Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

CHAPTER
22
The next morning—the seventh, the final, the last—Cameron said, “Will you
go with me to the door?”
Wallace blinked in surprise as he looked down at Cameron. “You want me
there?”
He nodded.
“I’m not … I can’t go—not yet. I’m not going through yet.”
“I know,” Cameron said. “But I think it’ll help, having you there.”
“Why?” Wallace asked helplessly.
“Because you saved me. And I’m scared. I don’t know how I’m going to
climb the stairs. What if my legs don’t work? What if I can’t do it?”
Wallace thought of all he’d learned since walking through the doors of
Charon’s Crossing for the first time. What Hugo had taught him. And Mei.
And Nelson and Apollo. He said, “Every step forward is a step closer to
home.”
“Then why is it so hard?”
“Because that’s life,” Wallace said.
Cameron gnawed on his bottom lip. “He’ll be there.”
Zach. “He will.”
“He’ll yell at me.”
“Will he?”
“Yes,” Cameron said. “That’s how I’ll know he still loves me.” His eyes
were wet. “I hope he yells as loud as he can.”
“Until you think your eardrums will burst,” Wallace said, patting him on
the top of the head. “And then he’ll never let you go.”
“I’d like that.” He looked away. “I’ll find you. When you come. I want
him to meet you. He needs to know you and what you’ve done for me.”