Forbidden Places by Penny Vincenzi

Author:Penny Vincenzi [VINCENZI, PENNY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC027000, FIC027050, FIC008000
ISBN: 9781468306798
Publisher: The Overlook Press
Published: 2012-10-10T04:00:00+00:00

Clarissa went slowly into the room where Jack lay. He was propped up on pillows; both his arms were swathed in dressings. One leg was slung up on a pulley.

‘Darling!’ he said, and his voice was surprisingly strong, ‘oh darling Clarissa. Is it really you?’

Two large tears rolled down his face. Clarissa went over to him, smiled into his eyes, bent and kissed his forehead.

‘It’s really me,’ she said, ‘and I love you.’

She sat with him for over an hour. She heard about the crash: ‘I was flying very low, this bastard was after me, firing away. I suddenly heard a loud rattling, got a very strong smell of petrol and I could hear my flight overseer on the radio telling me I’d got a hole in my side. Well, I wasn’t going to let him get away with that. I managed to climb again, and fired, and I did get him; but by then I was in trouble. There was some kind of an explosion. I don’t remember much for a bit, couldn’t see or anything. Then I realized my eyes were closed. I had to prise them open with my fingers, they were stuck. Next thing I knew, more darkness, more flames – and then I came to in hospital. Fraid I wasn’t very brave after that.’

‘That’s not –’ Clarissa’s throat contracted – ‘that’s not what everyone has told me.’

‘Well, they’re not going to tell you I’m anything but a hero, are they?’ said Jack. He smiled. ‘Oh darling, I can’t believe you’re really here. First I dreamt of you, then I prayed for you. I was ready for some miracle, for you to walk into the hospital, make it bearable for me.’

‘I would have,’ she whispered, ‘if they’d let me. I would.’

‘I know,’ he said and smiled again. He closed his eyes for a while, apparently exhausted. Then he said, ‘Sometimes when it was very bad, I was convinced you were there. I saw you, standing there, looking so bloody beautiful. I didn’t mind anything, the pain, the horror. I’d reach out for you, when they were changing my dressings, doing something hideous, and say “hold my hand” because I knew then I’d be able to bear it, and you’d hold out yours, and before I could get it, you’d gone.’

Clarissa bent her head; her own tears fell onto her hand. She swallowed hard. ‘That’s me all over,’ she said lightly, ‘never there when I’m needed.’

‘You’re always there when you’re needed. Whenever you can be.’

‘Oh, Jack, Jack, don’t –’ she said.

He reached out his hand, inside its bandage, and touched her cheek gently; the bandage was rough, she hated it. She forced herself to turn and kiss it.

‘And I dreamt about you,’ he said, ‘whenever I slept, which wasn’t often, they didn’t give me enough dope, they said they had, but they hadn’t, they didn’t know, they couldn’t. Christ, it was awful.’ There was a silence. Then he said, ‘Yes, I dreamt about you. It was always

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