Dark days
Mario was out that day and Nathalie and I spent the morning together in the living room as usual. The sun was shining brightly through the window, but Nathalie’s face showed no joy at all. Suddenly, she sat down close to me and looked at me with an unusually serious expression.
“Amber? Can we talk for a minute?” she asked quietly.
I immediately sensed that something was wrong. “Of course, Nathalie. What’s wrong?”
Nathalie hesitated, biting her lip nervously. “Do you remember the day I twisted my arm?” I nodded immediately. “Yes, of course I do. How could I forget that?”
“My arm has still been hurting ever since. Mario dresses us so lovingly and gently, but every time I have to grit my teeth because it hurts so terribly. And Amber: it gets worse every day. The reason I’ve been lying in bed so long and so much the last few days - it wasn’t because it’s so cozy or I was tired. I…” Nathalie faltered for a moment and a tear made its way down her face. “I could hardly move. I didn’t even want to,’ she finally continued.
I looked at her, startled. “Nathalie, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want to worry Mario”, she explained desperately. “I love the way he looks after us, but I don’t want him to be in pain again just because he’s trying to help me. What was I thinking back then?”
I took her hand in mine and squeezed it tightly. “But Nathalie, Mario would never want you to suffer. He loves you more than anything.”
“I know”, she replied hesitantly. “Do you think he’s noticed anything yet?” I nodded slowly. “That could be good. Mario often knows us better than we know ourselves.”
“Would you help me talk to him about it?” Nathalie finally asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I’m afraid he’ll be angry. Or disappointed. Or something like that.”
“Of course”, I promised immediately. “We’re best friends and I’m always there for you.”
Later, Mario came into the living room and Nathalie and I looked at each other briefly before saying at the same time: “Mario, we need to talk to you.”
Mario looked surprised and worried. I let Nathalie have the floor. She told him everything, her voice trembling slightly with worry.
Mario looked at her for a long time and didn’t say a word. You could already see the panic rising in Nathalie’s eyes. Then he nodded thoughtfully. “I suspected you weren’t feeling well, Nathalie. I had hoped your arm would get better on its own.” He took a deep breath. “And I’ve been thinking a lot about what we could do if it doesn’t heal.”
Gently, he placed Nathalie’s hands in his. “One last try, Nathalie?” he asked. “What do you mean?” she replied and with wide eyes she immediately added: “No, please - I don’t want you to hurt yourself again!” But Mario only stroked her hand gently. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful”, he assured her. “I know what to expect now.” He looked into her eyes. “I promise!” he added and turned to me. “Would you like to come with me, Amber?” Without another word, I stood up immediately and took Nathalie’s hand.
We carefully walked up the stairs together into the dressing room. Mario pushed the bench aside and spread a sheet on the floor. Nathalie sat down on the floor. Mario carefully took off her shirt. Nathalie pressed her lips together in pain and looked at Mario. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” Mario wordlessly stroked her hair gently. Then he nodded to her and Nathalie lay down on her back. I knelt down next to her, held her hand and patted her cheek while Mario gently tried to straighten her arm again. Nathalie held still bravely, but I could see that she was in a lot of pain. Finally, Mario looked worriedly into her eyes and slowly shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Nathalie. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
Nathalie sat up straight, her eyes filling with tears. “What does that mean, Mario? What do we do now?”
“Let’s discuss this together in peace downstairs in the living room, all right?” Mario replied calmly. Then he helped Nathalie get dressed again.
Back in the living room, we sat down on the couch together. I could feel Nathalie trembling. Mario looked at us both seriously. “Nathalie, your arm needs to be treated professionally. That means you need to be put back in your original box and sent to a doll hospital.”
Nathalie just nodded sadly, but the shock was clearly written on my face. “No! Mario, we can’t be without Nathalie!” I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
Mario nodded sympathetically. “I know, Amber. But it’s necessary. I can’t help Nathalie - as much as I’d like to.” Then he got up, opened a drawer in the cupboard and came back with two boxes. He opened both boxes and took a smartphone out of each one. He switched them both on and then said to us: “But look: I’ve already made provisions. You’ll be able to talk to each other on the phone every day.”
Nathalie and I looked at each other with tears of emotion. He had thought of everything.
A few days later, the time had come. Nathalie took off her clothes down to her underwear and lay down in the box in which she had arrived here what felt like an eternity ago. Mario placed her smartphone next to her, gave her a long kiss on the forehead and finally laid a soft blanket over her. As he closed the box and sealed it with tape, I could no longer hold back my tears. I put my hands on the box - as if I wanted to hold it tight. Mario put one hand on my hands and the other around my shoulder
The doorbell rang. We looked at each other and both knew what was coming. With a heavy heart, I pulled my hands back. Mario went to the door and opened it. He then pushed the box through the door and helped the courier waiting outside to load the box. Mario came back and closed the door. Then he took me in his arms - and for what felt like an eternity we just stood there in the hallway in silence.
“Everything will be fine, you’ll see”, he finally said.
The days without Nathalie dragged on like chewing gum. And although I spoke to her on the phone several times a day, I felt lonely, I missed her closeness, her voice, her laughter. Mario tried everything to cheer me up, but my thoughts were constantly with Nathalie.
Then finally - it felt like years had gone by - the doorbell rang. I didn’t even notice it at first. But suddenly Mario was standing in the doorway to the living room with Nathalie. I looked up, my eyes widened and I immediately jumped to my feet.
“Nathalie!” I shouted and immediately fell into her arms. Tears of joy ran down both our cheeks. Then she briefly broke away from our embrace, pointed to her arm, let it swing, circle and wave. ‘Like new,’ she said and grinned. Her arm was fine again. We both cried without restraint, hugged each other again for a long time, while Mario watched us smiling and satisfied.
Finally, we sat down on the couch together.
Nathalie was able to move her arm normally again and I looked at Mario with gratitude.
Later, when Mario was in bed, I held Nathalie’s hand tightly and whispered: “I never want to be without you again.” “Neither do I, Amber”, she replied softly, as a tear of relief silently ran down both our cheeks.
We fell asleep arm in arm, relieved and filled with the certainty of finally being together again.