"You don't belong here." "Tom's been through an ordeal." "Any word, sir?" "From Roanoke Island?" "Come by later." "I'll tell you." "This is Pennyroyal." "Who tied this ligature?" "I did." "Billy Griffin, assistant dentist." "Frank!" "Also known as captain Frank Stringfellow," "I can help you stop, but you must want it." "You must choose." "Well, the mark of a fine champagne is a golden Amber luminescence -- but not too golden." "Better too Amber than too golden." "And don't be taken in by these rebel purveyors." "They'd just as soon fill a bottle with sarsaparilla and mark it "Gosset grand millesime."" "Have it in Miss Hastings' room by 7:00." "Two flutes." "On the quiet, son." "Doctor on the ward!" "What have we here?" "The bromine seems to have helped." "No sign of erysipelas." "That dressing is exceptional." "Miss Hastings' work, I presume?" "Yes, doctor." "Her technique bears an unmistakable artistry." "And it don't itch a bit." "Mm." "Are you familiar with the hospital regulations," " private Sutter?" " Yes, sir, doctor." "Then you should know you are to remain at a salute until given leave by a ranking officer, such as myself, to do otherwise." "One of your special rounds, doctor?" "Order and discipline is the word of the day, matron." "Those are two words, I believe." "Bend the rules, they will break!" "Ah, roast duck, duck pâté, duck soup, duck with wine and jelly." "Is it me, or is there a theme emerging?" "Fish got here putrid, matron." "Beef?" "Derailed outside of Baltimore, along with the pork." "Have we no chicken?" " Pox, matron." " Pox?" "When one shows symptoms, all must be put down." "Well, we can't very well serve duck nine ways." "Dignitaries will be in attendance." "Major summers has me seeing to it that the event goes off swimmingly, so make it your mission, Mr. Bullen, to procure a proper menu." "I know you have your ways." "What am I now -- lady of the house?" " Be right with you, soldier." " Good morning, matron Brannan." "Starboard side, Miss Phinney." "She comes with a bone in her teeth." "Miss Phinney?" "I hear Dr. Foster's come down with a fever." "Yes." "He was hoping to maintain" " a certain quietude about it." " Of course." "That masculine forbearance of his." "But you must know that I've had vast experience with influenza in the crimea." "Your advice is much appreciated." "My advice?" "No, I wish for the good doctor to be properly tended to." " I can assure you -- - personally." "Personally?" "I'd like to look in on him myself." "I see." "Well, you should be aware then that it may not be influenza at all." "Dr. Foster is gravely concerned that he has contracted the..." "The speckled monster." "Smallpox?" "All symptoms point to it -- malaise, headache, prostration, tenderness to touch." " To touch, you say?" " So he describes." "The doctor is administering his own care." "Is he?" "Adamantly so, as he worries he is infectious." "But surely, an intimate visit from you would help to raise his spirits." "What time shall I tell him you're coming?" "If he's adamant, an intrusion would only upset him." "Oh, poor Dr. Foster, taking this all on alone." "I hear his wife has even left him." "I am ignorant as to his connubial standing." "I will pray for his speedy recovery." "Yes." "We all will." "Good morning, Dr. Foster." "The staff offer their prayers." "Prayers?" "It's only a mild fever." "It's smallpox now." "Smallpox?" "Why?" "Influenza wasn't sufficient to ward off the well-wishers." "Especially Miss Hastings, who has taken a special interest in your health." "Well, then, she will be especially relieved to hear of my swift and miraculous recovery." " Your recovery?" " Yes." "I seem to have only a vague memory of a recollection of a compulsion to inject myself with a foreign substance." "I see you received the mail I had the boy bring up." "Mm." "Cheering words from the home front, like morning dew." "That said..." "The sun shines, the sky is blue, and Dr. Foster would very much like to get back to work." "It's not even been a week." "Are you sure you're ready?" "Oh, empirically so!" "Look here." "Duration of sleep, intensity of perspiration, growing appetite, diminishing