At the Oceana Apartments, he sits and watches the play of light on the sea. Ida is sleeping. She has collected the broken crockery, and soaked up the spilled tea. But now he is unable to rest. He is in pain.
He has been in pain for such a long, long time.
That year, that extraordinary year: so much misery, but from out of it he and Babe created something beautiful.
Babe, he whispers. Babe.
I hear you singing.