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‘You have?’ A second wave of relief washed over her. ‘Is she okay?’
‘I think so.’ He made another strange noise. ‘I’m trapped next to her. Give me a second.’
The waiting game. The thing she really wasn’t good at.
‘She’s breathing. I’m just trying to wake her up.’
Katsuko was conscious of the driver talking next to her in rapid Japanese. He took off down the road towards some of the bewildered-looking neighbours who were standing in the middle of the street, staring at the road.
‘Oh, now she’s awake. She’s glaring at me again.’
Katsuko started babbling in Japanese, telling her grandmother that she was here and she would get her out. Telling her to be strong.
She heard a rapid string of Japanese but it was so quietly spoken she couldn’t make out a word.
‘Avery, what’s she saying?’
* * *
Avery could hardly move. His legs and chest were pinned. The only thing he could really move was his head and one of his arms.
One minute he’d been standing in the doorway, having an almost argument with Katsuko’s grandmother, the next minute the ground had rumbled all around them and the house had started to shake. His brain had screamed at them to get out of there.
But Hiroko had been in her wheelchair and the handles hadn’t been facing him. As he’d tried to jump inside to get her out something had crashed into his back and knocked them both to the ground. He didn’t remember much after that.
He tried to take a deep breath. Impossible. Breathing was a struggle. He was guessing that one of his lungs might have collapsed. He only hoped it was a pneumothorax and not a haemothorax. It wouldn’t do it have a medical emergency right now. He didn’t want to think where he could be bleeding from.
Katsuko kept talking. Nervous energy. He could only imagine how frustrated she was right now.
Hiroko started another tirade and he aimed the pen torch at her. One of his legs was pinned under her wheelchair, the other caught between part of the roof and the floor. She had a large wound on her head, but her temperament and voice remained unchanged. It was amazing. It was almost as if he could understand every word she was spitting at him. Hatred was a pretty universal language.
‘Avery, what’s she saying? I can’t hear her.’
‘I think she’s telling me she doesn’t like me much.’
Silence for a second. It was clear Katsuko was trying to make sense of what was going on. ‘Why on earth were you visiting my grandmother?’
He let his head rest back on the floor. This was so not how he wanted to do this.
He’d spoken to the General. Or, he should say, he’d been interrogated by the General. Don Williams was an impressive man. It was clear that for him, without any question, Katsuko was his daughter. Genes didn’t matter. Blood didn’t matter.
By the time Avery had told him how he felt about his daughter and what he intended to do, he’d felt lucky to finally leave with the General’s blessing.
He reached over and touched Hiroko’s shoulder. It was all he could do. His pen torch was the only light they had—thank goodness he’d had it in his back pocket. ‘Hiroko, I don’t know how long we will be here. Katsuko’s outside, she knows we’re trapped, she’ll get help.’ He tried to wriggle a little bit to ease the pressure on his right hip.
In theory, Hiroko shouldn’t be able to understand a word he was saying. But he saw something flash across her eyes—just like he had the first time he’d met her—and just like he had when he’d arrived today and told her how much he loved her granddaughter. He turned the pen torch to look at the time on his watch. Really? How long had he been unconscious?
Then something else occurred to him. How long had Hiroko lain trapped in the dark, wondering if anyone would come to rescue her? She must have been terrified.
He wriggled some more and lifted his hand from Hiroko’s shoulder and moved it down, taking her gnarled hand in his.
She made a little noise of displeasure but she didn’t let go.
‘Avery?’ Katsuko’s voice was just to his right. It didn’t seem so far away now. There was only this roof separating them. How long before he could look into those dark brown eyes again?
He took a deep breath. ‘I came to tell your grandmother how special I thought you were. I came to tell her that you might have to move base. You’re in the air force, it’s expected of you.’
There was a sniff beside him. And he knew instantly what it was. A silent tear slid down Hiroko’s face and he gently squeezed her gnarled hand.
Katsuko hadn’t answered. She’d realised that he hadn’t told her grandmother that she was choosing to go away, choosing to find a new life. He’d made it sound like it was part of her air force medical corps service.
He heard some discussion through the thatch, but it was all in Japanese, he couldn’t understand a word.
‘Avery? I’ve got an axe.’
‘What?’ He couldn’t help but shout his reply.
