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I FELT LIKE I WAS TRUDGING through the mud. I wanted to move but it was nearly impossible with all this weight on my body. It clung to me like a second skin and no matter what I did, it remained fastened against me.
Fighting through the darkness, I did whatever I could to get rid of it but to no avail. Failure seemed to be unavoidable but one person kept me going.
Lily.
I had to get back to her — I had to tell her the truth that was written on my heart. I couldn’t possibly let it end like this and let her live her life never knowing what could have been.
So, I fought every demon I faced like my life depended on it because, well, it did.
And eventually, I managed to open up my eyes. As consciousness returned, I was slammed with a blast of pain that echoed through every inch of my body. It was like nothing I ever felt before. I wanted to cry out but my lips were so dry that they felt like they had been fused together.
I blinked against the sheet of piercing white light raining down on me. After a few agonizing minutes, I managed to focus on the ceiling tiles and the window on the far wall. It was open and a slight trickle of breeze rolled it, moving the curtains ever so slightly. I wanted, oh so desperately, to feel that breeze on my face for I was burning up.
The blankets bundled up onto of my body certainly did not help.
As I moved my arm to set them aside, I became aware of someone holding my hand.
Lily.
She was asleep in the most uncomfortable position. Her hair, usually sleek and shiny looked like it hadn’t seen the inside of a shower in a couple of days. How long had I been out for and had she not left my side that entire time?
I squeezed her hand and that seemed to be enough to get her to come to. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand and looked around like she had no idea where she was or how she had come to be there.
“Lily...” It was the first word I spoke but my voice was not my own. It was cracked and broken and incredibly irritating to listen to.
“Gayle!” She exclaimed like it was the happiest moment in her entire life. She lunged forward like she was about to wrap me in a hug but at the very last moment, she pulled back. “I probably shouldn’t be doing that with all your broken ribs. Your nurse would have my head.”
“Hug me anyway,” I said. “Please.”
She hesitated but after a moment of consideration, she did as I had asked. Her embrace was a ginger one but it was enough for me to believe that she was real. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Lily repeated. “What are you sorry for? I should be the one to apologize. I’m the reason why you’re here — why you almost didn’t make it.” There were tears in her eyes. With her hands balled into fists, I knew that she was trying to hold back but still those tears stained her cheeks.
It was painful for me to do so but I wiped them away with my thumb. Most of my hand was numb so I couldn’t quite tell if I was being gentle or rough with her.
Thankfully, she smiled.
“Here,” she said as she took a nearby sponge and moistened my lips with water. “The nurse said you can’t have water so you’ll have to settle with this for the time being.”
“It’s better than nothing.”
Lily looked down at her hands, her expression a troubled one.
“There’s something that I want to tell you,” I said.
She looked up and our eyes locked.
“I love you, Lily.”
She parted her lips like she wanted to say something in return but I held out my hand to stop her from doing so.
“And I’ve loved you for a long time now. I was just much too afraid to tell you the truth of my feelings because I thought that it would ruin our friendship — something I’ve cherished from the very first day I met you. So, when you proposed the fake engagement, I thought it would be a step in the right direction and that from there, I could tell you how I really felt but then I kept getting these vibes that you didn’t want the engagement to be any more than fake —”
There was more I wanted to say but she silenced me with a kiss. It wasn’t one filled with passion and lust as all the others before it but one filled with adoration and love. Finally, the puzzle pieces were coming together and that hole in my heart was being plugged up with the light of her soul.
This woman was the woman of my dreams.
She pulled away so that we could both breathe but her hands remained on my cheeks. “I love you too, Gayle.”
My pulse quickened. “Make my heart beat any faster and the nurses are going to think I’m having a heart attack or something.”
She pressed her forehead against mine. “So, we’ve both loved each other this entire time and neither one of us suspected it?”
“It seems that way.” To my surprise, she started to laugh.
“We’re a couple of idiots.”
“Tell me about it.” Her laugh grew louder.
It made me happy to see that smile on her face. “So, I just have one question left to ask you.”
“And what might that be?” She cocked her head to the side.
“Will you marry me?”