Chapter 9

Arthur stayed in Arkham for five weeks. He telephoned me every couple of days in the evenings which helped him. The calls helped me, too, because I could hear how he was. Each time I saw him, there was an improvement. Sometimes, his depression got the better of him and he couldn't get out of bed and talk to me, even though he'd been looking forward to seeing me. On the whole, however, things got much better for him when his doctors were able to get his medication regulated. He ate—admittedly like a bird—but he did eat, and although he remained too thin, as he was when I first got to know him, he wasn't skeletal and there was colour in his face.

When I learned of his release date, I ensured I could take a couple of days off work together. I went to meet him, and Catherine gave him a schedule of bi-weekly appointments at the hospital to ensure his therapy continued. He had a two-week supply of his meds and would be given a new prescription a few days before they ran out.

Catherine had asked me to go and meet Arthur at ten o'clock. I went grocery shopping beforehand, to get a few basics for Arthur's fridge. I took some clothing from his apartment, then made my way to Arkham, butterflies fluttering in my stomach at the thought of him coming back with me.

"How is he?" I asked Catherine, after I'd left my coat with the security guard, and had the bag checked to ensure nothing was in it besides clothes for Arthur.

"Nervous. Unsure about going out into the big wide world again. He'll be all right, I'm sure. It's good to know he won't be completely alone."

"I'll be able to see him every evening if necessary," I told her. "My working hours will be shorter again now, and I'll have two days off each week."

Catherine left me to make my own way to Arthur's room. I knocked and opened the door.

"Audra!" He sprang up from the chair he'd been sitting in and came to hug me. I dropped the bag on the floor and slid my arms around him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Catherine said you're nervous."

"Only of things getting bad again and me ending up back in here. I do want to leave. I just keep thinking about what made me have to come here in the first place."

"That started because you lost your care worker and meds," I reminded him. "You won't have that problem this time."

"I hope not."

"I got you some groceries," I told him. "Milk, bread, stuff to make sandwiches. There are still some frozen dinners in your freezer that should be okay."

"You've done so much for me." He sighed.

"Don't you dare say you don't deserve it," I threatened, and gave him a squeeze before I let him go.

"I was going to say thank you." He grinned sheepishly.

"You're welcome." I grabbed the bag again. "I brought you some things to wear to go home in. I'll wait outside while you get changed." I slipped out of the room and waited. Ten minutes later, the door opened, and Arthur emerged, dressed in his familiar clothes with his favourite tan jacket.

All that remained to be done, was for Arthur to sign a form confirming his residential care had ended. He put his appointment schedule and meds in the bag, and we walked outside into a fresh shower of snow. Arthur grasped my hand in his and held tight.

"I missed Christmas," he said. "What did you do?"

"I spent the day with Sophie. She didn't have anyone else either. And I saw you the day after, remember?"

"All the days blurred into one," Arthur admitted. "I wanted to get you a Christmas present, but I couldn't in there, and I don't know what you like."

"I had plenty of Christmas presents, every time you called me, and when I came to see you and saw you were getting better. You don't need to buy me anything. What were your Christmases like before Penny died?"

"Not very interesting. We had frozen dinners as usual, only they were turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce. Then we watched TV." He shrugged. "No different from any other day. Sometimes I volunteered to perform at the children's hospital in the afternoon, just for something to do."

"Next Christmas will be better, for both of us," I told him. "We can spend it together. Decorate a tree, cook a proper feast, open presents."

"You might get sick of me by next Christmas."

"I won't."

Arthur pulled his hand free of mine again and placed his arm around my shoulders instead. "Is this okay?"

"It's more than okay." I slid my arm around his waist, and we walked close together, holding onto each other, as we headed for the station.

When we reached Arthur's apartment, I gave him his key to unlock the door, but he gave me it back as soon as he'd opened it. "You should keep this spare one," he said. He walked around the rooms as if he were examining a new apartment.

"You okay?"

"It feels weird. I suppose because I got used to being in the hospital. What happens now? Are you leaving?"

"I'm not going anywhere. I have the day off, and I'm not working tomorrow either. I thought I would make us a meal tonight, if you'd like that."

Arthur nodded. "That'd be nice. Thank you." He was subdued and I decided not to suggest doing anything else. Instead, I put the kettle on to make us some drinks. While I was making the coffees, he found a notebook and pen. "Will you tell me how much money I owe you? I'll pay it back as soon as I can."

"You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. I hoped you might still be my friend when I got out of there. I never expected you to work enough hours for two people so you could pay my rent. Please, tell me so I can pay you back. It might take me a long time, but I'll do it."

