Page 85 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

"You fell."

He nodded. "The roof. I remember. But . . ."

"The policeman broke your rope."

He looked along the length of his body. "Am I in plaster?"

She had been longing for him to come round, but she had also been dreading this moment. "From the waist down," she said.

"I . . . I can't move my legs. I can't feel them." He looked panicky. "Have my legs been amputated?"

"No." Rebecca took a deep breath. "You've broken most of the bones in your legs, but you can't feel them because your spinal cord is partially severed."

He was thoughtful for a long moment. Then he said: "Will it heal?"

"The doctors say that nerves may heal, albeit slowly."

"So . . ."

"So you may get some below-the-waist functions back, eventually. But you will be in a wheelchair when you leave this hospital."

"Do they say how long?"

"They say . . ." She had to make an effort not to cry. "You must prepare for the possibility that it may be permanent."

He looked away. "I'm a cripple."

"But we're free. You're in West Berlin. We've escaped."

"Escaped to a wheelchair."

"Don't think of it that way."

"What the hell am I going to do?"

"I've thought about this." She made her voice firm and confident, more so than she felt. "You're going to marry me and return to teaching."

"That's not likely."

"I've already phoned Anselm Weber. You'll remember that he's now head of a school in Hamburg. He has jobs for both of us, starting in September."

"A teacher in a wheelchair?"

"What difference will that make? You'll still be able to explain physics so that the dullest child in the class understands. You don't need legs for that."

"You don't want to marry a cripple."

"No," she said. "But I want to marry you. And I will."

His tone became bitter. "You can't marry a man with no below-the-waist functions."

"Listen to me," she said fiercely. "Three months ago I didn't know what love was. I've only just found you, and I'm not going to lose you. We've escaped, we've survived, and we're going to live. We'll get married, we'll teach school, and we'll love each other."

"I don't know."

"I want only one thing from you," she said. "You must not lose hope. We'll confront all difficulties together, and we'll solve all problems together. I can put up with any hardship as long as I've got you. Promise me, now, Bernd Held, that you'll never give up. Never."

There was a long pause.

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