"How is she?" Joseph Pulitzer asked the doctor as he left Cecile's room at the Pulitzer mansion. The doctor put his stethoscope into his bag, and looked gravely at the wealthy man.
"It doesn't look good, Mr. Pulitzer. Her coughing has become more severe, and the amount of blood that she has coughed up has increased." He shook his head. "I'm not sure if she'll make it through the night."
"Thank you. I'll send someone to fetch you if she changes." The doctor was shown through the door. Joseph Pulitzer, regarded by some as one of the most powerful men in the city, now looked old and tired. He opened her door a crack and looked in on his granddaughter. Her pale body shook as she tried to suppress her coughs. He had never been a very religious man but tonight, he prayed to God that He would give her health back to her. She was his pride and joy. She helped to brighten people's day and always tried to be a nice, caring person – although she did have her faults as well.
-one o'clock in the morning-
"Heya kid." Spot said, slipping into Cecile's room. She opened her eyes, and Spot couldn't help but wince. Her eyes were so red and bloodshot. She smiled weakly.
"How did you get in here?" She whispered hoarsely.
"I know people, kid. I am after all the most powerful person in the most powerful borough of New York." Spot said, shrugging. "Actually, I'm friends with one of your maids." She laughed, which soon turned into more coughing. Spot handed her a handkerchief. "What did doc say?"
She tried to sit up. "Bella, what are you doing? Don't move at all." He reached behind her and adjusted her pillows.
"Doc doesn't think I'll make it through the night."
"What does he know?" Spot asked. "How do you feel?"
"I can't lie, Cedric. I don't think I'll make it either. Its getting harder and harder to breathe and every time I do, blood comes out. Its not very pleasant."
"I can imagine. You'll make it through this Remember when you were 8 and no one thought you'd pull through, but you did. God was looking out for you, despite my own personal beliefs about an Almighty." She looked at him.
"I don't want to die. I just can't live with this pain. Its so hard."
"I know, Cela. I know. You have so much to live for, though. You have your family, the Newsies, all your hoity-toity friends who live around. You can give so much back to the world." She smiled at him.
"I'll miss you, Cedric. You did a good job for yourself, even if I would've much rather you be with me my whole life. You did good. But Cedric….why didn't Jack come with you? I know you, and I know you told him what you were going to do tonight." She looked at him with her blue eyes pleading for the truth.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not too close with Jack, but he was pretty broken up when you left. I think he's really hurt that you left him, and I'm not sure if he's ever going to really forgive you." Cedric said, brushing a curl out of her face.
"I thought so. Can you just please make him understand that I had to leave? Please, Cedric. Do that for me." He nodded. "God, I'm so tired."
"I'm going to go now, okay kid? I love you." She nodded, a weak smile upon her face in an attempt to mask the tears that were forming within her bright blue eyes.
"I'll be seeing you Cedric. I love you." He nodded, unable to speak, afraid that he would break down. It wasn't fair, he thought. I just got my sister back, why does she have to go?
Spot stayed awake that whole night on the fire escape outside of her window. He couldn't sleep – her coughing fits were enough to wake the whole house. The next morning, the doctor came again. Spot listened intensely at the window.
"Well, Mr. Pulitzer. It looks like God was smiling down on his angel last night. Her fever broke, and her coughing has subsided enough so that she can sleep for a bit. I'll come back in the afternoon and check on her again. But it does look like she's out of the worst part of it. It's pretty close to a miracle – I've only ever seen a couple people in my life recover from a second bout of tuberculosis. But if she does get better, I'd take her someplace South, with a dryer climate and not so much pollution." Joseph Pulitzer nodded, silently raising a prayer up to the Almighty thanking Him for making his little granddaughter all better.
6 months later
"Hello Grandfather." Cecile said, standing in the doorway of Joseph Pulitzer's office. Joseph Pulitzer looked up in surprise.
"Cecile! We weren't expecting you until the night." He went over and embraced her. She smiled. "I'm glad to see some of the color in your cheeks has returned."
"I know. I feel so much better. South Carolina was amazing, thank you so much for allowing me to go. The climate really did wonders. But I caught an earlier train – I couldn't bear to be away from New York any longer than necessary. And I also have an idea I want to run by you that will affect the rest of my life." Jo looked at her, a quizzical look upon his face.
"Sit down, and we'll discuss it." He rang for his secretary to bring them tea. She talked animatedly. "Are you sure you want to do this? It will be a very big responsibility, but I understand why you want to. But you have to be absolutely certain, and I will call in the favors needed."
The very next night, she sat in a carriage that was stopped in front of the Manhattan Newsboys lodging house. She fiddled with a finger of her glove. "I do look pretty, right?" She asked the butler, who had accompanied her. "I don't look sickly or ghastly or anything of that nature?" The butler smiled at the girl who he had helped take care of for the past seven years.
"You look like the ideal picture of health, miss. And you would never look ugly, no matter how hard you tried." Cecile smiled at him, thankful for the reassurance and stepped out of the carriage, gazing for a moment at the façade of a place that held so many memories. Not that she had lost contact with the boys. Spot and Blink occasionally wrote her letters, as well as the little girl Daisy, who Cecile had befriended so quickly. She had written Jack a letter a month after she had moved to South Carolina, but he had never responded and she left it at that. She took a deep breath, adjusted her dove gray jacket and went inside.
