45

 

Wispy filaments of thought drifted. Voices nearby, a steady beeping near my head, the warmth of a hand on my arm. I tried to move, but my mouth was dry. My lids felt so heavy.

“Little Bird?” My mother’s face floated, her tired eyes lined with worry. “Raven?”

Sudden sadness washed over me, the vision of Siyah in the dark water of the cavern, his face pale as he drifted further away. A sob bubbled out and I shook my head. “Is he…” I coughed, my throat aching.

“Hey,” My father appeared at the foot of the bed. He held his hat in his hand. “Are you back with us?”

I struggled to sit up, but my mother’s hands stilled me. Sorrow gripped me, making me cold. “S–Siyah?”

“Comoara Mea…” his low voice sounded near me and sent my heart soaring. He sat next to me in a wheelchair. Siyah’s warm, strong hand took mine. He brought my knuckles to his lips and brushed a kiss across my skin. His brilliant blue gaze held mine. “I am here.”

“Oh—” I couldn’t help the tears of relief and overwhelming joy that flowed. Turning to face him, I traced his brows, the bridge of his nose, his full lips with trembling fingers. “Siyah.”

“My love,” he murmured. Despite a pale pallor and dark rings under his eyes, he looked glorious to me. “I told you I would not leave you.”

I cried then, bursts of laughter breaking through as our lips met. He was warm and alive and beside me. He held my gaze, brushed his thumb across my collar bone, and smiled.

“Rest, little bird,” he said softly. “We have a life to start living.”

Over the next two days as we lay in the hospital, my mother and Sonja doted on me and Siyah, bringing blankets and vases of flowers to brighten up the room. My father came with food, much better than the hospital dinners, and talked with Siyah about woodworking and sailing.

I pretended to sleep so that I could listen to their banter. It was like when we were young, and I felt a tear slip from my closed lids.

After Siyah was discharged, the doctor decided to keep me for a bit longer as I’d been out almost a whole day and he feared a lung infection. I did not mind. Watching black and white reruns of old shows while curled next to Siyah’s strong body felt so wonderful. It felt like home.

A few days after that terrible time in the cave, I sat next to Siyah on the sand of Noble’s shore. The bonfire blazed against the inky sky casting embers into the whirling wind like dancing fireflies. Violin music drifted across the night, and I watched with a smile as children danced and giggled and chased one another only to be shooed by their mothers to a safer distance. Soft waves lapped behind us and I snuggled deeper in the blanket enveloping us both.

Siyah smelled of grass and sun and the warmth of him spread through me.

He ran his hand down my back smoothing my long hair, and I felt the softest brush of a kiss trail heat across my temple.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice low and thick.

“That I can’t remember a time when I was happier.”

“Do you still love Noble? After all that you’ve been through here?”

I looked into his face, the firelight blazing the blue of his eyes. “A hard won love is worth its weight in gold.”

He smiled, caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers. “Then I am most blessed.”

“We both are.” I turned, kissing the palm of his hand. A strange look crossed his chiseled features and I held his gaze with mine. “What is it, Siyah?”

“Raven…” he began, his voice thick as he moved, rising to his knee. Siyah held a ring between us. Sparkling with fire, the single ruby shone in the night and I gasped.