hallucinations, et cetera, et cetera." "The statistics all point to a man on the mend!" "Clearly." "Dr. Foster has been to hell and has returned triumphant." "The poppy conquered half of China, but it couldn't beat Jedidiah Foster, could it?" "Why do you speak like that?" "Like what?" "Like you're not here." "Because up here..." "I'm not in here." "I'm already out there." "Key, please." "I know you are feeling idle." "Give me the key now!" "But you are in no condition to assess patients, let alone operate, and I -- give me the goddamn key!" "Do you wish to go so badly?" "Then go on!" "Go on!" "Tremors from deprivation of the narcotic." "We made a pact." "I promised to help you." "You promised to submit." "I urge you to stay the course." "Miss Phinney..." "When the conversation is over..." "We take our key and we go." "A ball?" "In our home?" "Commandeering our house for quartering wasn't sufficient." "Now they fully intend to dance in it." "Barbarians!" " We'll resist." " Well, of course we will." "How?" "By poisoning the punch bowl?" "Leave father alone." "He's doing his best." "So I am." "And, yes, I am in a delicate predicament, which I prefer to handle with finesse." "And if that requires that we play good hosts, well, we can all pretend a little." "We should start in here." "Never!" "I would never cross you in front of the ladies." "But they're right." "You must stop conceding, giving in." "Jimmy, please -- you forbade me from joining up, and now what?" "I'm seen as a coward, an embarrassment." "We both are." " That's not so." " It is!" "Other people's sons are off fighting those bastards in battle and I'm here, fighting them for time in the water closet." "And now you want to do what?" "Throw the yanks a cotillion?" "It's sickening." "It's unmanly." "I can't bear it!" "I burned that paper that they gave me." "I have a plan!" "The sons of liberty threw tea into the harbor." "And now we just sit around drinking it." "We beat them back at Drewry's bluff." "Things keep going our way, the yanks will be done by autumn." "And then we go back to how it was." "Where were we when this whole mess started?" "Ah, yes." "You were set to marry that impossibly handsome fellow." "What was his name?" "Oh, I don't remember." "I've already moved on." "Oh, now, don't break his heart." "You know he is the jealous kind." "Oh, too bad." "I've already fallen in love with someone else." "An impossibly handsome dentist." "A dentist." "He sounds respectable." "Very." "We plan to be impossibly happy together." "Well, your father will be pleased." "If he survives tonight." "The yanks are holding a ball in our house." "What for?" "Aside from our family humiliation?" "The officers organized it to raise money for their war widows." "All the officers will be there?" "Well, I suppose." "Now, that's a stroke of luck." "How can you say such a thing?" "Emma, I need to talk to you about Tom." "How is his condition?" "He's slowly improving." "Soon they'll ship him off to a prisoner camp." "No, they won't." "Tom's not going anywhere, not until he's seen the dentist." "Oh!" "Ooh." "Are you ill?" "A fever going about." "I hear Dr. Foster's come " "I ain't got no fever." "You should let someone check your temperature." "Maybe you should let me alone." "Tired is all it is." "Nothing more." "And I got work to do." "She don't concern you." "You hear me, boy?" "You come down out of the north, a free man, fixing to be nigger king of Alexandria." "Don't work like that." "You still have to answer when you're spoken to." "Now, I asked you a question." "I heard it." "Then I won't have to ask again, will I?" "No, sir." "You won't." "Gentlemen, please!" "It's an heirloom!" "Here lies great-grandmama's Credenza!" "It survived the revolution, 1812, two house fires, and a flood, but was mortally wounded during the battle of the ball!" "Darling, remember -- oh, I know, I know." "They are merely objects." "No, please, not the oriental vase, please!" "Do something, do something!" "It's personal property of great sentimental value." "I ask you not to remove it from this house!" "Yes, sir." "Oh, my gracious!" "I'll have your girl sweep it