"Hello Mr. Klopman." She said to the old man who worked at the front desk. Some things never change, she thought. The man looked at her twice before a gaze of recognition dawned upon his face.
"Cecile. Its been a long time." He smiled.
"I know, much too long. Are the boys here?" She asked.
"In the room, playing poker – much like usual." She went up the stairs and opened the door hesitantly.
"Be strong, Cecile. You can do this without acting like a giddy schoolgirl." She glanced around the room, and saw that some of the Newsies she had known weren't there. She assumed that they had gotten a job in the factories around Manhattan. After all, one can't be a newsboy forever. She saw with satisfaction that many of the ones she had met were there, including the two little children – Daisy and Nick (see last two chapters if you don't know who they are). Everyone looked at her as she entered, but her gaze remained on Jack – who looked stunned for a moment and then turned his eyes back to his cards.
"Hello Jack." She said softly. He threw down two poker chips.
"Well boys, look who the cat dragged in." He chuckled, though no one else was laughing. A girl, with brown hair and a knowledgeable swagger to her walk sidestepped around Cecile, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Who's this hoity-toity, Jack?" She asked, placing herself on Jack's lap and nuzzling his neck. All of the old newsies looked at Cecile, wondering what she would do next.
"Just someone. Cecile, this is Star." Cecile nodded at Star, her heart in her throat, although she wouldn't let anyone let her see it. "What do you want Cecile?"
"Can I speak to you alone please?" Her voice was strained and clipped. He shook his head.
"I'm in the middle of a poker game. 'Sides, anything you want to say – you can say in front of my boys." She shrugged.
"Fine. I just wanted to let you know that I've adopted Nick and Daisy. Grandfather pulled some strings with the adoption agency in the city and when they heard about these two little orphaned children staying here with no guidance, they were very sympathetic to my cause." Jack dropped his cards, and stood up quickly, causing Star to fall on the floor.
"You can't take them Cecile. I won't let you." He grabbed Nick's hand.
"Well, fortunately for me, it's not up to you. I have the papers right here, and don't think about doing anything to them because copies have already been made." She held out her hands to Daisy and Nick.
"Don't you want to come live with me darlings?" She asked. Daisy walked over to her and held onto her hand. Nick looked hesitantly at Cecile.
"I like being a Newsie." Nick said, not wanting to let go of Jack's hand.
"Oh, sweetheart. You can still be a Newsie. In fact, I'll let you come back during the week. But I can give you an education and a family. I fell in love with you and Daisy since I saw you and I want to give you opportunities that you won't have if you stay here." The little boy looked at her hesitantly, not really understanding what she was saying.
"Please, Nick. Cecile is so nice – she would never not let you be a Newsie. Please?" Daisy looked pleadingly at her older brother. She and Cecile shared an attachment, despite the short time that they were around each other. Nick nodded, slowly letting go of Jack's hand.
"You can't deny these children what they want Jack." Cecile said. She bent down. "Can you guys go and gather your things? I'll wait for you downstairs." She turned and promptly left, unsure of how she could keep up the strength act with Jack looking at her with such hurt in his eyes.
"Wait, Cecile." Cecile heard Jack's footsteps as he followed her down the stairs. When she reached the landing, she turned around.
"What do you want?"
"Why are you taking them?" Jack asked, sticking his hands in his pockets and shuffling his feet.
"Because I can give them opportunities that they will never have in this lifestyle! I want to actually give them someone who loves them and will give them anything and everything. What life will they ever have if they stay here in this lodging house living from day to day?" Cecile asked him.
"I would've given you everything." Jack said softly. She sighed and looked at him.
"What did you have to give, Jack? Besides love, but love only gets you so far before you need material things. How could you have given me those? You couldn't. I needed someone who could." She said softly, looking at him.
"You could've come back. I got your letter that said you were better. You could have come back. Why didn't you? You would never have had to worry about anything ever again."
"Come back to this? Grow up, Jack! You're almost 19! How much longer will you be able to live on what little being a Newsie makes you? How could we have ever made a life for ourselves here? You wouldn't be a happy working in some factory or an office and I wouldn't have been happy. You need to do something with your life. What about your dreams of Santa Fe? You can only dream for so long before it catches up with you. Those couple of months that I was here were a dream, and I guess I finally woke up." Cecile said, an edge in her voice. She felt bad for saying those things to him, but it was true. He needed to get his life together. After all, he couldn't be a newsboy for his whole life. The sound of footsteps on the stairs interrupted their talk. "Besides, never's an awfully long time for things to not catch up with you."
"I'll always love you Jack. But sometimes….sometimes love is not enough." Cecile whispered.
"Why can't it be?" He asked her as Nick and Daisy reached them.
"I'll bring them by in about a week or so and we can arrange something so that Nick can still sell papers with you boys. You know where I live if you have any questions. Goodbye Jack." She looked at him and then ushered the two children into the carriage outside. Had she looked back, she would've seen Jack just staring at her retreating figure.