Hello Again

Chapter 10

The message was delivered on the fifth day of the search for Anne and it read simply.

The young Anne can be found at the hospital on 8th street. She is under the care of Dr. Christophe.

Everyone ran to the window after the Butler delivered the message to Aunt Josephine, but none of them could see a trace of the man that had come.

The kids were running off first, ready to find their friend. Marilla would have been right behind them if she'd been younger. Instead she waited for Aunt Josephine to have the carriage made up for them to go into town.

Anne for her part was finally sleeping easily and Dr. Christophe was hopeful she'd start to recover as he'd hoped.

But as nothing with this patient had gone to plan he wasn't sure why he'd begun to hope for it.

As he shut the door on his sleeping patient he was immediately accosted by two young people. One was dressed finely in a white lace dress, the other was dressed in a more working man's attire but their faces mirror the anxious anxiety of many people he'd see come to wait on their loved ones.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Oh yes." Diana said. "We're here to see our friend Anne. Is she here?"

"Well ..." He was at a loss for words. Anne had finally gone to sleep, he'd hate to let people in there to stop her progress.

Then two more people were running up. Sebastian and Mary were panting but smiling. "Is she here?" Sebastian turned the question to Blythe.

"We're still trying to figure that out." They all turned an expectant eye to the doctor.

"Well I -"

"Gilbert! Diana! Sebastian!" An elderly woman and a man coming up behind her were now crowding around the door. "Do we know where she is?"

They all turned to Dr. Christophe. There was no holding back a ground like this. "She's right here."

He opened the door and inside he could tell she was already awake again. The commotion of it all got through the door and woke her up. "But you can't stay for long. She needs her rest."

He was talking to the air. They'd already pushed into the room and were asking questions and demanding answers. The smiles and laughter were good, maybe the best medicine.

"Doctor" the voice was aristocratic and demanded attention. He turned to find Ms. Barry standing next to him. Her butler at her side and her cane grasped in both hands. "How is she?"

"She should make a full recovery. She hit her head hard and so it can be difficult to know exactly how each individual will respond to such an event. She seems strong though."

"Oh she is" Ms. Barry said with a smile. "She is one of the best there is. Thank you for all your help." It was the nicest smile he'd ever seen grace the woman's face.