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"Good morning." I hummed as Namiko climbed off me, my view of her naked body rebirthing the cravings we'd just spent the past ten or so minutes satisfying.
"Hurry up and come back to bed." I called as she used the bathroom.
She laughed, saying, "No way, Akim. We've got things to do. If you want more of me, come meet me in the shower."
I was up so quickly, I almost gave myself whiplash.
Namiko broke into giggles when I walked into the bathroom with a smile on my face. "Gosh, you have no pause button."
The shower was all kinds of enjoyable and when we eventually stepped out, I felt like I could finally get my day started. We got ready and went to greet our little girls with kisses and instructions to behave themselves with the nanny while we were out doing charity work and running errands.
Namiko and I were part of a pediatrics program at the Healing Hands Public Hospital in a low income district in Kitalo City. Our charity contribution included donating money to the pediatrics department, partaking in legal lobbying for the government to make improvements to the large hospital, and hosting an annual gala dinner to raise funds for the patients who couldn't afford certain services.
Today, we were stationed in the NICU, checking in on the preterm or terminally ill babies we'd been supporting for a while now, bringing in regular donations of clothes, blankets, non-perishable food stuffs they'd need in a few months, and some toys for when they'd be able to play with them.
I could feel Namiko buzzing with anticipation as we neared the NICU, the brightly painted walls of the pediatrics ward a clear sign that we were getting close.
Over the weeks that we'd been coming in here, one particular baby had caught Namiko's eye and subsequently stolen her heart when she found out from one of the nurses that the baby was unfortunately born an orphan, her mom dying in childbirth, her father not even in the picture.
The baby had been born premature and jaundiced, her tiny yellow body somehow managing to fight for over a month now to keep her alive. Namiko walked straight to her incubator as soon as we arrived, her eyes softening as she took in the clear progress the baby had made in the week since we'd last visited.
I watched as she stuck her finger into the little hole on the side of the incubator and the baby's tiny hand reflexively wrapped around it.
"Good morning, angel." Namiko crooned, her soft voice full of unmistakable love. "Guess what? You're able to breathe on your own now. Yes you are, your lungs have finally developed. You're doing so good."
I smiled as I moved on to see the other babies, internally getting excited as I noticed that some of them had reached milestones of their own.
My eyes went back to Namiko in the centre of the room, her finger still held firmly by the baby, her kind eyes running over her little body.
