Finally, he came back into her bedroom. She was still sitting in her bed, looking through the window to pass time. During those few moments alone, she had realised once again where she was, in a hospital. And the fear to be left alone, suffering here was taking back on her, especially because of the fact that the medicine were fading out and her wounded limbs were beginning to hurt again.

When he opened the door, she immediately looked at him and smiled. He gave her the water she had asked and stood there awkwardly while she drank from it.

"Thanks."

She was still looking at him with bright eyes, staring at him as if he was the man from her dreams.

After 23 years of existence, Celine had never known love, not even close. She wasn't quite sure yet if the admiration she had for him was this kind of love she had seen on t.v. or read in some books, but she was begging for it. He was indeed an handsome man, she had no doubt about it ; he must have had a lot of chance in the domain of love. And this kind of conclusion made her want him more. He was a safe place, a strong shoulder on which she could lean on. Overall, he was the embodiment of what she could love the most. And, her having no one close by her side, with all the representation she had of love inside her family, she was starting to think that maybe she too deserved to be in love.

Rene was still feeling disoriented, uncomfortable. He realised as he stepped in that he too knew nothing about her. All he had were transmitted beliefs from people who just hanged out at her family's bar once in a while to hear her sing. He looked once more at her, she had still her eyes locked on him, and he shivered. After all this time, he didn't know if he was just in love with a voice from which he had built fantaisies that weren't even close to reality. And this unknown vision of love intertwined with his guilt.

And there, no one dared making the first move, lost in their thoughts and their own fairytales.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." For once, she didn't want to speak a lot, or ask questions. She just stared at him. And then something came up to her head as he almost took the decision to leave her alone.

"I know Michel told me everything about the incident, but I can't really grasp what happened. If it's making you uncomfortable, please don't, but if you'd like to tell me what you saw, how it was... I'm all ears."

She was beautiful, he could admit that. She was also pricelessly pure hearted with him, a sweet angel. Slowly, his confidence came back to him. It was one more consequence of her smile towards him.

"It's just a normal conversation between her and me. She has the right to know what happened. Overall, she just wants to know." He told himself.

He stepped back from the door and sat on a chair beside her bed.

Still, it was her. And there was no way he would let her down, no matter what. So much had been done so far, there was no way to keep going. She would just have to wait for the truth.

"So, this day..." He had a hard time composing his sentences. Should he lie on this element ? Should he just let her know how much of a creep he was, and perhaps still is. He felt like everything was wrong with his situation, and there was no coming back from here.

So he played with words, romanticised the situation, made it safe for himself and, in that way, disgusted the last strand of hope that was still holding him from his own hatred. He kept the version of the story he told to Therese and to everyone else, lying again and again, knowing damn well he would sink one day for that.

"I am working in construction and city architecture. This day we were planning with my team the construction of a building right next to your bar. We told your family that there would be some... noise and it would be preferable for you to stay outside if you wanted to profit from this day !" He gave up his lie to find another one in his few last words. More than truth, he sought there for approval, Celine and her family's appreciation. One day, everything will be gone, all proofs, all testimonies. And there, once he'll be safe from his own mistakes, he will finally try to patch it up with her parents. But this day wasn't ready yet, and he still needed to mend his damages.

"Unfortunately... Something went wrong... It blew up, and touched the bar which went in flames because of all the woods. We started to panic, no one had planned this issue. And then, your mom told me you were inside, so I ran in the building in order to save you from the flames, knowing it was my responsibility, as the manager of my team, to take care of any problem. You were unconscious when I arrived so I picked you up and brought you outside. Thankfully you were safe and alive. But the flames had left some marks on you, so the firemen, who were already there because of the fire, took you to the hospital."

At this mention, Celine touched her wounded arms. It was still burning a lot and the fact that Rene brought it again in the conversation reminded her of it abruptly.

Seeing her, showing her pain, he stood up.

"I'm going to call the nurses.

"No, please. Stay here a bit." She smiled softly at him and dropped her own arms to reach his hands.

He was shocked, but couldn't disguise a growing feeling of happiness. She closed her eyes as he sat next to her to brush softly her hand, extending to her wrists. She didn't say a word but yet he knew right away that she wanted some love around her, some proximity. Naturally, it would have been her mother, but she wasn't there. He gave her his shoulder so she could rest on it and breathe softly to soothe her intense pain.

They stayed there for a bit, appreciating the silence that surrounding them and the calm it offered. That was beneficial for both of them, helping Celine with her pain, and giving some rest for Rene's busy mind.

And then, the door slammed open.

"The visits were close to an end for this morning but I forgot to give you some stuff I brought from home so you could feel better during your stay."

Therese said her sentence as she had rehearsed it, with a straight face and a calm voice. Maybe too calm for this situation. Celine instantly stood up as her mother entered her room and thanked her for coming. Then, she turned back to her bed.

Rene was still paralysed, in shock. He was definitely guilty, for everything. And he betted that it would just be worse for him once he left the bedroom. But, accepting this kind of fate, he joined Therese who hadn't yet closed the door and was definitely waiting for him.

Once the door was closed, she pronounced those words with a menacing tone :

"We need to talk."