The breeze filled her with warmth, inside and out. Everything felt right. She turned to him. His smirk as potent as any poison. Her poison. The clouds were thick around them, creating an impenetrable barrier between them and the rest of the universe.
"Do I really have to go back?" she asked. He stroked her neck, she closed her eyes, but knew he was nodding just the same.
"You know you should," he said.
"Why? I want to be with you. We never should have broken up, and if we hadn't, you'd still be here," she said, without sorrow in her voice. It was just a statement of the truth. She had accepted their fate. He smiled crookedly.
"I wanted to be with you. You read my words. You know everything. I love you, but you can't stay here. We'll be together in time, but now... now is not the time. There are people down there who needs you." He nodded toward the nothingness.
"I don't think they do," she said. "You've seen them. They're doing just fine."
Her ex-husband. Their son. His new wife. They were the picture perfect family. Her son would be alright. He was young still, he wouldn't remember her. He'd be fine.
"He found him a mother, who am I to him anyway?" she asked.
"He didn't marry her to get your son a substitute mother, he married her to get a substitute love," he replied.
She looked down on the world, seeing her current boyfriend sitting beside her hospital bed, his forehead resting on her left hand, with the ring finger that had been naked for quite some time.
A second.
An eternity.
"He and I won't work out, will we?" she asked. He looked at her, which said it all. No spoken words needed. "Thought so." She sighed. "So why should I go down there, he and I won't make it. My son's father has someone else keeping him warm at night." She paused, sighing deeply and slowly. "And you. What about you?"
"Don't think about me. This is about you. Your relationship might not last for much longer, but you will have a clean break this time. You will split as friends and you'll be able to have civil conversations with him. You'll not be enemies."
"What about my heart? Will it ever heal? Will it ever stop hurting? Will I ever... feel whole again?"
A knowing smile grazed his lips. "Take a closer look on your ex-husband's wife," he said.
She looked at the wife, who stood alone in the hospital corridor.
"What about her?" she asked.
"You don't find anything wrong with her?" She shook her head. "She's supposed to be... what? Four, or five months pregnant? Look at her belly," he said.
"It's her first pregnancy," she said. "Some show later than others..."
"But she should be showing at least a little bump. She's skinny and she wears tight clothes. She should be showing," he explained.
"Are you telling me this because you think she's faking it - or because you know she's does?" she asked. He smiled again, meeting her gaze with that mischievous spark in his gray eyes.
"Because I know she does," he replied.
"He's gonna hate her when he finds out."
"He already hates her," he replied simply. "He doesn't want to be with her. He wants a divorce, and the fake baby it's the only thing that's keeping him from doing it."
She put a hand on her belly. Sighing.
"What will happen with... my baby?" she asked quietly.
"You mean babies?" he replied, bumping her shoulder.
"Twins?" He nodded. "I don't know how to react to that... if our break up is imminent, how will I be able to do this on my own?"
He looked sad, putting his hand in hers. Their fingers intertwined like they were carved out of marble. A perfect fit. Forever enclosed.
"You will be pregnant for another two months, but then the cancer will rare it's ugly head again and...," he trailed off.
"I will lose them."
"Yeah," he said, sighing. "I'm sorry."
"Will I survive?"
"I don't know. They won't tell me. I'm not supposed to influence you in any way."
"But you already have, but telling me all of this."
"You know me. I never played by the rules."
"Then tell me, how long until I'll be back here?"
"You won't get back here. This is a one time ticket thing, but as for your death... don't worry about it. When the times is right, I'll be right here waiting for you."
"Do I have to go now?"
His smile faded and he nodded.
"I love you, I miss you every day," she said quietly.
"I'm always with you," he replied. "Always."
Suddenly a blonde little girl, four or five years old, came running toward them through the mist. His face lit up as the girl threw herself into his embrace. The girl had his eyes. There was no question about who she was. She knew. Her small hand fit perfectly in hers. Her eyes twinkling with mischief.
"We are watching over you," he said. "Her and I."
"I'll see you soon," she said, and kissed the little girl's forehead.
The girl laughed and jumped back down on the ground, running away into the clouds.
"Take good care of her," she said. He smiled.
"Go, people are waiting for you," he said, giving her hand a squeeze before taking a couple of steps back.
"I don't want to leave."
He disappeared into the clouds, leaving her alone in a whirlwind of emotions.
She had to leave.
She had somewhere to be.
