Yvan and Mother didn’t return from the hospital until after midnight had struck. And when they did return, Yvan's first instinct was to search for the woman he thought was Caleana. He found her sitting in the living room with Viola. A maid had brought them tea — after they had had dinner, of course — and Caleana abruptly stood up when she saw Yvan.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, but it was an emergency I had to attend to,” Yvan said as he walked into the room and towards Caleana. There were cotton pads taped over his ears, muffling all sounds for him, though he didn’t need to hear her at all because she couldn’t speak in the first place.
“He’s partially deaf,” Mother started from the door to everyone in the room, “Whatever that loud noise was almost ruptured his eardrums. He’ll make a fu
