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“Take me to the track,” she whispers, her voice sounding stronger than it’s been in weeks.
“You want to go outside?” I ask, brushing the sleep out of my eyes.
“Yes.” She smiles. I pick her up and hold her in my arms.
Walking to the track, we never break eye contact. The wind picks up and blows her hair out of her face, the sun touches her cheeks, and she smiles.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks, as I gently set her on the dirt track. Her speech is still weak and the words are broken up, but definitely clearer than they’ve been. Hope flares in my chest even though I know nothing is going to change. I smile, as I look around; we are at the spot where I almost ran her over with my bike months ago.
“I’m grateful, babe,” I tell her, draping my leather jacket over her thin shoulders.
Smiling, she motions to the track laid out in front of us with her chin. “This is the spot, isn’t it?”
I sit behind her so she can lean against me, my legs on either side of hers. I can’t help but grin. “You mean the place where I almost ran you over, because you were taking a nap on the fucking track when the sun came up?”
Her body shudders as she laughs. It brings tears to my eyes. Leaning against my chest, she presses her cheek against mine. I catch her rolling her eyes. “I wasn’t taking a nap.”
Kissing her hair, I pull her close. “You feel better today?”
“I’m ready,” she whispers, reaching out, her hands moving through the breeze. She smiles and turns in my arms, slowly running her shaking fingers through my long hair.
“Is this a dream?” I husk out. It’s almost like she’s doing better. Like the disease is gone, but that can’t be. “Am I still sleeping?”
“No,” she says, a soft smile on her lips while she caresses my face. She trails her hand along the lines of my brows, my nose and my mouth. “It was a beautiful dream,” she tells me. “God I’m going to miss you.”
She kisses me, then pulls back and smiles at me with a look of wonder in her eyes. The sun is sinking lower, shades of yellow and orange painting the sky. She is engulfed by light. It takes my breath away.
“Don’t cry, babe,” she whispers, her thumb moving across the wet streaks on my face.
“I can’t help it. I don’t understand how this is even possible,” I say, shaking my head.
“Does it have to make sense for it to be real?” she asks.
Those were the same words I said to her when I told her I loved her. I swallow back the lump in my throat. “No, babe. I guess not. This is it, isn’t it? This is what true love is. It hurts like fucking hell but makes you feel alive in the best possible ways.”
“That’s it,” she tells me, without breaking eye contact.
“I never thought anyone would take me for the man I am. The man behind the mask. But, Shorty, you see every color, every shade, every part of me I tried so long to hide.”
“And I always will.” Beaming, she gazes up at the sky. “There,” she says, her voice strong like it used to be. I turn and look out across the track, taking in the colors, the red, pink and yellow casting a beautiful glow on her face.
“That’s where you’ll find me,” she says, and we lock eyes.
Sitting back, I wrap my arms tighter around her waist. Slowly, she leans forward and puts the necklace she always wears around my neck. I hold the silver bird with its wings spread out in my hand, my chest tightening.
“Babe, I can’t. This is yours,” I say, my voice hoarse and husky.
“It’s yours now. Jay told me yesterday to give it to the man who has my heart,” she tells me, tucking my long hair behind my ear. “You will always have my heart.” Her palm moves over my cheekbone to the scruff on my jaw.
“Don’t go looking for me in places where you lose yourself, Hunter,” she says, her hands on either side of my face. “I’ll always be right here.” Her fingers move to my heart.
I take her palm in mine and skim her knuckles over my mouth. She closes her eyes, and I kiss her neck, her cheeks, her eyelids.
Opening her eyes, she whispers, “You have given me your heart, Hunter, and I will always love every part of what you gave me. The good, the bad and the ugly.”
I grin, fighting the tears burning in my eyes. “It was good, wasn’t it?”
She smiles up at me and says, “It was everything.”
