Sailing With Destiny

The Storm

Leo opened his mouth to speak but I put up a finger and hushed him. I listened to the steady beat of his heart through the stethoscope and once I was satisfied with his heart rate and blood pressure, I allowed him to speak. 

"You were a little harsh with Kate, don't you think?" 

I removed the stethoscope and placed it with the blood pressure cuff in my satchel among the other medical supplies I brought. 

"I should give you an even harder time." I turned around and shook my head in disappointment. "How could you be so careless, Leo? Drinking first thing in the morning without eating and taking your medication!"

"Why do I feel like I'm in middle school again?" Leo muttered under his breath. 

"I'm not kidding!" I snapped. "You know how important taking your medication is. You need to take care of yourself. This isn't something to take lightly, you need to follow all your doctor's instructions or..." I trailed off and took in a breath. 

"Or?" Leo asked. 

I gulped and the mere thought of Leo getting more sick or worse sent a chill down my spine. "I don't even want to think about it."

"Mils." Leo got up and stepped toward me. He placed his hands on my shoulders. "I've been taking care of myself before you even found out about my condition and so far, I've done alright. Stop stressing, it's giving you premature wrinkles."

I glared, slapped his chest, and shrugged him off. "This is a joke to you, isn't it?"

"No, it's not," Leo replied. "But if I take everything seriously and stop joking, I'm going to lose my mind. This thing already developed without my permission, I refuse to allow it to take over my life any more than it already has."

I understood his point and sympathized with him. I sighed. "I know but that doesn't mean you need to be reckless."

"Oh, you haven't seen reckless."

"I have. Remember when I picked you up from that pub? I think that was the worst I've ever seen you."

Leo scratched the back of his head and lowered his gaze for a second. "Yeah, that wasn't my proudest moment."

"And I don't want you to go down that road again. So, please for once, listen to me and do as you're told."

"I am," Leo stated. "I just let my guard down this morning because... well because it felt good to pretend to be normal for a while."

"Leo..." My heart ached for him. I stepped closer and took his hands in mine. "You are normal. You're just a little sick but you're going to get better and until then, I need you to play it a little safe."

Leo nodded. "I understand." He lovingly flicked my nose. "I'm sorry for almost giving you a heart attack."

I rested my cheek against his chest. "Soon enough you'll be able to get drunk at any time of the day and I won't say a word."

Leo wrapped an arm around me and breathed in deeply. "I hope so."

"I know you will." I shut my eyes. "You're not allowed to leave me as yet. Heck, you're never allowed to leave, got it?"

Leo chuckled. "Got it."

We pulled away after a long moment. "I think you should apologize to Kate. You were rude to her for no reason."

"No reason?" I couldn't believe what I heard. "She is the reason for your state."

"I'm an adult, I could've said no and should've known better. She doesn't know about my condition so technically, she's innocent."