“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. That was so rude of me,” she says at the tail end of it.
“Are you tired? You can go to bed, you know.” I reach up and rub one of her cheeks with my thumb.
“I’m not tired, plus the movie is almost over, let’s finish it,” she insists. She spins herself around so that her head is in my lap and she’s lying facing the TV. Unable to stop it, my hand falls to the top of her head and slowly moves down her scalp, brushing her hair away from her face. It’s soft, almost silky texture feels even better between my fingers than I thought it would.
When the end credits roll, I wait for her to sit up and walk me out, but she doesn’t move. I try to bend forward to get a look at her, but I don’t want to wake her if she’s sleeping. Reaching for my phone, I swipe to open the camera and hover it in front of her face. Sure enough, she’s fast asleep, glasses slightly askew with a hand under her cheek as a pillow. Her eyes are closed, lashes soft, and I can make out the tiny specks of brown dots along her nose. I zoom out of the camera and hold it back where it was, this time with me in frame. Smiling at the camera, I snap a picture.
“Just wanted to capture the moment,” I whisper to myself before setting my phone down. Then, as carefully asI can, I slip out from under her. Kneeling in front of the couch, I press my lips to her temple and whisper. “Hanna,Hanna.”
“Mmm, what?” she mumbles.
“You fell asleep on the couch, beautiful. It’s time to go to bed.”
“Oh, crap. Okay.” She starts to stir but I quickly stop her.
“No, no. I got you. Just wrap your arms around my neck and I’ll take you to bed.”
She cracks her eyes open enough for me to see the gray of her irises before they close again. “You just like carrying me around, don’t you?”
“Itiskind of a turn on,” I tease. “Now, hang on tight.”
Scooping my arms under her, I lift her easily. She wraps her arms around my neck as instructed and buries her face into my neck. Reminiscent of the time I came over when she was sick, I carry her to her bed and gently lay her down.
“Want me to get you anything before I go?”
“Go? Where are you going?” She reaches for my wrist and holds onto it tightly.
“I was going to head home so you can get some sleep. Clearly, you need it.”
With heavy eyes, she looks at me. “Is it wrong of me to say I want you to stay?”
“You want me to stay the night?”
“It’s nice having someone else here with me.” She shrugs. “I’ve lived by myself for a while now. Knowing you’re here, I don’t know, it’s nice.”
The way she’s looking at me is wearing my resolve. I know I should go home and sleep in my own bed. While they weren’t as frequent a few months ago, I still have theoccasional nightmare and I don’t want to scare her. But I also can’t say no to her.
“I’ll stay,” I answer with a sigh. “But I’m sleeping on the couch.”
“The couch? Why would you sleep on the couch? We’re two grown adults, I think we can handle sharing the same bed,” she argues, coming a little further out of her sleepy daze.
“First, I’m going to sleep on the couch because I’m a gentleman. And second”—I stand from where I’m squatting beside her and bend over, bringing my lips close to hers—“I absolutely won’t be able to lie in bed next to you andnotwant to completely ruin you.”
Her eyes go wide and before she can say anything, I kiss her hard. I carefully pull her glasses from her eyes and set them on her nightstand before moving away from the bed.
“Goodnight, doc. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Miles. See you in the morning.” Her voice is so small I can hardly hear it.
When I reach her door, I turn over my shoulder and wink at her before turning off the light. Closing it behind me, I make my way back to the couch and hope that I’m awoken by a new day and not the sounds of the screams of my fallen comrade.
Cracking wood.
Hot skin.
The sound of rushing water hitting a building that’s buckling under the heat.
My eyes try to see through the smoke but my lungs arefilling up with it too quickly. I’m searching for him everywhere but I can’t find him.
