Page 167 of Time To Learn

Fuck, I missher.

The hole in my heart has grown ever since I told her goodbye yesterday, and even though I know she’s probably asleep right now, I have to hear her voice.

With trembling fingers, I find her number and press the green button. I put the phone up to my ear and grip it tightly as I wait for her to pickup.

“Kristian?”

The sound of my name on her lips is all it takes for the ache in my heart to dwindle, making me feel less bereft.

“Hey, sweetheart,” I whisper.

“How’s your dad?” she asks immediately.

I close my eyes and let her concern wash through the phone, her caring way like a balm to mysoul.

“You’re incredible.”

Her sharp intake of breath tells me she didn’t expectthat.

“The most courageous, wonderful, and gorgeous woman I’ve ever met,” I whisper, “and I don’t fucking care what you had to do to survive.” I bite my lip and try to find the right words to tell her how much I long to be with her. “Dad’s gone,” I finally answer her question. “It didn’t takelong.”

“Oh, baby,” she breathes. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything…?”

“When I get back home, we’re going to sit down and talk about our future, do you hearme?”

“Kristian, are you sure you’re thinking clearly?”

I chuckle as my eyesblur.

“As clear as I’ve ever fucking been, sweetheart. I’m not leaving you or our beautiful girl again, and I’m going to show you every single day of my life that I meanit.”

“Our beautiful girl?” she whispers, her breath hitching softly. So softly that if I close my eyes, I can practically feel her right next tome.

“Yeah. You and Ailith are mine, Laura. Eventually, you’ll believe me, though I hope it’ll happen before the day I ask you to be mywife.”

“What?”

The quiet shock in her voice rings through my ears, and I grin into the phone.

“You heardme.”

“But, well, um…”

Like a steamroller, I push right through, needing to let it all out before I succumb to exhaustion.

“I love you, sweetheart. My future belongs to you if you’ll have me. That will never change. But now,” I sigh, “I think I’m about to keel over, so I have to go. I’ll phone you tomorrow.”

“Sleep. Eat. Drink. Then sleep some more,” she answers, almost tripping over her words in her haste to get them out. “Then we’ll talk about everything.”

“Goodnight,” I murmur softly just as my eyes begin to fill with black spots. I don’t even hear her answer as my ears start to ring, and feeling like a heavy blanket is thrown over my head, I fade away into nothingness.

* * *

Laura

From Laura’s Journal

It’s been a week since I last spoke with Kristian, and the longing increases with each passing day. I can’t wait to see him again, and as I count down the days until he returns, I feel more at peace with myself than I have before.