Page 60 of See You Soon
Something catches my attention, interrupting my trance and I'm in awe. I watch a bright shooting star fly by and I smile. I watch it in silence, my eyes following its direction before it burns out leaving me in tranquility.
"So breathtaking," I mutter, looking up at the sky in between two pillars in front of the hospital.
"You are.”
Danny's voice almost makes my ass drop to the floor as it startles me. My whole body jerks, my heart skips a beat, and I'm squeezing the straps of my backpack.
I whip over to my right to see a cheeky Danny, holding a cigarette in his mouth taking a hit, leaning on a pillar, smirking so hauntingly handsome. The sight of him almost has my knees shaking.God, he's so entrapping.
"Dammit Danny, you scared me!" I shout, stomping my leg, catching my breath. I’m pushing my side bangs out of my face.
"I'm sorry," he blows out smoke in the opposite direction of me, then puts out his cigarette underneath his shoe.
Seeing him in front of me makes my mind go hazy. My body feels like it's getting pulled into him as I remember the last few hours I had with Violet. At this moment I can't help it butI feel lucky.Lucky that I even get to see Danny in person. He's alive and breathing. A moment that's so routine sometimes people in relationships don't understand how fast it can be taken away. It's easy to take it for granted but in this second, I decide I won't let it go to waste.
"I went out for a smoke, while I was wa—"
I don't let him finish, I take off, sprinting, and then I crash into him. I hug him so tight and I don't care if I'm coming off as needy. I feel like he's going to disappear if I don't hug him hard enough. At first, Danny goes rigid. He's trying to figure me out but he quickly holds me back, his hands snaking through my hair, gently.
I'm burying my face into his body and I'm sobbing. The air grows thin and my chest is tight. I thought crying in the building before I left work would prevent this exact moment, but seeing Danny only heightens my emotions, making them boil over inside of me. I don't want him to leave. To witness all that I have over the past few months, with my patients, sends fear creeping inside of my mind about the possibility of him not returning. So much death has surrounded me this past year. The sunshine that lives inside of me… I can feel it fading away with so many thunderstorms I've endured. If something happens to Danny…I don't even want to think about it.
"Cherry, what's wrong?" Danny's deep voice rumbles through his chest and I go weak.
"You're going out tomorrow to find the other hostage, Damon right? Aren't you?" I peek up at him. Danny stops frozen and he's quiet. He knows I know.
He looks at me so intensely, his blue eyes flicker and I can't tell what he's feeling. It's as if he's upset yet he's holding something else back from me. I'm sure he knows that I've been talking to Violet and Doctor Diaz. It's not going to be long from now that Violet's story would be all over the news.
He licks his lips before changing his vision from me to the sky. And I know my answer. He won't tell me anything and I'm not surprised. My eyes dry up and I bury myself again in his body. His muscles tense over my back. Why does he make falling apart so easy?
"Don't worry, Ari. I'm coming back home to you, I promise you. This is a first for me… but I wouldn't have it any other way." I flinch at his promise. He knows very well I have my doubts about him returning alive after Paul died. Paul promised my mother and me the same thing. But for some odd reason… I trust him. I believe him. Danny is starting to feel like an immortal man to me. As if, nothing can kill him. Nothing can hurt him. The way everyone in the military community talks about Danny… they make him seem like a mythical legend that can't die.
"You have every right to not trust me after everything you've been through," his fingers slide to my chin, lifting it so I can look at him. His eyes are glistening with devotion. Relief washes over me and I'm aching to be in his bed again. A tear escapes and it falls down my cheeks and he wipes them away with his fingers. I close my eyes relishing his touch.
Danny shakes his head.
"Don't cry over me, baby. I won't let you. The only time I want to see you cry is when I’m fucking you.” His pressed lips lift into a haunting smirk.
The smell of sweet whiskey burns into my nostrils and it swallows me. The scent is strong like he had been drinking for a while. Instantly, I’m curious as to why he drank so much to the point it stains his clothing. Still, I’m somehow drawn to this scent of his. It arouses me and I feel ashamed. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes mixed together, create a perfect potion of lust that I can’t stop longing to taste in him andonly him.
“Danny… are you drunk?” I look up at him and he licks his lips, followed by a flash of his perfect, white teeth.
“It’s my last night here, why would I waste it being sober?” He says nonchalantly.
I frown. I'm starting to realize that drinking is just a part of Danny’s identity and it saddens me because I know deep down inside it's because of all the darkness that devours him, daily.
“The sky is so beautiful tonight,” I whisper, softly, changing the subject.
“Sometimes, I wish I could fly because I know… I know Paul… he’s up there. And I just want to be closer to him. We had plans…he had plans.” My voice cracks.
Tonight has just been the most overwhelming, emotional night that I’ve had since my brother passed. The past forty-eight hours actually. From having my room destroyed, to letting go of my promise to myself and God, to taking care of Violet and her tragic situation, it's all too much.
I notice a change in Danny’s body language.
"Let's go. I want to show you something." Danny lifts my chin up to him and rubs his thumb over my bottom lip softly.
"Where?"
"I called in a favor. Funny you mention flying." He smirks.
