chapter 12

Finny has fallen down the stairs after he has stormed out of the assembly hall. We ran as quickly as we could to go get Dr. Stanpole. He diagnosed Finny with another break in his leg. He assures me that it is a much cleaner break than last time and not nearly as severe. I snuck up to Finny's room to look in the window to tell him tht I'm sorry, but he wont accept my apology. I wandered the campus of Devan the entire night thinking about what has happened and how bad I fell for Finny and how it is really all my fault. The next day Dr. Stanpole left me a note asking me to bring a suitcase of Finny's things to the enfirmary. When I go to drop his belongings off, Finny confesses to me that he has been trying to join every branch of the military there is. But none of them would accept him because of his leg. That is why he has been saying there is no war because he knows that he will never be allowed to fight in it. Dr. Stanpole tells me to come back later when the anesthesia will wear off after he sets Finny's bone back to normal. When I came back later that day Dr. Stanpole informs me that Finny has passed away. He explains to me that a peice of bone marrow broke off and got into his bloodstream and stopped his heart. At first I was in disbelief, but when it began to sink in that Finny was really gone, I showed no emotion. In a way, Finny's death was really my own as well.