CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Amelia
May 1943 - Day 523
“Are you ready?”Charlie whispered in my ear, long after I had woken up. I was used to waking up to whistles and shouts at around three in the morning. Sleeping until nearly four-thirty that day was agift.
“Yes,” I toldhim.
“We have an hour until sunrise,” hesaid.
“That’s a good thing,right?”
“For us,” he continued, but I wasn’t sure what he wasplanning.
He peered over to Lucie who was still fast asleep in her makeshift crib we made from blankets. “She, on the other hand, might need a bit more sleep before we wake her,” heobserved.
“Oh,” Isaid.
Still wondering what Charlie was trying to say, he rolled to his side and soothingly stroked his finger around my ear and beneath my chin, sending a wave of chills down my warm spine. “Being with you before leaving for the war was a mistake,” hesaid.
I pulled my head back with surprise. I wondered how he could say a thing like that. Despite living in terror, it was one of the most amazing times of my life. “Why?”
He smiled weakly, lovingly. “Amelia, I had to relive those moments for almost an entire year, dreaming of what I could have had, what I may never have again—what I desperately wanted and needed. If I hadn’t known, I wouldn’t have spent so many nights with a heavyheart.”
“I know the feeling well,” I toldhim.
His fingers traced down the length of my neck toward the collar of my dress. “Do you still want to be with me even though my body is maimednow?”
The question surprised me. “What do you mean? You look the same to me as when you left, Charlie.” I meant that. The superficial scars and one arm less didn’t change a thing about him or who hewas.
“But my face has been torn to shreds, and my arm is missing. I’m not a full person anymore,” he explained. Each of his words chipped another piece of my steel heartaway.
“Charlie, if I were left with only the memories of your life, I’d still want to be with you. You could look like a monster for all I care, and I’d still only see the beautiful man you are inside. I see what my heart sees—an amazingman.”
It wasn’t long before we quietly intertwined our bodies into a partially clothed mess of breathless whispers that would forever leave its imprint inside of me. Being with Charlie in that way wasn’t about the sensations as much as it was about the bond between us. It was a seamless line in our lives that offered us power and control in our own little world. The love we shared was warm and soul-shattering, offering awareness from within my body that I accepted Charlie, as not the enemy, but my ally, and my love. He was my safety, my shelter, and myhome.
I looked intently into his eyes each time he rocked against me, seeing a type of forever I wanted more than anything. With passion firing through me, I pressed my fingertips firmly into his shoulders as I felt a release flow through my body that made me want to call out his name, so I locked my lips shut in fear of making a sound, and I gritted my teeth, feeling a quiver run through me as his body trembled against mine. I assumed it was from holding his weight above my body with one arm, but he soon unraveled and collapsed on top of me while breathing at the same pace I was. “Amelia, you are everything worth fighting for,” he said as he kissed me with a power that showed fury. One long moment of an unbreakable bond between our mouths broke into a dozen more kisses we shared between quick inhales and exhales of shortbreaths.
As our bodies fought for steady pulses, our dewy steam swirled together like watercolor on a canvas. Nothing could take away what we had. It would always be withus.
“You saved my life, and Lucie’s,” I toldhim.
“And we’re going to get out of here, make it across that border, and find a small place to live in peace where we can start our lives together without the shadow of doom hovering over us. Is that what you want?” heasked.
“That’s exactly what I want, Charlie. My dream,though—”
“What is your dream,sweetheart?”
“I want to go to the United States. Maybe New York or Massachusetts. It’s safe there, with endless opportunities that you can’t even imagine. It has always been mydream.”
Charlie smiled as he wrapped a fallen strand of hair behind my ear. “That sounds like heaven,” he said. “That’s our plan, Amelia. We’re going to have itall.”
“What are we waiting for?” I said with a bit of excitement filling my voice. I was hopeful. It felt like a new beginning, even though we hadn’t made it out of the country yet, but everything was falling into place. Freedom was so close, I could almost tasteit.
Charlie stood up quickly and re-dressed. I did the same, then folded up the blankets Svaya and Louis were kind enough to share with us. I lifted Lucie up carefully so she could continue sleeping, and we left the room as we foundit.
On the way out, I saw a stack of notepaper next to a pen, so I wrote a short thank you to Svaya and Louis for their kindness, and wished them well. I didn’t blame them for their reaction the previous night. I was just grateful for the time they allowed us tostay.
