“My fathering instinct is giving me the same message,” Brian agreed as he reached into his pants pocket and produced the card for the defunct business that Jeanne had given him. “To that end, I had an unexpected experience waiting to see Megan Doyle. Another of Ms. Doyle’s clients came in, and I heard her give her name: Jeanne Juliette-Shaw.” He handed the card to Aimée.
“Really?” she questioned. She looked at the business card and raised her eyebrows. “That’s surprising. Juliette is not a common family name.”
“That’s exactly why I had the nerve to strike up a conversation,” he said. “It turns out that she, like you, grew up in France and, also like you, came to the United States for college, Fordham University to be exact, and met her husband-to-be.”
“Une telle coïncidence,” Aimée said. She handed the business card back. “Mon Dieu! Did you ask where in France she’s from?”
“I did. She’s from the Camargue.”
“Fascinating, but I surely don’t know any Juliette families from the Camargue,” Aimée said. “I’ll have to ask my mother. It’s a unique part of France, rather sparsely populated. I’ve never visited myself. What I do remember about it is that they have a special breed of horse called the Camargue, which has a unique light gray, almost white coat.”
Suddenly the sound of the cartoon emanating from the kitchen stopped, yet there was no further sound from Juliette. Brian tensed, and he and Aimée exchanged a questioning glance as they listened for a moment.
“I wonder what that means?” he asked.
“I wonder the same. At least there’s no complaint from Juliette, so it can’t be all that bad.”
“I guess,” Brian said as he visibly relaxed. “Anyway, to get back to my story, I know it sounds odd under the circumstances for me to have had a conversation with a stranger while waiting to talk to a medical billing advocate, but our situations are surprisingly similar. Jeanne also recently lost a spouse and was sued by MMH Inwood. But most interesting of all is that we talked briefly about Juliette. She has a graduate degree in psychology, had been a school psychologist, and had experience with students who’d lost parents. She offered to give some advice, which is why she gave me the card with her mobile number. In fact, she even warned me that Juliette might regress and have psychosomatic symptoms.”
“Sounds like she could really be useful,” Aimée said. “Considering how Juliette has behaved this morning, I think some professional advice might be wise. Perhaps you should call her. My sense is that Juliette is going to need help, and your presence and attention are going to be crucial but might not be enough.”
“You might be right,” Brian said, getting to his feet and starting for the kitchen. Instead of following, Aimée headed toward the foyer. “Aren’t you coming, too?” he asked.
“I think I should go and give Hannah a hand, and I think Juliette needs your undivided attention.”
He nodded and continued into the kitchen. To his surprise Juliette wasn’t there, just Camila rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher.
“Where’s Juliette?” he asked.
“She’s upstairs in her room,” she said. “She suddenly said she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go to bed. To tell you the truth, although I wasn’t happy to hear her say she wasn’t feeling well, I was glad to hear her say something. It was the first time she has spoken since she woke up.”
“That’s not good,” Brian said, recalling Jeanne’s warning about regression.
“She did look a little flushed to me and I thought I saw her have a chill, so I took her temperature. It was 101.”
“Uh-oh,” Brian voiced. “Why would she have a fever? But wait! Is 101 a fever for a four-year-old?” He knew temperatures varied considerably during the day, even in adults but more so in children.
“Interesting you asked,” Camila said. “I questioned it myself, so I googled it. I got the impression that anything over 100.4 could be considered a fever, but it’s sort of borderline. But combined with her saying she doesn’t feel well the last few days, it makes me nervous.”
Remembering also that Jeanne mentioned Juliette might develop psychosomatic symptoms, he wondered if that could include a fever. He truly didn’t know, and despite his EMT medical knowledge, he’d not had much pediatrics experience. Although he was mildly reluctant to call Jeanne the same day he’d met her for fear of taking advantage of her generosity, he thought the potential fever issue serious enough to overcome his hesitation. Sitting down on the banquette, he took out his phone and Jeanne’s old business card. After giving Camila a brief description of Jeanne’s professional qualifications, he placed the call, hoping Jeanne wouldn’t think he was being too pushy by calling so soon. It had to ring a number of times, and just when he thought her voicemail message was about to start, she answered. He could tell she was out of breath. After he gave his name, he asked if he was calling at an inopportune moment and if she was still at Megan Doyle’s.
“Heavens no, on both accounts. I’m glad to hear from you. I’m on my bike in Inwood Hill Park not too far from the Indian Caves. It just took me a minute to get my phone out of my back pocket.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt what must be a fun ride,” Brian said. “But I have a specific question, if you have a moment. You mentioned that my daughter might have psychosomatic symptoms in response to my wife’s death. Can a fever be a psychosomatic symptom?”
“Good question! If I remember correctly, fever can definitely be a psychosomatic symptom. But I think it has only been seen in children considerably older than your daughter. You said she is four, correct?”
“Yes, she’s four, but also like you suggested, just today she seems to be behaving as if she is much younger. She’s stopped talking for the most part.”
“Oh, dear,” Jeanne said. “That doesn’t sound so good. Listen, I can stop by if you would like and see if I can talk with her. I’m generally pretty good with kids. If you are concerned about Covid, I can also reassure you that I had a test just last week that was negative, and I abide by the pandemic rules to the letter.”
“I would appreciate that very much,” Brian said, and gave his house number. He then added that he’d had a relatively recent negative test as well, and as a family they’d been careful about following all the recommended precautions.
“Sounds good! We should be okay in that regard, and I’m on my way.”
After he disconnected the call, he sat at the banquette for a few minutes, thinking how lucky he’d been by striking up a conversation with Jeanne. Even though he’d been fully engaged in the process of raising Juliette, Emma had been most definitely in the driver’s seat. Now on his own, he felt like a fish out of water. “Well, that couldn’t have gone any better,” he said to Camila, who had sat down across from him. “She’s coming over.”
“I hope she can help,” she said.
“I’m going to go up to Juliette’s room and see if she’ll talk. Do you want to come with me, or do you need a break?”
“I’ll come. There’s nothing for me to do in the office.”
On the way up the back stairs, Brian gave Camila a thumbnail sketch of meeting Jeanne similar to what he’d told his mother.
“What a lucky encounter,” she said as they headed along the upstairs hallway and entered Juliette’s room. “She could be a big help.”
Still in her pajamas, Juliette was lying on her side on the bed, facing away. As Brian came around the end of her bed, he could see that her eyes were open and unblinking, yet she didn’t move. She was also sucking her thumb, which she hadn’t done for years. It seemed to him further evidence that she was regressing. Her other hand was clutching Bunny to her chest.