clouded

after

The girl I fell in love with at the library, my Lainie.

The girl I ask to marry me, my dream girl.

The girl who whispers, "I love you, Jordan," over and over at night, my smile stretching as she embraces me.

The only girl for me, and as I lay dying, I can't help but smile at that knowledge. Lainie leans over me.

Only the good die young, I remind myself.

And I ask for one last kiss. As she cries, she presses her warm, soft lips to mine. My lips that are cracked with disease and death.

Death grasps my hand, and I know I'm running out of time.

"I love you," she says. "I'll always love you."

And I ignore the tug of death to reply.

"I love you, too."

And I'm enveloped in darkness. One final pull from death, and I faintly hear the beep of the heart monitor gone flat.

Wedding vows always say they will be together until death they will part.

But not me.

No, I'll stay with her forever, through each and every one of her clouded worlds.

Waiting for the day she joins me again.

~ fin ~