The Honest Affair

42

"She's exhausted," she heard from a distance. The voice was quiet. It was like a whisper and from across the room. It was not one that was unfamiliar but she couldn't yet put a face to it. The blonde woman who laid in the bed had no courage to open her eyes yet either. She could hardly remember what happened. Her conscience gave out again.

"You need to go easy on her," Linnea asked of both Björn who stood with her and Lena who sat at the windowsill. "If not for her, for the child that needs her."

"She is doing this to herself," Lena mumbled as if she were annoyed.

"I am sure under the circumstances, she does not feel so comfortable here. But I am sure she would be a lot stronger if she were supported. Don't forget she is still in postpartum. You may think you understand her, but you don't unless you've gone through it," Linnea said. Every woman experiences it differently, but she felt that Lena should at least relate to some of it.

"What now?" he asked.

"She'll take the IV. It's important to keep her hydrated. Encourage her to eat. Don't take her child away from her as tired as she is. Anna will be her remedy. She is obviously having a hard time with this issue, and let's be honest, Agnetha needs Anna more than Anna needs her. If you want her to heal, give them time to themselves. At least for the time being until she's well again. They will fix each other. They will grow better and strengthen together. Of course, you decide in the end, but for a short while–"

"How do you expect that to happen?" Lena asked.

Björn remained quiet. He had already begun forming his own ideas that actually made more sense to him than anything else. Linnea had read his expression by chance and was not so concerned knowing he would do everything to get her well. The man was determined and in the bed had laid both the mother of his children and the love of his life. He'd get her better, if not himself, he'd at least pave the road for her.

"Mama," Emma entered her bedroom to see them and Agnetha sleeping with the long metal pole beside her bed. "Is Aunt Anna okay?"

"Agnetha," she corrected quietly. Emma wanted to object and say that her father calls her Anna, but she wasn't even given the chance and that was best. "She's just resting. Come let's go wash your hands. Where were you playing?" she asked.

"I fell off the swing. And the grass was kinda muddy," she said, her voice fading as they exited the room together. Linnea had brought her eyes to Björn, actually thankful that the chance was given to her.

"Agnetha doesn't–"

"Björn," she interrupted. "It's important I give this to you now that she has left. I'm sad this is the reason I had to come here, but at least I have this chance to give it to you." He took the folder into his hands and opened it.

"It's Agnetha's official medical records from the birthing center. Lena asked me to get rid of all evidence Agnetha was admitted, and she had taken some of the records too. I agreed, they shouldn't be archived with all the records there, if you want to play that game, but at least you should hold something with Agnetha's name on it."

"Thank you, Linnea. She hadn't even mentioned it."

"She wanted it all signed because it had to be and for me to go back and destroy the center's copies later on. So nothing would trace back to Agnetha in the end."

"Should have guessed that."

"Maybe these papers belong with Agnetha. That's just my opinion." He nodded. "Björn, she will be fine. She is just very fragile. And it makes sense from what you said, she hasn't been eating, she hasn't been sleeping during the night and awake during the day. She's experiencing extreme fatigue. It's all tiring her and adding up. That is not including her mental state."