@aerialdancing
Getting out of the hospital is easier than Phillip thinks it should be, quite frankly. Getting out without Anne getting dirty looks was another matter entirely. (Although, she’s doing an incredible job at ignoring them, which is really just unfortunate evidence to how adjusted she is to the more deplorable side of America.) Before he’s left, he’s had to yell at three different people, who he’s pretty sure only buckle and walk away because his yelling sounds something like what a seventy-year-old man would sound like.
When he finds out they’ve all been staying at the Barnum’s, who’s house is probably being taken by the bank soon, everything suddenly comes rushing back at him. The circus is gone, mere ash in the grey afternoon.
He hails them a carriage and can’t really focus on anything, his elation at Anne being a strong presence at his side dimmed by the bleak future he can barely see ahead of them. He will not go back to his parents’ house, and Anne And W.D. might actually be homeless.
When they get situated in the carriage, Phillip wincing despite himself, he takes her hand in his as they’re drawn down to the Barnum’s estate. “I’m sorry,” he says to her knuckles, rubbing them beneath his thumb.
