Chapter 35 three five

I can hardly tell how we passed the day.Stroeve could not do without his company, and I was exhausting myself by trying to distract him.I took him to the Louvre, where he pretended to be admiring pictures, but I could see that his thoughts had not left his wife for a moment.I forced him to eat something; after lunch I advised him to lie down and rest, but he was not sleepy at all.I stayed him at my apartment for a few days and he gladly accepted my invitation.I found a few books for him to read, and he only flipped through a page or two before putting the books down, staring at the air miserably blankly.We played countless rounds of poker after dinner, and in order not to disappoint me, he pulled himself together and pretended to be enjoying himself.At last I made him take a sip of the potion, and though he did not sleep peacefully, he fell asleep at last.

When we went to the hospital again, we saw a female nurse.She told us that Blanche looked better.She went into the ward and asked if she would like to see her husband.We heard voices coming from Blanche's ward, and it wasn't long before the nurse came out and told us that the patient refused to see anyone who came to see her.We had discussed with the nurse beforehand that if the patient did not want to see Dirk, the nurse could ask her if she would like to see me, but the patient also refused.Dirk's lips trembled. I dare not push her too much, the nurse said, she is very sick.Maybe in a day or two she'll change her mind.

Does she want to meet someone?asked Dirk, speaking in a very low voice, almost a whisper. She said she just asked no one to disturb her. Dirk made a very strange gesture, as if his hands were not connected to his body, and he was waving them by himself. Can you tell her that if she wants to see someone, I can bring that person?I just want to make her happy. The nurse looked at Dirk with her peaceful, kind eyes. These eyes had seen all the horrors and pains of the world, but because they contained the illusion of a world without evil, her eyes were clear. of. I'll let her know when she's calmer.

Dirk's heart was filled with infinite compassion, and he begged her to tell her this sentence immediately. Maybe this will cure her.I beg you to ask her now. A sympathetic smile appeared on the nurse's face, and she walked into the ward.We heard her say something in a low voice, and then a voice I couldn't make out answered: No, no, no. The nurse came out and shook her head. Was she the one talking just now?I asked, and her voice changed completely. Her vocal cords appeared to have been burned by the acid. Dirk let out a low cry of pain.I told him to go outside first and wait for me at the entrance because I wanted to speak to the nurse.He didn't ask me what I wanted to say, and walked away without saying a word.He seemed to have lost all willpower, letting others dictate like an obedient child.

Did she ever tell you, why did she do this?I asked the nurse. No.She said nothing.She lay quietly on her back, sometimes for hours at a time without moving.But she kept crying, and even the pillow was wet.She was so weak that she could not even use a handkerchief and let the tears run down her face. I suddenly felt a throbbing pain in my heart.Had Strickland been with me, I could have killed him right then and there.When I said goodbye to the nurse, I knew that even my own voice was shaking. I found Dirk waiting for me on the doorstep.He didn't seem to see anything until I touched his arm and he didn't realize I was standing beside him.The two of us walked back in silence.I tried desperately to imagine what had happened to drive the poor creature to such a dead end.I suppose that Strickland knew of the unfortunate incident, for he must have been sent for by the police, and his testimony taken.I don't know where Strickland is now.Perhaps he had gone back to the rough attic which he used as a studio.It was strange that she did not want to see him.Perhaps she refused to send for him because she knew he would never come.I really want to know what kind of miserable bottomless abyss she saw, so she feared and despaired, and didn't want to live anymore.