Page 52 of Icy Heart, Empty Chest
“Whoa, what are you doing?”
“Cor, I have to get off my ass. I’m beyond stiff and sore.” I could see the tension lining his face.
I shook my head. “If you have to, then at least lean on me?” He didn’t argue.
I went to sit next to him and he pushed off, putting his arm around my waist.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I ran a marathon through a hurricane,” he grimaced. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was something he’d actually tried to do.
His arm tightened around my waist as he pulled me into a half hug.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
His words broke the dam on the tears that had ceased.
“I was so worried, you asshole.” I was sobbing into his shoulder. “You were just lying there and I didn’t know if you were dead or dying or somewhere in between. I couldn’t even tell if you were getting better.”
He pressed his dry lips into a kiss on my head.
“Gods almighty, Dae.”
“I’m so sorry for having to put you through all that,” he said, cheek glued to my hair. “Never in a million years did I think this would be the outcome.”
My chest was still heaving against him. I haven’t cried this hard since the day of my father’s funeral.
“Hey, Cor? I’m OK. I’m here.”
“But you almost weren’t,” I wailed. The sound echoed through my small apartment.
He didn’t have an answer for that either, just kept stroking my head. The tears unloaded from over a week of stress. But he was there. He was real, in my arms again.
With my sniffling subsiding, I pulled away and wiped my eyes again. “Shower and then food?”
“Oh gods yes.”
I eyed his walking as he softly, stiffly moved toward my bathroom. His hobble showed what his face did not; the muscles in his legs were spasming. I sighed. I very likely needed a shower too.
I heard the shower head start hissing with water and looked around.
It had been a new feeling, being so paralyzed with fear that you couldn’t bear to do most anything else. I stalked to the kitchen and started to root around, finding two cans of soup and dumping them into a clean pot on the stove. I started to clean through the kitchen. By the time he had reappeared in the kitchen, a fresh pot of coffee was on, the soup was ready, all dishes had been delegated to the washer and a window was cracked to freshen up the place. I knew I’d need to go food shopping if I was going to be taking him on for a while.
When he did reappear, it was in my own fluffy purple bathrobe.
I snorted most elegantly and then doubled over laughing. Get yourself someone who you can cry your heart out on that can make you laugh ten minutes later.
“You may have to be in that for a bit until I can get some clothes for you,” I choked out.
He mimed a small curtsy and headed to the table. As he sat down, he winced. I delivered a giant bowl of soup, a large glass of water and a couple of coffees.
“You’re an angel, Cor.”
I blushed a bit. “Just a nymph. But, go slow please. I don’t want to add vomiting to your problem list.”
He nodded and started on the soup.
“What happened to me?”
