Charlotte rushed over to the bed and sat down next to him. She carefully took his hands in hers and looked caringly into his eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
"I didn't want to worry you. I know how you get when someone's sick. And anyways, I thought it would blow over. I've always pulled through sickness, being a newsie and all and having no doctor at my beck and call."
"I know you had different ways of living back then, but you have to realize that we're living a completely different life now. With you working at the Sun and me at Medda's, we have enough money for the doctor's."
Skittery sighed. "I know Charlotte. I just didn't want to spend out hard earned money on something as frivolous as a doctor when I thought I'd get better."
As their conversation came to a lull, Blink chose that moment to interrupt their private discussion.
He cleared his throat loudly, receiving the attention of both Charlotte and Skittery.
"Hey guys, I think I'm gonna go. Martini's back at the lodging house waiting for me 'cause we're double dating with Race and Bookie tonight."
Charlotte nodded her head and gave Blink an encouraging smile. "That's fine. Have a good date."
He smiled at the thought.
"I will. And I hope you're feeling better soon Skitts," he said, patting Skittery on the shoulder.
"Thanks Blink. I'm sure I will."
Blink strode to the door, gave one last wave, and exited the apartment.
The doctor rose from his chair and followed Blink's lead.
"Ma'am, could I have a word with you in the hall?"
Charlotte nodded, and the two quietly stepped into the dusty hall.
"What is it doctor?" Charlotte asked hopefully.
"Well, I'm sorry to say it's not good."
Charlotte drew in a quick breath. "What is it?"
"You're husband seems to have contracted tuberculosis. It's progressed quite rapidly, and there's nothing left that I can do."
Almost immediately Charlotte felt faint, and she grabbed the doorknob to steady herself.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive."
"There's no pills, or anything else you could give him?"
"I'm afraid not. No if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way. I'll check back on him in a few days."
Charlotte, who was still in shock of the news, nodded her head sadly and turned back to the apartment.
"Oh, and ma'am?"
Charlotte whipped around to the doctor's voice, hoping that maybe his diagnosis was wrong or that there still was hope for Skittery.
"Yes?" she answered timidly.
"He doen't have long. Make every moment count."
*********************
The news of Skittery's illness spread quickly throughout the newsies. Thoughtful homemade cards and exotic stolen flowers began filling Charlotte and Skittery's apartment as everyone wanted to express their condolences and sympathy to the shell shocked couple.
Charlotte had always kept alive a glimmer of hope in her heart for Skittery's recovery, and one day what she thought to be the impossible, happened.
It was almost like a miracle. Skittery and Charlotte awoke early one morning just as they had used to before the diagnosis.
This may have seemed to be fairly routine and quite realistic to the normal eye, but for these two, it was the start of something great.
From the moment Skittery opened his eyes, he felt a rejuvenated sense of life building inside of his frail body, and he almost felt like he could conquer the world with no problems.
Who knew how many more days like these there would be, so the two acted upon it.
Just like old times, they walked slowly (a great feat for the frail and sickly Skittery) to the Brooklyn Bridge where they reminisced about the night Skittery proposed.
Later, they joined some twenty odd shocked newsies for lunch at Tibby's and the afterwards, retired to Central Park for a little bit of a rest.
As they laid on the warm, green grass, they stared up into the vast blue sky, watching as each puffy, white cloud slowly drifted by.
Out of the blue, Skittery interrupted the peace.
"Charlotte," he began slowly. "I want you to know that I'm not afraid to die. I'm just afraid of what will come of you."
Charlotte whipped her head so that she was looking him square in the eyes.
"Baby, don't worry about me. I'll be just fine."
"I sure hope so. You know that I'll always love you?"
"Sure I do. I'll always love you too."
He smiled. "Always remember that."
Charlotte smiled back. "I always will."
She leaned her head closer to his, and lightly brushed her lips across his, sealing the words she had echoed seconds before.
After a few moments, the two drew apart, and Skittery found himself gazing into the most gorgeous blue eyes he had ever seen. Eyes that he had fallen in love with an eternity ago.
He reached over and tenderly pushed a midnight black strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead lightly.
She sighed in contentment and placed her head against his chest.
Skittery wrapped his once strong arms around her and held her tight.
The steady beat of his heart soon drew Charlotte into the land of slumber.
*************
The rain began descending from the dark sky and awoke Charlotte with its gentle pit patting.
She opened her eyes slowly, and registered her surroundings before she drew a stiff hand across her eyes in an attempt to rub away the sleep.
Charlotte sat up and glanced down at her slightly damp husband.
His face appeared content as if he had no care in the world, and he obviously had no idea that the weather had changed.
Little rivets of water ran down his face and collected on the thirsty grass beside him.
"I'd almost hate to wake him," thought Charlotte. "He looks so peaceful and serene."
