Portal to Reality

chapter 7

                             By the third day of him being gone she was a nervous wreck. Annaleigh was worried about Bane. She was scared to death that something may have happened to him. What if he was hurt or worse? She tried to breathe. She missed him more than she had ever missed another soul. She had never felt this way before about anyone or anything. She hoped the next time he had to go off and do this it would be easier for her to handle. 

               She loved him more than anything in the world and she hated not knowing if he was alright or when he would return. She had read every book she had acquired, even borrowed a few from friends and neighbors. She had started a garden, even went to see aerostat to occupy her time while bane was gone. It did not seem to help. She would just pace back and forth, no matter how much she tried to relax or take her mind off of bane; she just physically could not do it. 

                  When her shift at the medical hut had ended just before sunset, she sprinted home as fast as she could. She knew at some point this evening Bane should return. She felt as if she could not take being without him much longer. When she returned to her own hut she stood outside staring at the moon. She saw it was no longer full and she smiled at the star filled sky.

She went inside her small hut and paced back and forth, hoping to see bane walk through the door anytime now. She could not wait to see him, sure he would stop to see her whenever he returned. She sat on the bed and waited with a desperate sense of hope. She needed to know he was home and that nothing had hurt him out there. She got up and began pacing again. Annaleigh felt as if any moment she was going to burst from having to be without him for this long. She began to straighten up and re- organize a few things.

After what seemed an eternity, there was a solid loud thud of a knock on the door. She leaped up and ran to open the door. Her heart did a back flip of excitement when she swung the door open bane was standing there waiting to see her after his little stay in the woods. He had missed her more than he had ever known possible. After she flung the door open, she leaped into his arms practically knocking him off balance.

"Come in dear. I'm so relieved you have returned to me unharmed", she admitted to him.

"Don't you worry about me I will be just fine." Bane replied to her, if only to ease her worries. 

                 The two of them got settled and comfortable. They were snuggled together making up for the last few nights of longing for the other person. They were with each other right here and now. Nothing else mattered to either one of them. Bane had told her of his friend Bernard and how if he needed it Bernard was always out there during the change. He stayed there with her for as long as he could manage before leaving her hut and going to his own for some well due sleep in his bed not the rock hard forest ground.

The next morning she was still filled with joy over his return from his full moon transformation. She worked through her shift at the medical hut with little to no disasters. It was so uneventful it started to bore her. That was rare, she never got bored. Today was a different story. Her mind tried to focus on the job, but her thoughts kept on shifting back to Bane no matter what she did. 

               She could not help it she wanted to spend as much time with bane as she possibly could. She had spent the last three nights terrified he had been hurt or shot or a worse fate, what if he didn't return? Those were the thoughts that had nearly given her a 72 hour insomnia fest. She shook it off. It no longer mattered he was back and just as fine as he ever could be. She would see him when her shift was over with, she could not wait to go. She was just waiting to get done so she could go to him, spend the evening with only bane she needed nothing more than that.