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“Okay,” I tell her. “That convinces me.” I don’t tell her I would have eaten it even if it were made of caterpillar insides.
I wearily pick up the spoon and dip it into the soup. I bring to my mouth, expecting the worst.
“Hmm…that’s…not bad.”
“See! I told you.”
For her, I pretend to like it. After yesterday’s dinner was such a disaster, she needs this win. I won’t get in the habit of placating her with little white lies, but for now, I like it in a way, because she made it.
It’s not that Ellie’s a bad cook, it’s just that the ingredients she insists on using do not belong together. At least, not in this way.
I eat the entire bowl extra fast, pretending to love it. The look on her face when I hand her the empty bowl makes it all worth it. Except now that she thinks I like it, she’s going to make me eat it every day.
God help me. If she asks, I’ll tell her my taste buds changed after I recovered.
“So I was thinking we could take a walk outside in the garden,” Ellie says upon returning. “If you want to, of course.”
“I’d love to, I haven’t been outside all day.”
“Do you want to try the walker today?”
“Yeah, I think I’m ready for it. In physical therapy earlier, we used one for a little bit and it went really well.”
“We’ll go really slow, just in case,” she says, bringing the walker over to my side of the bed.
Ellie helps me up, and I stand slowly, using the walker for support. We make our way down the hall and to the elevator. Thank God I had one installed when I built this.
Walking is definitely hard, since I’m still recovering from surgery, but it’s getting easier by the day.
As soon as we step outside, I feel instantly happier. The day is beautiful, and I can walk again. And this beautiful woman is by my side, and she’ll be by my side forever. How could life be better?
Ellie has been amazing, taking care of me every single day, making sure I take my medication, cooking me meals, and making sure I get outside.
“Thank you,” I say as we walk through the garden.
“For what?” She looks at me curiously.
“For everything. I don’t think I could do this without you.”
“You could. It just wouldn’t be as much fun without me.” She grins. “And you’d do the same for me.”
I make a face pretending I might not, but she sees right through it. She knows I’d do anything for her.
“We should probably get up,” I murmur.
“Mmm, we should, but I don’t want to.”
“Neither do I,” I say, nuzzling my face into her hair. She’s lying on my chest, something that she couldn’t have done a month ago when I first came home.
“Let’s just stay in bed all day.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.”
She lifts her head up and smiles, something I’ll never ever get tired of seeing.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“Thanks.” She looks away as if she’s embarrassed by the attention. Suddenly, she sits up, her hand going to her mouth.