up." "A moment with the missus, if I may?" "Mr. Bullen is it?" "Uh, yes, missus, uh..." "Um, I have a bill of fare for you to examine." "My kitchen staff will prepare it." "How considerate." "If only the Greeks had run it by the Trojans first." ""Oh, do you mind us bringing in this horse filled with all these hostile soldiers?"" "We've no plans to serve horse, ma'am." "Oh, no." "This will not do." "This is a paltry menu, which will be further butchered by that brutish staff of yours." "I will be a laughingstock." "Madam..." "Come." "We will sort this out." "Come on!" "I hope you will attend the festivities this evening." "Allow us to show you a touch of Southern hospitality." " That sounds wonderful, Miss." " You could moan a little." "I am moaning." "Like you mean it." "Don't make me pull one out for real." "Agh!" "Agh!" "There's an empty room on the second floor where it's quiet." "Emma will unlock a window before she leaves." "Near 9:00, she and Alice will be distracting those two Bluebellies, keeping them busy at the ball while I slip in and get you out of here." "You'll be ready?" "Uh-huh." "What time?" "9:00." "Frank..." "Remember when we used to plan to travel the world?" "You, me, and Jimmy Green." "You remember that?" "How come we never went anywhere?" "When this war is won, we'll go wherever you like, Tom." "We'll go to Texas and wrangle horses or out west to mine for gold." "But first, we " "I fear I may be woefully..." "Remember what I told you." "9:00 -- got it." "Toothache?" "Nothing too serious." "Well, since you're here, there's a boy with a terrible case of rotjaw." "Rotjaw?" "Well, isn't that contagious?" "I don't believe so." " It sounds contagious." " Chaplain Hopkins." "I was in need of a good Bible passage to recommend a wounded boy, and you were nowhere to be found." "Well, point me to the man." "I'll be sure to guide him." "Will you, um..." "Will I be seeing you at the ball this evening?" "I'll be there." "Perhaps you would give me the pleasure of your hand?" "I'd enjoy that very much." "Good." "You've hardly touched this food." "Voilà!" "Already improved since this morning." "Oh, I am only a short time away from freedom." "Soon enough, I'm sure." "The letter -- who's it from?" "Ezra." "My brother." "How's he faring?" "Oh, the wound is healing well enough." "He's been fitted for a peg leg." "And soon he will be moved to jail." "Oh, and he curses me." "Curses you?" "It seems mother and he have been speaking, and he is of the mind that I did not need to amputate his leg, that I did not get consent from him when he was of sound mind, that I am a traitor and a liar and a scoundrel," "and he disowns me as his brother." "You saved him from certain death." "Yes." "Yes." "I'm so sorry to hear that." "Are you?" "Are you sorry?" "I am." "You enjoy it rather, don't you?" "I don't know what you mean." "Misery." "People in misery, my misery..." "You enjoy it." "That's not so." "I think it is." "I think you like locking me up in here, this miserable, stunted man." "Not at all." "Abandoned by my wife, addicted to morphine, shamed by my family." "Not shamed, no." " You pity me." " I respect you!" "Don't patronize me, Miss Phinney." "I vowed to help you." "Ah, yes." "Yes." "Angel of mercy." "And I am doing my best to care for you." "Do it much longer, I'll end up as dead as the poor old baron." "Is that why you enjoy it?" "Because it reminds you of home?" "Is every dying boy another chance to save your husband?" "Are you..." "I " " I'm..." "No!" "That's enough." "I will not be here this evening." "There is a ball at the Green home I must attend." "Sister Isabelle will look in on you." "You call that cake?" "I call it a belle alliance, Missus, 'cause that's what it's called." "Well, let me tell you, this is no belle alliance we are having here." "And I do not mean the cake, sir." "Mister Bullen, I'm makin' what I'm makin', no matter what this fine lady say." "Madam, if I may, we did not intend for you to trouble yourself over this." "It was only meant as a courtesy." "Indeed, but since you already have," "I fully intend to make sure that my reputation is upheld." "The standards of this