She had the urge to laugh.
“Quickly, I’ll get cold,” although in truth the ward’s large glass window had needed to have the blinds half-closed in the afternoon to prevent the sun shining through and heating the ward up too much.
“Um.”
“Surely you’ve seen a half-naked woman before,” Keya teased. Rather than embarrassed, she felt free and confident standing before Sujin, even with only one arm working.
“Not you,” he muttered as he grabbed her dress from the bed.
“You’ll need to roll it up from the bottom and then place it over my right arm and my head. I’m afraid you’ll have to manoeuvre my left arm into the sleeve.”
Sujin coloured as he robotically followed her instructions. The loose-fitting dress draped over her and Sujin stood back.
“Just the arm,” Keya reminded him.
Sujin reluctantly stepped forward and lifted her arm. As he wrestled it into the dress’s short sleeve, his body touched Keya’s and he jumped. But then he leaned into her and she into him as her left arm finally obeyed and Sujin slipped it into the dress’s sleeve.
Breathlessly, Sujin stepped back and looked at her. There was a different look in his eye now. One she hadn’t seen for a long time from anyone looking at her and she felt a stirring within her, and her body was flushed with warmth.
Fanning her face with her hand and, for the first time, feeling self-conscious, she suggested, “Let’s go. It’s hot in here.”
Neither she nor Sujin spoke until they stepped outside the hospital into the warm evening air.
“We need to turn right and follow the main road across the junction. The restaurant is down one of the side streets,” Keya remembered. She smiled invitingly at Sujin, and he smiled shyly back.
They started walking. As they approached the traffic lights, Sujin reached out and tentatively took her right hand. She slipped her hand into his and gave it a quick squeeze of consent.
Despite the events of the past few days, she felt a lightness as they walked, hand in hand, in the warm summer evening with white-painted two-storey classical buildings on either side.
“I think this is it,” she said as they passed an upmarket hairdressing salon and stopped in front of a green shopfront with an array of plants in the window screening the customers inside from passers-by.
“Bistro Evelyn,” said Sujin, looking up and reading the writing across the top of the shop front.
Inside, they were shown to a table for two in the corner, beside the leafy plants. It felt both exotic and private.
Keya chose a twice-baked cheese and spinach soufflé with a house salad.
“Do you mind if I have a steak?” Sujin asked.
“Of course not. I’m vegetarian, as it’s how I was brought up, but I don’t begrudge other people eating meat, and I do like fish. In fact, I might change my mind and have the salmon in a herby sauce with French beans,” she said, considering the menu again. “It will be better for me than cheese.”
“The omega-3 fatty acids will help your recovery, and so will the protein,” Sujin agreed.
“You see, I knew there was a reason I invited you along,” Keya teased.
Sujin looked down at the table. His embarrassment was palpable.
“You know earlier …”
“When I had no clothes on,” Keya prompted.
A waiter cleared his throat. “Madam. Monsieur. Are you ready to order?”
Keya looked down at her menu and giggled.
“The steak, please, medium rare, with French fries, and Béarnaise sauce, but can I have it in a jug on the side?” Sujin asked, his face flushed.
“Certainly,” the waiter replied in an approving tone.
“And the salmon for me please,” Keya said, having composed herself.
“And to drink?”
“Do you have any of the French Bloom zero alcohol sparking rosé?”
“Of course, Monsieur.”
Keya looked at the price of the bottle and gasped. It may not have alcohol in it, but it was still expensive. She looked up at Sujin, who was smiling tenderly at her.
“I think we have something to celebrate, don’t we?” he asked.
“Our first date,” Keya said.
“Yes, if we consider our evening at The Swan Hotel as a trial.”
The waiter reappeared, popped open the bottle of pink fizz and poured two glasses.
Sujin raised his glass, and Keya lifted hers to it.
