You are, naturally, so very welcome if you have only just joined us. Except now you have a decision to make, which is either go for the spoilery option and read this scene first, or start at the very beginning (which is a very good place to start, I am told), in which latter case my intro is there, and the prelude & opening scene is there.
In the previously on Katrina (I like that phrase, being something of a fan of 24), matters took a distinct turn for the darker when Katrina provoked Tom with a little revisionist history involving an old Soviet defector by the name of Victor Suvorov. One aspect of this you should bear in mind, dearest reader, if that kind of thing makes you a little uncomfortable, is to remember that Katrina is from (or believes she is from) a parallel world. That means divergent histories. It wouldn’t be a parallel world otherwise, now would it, eh?
Then again, you should know by now not to really know where you are with this girl. If I was Tom, I probably wouldn’t trust her either. Or anything she says. I would assume she’s up to something. Tom, however, has far too much on his plate to be able to think clearly right now.
Anyway, to make something of a change of tone, a change of style (with no regrets), in this scene, Audrey and Katrina are about to meet for the very first time. I should also say that when I re-read this bit in preparation for posting it I came to the conclusion that this is one of my favourite scenes. I think it’s just lovely.
Hence I’m leaving it on its own.
Oh, and I found a lovely vintage image to go with it. This is Une Paire d’amis (Femme et chat noir) (1881) by Adolphe Willette.
Audrey felt understandably reluctant and nervous about meeting Katrina, although she couldn’t deny that a part of her was also curious. And she was quite sure Peter was stirring again, and she wasn’t going to give him that pleasure.
Still, she opened the door to the interview room somewhat tentatively.
Katrina put the phone back down on the table and looked up to get the measure of her latest visitor. Twenty or twenty-one, perhaps. Very cute, as well as beautiful. Slender and fair with bright, pale blue eyes and a very kind face. And definitely French. She was carrying a small holdall, the kind Katrina recognised as those nurses use to take samples and give injections and the like.
“Bonjour, mademoiselle,” Audrey introduced herself, “You are Katrine?”
“Katrina, oui. Je suis heureux de vous rencontre…?” she looked up questioningly.
“Je m’appelle Audrey. Vous parlez Français?”
“Couramment,” Katrina replied. “Although if you’d prefer to practice your English?”
Audrey smiled. “I like English.”
“Me too. English it is, then,” Katrina smiled warmly at her.
Audrey was a little confused. She was expecting a mad girl, not a polite one. She was, however, certainly beautiful. None of which made for reassurance. She wondered whether Katrina was playing with her. she decided to be professional about it. She sat down opposite Katrina, put the bag down and opened it up. Katrina observed with interest.
“I was given a document for you to look at. They said if you are happy with it you should sign, and then I can take your sample.” She handed it over.
“Thank you.” Katrina speed-read it. She was, in fact, surprised to find it was pretty sound. No nebulous small print, just a very clear statement that the blood sample belonged to her and would only be used for purposes to which she consented. There were two checkboxes at the bottom, one for a blood sample, which would only be used for antibody tests, and another for DNA research.
Audrey looked on curiously as Katrina raised her eyebrows, smiled again and happily signed it. “There,” she said, “done.”
“It is acceptable, then?”
“Perfectly. I understand legal documents very well. I have to deal with them in business all the time.”
“You work in business?”
“I own a business. Well, not here, obviously.” She suddenly realised she had no idea how much Audrey did or didn’t know. “In England,” she explained.
That seemed to satisfy her. “So I shall take a sample?”
“Go ahead. Left or right?”
“Whichever you prefer.”
“Left it is, then.” She rolled up her sleeve and watched on as Audrey started laying out some sample vials and preparing a syringe. Katrina had been through this probably more times than Audrey had performed it herself, although she hoped not that much more.
She continued to study her curiously, as she’d always loved to do with new people.
“You are a nurse, here at the Embassy?” she asked.
“Hmm, sort of. It is not my main job, but I am also trained in being a nurse. So you do not need to worry.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Audrey.” She began to sense that Audrey was a little nervous about something, but by the professional way she prepared the sampling kit it wasn’t about that. In which case, she must’ve been told a few little snippets of gossip about her.
Still, she seemed nice enough. “I’m supposed to ask you about a physical examination, too. You know, because of the -”
“Parallel world weirdness. Sure. Have I bumped my head or something.”
Audrey smiled a little tentatively. Katrina continued. “I’m fine, actually. I know I haven’t bumped my head. I’m going to exercise my right to refuse a physical examination. But if you want to take my vitals after the bloods, that’s fine. No offence, I hope?”
She shook her head. “No, of course not. Shall I?”
Katrina held out her arm and clenched her fist a little to make the vein stand out. She deliberately avoided conversation while her blood filled up several little tubes. Audrey, she decided, was quite adept at it. There was no pain at all. Once finished, Audrey dabbed a little alcohol on to the injection site then gave Katrina a piece of cotton wool to hold while she stowed away the little vials and packed up the syringe for the sharps bin. Then Katrina happily exchanged the cotton wool for a little plaster, and rolled her sleeve back down.
“Do you know Tom?” she suddenly asked Audrey. “Liaison officer?”
Audrey really wasn’t expecting that one. The little blush on her clear skin and the faint smile told Katrina the answer before she even spoke.
“Yes,” she answered softly, “why do you ask?”
“I don’t think he likes me.”
She noticed Audrey’s eyes widening a little. “Oh? Really?” She tried to hide her expressions by studying her watch while taking Katrina’s pulse.