household will not be brought down to the levels of base yankee coarseness." "Belinda..." "Apples a la Parisienne." "Miss Green, we ain't got but a few hours." "Where are we gonna get that many apples and cherries and 48 " "Mr. Bullen will supply the ingredients." "Mrs. Green, I-I must say that -- do I need to confer with the major?" "I thought not." "You're a sight for sore eyes." "I thought you could use some fresh clothes." "From Jimmy's closet." "Thank him for me." "I would if he knew I took 'em." "I hear you're having a shindig tonight." "Mama's completely lost her mind." "She doesn't know whether to impress the yanks with her best home cooking or lace it with arsenic." "She'll probably try both." "You don't have to worry." "I know it." "Do you?" "Have you spoken with Emma?" "There's something inside I brought for you, a keepsake." "Until tomorrow then." "Not so tight." "I can hardly breathe." "First, it was too loose." "Now it's too tight?" "What's this?" "We're getting ready for the ball." ""We"?" "Persimmon or sage?" "Mother, what do you think?" "I really don't know what to think." "They got me to mending last year's gowns." "She's done a wonderful job." "What about this morning?" "Your vow of resistance?" "Oh." "That was this morning." "After careful consideration, we have decided the best way to resist is in here." "As papa says, we can all pretend a little, can't we?" "Absolutely not." "In any event, I need Belinda back in the kitchen." "The apples are baked." "For people who want no part of the ball, y'all sure got me doing an awful lot of preparatin'." "Apples?" "What apples?" "Never mind." "The sage will do nicely." "He's my third cousin on my father's side." "Shame about Foster." "Yes, I hear he's unwell." ""Unwell"?" "The man has smallpox." "You know as well as I, the statistics are not in his favor." "He has a strong constitution." "Have you seen him?" "No, he refuses to see anyone for fear of infecting them." "Typical." "Always playing the hero." "Dr. hale, are you jealous?" "Why?" "Need I be?" "Let's just say the statistics are in your favor." "Now with your left." "Your other left." "Lieutenant Mcgreevy, if you can't tell your lefts from your rights, how can you tell your Norths from your Souths?" "My apologies, Miss." "We have all night to make the distinction." "Aurelia!" "What's happened, Aurelia?" "!" "Leave me!" "What's happened?" "Leave me!" "No!" "I'll fetch a doctor." "No!" "No one can find out." "Promise me!" "And before the war?" "I spent a few years on my brother's farm" " in Massachusetts." " A country girl." "Mansion house must have been a rude awakening." "Oh, on the contrary." "Corralling livestock turns out to have been apt training for tending to soldiers." "It should be compulsory." "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me." "Jimmy!" "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my son." "Jimmy, this is Colonel Sinex, the provost marshal of Alexandria." "Very nice of you to surrender your home for the evening, young man." "And Jimmy, lieutenant colonel Connor here is one of the youngest men on either side to hold such an esteemed rank." "Well-deserved." "Under fire, I hear he's as brave as they come." "Pleasure to meet you." "Likewise." "Indeed." "Always a pleasure to meet a Southern man of fighting age who's not pointing a rifle at us." "Amen to that." "So, where is the lady of the house?" "Apples a la Parisienne." "Yes, my dears." "That's the way we do it in the South." "We'll see how it tastes." "You did the right thing coming to get me." "Aurelia?" "You need to tell me what happened." "Aurelia?" "Oh, please." "Leave me be." "She's been violated." "What kind of monster would do such a thing?" "She did it to herself." "She's been ingesting Pennyroyal." "Is she with child?" "Pennyroyal wouldn't cause this much bleeding." "I found a metal rod on the floor." "Dear God." "Not the bravest soldier, but perhaps the wisest." "What in God's name is this infernal concoction?" "Imperial raspberry whiskey punch." "The punch is in the nose." "I think someone stole the whiskey from the medical supply cabinet." "Gentlemen, uh, I have been harboring