"Okay." I told him the total figure and broke it down into two rent payments, and a couple of bags of groceries. He wrote it in his notebook.

"I'll go to see Hoyt later and get my work sorted out."

"Wouldn't it be better to leave that until tomorrow? You've barely been out of the hospital an hour. You seem unsettled and I think it'd be better just getting used to being home."

"But I need to be earning money again." He paced and twisted his hands together, then barked out a laugh.

"Arthur, don't get upset. One day won't matter." I passed him his coffee. "We can go into the city together tomorrow and you can see Hoyt. Maybe get a coffee and some cake somewhere, too."

His anxiety subsided enough for him to smile. "Like a date?"

"Yes. A coffee date."

"All right."

I spent the rest of the day with him. He made some plain ham and tomato sandwiches for lunch, and we watched a couple of TV shows together. Then we went to my apartment and I made pasta for dinner. Suddenly, Arthur froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. "The last time I was here—"

"—we'd just had a lovely Chinese meal and we kissed," I interrupted quickly, guessing he was remembering the worst aspect of the evening. "I loved kissing you. You made my knees weak."

He giggled. "I'd never kissed anyone before."

"I know. And you very quickly became an expert at it. I loved everything we did that night. Don't ever think otherwise."

"I, I didn't even—" Another laugh burst from him and he put his fork down. The laughter continued, and he covered his mouth with both hands, trying to keep it in and failing. His eyes watered.

"Hey." I quickly put the two plates on the nearby table and took one of his hands. "You really don't have to worry about that."

It took a few minutes before his laughter reduced to choking and hiccups. "I could have made you have a baby," he managed to say eventually. "You're not going to, are you?"

"No. I take the pill."

"What pill?"

"The pill women taken to stop them getting pregnant. That's not something you need to worry about. Not in the future either."

"Okay." He nodded slowly. "That would be a disaster. I can never have a kid. It would probably be crazy and end up in Arkham."

"Arthur, I have no desire to have kids. But if we ever did, it would be fine. Remember this. Penny wasn't your mother and you only have the problems you have because of the abuse you suffered as a child. You had a head injury. I very much doubt you have anything in you to pass down to a kid besides gentleness and sweetness." I touched his cheek. "And beautiful eyes."

He grinned suddenly. "I didn't think about it like that. You always seem to know the best things to say. You should be a therapist. You'd have been better at it than the social carer I used to see. I don't think she cared about me at all. It was just her job."

"That's the case for a lot of people in this city. They just want the money that goes with whatever occupation they're in." I picked up my plate again. "Finish your dinner, Arthur."

We finished the pasta, Arthur clearing his plate completely. "Maybe I should eat with you more often. I don't have so much trouble eating when I'm with you." He took my plate from me and headed for the kitchen. "I'm going to do the dishes and make coffee. Put your feet up."

Smiling, I relaxed on the sofa and listened to him moving around the kitchen—running water, making the sounds of washing up, boiling the kettle, and stirring two drinks. When he returned, he put the mugs on the coffee table and sat down close enough for his thigh to rest against mine. I slid my hand into his as we drank our coffees and talked. I'd thought he would be more unsettled, coming out of Arkham after he seemed so nervous beforehand, but perhaps my presence was what helped.

"I need to go now. I'm tired." Suddenly, Arthur pulled his hand free of mine. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was almost seven o'clock.

"Okay. What time do you want to go into the city tomorrow?"

"After breakfast. Nine o'clock?"

I nodded. "Come and knock on my door when you're ready and we'll go together."

Arthur turned sideways on the sofa, almost facing me, and hesitated, then suddenly leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I lifted my hand to his face, encouraging him to prolong the kiss. He sighed softly, closed his eyes, and caressed my lips with his for a moment. Then he drew away and stood up.

"Goodnight, Audra."

I stayed where I was as he let himself out. The day had gone better than I'd thought, and I hoped Arthur would be able to return to his life without any trouble. Hopefully, the routine of work and normal tasks would help him, and the new meds seemed to have made a big difference.

I switched on the TV and watched something for a couple of hours, although I couldn't have said what it was. My mind was on Arthur and I doubted I'd be able to think about anything else. For the past few weeks, despite his improvement in the hospital, each time I went to see him I worried, and feared things would go badly for him when he left, but now—my feelings had switched to excitement about seeing him, and imaginary scenarios of us dating. It was too soon to be thinking like that, but I couldn't help it. His goodnight kiss had shown me what he wanted. This time, I would make sure we didn't get carried away and rush into anything.

The next morning, Arthur knocked on my door and ten minutes before nine. I grabbed my coat and keys and flung the door open. He grinned brightly, half-leaned towards me, then pulled back, flushing.

