Chapter Thirty
He was standing at the end of a long hallway. The air was chilly and damp. The pale ocher light from a kerosene lamp spilled into the center of the hall but did not reach where he stood. Nearly hidden in shadow at the other end of the hallway a nurse in a white cap and shoes, blue dress, and starched white apron sat watching him. She looked vaguely familiar. His head swam. Who was she? Everything was unfocused, surreal, disconnected.
From somewhere beyond the hallway he heard the cadenced smacks and cries of a spanking. He wanted to ask, but couldn’t mouth the words. He was dressed in his Holy Angels uniform; brown shoes, blue sweater, and short khaki pants. However, he was eighteen now, about to marry Emma. The nurse beckoned.
As he approached, he began to diminish so th