something for quite awhile now that I feel compelled to share with you." "It is rare, smooth, and aged for 18 years in an oak cask." "Kentucky whiskey." "Is there any other kind?" "I have a secret cache that I'd prefer to remain secret, so, if you'd care to join me in private?" "Have some tumblers sent down and see that we're not disturbed." "She fainted." "The packing's fully saturated." "Her pulse is weakening." "We need help." "It's Aurelia." "She's been injured." "The laundress?" "She was bearing a child." "She tried to end it." " How far along was she?" " Five, six weeks." "I managed to remove the remains, but the bleeding persisted." "How did she do it?" "Samuel said it was a metal rod." "What are you doing?" "Coming to help." "I came solely for advice." "Very well." "Without having seen the patient, judging only from your description," "I suspect a cervical laceration, which you'll need to close half-blind given the limitations of access." "Oh, and be aware that the smallest error might kill her." "Good luck." "Get dressed." "For your own protection." "Did you see him carrying on with those Bluebellies?" "I think he enjoys it." "Oh." "It may seem that way." ""Seem"?" "They got him wrapped around their fingers." "He might as well drop the charade and put on the union colors." "What exactly are you saying?" "We must embrace reality, mother." "Father is a traitor." "You ungrateful child!" "A man's true duty is to protect his family, and that is precisely what your father is trying to do." "Despite whatever criticisms I may express," "I am well aware of that at all times." "I see so much of him in you, Jimmy." "His eyes, his smile." "Perhaps one day, you'll even have his character." "If you ever grow up." "Kentucky whiskey." "You are a most generous host." "I wish I could say it was out of the kindness of my heart." "There is a small personal matter I'd like to discuss, and I figured a little buttering up wouldn't hurt." "There is an administrator in your command." "Captain Harkins is his name." "He has presented me with an oath, and he has threatened to prosecute if I refuse to sign it." "As the provost marshal, you could grant me a reprieve." "The oath is a matter of allegiance." "My hotel is now a hospital mending your soldiers." "The ones who can't be saved are buried in coffins produced in my factory." "I have given everything to your war effort, but my allegiance is to my family." "A signature on a piece of paper will cause considerable difficulty for us in this community." "How so?" "Nearly everyone in Alexandria has already signed the oath." "Or they've been run out or will be soon." "In other words, this community is no longer confederate." "Exactly." "All I'm asking is a bit more time..." "To allow my wife, my children to adjust to the idea of it." "How much time?" "Six months." "Ha!" "The war will be over by then." "From your lips to God's ears, colonel." "Hear, hear." "She's distended." "Blood is accumulating in her abdomen." "She's perforated the uterine wall on the left side." "Did she cut a vein?" "An artery." " What can be done?" " Nothing." "It's too deep." "We're just gonna let her bleed to death?" "Explain to our colored friend here that attempting to suture a wound I cannot see is fool's errand." "I am deeply sorry, Samuel." "Aurelia." "Julius Caesar's mother's name -- Aurelia." "Caesar was delivered by caesarian birth." "Or so the mythology says." "We could perform a caesarian procedure." "There is no baby to deliver." "No, but we could use The Ritgen Approach." "I observed it once while in Berlin." "Or was it Rutgen?" "Not a tall man." "He introduced an abdominal incision to gain subperitoneal access to the uterus, from which we could repair the perforation." " Cut her open?" " Yes." " She'll die." " Most likely." "Of course, if we do nothing, she'll be dead within the hour." "As you said," "I'm in no condition to consult on medical matters." "So I leave it to you." "Then I say no." "I'll say yes." "Yeah, I've seen you work, Dr. Foster." "If anyone can save her, you can." "Hm." "Hm." "I'm still a tad unsteady." "That smallpox give you the shakes?" "I never heard of