Then he lifted her—being cautious of the now-sodden cast. He climbed the steps and started back to the hospital.
Willie, dazed and weary and still uncomprehending, fell asleep in his arms.
Her hair blew about his face in the wind. It smelled warm and alive.
He wondered what sensation it would produce to the finger-pore receptors.
“Wait and see,” he said to himself.
The priest met him with a growing grin when he brought her into the candlelit corridor.
“Shall we forget the boat, son?”
Paul paused.
“No… I’d like to borrow it anyway.”
Mendelhaus looked puzzled.
Seevers snorted at him:
“Preacher, don’t you know any reasons for traveling besides running away?”
Paul carried her back to her room.
He meant to have a long talk when she awoke.
About an island—until the world sobered up.