The Lullaby Nights

♥ 14

HARLEY

Before Gina had finished her shift, I asked her to close the cubical curtain around Nina's bed and talk to her until I was done with my preparations for another Lullaby Night. When I finally finished, and the bed had come out of its concealment, Nina fell utterly speechless.

'What do you think?' I grinned at her.

The room was now as dim as the evening I confessed my feelings to her. The lights from the disco ball I placed on the floor danced across the walls, making this place appear a bit livelier. Myself, dressed in a suit (a different one since I'd grown out of the old one) I stood behind a serving trolley on which I'd set two bowls and hid them under silver caps. Next to them, two champagne flutes presented themselves in their sparkly, polished-to-perfection glory. Nina's mouth remained plummeted. She looked over the moon.

'I know that this isn't exactly a club, to which I know you always wanted to go, but I tried to make up for the lack of people and sweat-permeated air by recreating our dinner.'

'It's perfect,' she quickly responded. Her eyes, full of elated shock, wandered around the room, striving to keep up with the multicoloured dots swiftly changing their position.

I pushed the trolley towards her bed. 'Fancy a drink?' I wiggled a brow.

Nina gave me a funny look. 'Harley, you know that I can't drink.'

'Of course I do.' I bent down, obtaining a paper bag from the bottom of the trolley. 'That's why I got this.' I dug my hand into the bag and dramatically presented a bottle of Piccolo.

'What's that?' Nina sounded skeptical.

'This, my lovely Cloud, is an alcohol-free drink for kids. It's supposed to imitate champagne.' I flashed a wide smile. 'It's cherry, absolutely safe, and very much sparkly.'

Nina shifted slightly, excited. 'Where did you get this from?' I've never seen it before.'

'Asher went to one of those multi culture shops in town. His friend recommended this, considering most of any other non-alcoholic drinks still contain traces of alcohol. This one, however, my Pumpkin, doesn't, so you can freely enjoy the bubbles.' My stomach tied into knots the moment I spoke. I hadn't thought this through. What if Nina didn't like it, or worse, couldn't drink it because of how fizzy it was? She already struggled enough with her foods and fluids. This drink could irritate her throat, make her choke.

The knots in my stomach unravelled the moment she smiled back at me. If she was down for it, it meant she was still capable of handling the drink, regardless of my valid concerns. She might be having it in small sips, but as long as she did and wanted to, nothing else mattered.

'What's under the caps?' she asked, curious. 'It better not be pumpkins.' Her eyes narrowed.

I liked that she still tried to joke with me, but I knew that her energy was limited. There was no need for me to prolong the surprise. She'd become drowsy soon, if not fall dead asleep. I lifted the caps. Cloudy steam soared into the air and floated sideways before turning into a ghost-like mist. The warm dew that had formed on the inside of the caps was now trickling down from their rims.

Nina examined the food, addled. 'Soup? When did you find the time to make it?'

'My brother did, not me. He dropped it off when you were chatting with Gina.' I shot her a serene smile and placed the caps at the bottom of the trolley. 'He knows the butternut squash is your favourite, but in my opinion, it's still cannibalism.'

Nina squinted her eyes, nevertheless amused. 'Okay,Eiffel Tower, enough of this.' She beamed. 'I want to try the bubbles.'

A chuckle escaped my mouth. Oh, how grateful I was for her willingness. Deeply inside, I knew that she wasn't keen on any liquids or food, but she was doing it for me. Another thing that I thanked the heavens for, was her consciousness. Some patients in their . . . last days . . . could barely recognize their surroundings or were mostly confused and zoned out. Nina was lucky. No. I was lucky. Maybe if she didn't know what was happening around her she wouldn't suffer as much?