Holy Ground

Part 5

Waking up in Andy's arms was like something out of a dream. Instead of feeling disappointed because I opened my eyes to reality - and therefore had to abandon whatever it was that had been entertaining me while asleep - all I could feel was excitement at being in his bed, surrounded by his scent and warmth.

He really was a dream come true to me .

I managed to turn around in his arms without waking him up, taking advantage of this opportunity to admire him. God, he was attractive. A bit more mature than I remembered from our first date, but I guess going through a coma can change your perspective on a lot of things, this included.

And I couldn't believe he had stuck out with me during this entire medical situation. I think this would be hard even for people who were already in long term relationships, for someone who had literally just met me...

I just couldn't believe it was really happening, outside of a movie screen, and to me. With someone as great as Andy. It felt like one of those sappy romantic stories, where a sad circumstance brings a couple even closer together, and I was so happy about it. Perhaps even too happy.

A part of me, the part that had been realistic due to everything I'd been through in life, kept asking me to slow down. Not to trust him too soon, not to fall in love despite his gentleness, his patience, everything he'd done for me ever since I woke up. And even though I'd blatantly disregarded that part - I was in love with him, and I knew it - it still existed inside of me, and it made me cautious of losing him suddenly, just like I'd lost everyone else in my life.

I didn't want to have to live without Andy, but I knew love stories could only end two ways. There was a 50/50 chance for both paths.

As much as I wanted to lay there and think only of the optimistic happy ending I wish I would get to share with Andy, my body reminded me of my reality. I was starving, and if Andy didn't wake up soon, the growls in my stomach would certainly be his alarm clock, and that just wouldn't do. So I decided, albeit reluctantly, to leave him in bed and venture back to the main floor of the house, in search of something I could eat.

It was so hard to leave his room without waking him up - I didn't know how deep his sleep could be, but I didn't want to take any chances, considering how peaceful he looked. So when I finally managed to close his bedroom door and realized just how badly I needed to pee, I wanted to slap myself on the face, where it would leave a mark.

"Alright," I thought to myself. "Big place. He's gotta have another bathroom here somewhere." And so began my quest for a toilet I could pee in. The first door I opened was obviously an office - it made sense he'd choose the room nearest to his to work on. The second one looked like a guest room, if the lack of personal decorations was any indication of the absence of any current occupants. The third door I tried seemed to be locked, since I wasn't able to turn the knob all the way to one side. But the fourth one is a charm, right?

I noticed I was wrong before my brain processed what it was that I was seeing, purely from the scent that the room exhaled. It was unmistakably baby powder and that newborn smell that was so peculiar it seemed to be able to make any woman who sniffed it feel fertile in a second.

But then my eyes got used to the low lighting of the bedroom and I noticed the crib. I noticed the decorations on the wall. And I noticed the child on the lap of a woman sat by the window, seemingly as surprised to see me as I was to see her.

"Oh, I didn't think anyone would be joining us today," she said, sitting up straighter as the little boy sucked on a bottle of milk. He couldn't be older than... what? Three or four months? "Andy said he'd be coming home late and not to expect any visits until way past lunchtime."

At the mention of the man whose bed I'd just left, I felt as if a bucket of ice had been dropped on me, and I had to hold onto the door so I would keep myself up as my body startled to tremble.

"He... did?" I asked, not in search of any particular confirmation, but just to keep the woman talking so I could have something to focus on instead of the feeling that I was about to faint.

"Yeah, he was excited about it, weren't you, little one?" She asked the tiny baby, obviously fond of the boy. "Truth be told, he hasn't been spending much time with his father, and a baby misses that, you know?"

I did know. I did know, but I didn't have anything to offer in response, so I excused myself from the conversation and closed the door behind me, mind empty but running aimlessly at the same time.

I was still frozen with shock by the time Andy found me in the kitchen, staring emptily at the wall. "I'm so glad you're here, sweetheart. I'm so hungry, but the only thing in this kitchen that seems to make my mouth water is you."

His words didn't even register in my head as I raised my eyes to meet his, my tone cold and devoid of any emotions when I asked, "When were you going to tell me that you have a son?"