The Kingdom of Bones

FIFTY-ONE

When Sebastian Becker awoke in his hospital bed for the second time that day, it was to find himself looking up at the very face that he’d left behind in his dreams. Waking and sleeping, life and death; in that moment, the two states seemed to merge and become one.

“Hey,” Elisabeth said.

“Hey yourself,” he tried to say, with only partial success.

She reached over and smoothed away a couple of strands of hair that had become sweat-plastered to his forehead. He closed his eyes again for a moment, the better to experience her touch.

“How do you feel?” she said.

“Pretty good,” he said, opening his eyes. This time the sound came out more or less as he meant it to, and the words held together.

“That’s the morphine,” she said, managing a damp-eyed smile. “Don’t get too fond of it.”

She made a sudden sound of protest when Sebastian tried to flex his shoulders and raise his back from the bed. His bandages felt too tight. His entire chest felt too tight, and his stomach felt as if it had been punched with unbelievable force.

But, thanks to the morphine, this caused him no distress. When they came to withdraw the opiate, he’d feel differently. But until then…

He subsided onto the mattress. Small though the movement had been, the effort had all but exhausted him.

He took a breath and then said, “I had my chance at the reward, Elisabeth. She was right there before me and I missed it. She walked away from me. I’ve let everyone down.”

“Sebastian,” she said with a note of warning, “don’t say that. I won’t hear it.”

“But we’ve lost everything.”

“You’ve kept your name. You still have your reputation. And, by God, though you came within an inch of losing it, you’ve hung onto your life. Your son has a father and I have a husband. What compares with that? Anything else, we can rebuild.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Don’t worry about how. We’re the same people we were before. What we managed once, we can achieve again. Let Sayers pursue that blighted creature if he must, and let Sayers take the consequences of the chase. They’re no part of our lives now.”

One of the Sisters came to check Sebastian’s dressings, and Elisabeth stepped away for a few minutes.

When she returned, she studied him with some concern and said, “Is this tiring you, Sebastian? Should I leave? You won’t need to worry. I won’t be far away.”

He shook his head, and reached for her hand.

She settled again onto the chair beside him and said, “I’ve spoken to Mister Bearce. He’s a very nice man.”

After a moment, she said, “You must try not to laugh, Sebastian. You might cause yourself some damage.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She said, “As soon as I can get you home, I’ll find us somewhere cheaper to live. Shhh,” she added before he could object. “Mister Bearce will hold a position for you. He promised me. And perhaps I can find some kind of employment as well.”

“Work? You?”

“I’m sure there are all kinds of things I could do for a living.”

“Maybe Sousa needs a euphoniumist.”

“I was thinking of something behind a counter at Gimbel’s,” she said. “I’ve dealt with those women often enough. I’ve seen what they do. Yes, ma’am, no, ma’am. How hard can that be?”

“Before anything else,” he said, “we have to pay back Frances.”

“Frances understands. She has no regrets.”

He tried to tighten his grip on her hand, using what little force he could muster.

“Aren’t I lucky,” he said.

She gripped it back with enough strength for the two of them.

“Aren’t we just,” she said.