Candy, unable to say anything, turned her head to look at the older girl beside her. Caterina, her face a mask of serenity, was whispering a prayer, and even in that moment Candy was conscious of a profound admiration for an unusual and dedicated spirit.
In after years she never did know how long they waited for somebody to come back and join them in the quiet room, but it seemed like ten years. A dreadful conviction had her in its grip, a conviction that she couldn’t shake off, and by the time the door opened again her hands were wet with perspiration, her whole body chilled.
It was Anna who opened the door, and she looked straight across at Candy.
“Cara,” she said in an odd voice, “you must hurry upstairs. Don’t keep him waiting. He is asking for you!”
The white-walled, grey-carpeted room with its picture windows was still sunlit, still reminiscent of something in a luxury hotel. But this time Candy didn’t even notice.
The only things she saw were a narrow, clinical bed, and a figure whose warm brown eyes lit like lamps at the sight of her. Scarcely able to see for the mist in front of her eyes, she dropped to her knees beside the bed, and one of Michele’s hands came out to clasp hers with amazing strength.
“Carina,” he murmured. “There are no more clouds!”
“No, darling.” Still crying, she pressed her lips to the back of his hand.
He looked at her as if she were the most wonderful thing he would ever hope to see on earth. “There’s a song in your eyes,” he said slowly. “All this time, I’ve felt that you were singing above the clouds.”
She gave him a smile that was like sunlight. And she knew that for the rest of their, lives as long as she could be with him, something inside her would always be singing.
Song Above the Clouds Page 16