Katrina noticed of course but didn’t let on. “Yes. He’s the one dealing with my case. I upset him quite a bit, being ungrateful and short-tempered with him. It’s because I’ve been very distressed.”
Audrey wrote down her pulse (somewhat normal), put the bag aside and sat down opposite her. She could tell that Katrina was feeling sad. It wasn’t just her expression, but the slow delivery of her words that did it.
“My heart rate is normal too, by the way. I have a heightened sense of interoception. I was hoping we could be friends,” Katrina continued, “Tom, I mean. But I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”
“Why do you think that?” Audrey checked her heart anyway, then switched the stethoscope to lungs. Both inconspicuous.
Katrina shrugged slightly. “I think I would put it down to irreconcilable cultural differences.”
“Oh.” Audrey swallowed and lowered her eyes. “But you are both English?”
“Partly, I suppose. But we’re from different tribes. Different versions of England. Our worlds are too different. Our cultural identities are incompatible.”
“I think I understand.” She didn’t want to, but she did.
Then she retrieved a little torch and shined lights into Katrina’s eyes, got her to follow the light wherever it led. Equally normal on both sides.
“My husband used to say that a person’s first loyalty is always to their own people. I didn’t want to believe it, and I tried so hard, but I couldn’t. Deep down, I always knew he was right.”
Audrey saw that Katrina was about to cry. Part of her felt the same. “You are married?”
“I was married,” she said, brushing her eye, “my husband died.”
“Oh I’m so sorry.”
Katrina could tell she really meant it. “Thank you.”
Audrey swallowed before tentatively asking another question. “You must have been very young, when you were married?”
Katrina gave a short laugh. “I’m older than I look.”
Audrey suddenly remembered Tom had told her that Katrina thought she was old enough to be his mother. She admonished herself for that. She realised that being jealous of Katrina was just silly, and admitted that it wasn’t her she was insecure about. It was him.
There was a momentary, slightly uncomfortable silence as she didn’t know what to say next.
Katrina broke it first. “Being away from my family like this, in a different place, I’ve been thinking about him a lot more. It’s made me remember just how much I miss him.” She brushed another tear away.
“I have done a missing person report for you,” Audrey said, “Perhaps your family will see it and come to find you?”
Katrina smiled sadly back at her. “Thank you. I can’t think of anything in the world I wish for more than for my family to find me and take me back home. I don’t belong here.”
Audrey nodded. “The Embassy will look after you until they do. Tom is,” she hesitated a moment, “he is nice, really. He just has, I don’t know, quick emotions, maybe?”
Katrina smiled. “I understand. You like him, don’t you?”
This time Audrey didn’t blush. She just nodded. “But I don’t think he really cares for me. Not enough, anyway.”
“I see,” Katrina sighed. “If I could give you one piece of advice, it’s this. Time is the most precious thing in the universe, Audrey. Don’t ever waste a single drop.”
Audrey’s laugh was short and sad. “This is wise advice.”
Katrina smiled back at her. “People often say I’m very wise. They value my counsel.”
And then, in that instant, to Audrey, she really did feel like she was talking with an older woman. When she thought back, in later years, she remembered that this was the moment when she really did believe. Perhaps it was all just a matter of faith, in the end.
Like everything in this world.
“All your vital signs are normal. If you don’t feel anything bad anywhere then, well, we don’t need to do a physical examination. That’s ok.”
After a momentary smile, Katrina asked, “Do you know if I’ll be able to go swimming?”
“Oh!” Audrey smiled with a little embarrassment, “I forgot. I was supposed to arrange this for you. I am sorry. I will go and do this straight away.”
Katrina laughed. “That’s ok. Thank you, Audrey. And it doesn’t have to be a fifty-metre pool. Twenty-five is fine. I don’t want to be too demanding.”
Audrey smiled. “There are many of these in Paris. I’m sure it will be possible. And you have your pass sanitaire.”
“Oh,” Katrina looked seriously at her, “so they’ve even stopped people swimming unless they submit to these injections?”
Audrey nodded.
Katrina shook her head a little at the injustice. “What they must’ve inflicted on you for the last two years is nothing short of abuse. It’s obscene, and it’s a crime against humanity.”
Audrey, to her surprise, showed no sign of alarm at what she just heard. “I agree.”
“Really? Tom thinks I’m a conspiracy theorist.”
Audrey shook her head. “No. My parents worked in the hospital. Nurses and doctors were removed from their jobs if they did not have the injections. My parents refused.”
“That was a very brave thing they did, Audrey. And they made the right decision.”
“I am very proud of them.”
“Good for you. And them. But you are still able to practice nursing?”
Audrey smiled, then lowered her voice a little and said, “I, erm, was able to pay for a certificate. You know.”
Katrina liked that idea, and showed it with a sly smile. “I approve. Just don’t tell Tom, eh? He’ll think I’ve been brainwashing you with my paranoid theories.”
She shook her head. She decided she liked Katrina. Far more than she could ever have expected. “They say the pandemic will be over soon. And,” she shrugged, “we have an election next year. So I think they will remove the confinement before then.”
“Everything is political, eh?”
“Unfortunately. Yes.”
Katrina sighed. “Plus ça change, eh?”
Audrey laughed. “I will go and arrange your swimming.” She picked up the bag and stood up to go.
“How long will it be, for the test results?”
“Perhaps 24-48 hours.”
“Thank you, Audrey. And it was lovely to meet you. Genuinely.”
“Likewise, Katrine.” She smiled warmly again, then turned to leave.
Katrina watched her gently close the door behind her, and continued to gaze at it, without really seeing anything.
And then she lowered her head, and slowly began to weep.