I sat down beside Christopher silently. There were so many things I wanted to tell him, but words failed me. I was choking in tears as I recalled his face. There would come a time when I completely forgot his face, and I would return to dust.
I held his hands to my face gently, recalling his evil smile, his brows bending in a playful curve, his wink when he pranked me, and his hearty laugh.
He would push me to the bed when he was angry. I recalled how he would demand me to call his name when we made love. He would kiss me passionately and bite my neck when he got carried away. He was already spent when he rested against the rocks on the deserted island, but he still asked me to live on.
Christopher was the perfect man every girl would dream of. He might look like a playboy on the outside, but he actually took our relationship seriously. He was not someone who gave up easily, and he cherished our relationship dearly; he did everything he could to keep it.
That was why I had fallen for him.
“Darling, I’m so scared. What should I do? There’s really nothing I can do this time.” It was the first time I called someone that term of endearment after I said it to Lyle on the first day of our marriage. After the man rebuked me severely for doing so, I had not dared do it again.
I did not call Christopher darling after we got married either. He would beg me to, but I refused because I wanted him to keep asking.
I regretted what I did. I should have called him that whenever I could. Now life had given me a harsh punishment — I only had three months left.
I suddenly felt Christopher’s finger moving against my face. I could not see if he was awake, but I could feel him sit up and gaze at me up close. I could feel his breath beating against my skin as he muttered, “Eve? Why are you crying? What did they do to you?”
I shook my head slightly and smiled at him. All he could think about was me even when he was not well.
“It’s nothing. It’s just a nightmare.”
“Sleep here with me. I’ll hug you to sleep so you won’t have any nightmares anymore.” Christopher wrapped his hand around my waist, and I lay down beside him, avoiding the injury on his lower abdomen.
“I’ll put you to sleep,” he said softly, patting on my back. He moved his head closer and bit my ear lightly. “I had a nightmare too. I dreamed that you went missing. I’m so happy you’re still here when I woke up.”
Incipient tears welled up in my eyes as I whispered, “It’s just a dream.”
“I even dreamed that we were stranded on an island when we went on vacation. It was so scary. We should get some sleep. We will forget all about it after that.” His voice trailed off as he spoke.
I shifted closer to hear what he was speaking. “I love you, Eve… Please don’t leave me…”
His words brought me to tears. His breathing soon turned stable as he fell back into slumber. He had another dream not long after he dozed off—probably a good one—because he was chuckling in his dream.
I snuggled beside him, savoring every moment I had with him greedily. It was not until the doctors came in to check on the man again that I got up.
After they were done, Monica asked the nurses to leave and sent me back to my room herself. I could sense her gaze on me as she helped me to my bed. Weirdly enough, I felt a warm drop of liquid on the back of my hand as I moved. Is Monica crying? I brushed the thought off immediately. There was no way she would cry for me.
She suddenly fell to her knees and implored me, “Ms. Tanner, I beg of you, could you please don’t go and see Chris anymore? Don’t see him again after he wakes up, please.”
