The hospital room was quiet, save for the steady beeping of the machine guarding her heartbeat. She was so quiet and small in the bed that Mark was afraid to breathe too hard for fear that he might disturb her.
 He had been there for an hour, kneeling by her side with her hand cradled in his. He could feel her fingers occasionally flex while she slept and remembered when, so many weeks ago, when he had felt her hand in his while it was he in the hospital bed, not her.

     He struggled to keep his eyes on her face, but kept drifting down to her tiny shoulder that was heavily wrapped in thick white gauze. Sighing from his inner turmoil, he pressed his forehead against the edge of the bed. He felt like he was being ripped in two from his confusion and pain. He knew that this would most likely be the last time he would ever see her since she had to return to her home and he was to go to the next show that was hundreds of miles away.

     He didn't want it to end like this, not while she was unconscious and unable to hear him. He looked at his watch and knew that his time that he could spend with her was up. Pulling a pad of paper and a pen out of the hospital desk, he carefully wrote his farewell to his angel. As he finished the letter, he added his phone number at the bottom, just in case she would be able to forgive him one day and would call him.

     He carefully folded the crisp sheet of paper and set it on the desk in plain sight for her to see. That done, he raised his hand to her face, letting his fingers slide over her soft skin in an effort to commit her image to memory.
He would never forget when they shared a bed together that quiet night. The smell of her hair, the feel of her body against his and the softness of her skin under his hands were things that he could never forget. He wanted to kiss the ripe lips that his fingers were exploring, but knew that if was unfair to take advantage of her while she was in her current state.
 
    After one long last look, Mark slowly turned and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
 
    "Good-bye angel." He whispered.

    Copyright 2000 by Lady Serria

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