where will she sleep?’

‘With Rennie, of course. She’s perfectly fine with it. And what does it matter? You’re hardly at home these days. You’ll never see him.’

Angry stomping, followed by a door banging shut. The woman bustles into the room. ‘Sorry to leave you.’ Her smile looks strained. ‘There’s a lovely light in here at this time of day, isn’t there? If you think it will suit, you can move in tomorrow.’

33

Clinique Les Hirondelles
Saint-Odile, Switzerland
5 December 2008

A cold wind sliced through his skin as Gessen stepped onto the back terrace and scanned the sky for a break in the clouds. More snow had fallen in the night, and he gulped down his coffee, trying to shake off the frightening dreams that had plagued his sleep and left him flushed and feverish. His joints ached and his eyes felt hot and dry. If he were coming down with the flu, he would be no use to anyone.

Returning to the warmth of his kitchen, he punched Ursula’s number into the phone and asked her to take over his patients for the day. Even if it wasn’t the flu, he was in no shape to see anyone today. It was unconscionable that a patient had died under his care. That it was a promising young man with a bright future ahead of him was a tragedy.