"I don't think he can hear you. I just don't want you to waste your time. Besides, normally, no one sits next to a patient for that long. It's even a little forbidden in this hospital. You made sure your husband wasn't dying. All we must do is wait for him to regain consciousness."
"He could wake up at any moment, and you want me to leave? What kind of doctor are you?"
"When he wakes up, you shouldn't scream and scare him."
"Excuse me, can I change the doctor?" Wilhelmina screamed when she saw a crowd of doctors coming past the room.
"Yes, I wouldn't mind changing doctors either. This doctor behaves worse than any cheeky teenager," Dominique said, who burst into the room as if she were in her own home.
"I'm afraid to disappoint you, but I'll be treating your husbands."
"Darling, how are you doing? Are you hungry? I brought your favourite chocolate. Here, smell this."
"What are you doing?"
Putting a bar of chocolate on Jasper's nose, Dominique said, "The sooner he smells something familiar, the sooner he'll open his eyes and maybe he'll even remember everything."
"Do you think so? 'That's a good idea, isn't it," Wilhelmina said, remembering the roses that Everett had always liked to smell.
"So, what's going on here? Ladies, you're out of the house. Get out of bed!" exclaimed the nurse, pinching Dr Orwell's arm. "Should I call security again?"
"No, it's all right."
"I'm definitely going to sue you all. It's not a hospital, it's just a train station. Even in a train station, people are all very cultured and polite."
"Why do you have such strange prejudices about everything and everyone?" the nurse asked, looking at Wilhelmina and her hair, which today looked like a two-storey house.
"I have work to do. Dr Orwell, get them out of here. Have them wait amongst the other visitors."
"Wilhelmina, are you hungry? I brought lots of chocolate," Dominique said as they finally left the room and found themselves in front of the huge bush that must have graced that lonely white corridor. "I don't think we should fight and try to become enemies. I've been thinking, and I think we should be kinder. After all, we're almost in the same situation. And besides, our husbands may not remember anything. So, we need support. I'm sorry if I said anything wrong. I was just afraid something might happen to Jasper."
Grabbing a hazelnut chocolate, Wilhelmina was, in truth, terribly hungry. After all, since yesterday, she hadn't eaten anything or even cooked anything. And this chocolate just gave her back the strength to say, "It's okay. I understand. I was acting like a kid, too."
"I'm glad we got that out of the way."
Walking out of the room, Dr Orwell smiled at them and made a gesture with his fingers that everything was all right. After seeing him off, the two women looked at each other, made a very unhappy look on their faces, which was replaced by curiosity.
"Have you noticed he's quite a handsome man," Dominique whispered as he stopped in front of the water machine and bent over so that his backside showed the full strength of his pumped muscles.
"He's a rough and rude boy. Just a boy."
"Yes, but he's a beautiful boy. Don't pretend you haven't noticed that."
"Your husband's handsome, too. He's a lot younger than you, isn't he?" Wilhelmina asked, again trying to offend this woman who couldn't take her eyes off the muscular Dr Orwell.
"What? He's older than me! Are you saying I look old?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I misspoke. Do you have children?"
"No. We've decided we're not going to have kids."
"Why not? Do you have health problems?"
Sitting back in her chair, Dominique sighed, then looked at Lucy and Lily, who were reading a teenage magazine at the very end of the corridor.
"No. It's just that Jasper always thought this world was too unideal to bring children here. He always said nothing was good here. Just the thought of school and a child having to go there for years says he's completely right. And besides, we are happy without children."
"No woman wants to live without a child."
"Why do you talk as if you know everything? There are so many people in this world and they're all different."
"Women are all the same. All we need is children."
"You're wrong."
"I can't imagine my life without my girls."
"Can they imagine life without you?"
After eating an entire bar of chocolate, Wilhelmina wiped her mouth with a white handkerchief and put it back into her very large black bag. Feeling the unpleasant taste of the sweet, which was flowing down her throat and smeared all over her teeth, she stood up and headed towards the water machine, near which Dr Orwell was still standing, talking to some young doctor.
She stepped closer and Dr Orwell did not even notice her. He went on talking to that young doctor who had been getting his attention by any means necessary since his first day on the job. Whether it was the discreet touch of his shoulders, the sudden and funny encounter in the bathroom, the bright clothes, and hairstyles he was always changing to get Dr Orwell to notice him and the simple compliments that always flattered all men.
The name of this young doctor was Raphael, and no one could ever remember his surname. Because his last name had too many letters, and no one just did not want to call him by his last name. So, to everyone he was always just Raphael.
"So, what would you say to going to the cinema with me this weekend?" Raphael asked, causing Wilhelmina to linger by the water machine.
"What are you trying to achieve? Do you like me? You're always trying to have dinner with me, you bring me sweets and fruit. You take care of me as if I were your husband. Raphael, do you like me?" Dr Orwell asked and at the same time smiling, even flirting with him.
Wilhelmina was too curious to stand still. She looked out from behind Dr Orwell and saw this Raphael, who also happened to be handsome.
"Yes. I like you. And you've always given me a reason to like you even more. So, I deduced that you're okay with the way I feel when I see you."
"So, you're asking me out?"