Out of the Darkness... Drowning With Fear
The day was spent doing mostly nothing. Doing nothing more than enjoying each
other’s company, that is. Breakfast was finished promptly after being started,
and Christian had no idea what to do next. How do you talk to someone who won’t
say a word?
He simply decided to consider it for a moment, waiting for an idea to come. He
observed her tenderly as her eyes grew wide at everything she saw; Satine was
constantly being amazed about anything and everything.
Her current interest, however, was playing peek-a-boo with a mirror. Knowing
this wasn’t normal behavior for any adult, Christian’s eyebrows creased
together, as she continued to giggle at her own reflection. She was acting like
a child! And it was definitely scaring him. “Has she gone mad?” he thought
fearfully. What would he do without her, the real Satine?
“Satine,” he interrupted her game. “Why don’t you come here with me?” he
suggested once she turned to look at him.
She attempted to skip across the room, but her swollen ankle prevented her from
doing much. What should have been a painful experience got nothing more than an
annoyed glance from the Sparkling Diamond. Her limp hair bounced on her
shoulder, and her smile illuminated her face. She was happy.
She sat beside Christian and looked at him expectantly. He had no idea what
now. All he’d wanted was for her to stop playing the game with that mirror.
With a stroke of genius (or perhaps just luck) he remembered a conversation
they had before Satine was taken. She had a stuffed bear, the only thing she
had to remember her father by, hidden in a truck somewhere in this room. Hidden
only to spare herself humiliation of being caught with that thing at the Moulin
Rouge; it would have made her seem soft, something dangerous in these parts.
“I have a surprise for you,” Christian finally said. She smiled in delight and
let him disappear into the back of the room. He made sure to be in plain sight,
in case she feared being alone, even for a little while. That’s where she kept
her trunk with her memoirs, she’d told him. But they were hidden somewhere
inside, and she hadn’t told him how to find them.
Christian opened the trunk and found only dresses. He took them all out and was
left in an empty trunk. She did say hidden, didn’t she? He scrutinized it while
casting a quick glance in Satine’s direction; she was staring at him with
innocent curiosity. He had to find that toy for her, he said he promised her a
surprise. He soon found that the bottom of the trunk lifted off easily, and
underneath it was the hidden treasures Satine had told him about, along with
the stuffed bear.
He smiled as he picked it up. Maybe something like this would spark another
response from her. She squealed happily upon receiving the toy, but did not
seem to recognize it. Discouraged and resources spent, he gathered her in his
arms and she cuddled onto him willingly. He had this much. “Be thankful for
what you have, Christian,” he told himself.
Much to his dread, Satine brought her thumb to her mouth and began sucking on
it, a habit only toddlers were permitted to have. With the free hand, she held
to bear tightly. Christian was on the verge of tears. “Why can’t she be well? I
don’t know what to do anymore...”
Soon enough, Satine was asleep once more in his arms. Christian was left alone
with his worry.
***
During the course of the day, both Marie and Harold came to check on them.
Satine was asleep for the rest of the day, and Christian refused to eat unless
Satine did.
The sun was slowly setting, Montmarte gradually getting darker. The
peacefulness of it all managed to appease most of Christian’s worries. He was
getting drowsy.
He had just nodded off to light sleep when he felt Satine stiffen in his arms
and begin to shake violently. She screamed and recoiled halfway across the
room. Her frightened whimpers echoed around him.
He went to her, but she cowered further away. Christian knew what to do,
although it hurt him to leave her like that: afraid and confused. He
nonetheless withdrew back to the bed and heartbreakingly watched her shake
madly and cry in a dark corner, alone. She was hiccoughing loudly for she had
trouble breathing. She was drowning in fear.
To his surprise, Satine suddenly lifted her head, as if waking up. She looked
at him and slowly stood. She was still crying and shaking, but she wasn’t
afraid of him anymore, it seemed. She found solace in his arms, and he rocked
her while she cried herself to sleep.
“I can’t stand to watch you like this... Please get better for me...”