Lumi lay up close against my side. Her head on my shoulder, my arm comfortably wrapped around her, my real hand roaming the smooth, warm skin of her back. One of her legs was draped across mine, pinning me. Her leg was cold and uncomfortably hard but I didn't want to complain, I didn't want to move. Lumi was toying with my artificial hand, pushing her fingers against my fingers, bending them this way and that.
"How did you lose it?" She asked.
I took too long to answer. She lifted her head and looked me in the eye, uncomfortably close, her face almost a blur.
"An accident," I said. It must have been obvious I was lying, it sounded hesitant and false to my own ears, but I was too ashamed to tell the truth. Something shifted in Lumi's face; she nodded to herself as she stared into my eyes.
"How did you lose your legs?" I asked before she could dig further.
"It doesn't matter," she said, laying her head back on my shoulder. "Those brass legs you made me are beautiful, works of art, and your hand is wonderful," she said. "We're better this way, aren't we?" Even I could tell it was a deflection. I didn't answer.
Lumi stopped playing with my hand, her eyes closed, her breathing became gentle and slow. I lay awake, my legs pinned and uncomfortable, and watched her sleep.
YOU ARE READING
Less Of Her
Short StoryClaudia is a shut-in, a nerd. She creates custom cybernetic limbs, unique works of art. Lumi is everything Claudia is not, exotic, exciting, outgoing. Claudia comes to realise they both have their secrets. Secrets that will tear them apart.
