A Terrible War

A Brothers Grief

Noon found them back at the hospital.

They were pleased with the progress Louis was making. Although his skin still had a yellow tinge, his eyes were red-rimmed and a little hollow, neither his appetite nor his temperament had fully recovered yet but he was in good enough spirits and was clearly happy to see them.

'I see you enjoyed your evening', Louis said with a grin, looking at Jill.

'Is it that obvious?' she asked.

His smile broadened. Both of you look inordinately pleased with yourselves', he replied and Joe slipped his arm around his wife's waist, his thumb gently grazing her side.

'It was an amazing evening, truly remarkable. We even spoke with the astronauts in space', she revealed, her voice indicating the excitement that she still felt.

Louis' eyes opened wide. 'You're ruining things for every other man out there you know', he said, looking toward Joe before switching. 'I don't think anyone on earth organizes better dates than your husband', he told Jill.

She leaned her head against Joe for a moment and smiled in agreement. The past fourteen hours or so had simply been amazing and she told Louis so.

'But Joe does have a question for you though, right honey?' she said, looking up at her husband.

Moving across the room he retrieved two chairs. Setting them beside the bed he indicated for Jill to sit before he took his own seat.

'Yeah, so, while we were there we happened on the office on the next flight up. We found some notebooks. I'm pretty sure they're from an SOE operative', he explained, jumping right into the story.

Louis' reaction surprised him.

'I don't know what that means but I'm glad you're excited over them', he said. Seeing Joe's eager expression he offered a more detailed explanation.

'The designer working on the refit of the bedroom was a friend of Bernard's. He wanted to redo the office space as a kind of homage to Bern', which was very thoughtful of him', Louis said, his eyes taking on a faraway look.

Into the past, Joe reckoned and he and Jill exchanged a knowing look and sat quietly, giving their friend the time and space he needed to work through his thoughts.

In time Louis sighed deeply, as if awakening from a trance, and then continued.

'As you know Bernard's career was in interior design, later he expanded into event planning and I think he called himself a purveyor of items', he said with a small grin, like he wasn't really sure what that meant but was happy to indulge his brother in his choices. 'He got a warrant from the Queen, you know. The late Queen, I should say, and he was so proud of that. To be honest I'm not really sure he did all that much to get it but I'd better not say that aloud I guess', he said, a small smile playing across his lips.

'Over time he accumulated the most diverse items; elaborately decorated furniture from Africa, ornate rugs from Morocco, paintings and sculpture from all over the world. You could find anything from an ancient book to a piece of a jumbo jet in the storage space he had. Actually he does have a piece of a Concord in there somewhere', he continued and Joe noted the use of the present tense; Louis was nowhere near to accepting his brother's death.

'He was a gifted textile designer too. There are bolts of fabric and rolls of wallpaper everywhere in his apartment', Louis mused. He looked down at his hands, fingers loosely laced together, his attention coming back full circle.

'When Monsieur Marchand asked me to provide the items for the office I thought it was an appropriate memorial to Bernard. He loved the Eiffel Tower, it held some sort of deep fascination for him, especially in his adult life. I think it made more of an impact on him after he left Paris to be honest. So to have the chance to have the space decorated with his items. Pieces he'd chosen and cared for, well, it was akin to one last design job, and a fitting tribute to him. I know he would have approved', he said wistfully as tears slipped down his face.