“How are you feeling?” Jean-Pierre asked softly.
Debby looked at the smiling Yulia and said:
“I don’t know yet. Weak. But it seems to be fine.”
Jean-Pierre smiled absently and said to Dr Capri:
“That’s… That’s impossible! She had a fracture, I looked at her leg.”
The doctor shook his head and thoughtfully said:
“I know. I’m sure it was a fracture. Now we’re going to take her out of the water and try to see what’s going on. I don’t know what to say for now.”
Jean-Pierre squatted down, took water from the lake in his hands, and washed his face. He looked at the door-stretcher, which lay on the bank of the lake. Next to him, David walked knee-deep into the lake to help the girls get out.
The water was very pleasant: cool and soft.
“Debby,” said Jean-Pierre, “how is your leg?”
Debby swam closer to the shore and took hold of Yulia’s arm and put her feet on the bottom.
She looked into the clear water and let go of Yulia.
“I can stand,” Debby said, looking at the audience on the bank. “I feel a burning in my leg, where the wound was.”
“Does it hurt?” Dr Capri asked.
“No-no,” Debby said, smiling. “It’s… It’s like,” she chose her words, “the buzzing of bees.”
Jean-Pierre looked at the doctor and David.
“That’s it!” shaking the head, Jean-Pierre said. “Come back.”
He beckoned Debby with his hand. And she walked slowly toward him, expecting that now, under the growing weight of her body, the pain would return. David took a few steps to help her out. Yulia walked behind and wrung her t-shirt right off her body.
David helped Debby ashore and went to help Yulia. The bottom was pretty slippery.
Everyone surrounded Debby and looked at her in silence, waiting. She wrung out her shirt and twisted her hair. Jean-Pierre leaned closer to her leg to take a look. The leg was fine. Debby’s wet clothes fit her body smoothly, and there was nothing in place of yesterday’s bump on her hip. Debby was shivering from the chill and felt embarrassed that everyone was looking at her.
David picked up a towel and some of his t-shirts that were lying by the stretcher and gave them to Debby and Yulia to dry their hair and wipe off.
“Hi,” Debby decided to start, “my name is Debby Glandfield. I live in Stamford. Teach history at school,” she realized that she hadn’t succeeded, and after waiting for a while, she continued. “This is Jean-Pierre, he’s a very serious man,” she smiled.