“I’m sorry, baby.”
I feel my whole body deflate even though I still can’t move. “No. Don’t give up.”
He flattens his hands against the glass, smearing blood and gore and broken pieces of bones so that I can barely even see his face. “I’m sorry, Ava doll.”
“Please don’t give up. Go get help.”
His hands are ruined, and now he can’t even play the piano anymore. “I’m sorry, Ava.”
“No.” My breath hitches. “We’re supposed to be together.”
“I’m sorry, Ava.”
“We’re supposed to be together.” I’m sobbing again, and I’m so tired of sobbing. I spent weeks sobbing and frustrated and full of despair, and we were supposed to be together. “You said you’d marry me. You said we’d have babies. You said we’d do everything together for the rest of our lives. It’s the only reason I had enough hope to keep fighting.”
An oblivious, yet warm smile pulls across his face. “Oh honey.” His voice suddenly sounds different. “I love hearing you say that.”
“But wecan’t.” My voice suddenly sounds different, too. The shapeless white room goes dark. “We can’t if you’re stuck behind glass.”
I can’t see him anymore, but I feel hands connect with my face. “I’m not though, sweetie. I’m right here.”
“You are?”
“Yeah.” A kiss connects with the side of my neck. “I’m right here.”
My eyelids flinch and blink open, and I’m staring at the wall of my bedroom. It takes a minute for it to register that it was just another post-virus nightmare. I’ve been having a lot of them, and I reallyhope that’s not a permanent side effect.
Nestling my head deep into my pillow, I cover my mouth to yawn and let my eyelids lower as I start to drift back into sleep.
Wait a minute.
My eyelids fly back open, and I whip my head around to look behind me, andhe’s there.
He’shere.
I knew he was coming today, and he’shere.
Happy tears prick the rims of my eyes, and I flip over to shove my face against his neck and wrap all four of my limbs around him as far as they’ll go. “Baby. You’re here. You’re here. I’m so glad you’re here.”
Lucky’s arms envelop me in that wonderful,wonderfulcocoon of strong, solid warmth, andoh God. I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve needed this. “I’m here.” He strokes my hair and kisses my head. “I missed you so much. It feels so good to hold you again.”
“Me too. So,somuch.” I sigh in total contentment and relaxation as I melt into his embrace. “God, I had the most awful dream just now,” I mumble against his clavicle. “I keep having these awful dreams. You were trapped behind a piece of glass, and I couldn’t move, and you broke your hands trying to get through.”
“Jesus, Ava doll.” A light chuckle shakes his shoulders. “That FaceTime shit must’ve traumatized you as much as everything else.”
“I think I’m just sick of you being behind a screen. Or me being behind a screen.”
I turn my head to rest my cheek on his chest. He’s wearing a plain white t-shirt, and that’s out of place enough that it piques my curiosity about the rest of his clothes, so I glance down the length of his body. Sure enough. Jeans. A large gray hoodie that I’ve never seen before is hanging on the bedpost. A pair of rugged sneakers are next to the wall. And something about Lucky in totally casual clothes for once makes me smile.
I lift my head to crinkle my nose at him. “You have me wondering if I’m still stuck in a dream because you’re not wearing a suit and tie.”
A half-smile pulls one side of his mouth. “I dowear regular clothes sometimes,dolcezza.”
I lay my head back down. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“Anyway, that reminds me of something I wanna talk to you about,” he adds.
I stroke my fingers lazily across the thin white fabric. “Your clothes?”
