Page 89 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
‘This has been a long time coming,’ April whispered. ‘Let it all out. Tomorrow’s a new day, but today you need to grieve.’
She stumbled to her feet with April’s help and let her tuck her into bed, keeping hold of her friend’s hand, fingers locked around hers, as she finally accepted what had happened.
Charlie’s dead. And no amount of denying it is ever going to bring him back.
It had been three days since she’d seen Arthur. Three days since she’d cracked into a million pieces and wondered how she’d ever manage to put herself back together. But somehow she had, and now she needed to apologize to Arthur for the way she’d treated him.
She saw his familiar silhouette propped up in bed, but she balked at the sight of the wheelchair beside it; it was a reminder of what had happened, which she’d rather not be reminded of.
‘Arthur,’ she said hesitantly as she approached his bed. ‘Arthur, I was hoping to have a word.’
Arthur slowly turned, his eyes flickering over hers and staying there. She could hardly remember what she’d planned to say; since when did Arthur ever turn when she addressed him?
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Why was he looking at her? He never looked at her. His eyes were bright, the blue reminding her of that day she’d helped to carry him, staring into them, his gaze pleading with her. She’d thought then that he wanted to live, that there was a reason she’d found him, but ever since then all he’d done was resent her for saving his life.
‘I want to say sorry for my behavior the other day,’ she finally said. ‘I understand if you’d like to make a formal complaint about me. I should have shown you patience, care, and understanding, and instead I treated you terribly. I hope you can forgive me.’
‘You were right.’ His voice was husky, as if the words were hard to find.
She startled, taking a step closer. ‘I was?’
‘I deserved everything you said to me. You had the patience of a saint being nice to me for so long.’
Eva had no idea what to say, so she just kept her mouth shut.
Arthur let out a big sigh and slowly raised his hand. ‘I’m not great at apologies, so can we just start over?’
Eva wished she had the nerve to say no and make him apologize, but this was the man who’d refused to communicate with her, except to shout, scream, or throw things at her, so she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She followed his lead and lifted her hand, too, shuffling closer so he could clasp her palm.
‘My friends all call me Art, and I’d like you to do the same,’ he said slowly.
‘Well,’ she said, taken aback at the change in him. ‘I’m Eva. You might have missed my name with all the yelling at me.’
He cringed. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Oh, so youcanapologize!’ She didn’t bother suppressing her laugh, and to her surprise Art joined in. ‘You know, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you smile,’ she said quietly.
He nodded. ‘I’d almost forgotten how to do it.’
They stayed silent for a moment, both staring, as if they were seeing each other for the first time. Eva studied every inch of his face, noticing how pale he looked. But despite everything, he was still one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen, even with a scruffy beard that had grown over the weeks he’d been in the hospital; she was almost too scared to see how hollow his cheekbones had become beneath the hair.
‘Can I get you something to eat?’ Eva asked. ‘Since you’ve taken up smiling again, maybe you’d like to take up eating too?’
Art laughed, and this time it was a deep belly laugh, the kind of laugh her Charlie had had.
‘Thank you, Eva, that’d be nice.’
She stepped closer and hesitantly lifted her fingers to touch his cheek, fingers quivering as she gently brushed against his skin. ‘Then I’d like to shave you, if you’d let me,’ she murmured. ‘Or if you don’t want me to do it, I can get one of the men ...’
His eyes shut, and she hoped he wasn’t in pain. But then they opened, and a faint smile spread across his lips again. ‘Thank you; that’d be nice.’
‘Promise you won’t throw the water and soap at me when I come back, though?’ she teased, hoping she wasn’t pushing too far. But his chuckle told her that she’d been right to joke.
‘I promise,’ he said solemnly. ‘And maybe I’ll even let you help me into that god-ugly wheelchair so I can feel the sun on my face too.’
She froze. ‘You will?’