that being a symptom." "Aside from that, I must say, I've made a remarkable recovery." "Don't worry." "I'll guide you." "Samuel has experience." "Where?" "On a farm?" "Horses and cows are not human beings." "Dr. Lionel Berenson of Philadelphia." "I spent 10 years at his side." "You apprenticed?" "It was not so official." "He would take me out on calls with him." "I can attest to his being more knowledgeable than half the physicians in this hospital." "That's not saying much." "There's a laceration of the artery in the uterine wall on the upper left side." "Where would you incise?" "Here." "Low and lateral." "Shouldn't need but 6 inches since no baby needs to come out." "Very well, Dr. Berenson's unofficial apprentice." "Proceed." "What was that go check." "Miss Phinney, we need the light!" "Uh, oh, my apologies, Miss Green." " You'll have to excuse us." " So early?" "You're just getting the hang of it." "Much as your charity is appreciated -- we're due back at our post." "Our boys are off fighting your boys, and you're gonna leave us here?" "Alone?" "Surely, one more dance won't affect the outcome of the war." "I suppose one more dance wouldn't hurt." "How did you come into the employment of Dr. Berenson?" "My mother is the doctor's maid." "My father was his liveryman." "I grew up in the house." "The rectus muscle." "You'll need to dissect it from the peritoneum." "Take care not to injure the vessels." "Don't go inventing more difficulties than we have already." "You're doing a fine job, Samuel." "Why mansion house?" "Sir?" "Why did you come here?" "To gain practical experience, to learn." "All right, now, push the bladder downward." "Gently!" "This is where Ritgen's patient expired." "Or was it Rutgen?" "The procedure was not successful?" "Not for the patient." "Have you considered formal medical training?" "Um..." "Not much." "I hear of certain colleges accepting negroes with solid recommendations." "There it is." "The uterine wall." "Do you see the perforated artery?" "Um..." "Yes, sir." "It'll need a ligature." "Miss Phinney, you have some expertise with that procedure, if I recall." "As I suspected." "You familiar with a tenaculum?" "Yes, sir." "You heard the man." "Silk sutures and a tenaculum." "Careful." "So much as a pinprick, and she dies of peritonitis." "I could write you one." "One what, sir?" "A recommendation." "When the war ends, there will be free colored folks looking for good physicians." " Dr. Foster?" " Yes?" "Do you think we could discuss this later?" "I'm trying to concentrate." "Oh." "Naturally." "Of course." " Oh!" " Oh, my!" "Get your hands off my sister!" "Watch yourself, son!" " Or what?" " Jimmy!" "Frank's off fighting, and you're dancing with the enemy!" "We're only being cordial, Jimmy." "It's harmless." "I wonder if Tom thinks it's harmless." "Let's take this outside." "What's wrong with right here?" "Don't mind my brother." "He's had too much to drink." "Hell he has!" "You're making a fool of yourself!" "I'm standing up to these blue devils!" "About time somebody did!" "Shh!" "If you keep this up, you're gonna ruin the whole plan." "Plan?" "What plan?" "Tom!" "Hey, Frank." "What the hell are you doing?" "Get your boots on." "You're supposed to be ready." "We said 9:00." "Sorry." "Guess I forgot." "Forget how to tie 'em, too?" "Gonna have to change our plan." "Upstairs wasn't as empty as I figured gonna have to find another way out." "You haven't forgot how to use this." "Have you?" "Don't worry." "I remember." "Let's go." "It's sealed shut." "Come on." "Let's try the water closet." "Keep it down!" "Think you can do better?" "Hey, in there, what's with all the noise?" "Uh..." "My apologies." "Just..." "Trying to do my business in the dark here." "Identify yourself." "Private Ben..." "Franklin." "3rd regiment, uh, Ohio volunteers." "Ohio?" "That's right." "Need me to send for a nurse?" "No, sir, just a bad case of the quick step." "Peace and quiet wouldn't hurt." "Never could talk and shoot at the same time." "Good night, Ohio." "Same to you." ""Ben Franklin"?" "Want to do the talking next time, be my guest." "Halt!" "What kind of pals are you?" "I got to find