‘I have to do something. It will be hours before we can get help. There’s been a few older buildings that have collapsed across the city. But most of the damage is to the streets. We’re going to try and get through the thatch. We need to get some air to you. Even if we can’t get you out, we can maybe get some water to you both.’
Air. He hadn’t really thought about air. Wouldn’t some just come through the densely packed thatch? In truth, he had no idea. ‘I’m not sure about this. I don’t really want an axe in the head.’
‘We’ll do it to the side. I can’t stand here and do nothing. We have to try and reach you.’
‘Have you any idea how thick this thatch is?’
* * *
‘I guess we’re about to find out.’
She shouted some more instructions, asking questions and trying to find out their positions under the thatch.
Eventually, after a lot more discussion outside, he heard the noise of the axe. It took a long, long time. At first the noise seemed far away. It took quite a time before the actual vibrations of the axe started to reach them. Their judgement was good. It sounded close enough but not so close as to do them any harm. The light started to filter through as some of the thatch was dragged away. Eventually, a metre away from his head they finally broke through.
For a few seconds all he could see were hands, pulling and pulling at the thatch to try and make a gap. It wasn’t large, certainly not big enough to get through, but the light and warm air that flooded in was welcome.
A few seconds later somebody shone a torch inside. Katsuko started shouting first in Japanese, then in English. ‘Avery! Avery! I can see you.’ Her hand reached in, her fingertips barely touching the top of his hair.
It didn’t matter. It was enough.
The torch light swung slightly past him and she spoke rapidly to her grandmother, obviously trying to reassure her. He waited for the venom, the disapproving answer, but it didn’t come. Her hand was still in his, and he gave it a little squeeze again. This time she squeezed back.
‘You have no idea how glad I am to see you. I was so scared. So worried about you both.’ Katsuko took a deep breath. ‘I’m so glad you were here with my grandmother.’
It didn’t matter how long they’d been here. It didn’t matter how uncomfortable they were. It didn’t matter that his breathing was awkward. All he cared about was the fact that she’d come. The fact that she was here.
She pushed in a bottle of water, it was tied to a stick this time and his hand could reach it. It took a minute to open the top with one hand, then hold it towards Hiroko to let her have a drink. Of course he spilled it half over her. But she didn’t complain. She just closed her ey
es in grateful silence.
Katsuko’s face pressed up to the space again. Her cheek was smeared with dust and her normally smooth hair was sticking up in all directions. He’d never seen anyone quite so beautiful.
‘When I get you out of here, you and I need to talk about you coming to see my grandmother.’ The fearful tone had left her voice. She was still anxious, but now she could actually see them both she obviously felt a bit more reassured.
‘Your grandmother and I have reached an understanding,’ he replied.
‘What? What do you mean?’
He smiled as he craned his neck to turn his face towards her. ‘I’ve been taking lessons.’
‘Lessons in what?’
He held her gaze. He’d been practising and practising over in his head. He wanted to get it just right. ‘This isn’t exactly how I wanted to say this. But it’s important. Probably the most important thing I’ll ever say.’ He concentrated hard. ‘Kokoro no sokokara aishiteru.’
There was a little gasp. ‘What did you just say?’
‘Kokoro no sokokara aishiteru.’ This time he had more confidence. This time he followed it with something new. ‘Aishiteru.’
She didn’t speak. She didn’t say anything.
‘Katsuko Williams, you have my heart. I love you. Last night I thought if I told you that, I’d be standing in your way. And I don’t ever want to stand in your way. I want to stand by your side. You’re unsettled. You think you don’t fit anywhere. But I know where you fit. You fit with me. You are my perfect fit.’ He stopped for a breath. The pain in his lung was constant but it wouldn’t stop him from saying what he needed to say. ‘I wanted to say this when I had my arms around you, not when we’ve been pushed apart. So get us out of here soon, so I can say it again. Aishiteru. I love you.’
Katsuko started sobbing. ‘You tell me now? You tell me like this?’
‘I’ve spent so much time wondering if I can be what you need. I’ve never been somewhere I don’t want to leave. I’ve never been with someone I don’t want to leave. But you’re perfect for me. I want to make this work. I want to do anything at all to make this work. I love you, Katsuko, and get used to hearing it because I can say it in two languages now.’
