Freezing Cold

Chapter 15: Tell Me How You Feel

A few days later when Mark and Eba got home from the hospital, she was exhausted, Mark didn't care if he was wearing bandages and wraps, he didn't want to leave Eba alone, he didn't think she was going to come for him or how she figured out where he was. They both flopped on the couch and took really deep breathes, Eba looked at mark with a soft look on her face, "Are you okay?", "Yeah, I'm fine," Mark said, " As long as you're okay," Eba smiled like she's never smiled her whole life, she was lifted by the words that came out of Marks mouth, "Same to you," she said with a smile. Mark looks up at the clock and realized that he should be at work by now, he knew he wasn't going in, he felt like taking a personal day off, his boss already knew that he was out for the week to recover.

Eba tried to get up and make herself useful and get both of them something to drink, "Eba?" Mark calls, "Yes?", "Do you really love me like you say you do?" Eba stopped herself from pouring the glasses of orange juice and turned her head slowly to the side, "Well, I never said that." Eba chooses her words carefully, "But, why would you ever think I wouldn't love you?" "I don't know, it was just a question," "Com'on Mark, you can't turn me down that easily," Eba says smiling, carefully bringing the drinks over to the coffee table. Mark was looking at Eba up and down while she was sitting down, "Well, I thought you would leave me like that other girl," Eba stopped and look at him like he was talking Asian, "That girl was obsessed with you!" Eba says with her big eyes close to Marks face, "She was very clingy when i tried to save you, Mark," "But that doesn't mean she loves me, Eba."

She sat there and thought about it, "Yeah, she could've been after anything else," "And we didn't really have sex, so I really—," Eba cuts him off, "You didn't have sex with her???!??" "No, of course not, things got intense that night but I stopped myself," "I thought you guys would hit it off because she seemed really into you," "How would you know that?" Mark leans to the side in surprise, "She would come to the house and tell me to not be near you, after you had your little get together with her," Mark looked at Eba shocked, "And why didn't you say anything??" "I don't know Mark, maybe because I had to see exactly what I was working with to take her down," "What was the point of taking her down?" "To get to you, Mark."

                                           Mark froze, "So you do love me??" "I mean, we shouldn't say the L word so soon," "So, 'Like'?" "You can say that," Eba says looking on the ground, Mark sits back on the couch and smirks at her, "I don't think someone would go through all the trouble to make sure their safe and then say they 'Like' the, Eba," Eba gets up and faces Mark, "Call it what you want, Mark, but I'm sticking to my statement and where we stand," she turns her back and folds her arms, "Besides, you never told me how you felt about me, and what do I look like going for a guy hard not into me." Mark gets up and stands very close behind her, "I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for you Eba," he whispers in her ear, "You've been taking care of me all these years, ever sense we made eye contact back when I was working in the family business, and without even knowing, you were assigned my personal nurse, which made us grow even closer to each other," Eba turned around and looked into Mark's eyes, "give me a reason why I wouldn't love you, Eba," she was quiet, she was thinking, but she wasn't thinking why not, she was thinking of the reason why she loved him. "There is no reason, because I take care of you like I take care of myself, and I'm a nurse," she says, "Exactly, you've always loved and cared for people," he says, " And you're right, especially you, Mark looks at her and smiles, "Soooooooooo you do????" They both laugh.

                                            Their both caught up in the intimate moment, they couldn't keep their eyes off of each other, they tried to stop but they weren't able to. Mark hold her closer to him, "Thank you," "You're welcome," right when Eba was looking down, Mark places his finger on his chin and lifts her head, looking into her eyes, "I love you," Eba is in shock for a second, but she calms down and realize who was talking to her, " I love you too, Mark." Mark goes in for a kiss and she holds him tight, Mark smiles in the kiss and so does she.

                                                     He stops kissing her and opens his eyes wider to her, Mark realizes then and there that he's finally found someone  that's right for him. He felt like the weight was lifted off of him, like he had no care in the world. The world was his enemy, but Eba was his comfort,  he knows that looking into her eyes, he finds himself in a safe place, a unique place, a place where there's just him and his lover, fighting the world together, for each other. Eba felt the same, she felt safe in his arms, like no other man could ever make her feel. It was a moment of oneness, they both haven't felt this way about any person in the world, but each other. Now that they know that theirs a connection between them, heh start to talk about how their going to work things out sitting on the couch.

           
                                                   In the next two weeks, Mark is at the point with Eba where they can sleep in the bed together without anyone telling them no. This time Mark is in the bed, but Eba wasn't beside him. He was starting to worry about where she went without telling him. Mark gets up out of bed and puts his pajama pants on, and rushes down the steps. He suddenly stops on the last step, and started to smell the atmosphere. It smelled as if there was breakfast food coming from the kitchen, he hadn't smelled a good meal sense he moved out of his parents house. He peeks into the kitchen and sees Eba behind the stove, he freezes in shock as Eba turns around, she notices him, "Hey baby," Mark opens up his eyes wide.

                                                 "I just had to stop feeding you that hospital food and what they tell me to give you, I just thought you needed a good meal to heal you," Marks jaw drops. He has never had a woman cook for him, they would always go out or argue on the date. Still in shock, Mark moves closer to her, "You're cooking," "Yeah, is there something wrong?" "You're cooking," He holds his hands out to her and the stove to observe to her in shock, "Mark," Eba laughs, "I never had a woman cook for me before, I haven't had a home meal sense mom and dad," he explains to her, " Oh wow. Well I just had to do this because I knew that hospital food was making you sick," Marks jaw drops again, "But the things I care about come first," Eba walks to the other side of the counter to get the bacon, "So how did you learn how to cook so fast?!" "I took classes, two weeks ago when we realized that we had a connection, I had to get right," Mark looks at her in awwness,  "If we're going to be together, I'm going to need to learn how to cook my man a good meal, and I'm still taking classes for this."

                                                  Mark couldn't believe what he was hearing, a woman wanting to serve him, it blew his mind. "Well, when do you finish?", Mark asked, "In a month, I don't have hat long to go, I got a week left." Mark felt amazed and pleased with what Eba decided, "Then that means I have to work twice as hard for you, baby," Mark says genuinely, Eba smiles at him and blushes a little bit.

                                                  Breakfast was ready and they both sat down at the table in their pajamas. They started to stuff their face with bacon, cheesy eggs, sausages, homemade french toast, cream of wheat, grits, slices of toast, ham, and pancakes, with a big gallon of orange juice. "How's the food, baby?" Eba asks, Mark couldn't even speak, he was too busy stuffing his face, "Mark?" Eba called him, he stood and looks up, "Is it good?" "Fuck yeah," Mark says genuinely, continuing to stuff his face. Eba was watching him eat, she thought to herself "My baby gotta eat," she smiles, continuing to eat her food.