"You can kiss me hello if you want to, Arthur." I smiled up at him. "You can kiss me any time you like."

He grinned again. "In that case—" He lowered his head, and peppered light kisses all over my face, finishing with one featherlight brush across my lips. I giggled and slid my hand into his as we walked to the lift.

The car stopped on the floor below and the doors slid open. Sophie stepped in, her eyes widening in surprise as she saw us holding hands. "Hey, guys. How are you, Arthur?"

"Hi, Sophie," I said.

"I'm good," Arthur nodded. "Thanks for asking."

"That's good. I'm on my way to work. What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see my old boss about starting work again," Arthur explained.

"I have a day off," I added. "I'm back to five days a week now."

"Great." Sophie smiled. "You've been worn out for weeks."

Arthur frowned. "I'm sorry, I—"

"Well, at least I got rid of that unexpected bill," I interrupted. I'd told Sophie the same thing I told Jason. "It's all good now, and we're going for coffee and cake later, aren't we, Arthur?"

He smiled again. "Coffee and cake date. Yes."

The three of us travelled on the train together, but Arthur and I got off two stops before Sophie. When we reached Ha-Ha's, Arthur's anxiety kicked in. He let go of my hand and paced up and down outside the door, raking his fingers through his hair and laughing harshly. It didn't last long, but afterwards he was breathless and unsettled, convinced that Hoyt had only said he could keep his job because I'd flirted with him, and that he would tell Arthur to go away.

"Shall I go and see him?" I offered.

"No." Arthur shook his head vigorously. "Then he'll just think I'm a big baby as well as a failure."

"You're not a failure, Arthur." I grabbed him and made him stand still, then held both of his hands in mine. "The system failed you. Hoyt understood that. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Arthur huffed out a breath. "Okay. I'm going. Do I look all right?" He was wearing his brown suit, a cream shirt, and his tan jacket over the top.

"You look nice. Just give me your hoodie."

He took it off and straightened his suit jacket. Suddenly, he marched to the door of Ha-Ha's, yanked it open, and disappeared up the stairs. Fifteen minutes later, he was back, smiling and looking much more relaxed.

"Okay?" I passed him his jacket back.

"Yes. It was like you said. He said he was sorry that my funding was cut, and I ended up in that situation. Randall has let him down on a gig tomorrow at the kids' hospital, so I'm doing that. He said I should have plenty of work—as much as I used to have—within a week. He's going to pay me weekly, too, for the first couple of months. He must have really liked you. He's never been that nice. Usually he's an arsehole."

"He was very easy for me to manipulate." I grinned. "Did he mention me?"

"He asked how 'my girlfriend' is and I said, 'she's waiting outside for me so we can go on a coffee date.' He said we should all go on a coffee date some time. I almost said something rude, but I didn't think it would be in my best interests."

"That's okay. Let him say and think what he wants. I only have eyes for you." I took his hand again. "How about we go to the coffee shop near Pogo's?" I winced as soon as I'd said it, hoping he wouldn't remember the night he tried to perform and couldn't, when we'd planned to go to the coffee shop after. But he only smiled.

"I need to go and see them, too. Maybe I can get another gig. I know I was off my meds and crazy, but that night, you know when I went on my own, it was good. Open mic nights get you noticed, but if they really like you, they pay you to do stand-up on Saturdays. I can pay you back faster, then."

"Don't push yourself too fast for that reason."

"I won't. But I've always wanted to do this. My first try was—well, I failed. My second was good. So, I'll do a Friday night again and see how it goes. If I'm awful, two out of three failures will mean I'm wasting my time. If I can do it, it's my dream and it'll mean I'm meant to do it." He continued talking about his routine as we walked to the coffee shop, and even dropped in a couple of jokes. By the time we entered the coffee shop, I was laughing.

"You're so funny, Arthur."

"I hope so." He pulled out a chair for me at a table in the corner. Then his face fell and reddened. "Oh my God, this is so embarrassing." He hiccupped out a laugh. "I haven't got any—"

"Don't worry. Coffee and cake on me. Dinner on you, when you get paid. Sit down, Arthur."

He sat. "You shouldn't be paying for me on a date."

"We're together. We share. That's what being in a relationship is about. What kind of cake would you like?" I distracted him by opening the menu. "Look, they have coffee and walnut. That's my favourite. I know you like vanilla."

"I like all of these." Arthur relaxed and chuckled. "I think I'll have caramel."

We spent an hour in the coffee shop, then went for a long walk before we headed home. After the initial anxieties, he had a good day. Hopefully, with regular therapy and the proper medication, he would have more good days than bad in the future.