Chapter Text
When Jeanne opened her eyes, she had no idea that this Monday would be the last one in her tragic routine. She got out of Rigel's bed and quietly left the room.
She dressed and prepared her husband's clothes. Jeanne then headed to the living room, where Rigel was passed out drunk on the couch. She had stopped counting the days she spent in her room without him after the first year. The young woman placed the clothes on a corner of the small table, grabbed her bag and left.
Jeanne was a veterinarian and worked in a clinic with two of her colleagues. She got on her bike and rode to work. She lived only five minutes from the clinic, so she was usually the first one to arrive. Surprisingly, this morning, her colleague's car was already there.
'Welcome Jeanne!'
'Good morning Romain, I'm glad to see you!'
'Me too. It's been so long... How long were you on leave for? Three months?'
'Six.'
'Six! I wanted to come earlier to make sure everything was in order. I don't remember how long you've been on leave but I remember that you like everything to be in its place. So I did some cleaning...'
'That's very thoughtful of you, thank you.'
He gave her a big smile and began giving instructions to the two veterinary assistants who had just arrived. Anna and Roseline.
'Good morning ladies'
'Good morning Doctor!'
'Are you feeling better?'
'Yes, thank you' Jeanne smiled at them and walked towards her office.
No one had been in there, not even the cleaning lady. But she thought she had left a spare key... She would have to check. For her return, Jeanne didn't have anything interesting to do. The occupational doctor had advised her not to do too much, and she had already had to insist a lot to be able to go back to her clinic.
'Jeanne, can I talk to you?'
'Come in Romain'
"I'm sorry to come to you like this now that you're back... But do you really feel better?"
Jeanne pinched her lips together. She couldn't answer Romain in any way. It was only thanks to him that her cabinet had been able to stay open, she owed him a lot. She didn't want to lie to him, but she couldn't tell him the truth either.
"I'm well enough to give you orders."
He laughed and scratched the back of his head.
"I know that the situation with Ri... with your husband is not simple but..."
"Romain, I thank you for your compassion. I would like, however, that our private lives remain a subject that we discuss on our free time, not when we are working."
"I understand. Excuse me, I am just worried."
"You don't have to worry, Romain."
He greeted her and left the room. Jeanne had paperwork to catch up on, and she was tired just looking at the stack of documents in front of her.
This task took her all day. Roseline came to see her to offer her lunch, Jeanne refused. She wanted to finish this stack before leaving her office.
Which she finally managed to do, she left the office at 9:30 PM. She took the road home, she had two hours before Rigel would come home. Four if he stopped at the bar with his colleagues.
Jeanne put her key in the door and noticed that it was not locked. Strange, Rigel always checked the whole house before leaving... She entered the house and froze. André and Yves, two former colleagues of Rigel, were sitting at the living room table. The two firefighters, both in their forties, their uniforms were impeccable, their professional attitude and compassion. They looked serious and solemn as they announced Rigel's death to Jeanne. From their expressions, it was clear that they knew the situation well and that they were sad for her. The two men were friends with Rigel before he declined, and they had a hard time hidding their feelings.