out from my sister?" "Jimmy, quiet!" "You've been back for days and never said a word, and on top of it " "is that my shirt you got on?" "Quiet!" "You'll get us all shot!" " I'm coming with you." " The hell you are." "I stole this uniform." "I can get us through the lines." "Put that down!" "You couldn't get us through the front door of a barn." " You're wallpapered!" " Am not." "Go home, Jimmy." "I'm never going home." "You can't come with us." "We only got two horses." "I'll run alongside!" "I'm tired of people telling me what I can't do!" "Please, Frank." "It'll be like when we were kids, the three of us, on an adventure." ""Brothers always, never surrender."" "Did you forget?" "All right." "You can ride with me." "You won't regret it." "He never could hold his liquor." "Let's go." "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "It's finished." "You've done a fine job, Samuel." "You're a fine teacher, sir." "Pyemia is a danger." "The loss of blood, all this cutting..." "A local application of permanganate of potassa is advisable." "But I wouldn't get my hopes up." "She's strong." "There will be a lot of pain to endure." "She'll need some relief to get through it." "Was it yours?" "The baby?" "Thank you, Miss Phinney." "Every four hours." "A little more if pain persists, but not much more." "It can be hard to shake." "Do you have experience with injection?" "No, sir." "I'll show you how." "Steady the arm, inject it into a muscle." "Miss Phinney's seen it done." "She can assist." "I'll be in my room." "Provost marshal has consented." "Consented to what?" "I said I had a plan." "I've put this oath business to rest for good." "Then we've each served the cause." "See that white cake?" "See the other?" "Your apples a la Parisienne?" "Mm-hmm." "Apparently, even yanks have palates." "That dessert signifies a victory for Dixie." "That's far as I go." "I was hoping you'd be coming along." "Oh, they got bigger plans for me here, Tom." "You're gonna ride southwest to elks horn run." "Our old fishing spot." "Well, don't stop to catch nothin'." "River's shallow there." "Shouldn't even have to get your socks wet." "Two men will meet you on the other side, get you to your regiment." "You'll be back in the fight before you know it." "My stirrup strap's cracked." "Can't ride him like this." "What happened to me?" "We saved your life." "Dr. Foster and me." "That's been settled." "You don't have to worry about that no more." "All you need to worry about is..." "Getting better, stronger." "I got a hankering for you, Aurelia." "Nothing that's happened is gonna change that." "But there's something else." "The operation..." "Things had to be done." "We had to mend a wound." "If it were to open again, you could surely bleed to death." "You won't be able to bear a child." "I already got one." "A little boy." "Gabriel." "He on Roanoke Island." "But he coming to meet me." "I was only waiting till he get here." "She is well for now, at least." "Thought you'd want to know." "Wait." "You left the supply closet unlocked." "You'll find every drop present and accounted for." "As they say in Africa, darkness hides the hippopotamus." "Miss Phinney." "I must apologize." "For my behavior earlier." "The things I said." "I did everything I could..." "To nurse my husband back to health." "But in the end, it wasn't enough." "And most days here feel the same..." "As if nothing is ever enough." "But not today." "Today, we did enough." "Be the master of your own fate." "Remember when we broke into the Opperman place?" "Tried to make off with that block of ice?" "I remember old Opperman locking me in that freezer box" "Between tail Whuppin's." "You never gave me up." "You've been as good of a friend as anyone could ask for, since we were kids." "You ain't about to kiss me now, are you, Tom?" "I just wanted you to know I'm sorry." "Sorry for what?" "I can't, Frank." "The blood, the smoke." "The screaming you never know where it's coming from, the eyes in the darkness looking out at you." "I can't go back." "What are you saying?" "Tom?" "Tell Alice that I love her." "Hear that?" "Where is it?" "It was coming from that direction!"