How It All Goes Down
Fragments
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, September 25, 26, 27, 2006 (Clare is 35, Henry is 43): Clare waits for Henry, who's been gone all day. He suddenly appears, white and cold, in the living room. Clare takes him to the ER. Both of Henry's feet have to be amputated above the ankles. Upon waking from his narcosis, Henry discovers that his feet are missing and breaks into a scream.
- Tuesday, October 17, 2006 (Clare is 35, Henry is 43): Henry has been home from the hospital for a week. Clare just can't seem to pull him out of his apathy. He's completely unresponsive to both her and Alba. "Although Henry is right here in front of me, he has disappeared" (2.25.09). Alba asks Henry if he's dying, he responds, "Not yet."
- Wednesday and Thursday, October 18, and 19, and Thursday, October 26, 2006 (Clare is 35, Henry is 43): In her studio, Clare remembers an excerpt from Rilke's elegies, often quoted by Henry: "Every angel is terrifying. And yet, alas, I invoke you, almost deadly birds of the soul…" (2.25.41). She decides to sculpt giant wings for Henry.
- Inside, Henry sees his mother sitting on the foot of his bed. He tries to hide his stumps from her and pretends to be asleep. Turns out, it's Mrs. Kim who's with him. She ,unlike Clare, has no patience for his self-pity and actually manages to get him out of bed and into the bathtub.
- When Clare returns from the studio, Mrs. Kim is making Henry dinner. His mood has dramatically improved. The next morning, Clare keeps working on her sculpture for Henry.
- In the evening, Clare takes Henry to her studio to reveal the giant red-painted wings, floating in the air, suspended from the ceiling. Henry is speechless. "I submerge, I fly, I am released: being wells up in my heart" (2.25.70).