Full Strength

Fifty One-Logan 🏒

        Graham drove us to Lillian's apartment.

        I had never been here before. It was a cute place-or at least, it had been once. Now all her plants were dead and there was dust lining the woodwork. The air smelled stale, like someone hadn't been here in weeks. Which they hadn't. 

        "Sorry it's such a mess," Lillian said quietly. 

        "Don't worry about it. Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

        She pushed loose hair out of her face. "Um, my suitcases are in that closet, if you could grab them. Thanks," she murmured, heading down the hall.

        I pulled a blue luggage set from the top shelf and followed her into her bedroom. When I got there, I abruptly stopped in the doorway. Lillian stood in the center of the room, her face in her hands and her shoulders shaking with sobs. I quickly figured out why. Over her headboard were several strings of photographs, held up with clothespins. Some featured her parents, others her college friends, but a lot were of her and Jade together. Her and Jade eating ice cream, kayaking, on skis, wearing matching shirts, and dozens of other events.

        Pushing the suitcases to the side, I crossed the room and hugged Lillian. She crumbled, crying hard into my chest. In her room, it was easy to pretend that we weren't running out of time, that there was no one looking for us. Bowing my head, I whispered, "I know. I know, Lilli."

        "I'm sorry. I should be packing," she sniffled, but she didn't loosen her hold around me.

        "It's okay. We have a little bit of time," I replied, reaching over to the dresser and handing her a tissue. She dutifully blew her nose, tossing it in the trash.

        "I just never thought it would end like this," she whispered tearfully. "I knew that it wouldn't work out, but this is the worst."

        "Me neither. But hey, it's going to be okay," I murmured. "We'll get the court case worked out and we can go back to seeing each other every day."

        "Every day?" she asked, her eyes shining with tears.

        I wiped them away. "Every day," I promised. "Jack said you can date your patients. That means that once everything's settled, we can date for real."

        The look on her face said that she hadn't realized this. She looked up at me, slightly dazed as she asked, "Wait, like forever? Like a normal couple?"

        "Forever," I said, smiling.

        She hugged me again, this time much harder. "Logan!"

         "I know," I laughed, holding on tight as she started crying again. This time, she was so happy that she couldn't contain herself.

        Finally she looked up, her cheeks blotchy and her eyes rimmed red. "I'm really going to miss you until then."

        "I'm going to miss you too," I said, my throat thick with emotion. "But I'll call you every day. And we can do video chats."

        "Yeah. It'll be fine." She was really doing her best to convince us both. 

        Silently, she stepped back and began opening drawers. I helped as much as I could, although that wasn't much. She filled two huge suitcases with clothes, then put everything else in her backpack. Finally, her medical bag was still organized from when she'd grabbed it this morning.

        "I can ship you anything else you left at my place," I said. "As soon as you know where you'll be."

         "Thanks. Honestly I'll probably stay with one of my college roommates. She lives in New York and she's been begging me to stay with her for a while," Lillian replied, zipping up her luggage.