He felt her hand in his and heard portions of the tale she was spinning of the days events. Her voice sounded like he was listening fro under water, slurry and muffled. But if he listened hard enough, he could make out words and phrases. No matter how hard he tired to break through the fog that surrounded him, he couldn't reach her.
Then she spoke of a dream and her voice became clearer and the phrases became sentences. It was the same dream he often had. She had come to question him about a murder at a gig he was headlining. He knew her then, too, even before she introduced herself. He was certain that when he called her his wife, that it was only a matter of time.
He saw them spending the day in her bed followed by images of him singing and playing for her amidst candlelight. He saw scenes of them walking around the city, hand in hand. Pictures of them picnicking on her living room floor on a cold winter's night and tender moments of them making love by candlelight passed behind his eyelids.
Then he started to remember another time…
1893
The trolley car dropped Magdalena off one block from the piecework factory where she worked. It looked like it would be a bright sunny day in Boston, a rare one, and Magdalena enjoyed sight of the rising sun.
Today was payday and Momma and Pappa needed her money to pay the rent. It was not that Pappa wasn't trying to get work, but many of the companies were wary of hiring Italians recently off the boat. Magdalena was lucky to get the sewing work, and she was learning English from the other girls in the factory.
When her twelve hours were finished, the sun was just dropping in the sky and she walked with Annabelle and Rosetta to the trolley stop. A poliziotto, policeman, was strolling by and he tipped his cap to the girls. They giggled and bowed their heads. Magdalena's straw hat caught in a sudden gust of wind and blew off toward an oncoming trolley. The poliziotto ran into the road and grabbed her hat before it was crushed.
He presented the hat to her, with flourish, "Here is your wayward hat, Miss. I hope it was not damaged beyond repair."
Magdalena bobbed a small curtsey and took the hat from him. "Thank you, sir", she stammered, hoping her accent hadn't kept him from understanding her.
"Officer Colum McMullen at your service. May I escort you back to the trolley stop?
She nodded her head and put her hand in the crook of the arm he offered. She felt a sense of calm and peace, walking with him, and knew that she wanted to talk with him more.
"Miss?"
"Contario, Magdalena Contario."
He took her hand and, with flourish, kissed it. "May I walk you to the trolley tomorrow?"
She nodded and dipped her head as she joined her friends on the trolley. She knew he was being forward. You just did not accept an invitation from a gentleman for a walk, without her parents' permission. Even if you were poliziotto.
She gave a small wave to the officer as the trolley pulled away and sat to try to explain to Annabelle and Rosetta what had just happened.
How would she tell Momma and Poppa that she just met the man she would marry and that he was Irish, not Italian?
She couldn't wait until tomorrow to see her blue-eyed poliziotto again.
Day after day, he would meet her outside of the piecework factory to walk her to the trolley. They would talk of the day and their families and she grew more in love with him.
Today he was late. There had been a trolley accident earlier that had occupied his time. He hurried down the road toward the factory when the clanging of bells came down the road. A fire brigade was on its way somewhere in a hurry. Shouting could be heard and he started to smell the smoke of burning materials.
As he turned to corner, he saw that the factory was on fire. He ran toward the fire brigade and the crowd of seamstresses that congregated in the street. Screaming was heard from inside the building. After agonizing moments of searching he saw Magdalena's friends in the crowd; however he didn't see her. They were crying hysterically and when he approached, they began crying harder and attempting to speak between wails.
"She…she went" pointing into the inferno that had engulfed the factory.
Colum realized that Magdalena had gone back in to save her coworkers. He ran toward the brigade to get inside. Members of the fire brigade grabbed his arms, restraining him as smoke poured out of the front door.
"No. You canna go in. It is far too dangerous. No one can go in, we canna do anything now."
"No NO. She's in there. NO I have to go in."
"NO. MAGDALENA NO". as he collapsed in front of the smoldering building.