Love For Hire

Nicholas’ throat was dry. He slowly opened his eyes. He saw nothing but light. It must have been daytime. He did not know how long he had been out of it. His mind was foggy. He sighed and closed his eyes again. He was still alive. God damn Octavius and his timing. He’d had such a wonderful dream; He had dreamt that Kinsley had come to him. God, how he missed her.

Nicholas opened his eyes. Did he hear the shower? Nicholas sat up and listened. Yes, he heard running water. There was someone in his washroom.

Seconds later, the water stopped, and he could hear movement in the next room. A few minutes later, the door opened, and whoever was in his washroom stepped out into the bedroom. Nicholas smiled; he smelled… peaches. “Well, it is good to see you up,” he heard Kinsley’s sweet voice. It had not been a dream. She really had come to him; he could not fight the smile that brightened his face. She should not be here. He did not want her watching him waste away. He knew every reason she should not be there, but he was happy she was.

“Kinsley,” he grinned and stood up. He reached out blindly until he found her and pulled her in his arms. He held her so close, moulding this wonderful woman to his body. He buried his face in her wet hair and inhaled him deeply. God, she smelled like heaven.

He heard her giggle as she held him. “I get the feeling you missed me?”

The words just did not come to him. He turned his face to hers and kissed her, his tongue slipping past her lips and sweeping her over hers. She tasted minty and clean. She must have just brushed. His lips lifted from hers as his hand caressed her face. “It is so good to see you,” he said. “So, to speak,” he could not actually see her, but he could picture in his mind what she looked like. His fingers grazed over the contours of her face. He could picture that button nose, those full plump lips, her big brown eyes, and that soft, flawless toffee skin. He dragged his hand down her hair, letting the strands glide through his fingers like silk.

No, he could not see her, but he could picture her in his mind’s eye, and she was beautiful. An angel, flesh and blood. The image of her the night they met was permanently burned into his mind. He was not grateful for much in this life, but he was grateful he had the chance to see her splendour before he lost his vision. She was perfect that night, and, in his mind, she would always be perfect.

He felt her hand touch his face, and he instinctively nuzzled his face against her palm. As happy as he was that she was there, nothing had changed. “You should not be here,” he said quietly.

“I could not stay away.”

she caught his hand in hers. She turned his hand to expose his bandaged wrists. He knew she was looking at the bandages, and

such sadness and disappointment. He felt her kiss the bandage right where the wounds would be. It was slight pressure painful, but he did not pull away from her loving gesture. “Why? Why would

have nothing to live for,” he said, doing his best to keep the emotion

me?

up, walking away. “You should not be here, Kinsley. I do not want you

we both know it,” he could hear soft footsteps cross the floor, and then her hand slid up

to watch me die. I do not want your last memory of me to be that withered corpus in some hospital bed hooked up to life

the time. I want to sit by your bed and hold your hand while you pass away so that you go into the next life knowing you were loved,” he could not stop a tear from sliding down his cheek. “Give me that, Nicholas. I beg of you; let me take this journey with

shapes and colours. If he had to guess, she was wearing something red. He reached

could hear the surprise in

“Marry me,” he repeated.

serious? We have only

sound crazy. It's really fast, but it is not like I have a lot of time to wait,”

will have been nothing more than a momentary blip in time. I will have made no impact and be

“Nicholas, a child is….”