After a moment's hesitation, she leaned down and kissed him, knowing that she'd always get a reaction from that.
When after awhile he did not respond, Charlotte opened her eyes in a hurry, praying that the worst had not yet come.
"Skittery…honey?" she asked, shaking his shoulder.
Suddenly the rain began shooting don from the sky in sheets, and Charlotte could barely see two feet in front of her.
She continued shaking him vigorously and shouting his name, but didn't receive an answer.
Charlotte's tears began mixing with the rain as she sat in the now muddy grass with no idea of what to do next.
Her body, now racked with sobs, had no energy left to think, so she laid her head down on her dead lovers chest and cried her heart out as the rain cried with her.
****************
It was daybreak when the two were found. The rain had finally stopped sometime during the night and a new day had begun, just as it always had.
Bookie, Martini, Race and Blink had left the lodging house early that morning with plans of watching the miraculous sunrise from the Brooklyn Bridge. They had cut through Central Park and on their way they had found Charlotte and Skittery.
Charlotte was sitting up, and was very still as she stared off into the distance, oblivious to her surroundings.
It took several moments before her cloudy, blue eyes noticed the worried group. She looked over and with trembling lips, whispered, "He's dead."
Immediately, Bookie and Martini hugged her, letting Charlotte expel hundreds of thousands fresh tears.
Race and Blink took off for the lodging house with hopes that Jack would know what to do.
And he did. Funeral arrangements were made quickly, and Charlotte was taken to the lodging house with hope that the newsies could pull through this troubled time in her life, while getting through it on their own.
The funeral was small- just as Skittery had wanted it. He would have been happy to know that all his close friends were in attendance and that he would be cherished forever.
For Charlotte, life wasn't easy back at the lodging house. The closeness couples possessed and how they expressed it was now openly viewed as they realized that something like this could happen to them as well.
All of this seemed to push Charlotte over the edge.
She retreated back to her apartment and took comfort in embracing the wonderful memories she possessed of her dear Skittery.
It was hard to believe that only days before, Charlotte had been anxiously awaiting frivolous activities such as a party at Medda's.
"If only I had known!" Charlotte often cried to herself.
"I would have done it differently if I'd had known he'd have died."
******************
Day turned into night. Spring into summer, fall into winter.
The years slowly drifted past.
Charlotte occasionally saw Skittery's old friends- but only by accident. A passing glance on the street, a quick hello in a store.
It wasn't that Charlotte didn't like them- she did- it was that even after all these years, somehow the sight of them would ignite a flow of new tears.
In their hands, faces and eyes, she could still read the magnificent story of Skittery and Charlotte. A story that had yellowed with age and was slightly blurred around the edges, but was still there nonetheless.
And it hurt Charlotte the most to see it.
************
Salty tears streamed down Charlotte's face, collecting on her old, yet still stubborn chin.
She closed the open book in her lap and reached up an old, gnarled hand and gently wiped them away, pausing only to smile at a familiar face that stood in front of her,
"Am I dreaming?" she whispered, hoping that she had not mixed up reality with fantasy.
Skittery walked sturdily over to where Charlotte sat, not having aged a day since she had last seen him.
Reaching out a rough, ink stained hand; he gently cupped her face and brought his lips towards her, kissing her for the first time in years.
After a few moments of experiencing the love they still possessed, Skittery drew back and whispered softly into her ear, "I hope that answers your question."
Charlotte smiled up at him, her eyes glistening with tears.
Tears that were meant for happiness, not sadness, and they were tears that Charlotte thought she would never again shed.
"How…" she began. "How is this possible? How can you be standing right in front of my very own eyes and still be real?"
"Shhh, my dear Charlotte. Do not question, only embrace the miracle of use together again."
After a moments pause he added, "Come away with me. Far away from this place and let's travel the world like we had always planned."
"But…how can I? I am old Skittery. I don't know if you've noticed, but I sure have. I'm not eighteen anymore."
Skittery laughed with a rich, throaty voice.
Charlotte closed her eyes in order to memorize it in case this was all a dream.
"But you're wrong. You are eighteen."
Charlotte threw open her eyes and looked pointedly at him, waving her arms in front of her in order to help herself be made clear.
"You and I both know that that's, that's that…"
Her voice dropped off, as she looked closer at her arms. The wrinkles and sags had left and they were looking as healthy as they had been ages ago.
Charlotte jumped from her seat with energy she had never thought she had and rushed to the mirror.
Staring back at her was a face she hadn't seen for fifty some odd years.
She turned and looked at Skittery with amazement.
"You know, you never ceased to surprise me."
"I know," he replied with a knowing grin.
Skittery held out his arm and Charlotte accepted it. The two strolled out of the old, dusty apartment without a backwards glance.
And finally again, Charlotte was happy.