“I’m going to continue to take care of him, and your marrying him isn’t going to get in the way of that.”
I opened my eyes slowly at first, not certain if this feeling was a trick. My fever had broken and the pain had stopped. The ever-present exhaustion had vanished. I felt normal, or close to it at least.
Ethan was seated at my side once again. He was sleeping, restlessly, against the back of the chair. I carefully sat up, becoming dizzy as the blood rushed from my head. I reached out a hand and tentatively touched his open palm.
Ethan’s eyes opened and he stared at me in disbelief. “You’re alive,” he whispered.
I nodded slowly and replied, “I believe so.” My voice sounded meek and crackled, but it was my voice.
“Franny,” Ethan called, as he stood from his chair. He gathered me up in his arms, pressing me close to his chest. “I thought I’d lost you,” he whimpered in my hair.
Franny entered the room, ruining our moment together. She didn’t question our embrace, she simply joined it. Her bone crushing huge was close to actually cracking my actual bones.
“How are you feeling, Erica?” Franny demanded, forcing my attention to her.
“Hungry,” I answered immediately. My stomach growled to insure that she’d understood.
“I’ll get the doctor, he’ll want to see you before we do anything else.” Franny said, smiling widely. She bustled out of the room, leaving Ethan and I alone.
Ethan resumed our hug, but I cut it short as I caught sight of myself in the mirror.
“That can’t be me,” I cried, tears brewing in my eyes.
Ethan looked at my gaunt reflection in the mirror. “I’ve never seen someone look so sick.”
I shook my head, wanting to push the image out of my head. I didn’t want to dwell on what had taken place. I’d survived the plague and discovered things about the people around me that I didn’t know if I wanted to know.
“I heard everything that everyone said to me,” I whispered.
“If you’d heard everything I said to you, you would have smacked me by now,” Ethan grinned.
I gaped at him. “I figured that Clara had taken care of that for me. She did hit you after you compared me to your mother didn’t she?”
Ethan smirked. “Oh she hit me for that, and a lot of other things too.”
“There was more?” I inquired, wondering exactly how much I’d missed.
“She wasn’t here when I told you what your punishment for biting me would be.” Ethan chortled.
YOU ARE READING
Imported Love
RomanceErica York has lived her whole life in her small village with her family. Her parents work night and day to support their ever growing brood of children, but there never seems to be enough money. Desperate to keep their family alive Erica's father s...
