04-28-2023, 07:41 PM
The room was dim. The nurses turned down the lights to make the atmosphere relaxing. In a way, it soothed the beat of his heart. Or maybe that was the medicine.
His lidded gaze fell to their entwined hands. He still hadn’t reacted even when her weight sunk the mattress at his hip. Except in that moment, his thumb gently stroked the metal of her wedding ring. Even pushed into the prominent diamonds in the center.
Her hands warmed the chill flooding his own. A line pushed what felt like ice water through his veins. Years ago he showed up in the office at 9 am the next day. Nobody asked about his face or the reason he walked a little slower. He was head down and focused for a good week after that. Now, he couldn’t imagine going to the office tomorrow.
There was a stripe of cobalt blue draped across the back of a chair nearby. A white shirt speckled with red lay beside it. He didn’t look up at her despite the grip of his palm in Alina’s, but he gently turned her wrist and put the back of her hand to his cheek. It was tender but comforting. After a few minutes just feeling her hand and thinking about duty, he finally spoke.
“Can you bring me the wallet? I need to tell the office I’ll work off site tomorrow,” he spoke through clenched teeth while he still could. Maybe they could escape to the country for a few days.
His lidded gaze fell to their entwined hands. He still hadn’t reacted even when her weight sunk the mattress at his hip. Except in that moment, his thumb gently stroked the metal of her wedding ring. Even pushed into the prominent diamonds in the center.
Her hands warmed the chill flooding his own. A line pushed what felt like ice water through his veins. Years ago he showed up in the office at 9 am the next day. Nobody asked about his face or the reason he walked a little slower. He was head down and focused for a good week after that. Now, he couldn’t imagine going to the office tomorrow.
There was a stripe of cobalt blue draped across the back of a chair nearby. A white shirt speckled with red lay beside it. He didn’t look up at her despite the grip of his palm in Alina’s, but he gently turned her wrist and put the back of her hand to his cheek. It was tender but comforting. After a few minutes just feeling her hand and thinking about duty, he finally spoke.
“Can you bring me the wallet? I need to tell the office I’ll work off site tomorrow,” he spoke through clenched teeth while he still could. Maybe they could escape to the country for a few days.