The Emperor of Gladness

Hai returns home from work one day to find all the lights out and Grazina missing. He searches the house and neighbourhood for her in a panic before finally calling Lucas, who informs him that Grazina fell and hurt herself earlier that day; she is in the hospital. Hai pretends that he was at a clinic in response to Lucas’s questions about Hai’s absence during the day. He promises Lucas he will keep Grazina safe until she is moved into Hamilton Home.

Hai immediately goes to see Grazina. She is in the rehabilitation ward of the hospital and is largely incoherent, but recognizes Sergeant Pepper. She asks him for a story, and Hai tells her about Noah, with whom he shared a romantic relationship. He describes himself and Noah as fellow soldiers in the war, and confesses how he felt “okay” when he was with Noah, which was “even better than happy” (315). When Grazina asks where Noah is now, Hai states that Noah got injured when storming Normandy during the war, and began taking medicines to make the wounds go away; eventually, his heart gave out. Grazina is accepting of how Hai is a “liggabit” soldier, with Hai realizing that she means the LGBT community.