"Is there news?" Tom stood up so fast when Dr Wells opened the door that his head spun and Cora startled awake. Dr Wells shook his head and he sat back down. "I have some paperwork for Cora to sign. Is now a good time?"
"Can it wait? I'm pretty sleepy," Cora said.
Dr Wells nodded knowingly. "Just buzz when you're ready?"
"What was that about?" Tom asked.
"Just hospital bills, nothing to worry about."
"Sorry I woke you. I didn't mean to. He doesn't normally burst in this late in the afternoon, I thought maybe there was a... anyway. Go back to sleep."
"Will you wake me when dinner gets here? I'm starving."
"Appetite is a good sign. I will. Close your eyes."
"Remember the first night we spent together?" She said sleepily.
"Of course I do. I was learning lines for Henry IV and you finally decided to tell me how sick you were. It was the most heartbreaking and yet the most beautiful night. I guess you want me to tell you about it while you fall asleep?"
"Yes please,"
"You'd just finished telling me you loved me but we couldn't be together, and you made me promise to shut up about it. And then I was suddenly possessed by some sort of demon who couldn't take his eyes off your lips, and I kissed you and made you cry."
Cora smiled. "My little Georgie porgie," she said softly.
"I didn't think you were going to stop. You were so sad and so scared and I thought I'd broken you. And then you said the sweetest words I'd heard in a long time. You asked me to stay while you went to sleep. I took you to bed, and I held you in my arms, just like I'd dreamed of doing so many nights. I stroked your beautiful soft hair and listened to your crackly breathing as you went to sleep. I never told you this, but for a long time after you'd fallen asleep I put my ear to your chest. I wanted to hear your heart beating on its own for the last time." His voice cracked and Cora squeezed his hand, hearing him draw a shaky breath before he continued. "It was amazing, my darling. It was pumping so hard, so loud. I imagined for a while that it wasn't broken, that I could have made love to you if I wanted to, and it made my own heart almost burst out of my chest."
Tom heard that same sound now, Cora's chest rattled loudly when her sleepy breathing made her draw more air into her fluid filled chest. He continued in a whisper. "You slept so soundly that night, you barely moved. When your breathing occasionally got quiet I felt panic rise in my stomach, thinking you'd stopped altogether I would will you to move or make some sort of sound. I watched you all night, my beautiful Cora. I stroked your hair, I kissed your forehead, and I told you I loved you a hundred times. Just in case I never got the chance to do it again. And when the sun began to rise and cast pink shadows all over your bedroom and your lovely porcelain face, I knew I'd done everything I could. All that was left was that agonising twelve hour wait for Steph to call and tell me you'd come through the surgery."
He kissed her forehead and laid his head down on the side of the bed, keeping his fingers laced with hers while she slept.
