Stella said, “I feel bad going sightseeing when he’s in the hospital, but there’s not much else we can do. And it doesn’t help Revan if we just sit here. At least we know he’s safe and well taken care of. The way he’s hooked up to the IV and other monitors, it might be a while until they move him to another room.
“Why don’t we go to the Louvre as we planned earlier, have lunch, organize a new phone for him somewhere along the way, and then come back?”
“There are several nice cafés inside the Louvre. At one, visitors sit in a gallery surrounded by marble columns and paintings,” Alexander suggested.
Julia said, “Sounds lovely. We can all go there together, and afterward Alexander and I will spend a few hours by ourselves. Maybe we can all meet somewhere later for our last dinner in Paris?”
“I’d love it,” Naomi said. “Sounds like a good plan. Maybe Rev can join us, too, if they release him today.”
“I’d like to meet him, if it’s not too much for him,” Alexander said.
“Knowing him, he won’t sit in a hotel room. And I’m sure he’ll be more than ready for something besides hospital food,” Naomi said, and Stella agreed.
“Have you heard from Kai? I thought you wanted to text him,” Stella said.
“I texted him before we left the hotel, and he wrote back saying he was leaving Paris today,” Naomi said, and shrugged. “I don’t know why he didn’t tell me last night, though.”
CHAPTER 34
Stella—July 2018
“T
he painting is much smaller than I expected. I thought it’d be more like the size of a movie poster,” Naomi said. She pushed a lonely olive through the balsamic vinaigrette on her plate.
“But doesn’t her smile fill the whole room?” Julia gushed. “No wonder it’s one of the most visited pieces of art on Earth.”
“Once you get close enough to see it,” Naomi laughed.
Stella finished her caprese panini and took a sip of water. “I can’t believe this week is coming to an end. So much has happened, it feels like we’ve spent a whole month in France.”
“I’m sure you could’ve done with a little less excitement,” Julia said.
Stella looked at David and nodded. “True, but there were also some unexpected but very wonderful moments.”
“What are you two going to do now?” Julia asked, and looked from Stella to David. “Even though I’ve only known you a few days, it’s obvious how much you care for each other.”
David played with his water glass. “We haven’t had time to come up with a plan. But I won’t let anything come between us again.” He leaned over and kissed Stella. “I promise!”
“I know,” she said. “Maybe I’ll come to London for Labor Day. If I leave on Friday and stay the week through Saturday, I’ll only need four vacation days. It would break up the time till you come home in November. What do you think?”
“Baby, if you really need an answer, here it is…” he took her face in his hands and lowered his mouth over hers.
Finger-snapping right next to their faces interrupted the kiss. Naomi snapped once more for effect, then announced in a schoolmarmish voice, “You are in a public place, kids.”
She glanced over to Julia and said, “A little support here, please?”
But when she caught Julia and Alexander sharing a quick kiss, too, she jumped up and said, “Time to freshen up. Unbelievable…”
Stella laughed and called after Naomi, “Wait, I’ll come with you.”
“Hmph…” was the only reply.
“I love you, too, Nam,” Stella said, and followed her friend.
“I don’t see the young nurse from this morning,” Naomi said when they walked into the hospital again. “Let’s see how many hoops we have to jump through this time.” She asked one of the nurses in French, “Excuse me, we’re here to visit Mr. Forrester. Can you tell us where we can find him?”
The nurse typed in Revan’s name and asked, “May I have your names?”
“Naomi Winters and Stella Harrison.”
“Thank you.” After consulting her computer again, the nurse said, “Both your names are on the approved list. Mr. Forrester was moved to a general room an hour ago.” She wrote the station and room number on a piece of paper, printed out their visitor passes and gave them to Naomi. Then she pointed to her right and said, “The elevators are this way.”
“Thank you.”
“Why didn’t you give her David’s name? We don’t have a visitors’ pass for him,” Stella asked when they were out of the nurse’s earshot.
“Because Revan doesn’t know David is with us and couldn’t put his name on the list of visitors.” Naomi winked at David. “You just have to sneak in with us.”
“How? He’s not very invisible.” Stella reached for his hand.
“Well, David has to trot out his own acting skills if we’re being asked. Mine are exhausted,” Naomi said. “And the nurse didn’t even ask. She saw him standing with us.”
“How big is this place? I wonder if people ever get lost in here,” Naomi complained when they reached Revan’s floor fifteen long minutes later.
“It’s part of Sorbonne University, and one of the largest hospitals in Europe. I think that explains it,” David said.
“Good! No cops anywhere, which makes it easier,” Stella said when she looked up and down the long hallway. “At least we don’t have to invent some crazy story about what relationship David and Revan have and why he wants to visit him.”
“We could’ve recycled the fiancé story again,” he said and stroked her hand with his thumb.
“You would pretend to be Revan’s fiancé?” Naomi commented drily. “How sweet.”
He laughed and knocked on the door to Revan’s room, then opened it without waiting for a reply, letting Stella and Naomi walk in before he entered.
“Look who’s here again,” Revan greeted them with a broad smile. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he was sitting on
