“It’s not about me,” Wallace told him. “Or us. You’ve given me more than I could ever ask for. Hugo, can’t you see? I am who I am because you showed me the way. You refused to give up on me. Which is how I know you’ll help all those who come after me and need you as much as I did.”
“Fine,” the Manager said suddenly, and all the air was sucked from the room. “You have a deal. I’ll bring the Husks here, one by one. If he heals them, then so be it. If he doesn’t, they stay as they are. It’ll be a lot of work either way, and I don’t know how successful it’ll be.”
Wallace’s grip on the table grew slack as his jaw dropped. “You mean it?”
“Yes,” the Manager said. “My word is my bond.”
“Why?” Wallace asked. The Manager had agreed quicker than Wallace expected. There had to be more.
The Manager shrugged. “Curiosity. I want to see what happens. With order comes routine. Routine can lead to boredom, especially when it goes on forever. This is … different.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at Hugo and Mei. “Don’t mistake my acquiescence for a sign of complacency.”
“You swear?” Wallace insisted.
“Yes,” the Manager said, rolling his eyes. “I swear. I’ve heard the closing argument, counselor. The jury has come back with a verdict in your favor. We’ve reached a deal. It’s time, Wallace. It’s time to let go.”
Wallace said, “I…”
He looked at Mei. A tear trickled down her cheek.
He looked at Nelson. His eyes were closed as he frowned deeply.
He looked at Apollo. The dog whined and bowed his head.
He looked at Hugo. Wallace remembered the first day he’d come to the tea shop, and how scared he’d been of Hugo. If only he’d known then what he knew now.
What will you do with the time you have left?
He knew. Here, at the end, he knew. “I love you. All of you. You’ve made my death worth it. Thank you for helping me live.”
And then Wallace Price let go of the table.
Unmoored, untethered, he rose.
The tops of his knees hit the table, causing it to jump. The teapot and cups rattled on the table. How freeing it was, letting go. Finally, at last. He wasn’t scared. Not anymore.
He closed his eyes as he floated toward the ceiling.
The pull of the door was as strong as it’d ever been. It was singing to him, whispering his name.
He opened his eyes when he stopped rising.
He looked down.
Nelson had a hold of his ankle, fingers digging in, a look of determination on his face which changed into surprise when he too started to lift from the floor.
But then Apollo leapt forward, jaws closing around the end of Nelson’s cane, holding him in place. He whined when his front paws rose from the floor, the top of Wallace’s head near the ceiling.
Mei grabbed onto Apollo’s hindquarters, his tail hitting her in the face. “No,” she snapped. “It’s not time. You can’t do this. You can’t do this.”
Then she started to rise, feet kicking as they left the floor.
Hugo tried to grab her, but his hands went through her again and again.
Wallace smiled down at them. “It’s okay. I promise. Let me go.”
“Never in your life,” Nelson grunted, grip tightening around Wallace’s ankle. Nelson’s hand slipped to Wallace’s shoe. His eyes widened. “No.”
“Goodbye,” Wallace whispered.
The shoe came off. Nelson and Apollo and Mei fell to the floor in a heap.
Wallace turned his face up. The whispers grew louder.
He rose through the ceiling of the first floor to the second. He heard the others shouting below him as they ran for the stairs. Nelson appeared out of thin air, reaching for him, but Wallace was too high. Mei and Hugo made it to the second floor in time to see him rise through the ceiling.
“Wallace!” Hugo cried.
The third floor. He wished he’d spent more time in Hugo’s room. He wondered what sort of life they could have made for themselves had he found his way to this little place before his heart had given out. He thought it would have been wonderful. But it was better to have had it for as long as he did than to never have had it at all. What a tremendous thought that was.
But then it was a tremendous death, wasn’t it? Because of what he’d found after life.
The whispers of the door called for him, singing his name over and over, and in his chest, a light, like the sun. It burned within him. He was horizontal to the floor below him, arms spread like they’d been when he’d ridden behind Hugo on the scooter. He hit the ceiling of the third floor, and it gave way as he rose through it to the fourth floor.
He wasn’t surprised to see the Manager already waiting for him below the door, head cocked. For a moment, Wallace thought he’d continue up and up and up. Maybe the door wouldn’t open, and he’d rise through the roof of the house into the night sky and the never-ending stars. It wouldn’t be such a bad way to go.
But he didn’t.
He stopped, suspended in air. Nelson appeared near the landing, but he didn’t speak.
For the first time, the Manager looked unsure. Just a little boy with flowers in his hair.
Wallace smiled. “I’m not afraid. Not of you. Not of the door. Not about anything that came before or will come next.”
Nelson put his face in his hands.
“Not afraid,” the Manager repeated. “I can see that. You let go of the table as if…” He stared at Wallace for a long moment before looking up at the door as the whispers grew louder, more unintelligible. “I wonder. What would it be like if…”
The whispers turned into a maelstrom. The Manager shook his head stubbornly, a child being told no. “No, I don’t think that’s quite true. What if—You know what? I’m getting pretty tired of your—”
The maelstrom became a hurricane, furious and loud.
“I’ve done whatever you’ve asked. Always.” He glared up at the door. “And where has it gotten us? If this is for everyone, then it needs to be for everyone. Don’t you want to see what could happen? I think they could end up surprising us all. They’ve proven themselves as it is. And they’ll need all the help they can get. What could it hurt?”
The door rattled in its frame, the leaf in the doorknob unfurling.
“Yes,” the Manager said. “I know. But this … this is a choice. My choice. And it will be on me, whatever happens. You have my word. I will be responsible for whatever happens next.”
The hurricane blew itself out, silence falling on the fourth floor of the tea shop.
“Huh,” the Manager said. “I can’t believe that worked. I wonder what else I can do?” He looked up at Wallace before jerking his head. Wallace fell to the floor, landing roughly on his feet, but managing to stay upright. For the first time since he’d given Cameron his hook, he felt grounded, like he had weight.
Mei reached the landing, panting as she bent over, hands on her knees. Apollo’s nails slid along the floor as he jumped the last few steps, tumbling end over end before landing on his back. He blinked up at Wallace, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he grinned, tail wagging.