Chapter two
hundred and forty-four:
Jen was sitting
on the sofa, with her knees pulled up to her chest. Luke had left her to decide
on a movie while he made her a cup of tea.
She was feeling
incredibly lucky to have someone who cared about her as much as Luke did.
But she hated
being sick. She hated having to rely on someone else to do simple everyday
little things.
She changed the
channel to one of the music stations on the satellite system, and flipped
around until she found a song she recognized.
Luke came out of
the kitchen carrying a mug of tea. He carefully placed it on the coffee table.
“Jen, be careful
of your stitches.” He reminded her, gently placing a palm on her knee. He sat
next to her gently.
“Is everything
okay? Are you feeling okay?” He asked, sitting back, but keeping his entire
body turned to face her.
“Yeah. I just… hate being
sick. I feel completely useless. I can’t even stand on my own two feet.
It sucks.”
He smiled
slightly. “I know, but you’ve just got to concentrate on getting better, and
soon you’ll be right back to normal.”
“Not soon
enough.” She replied dejectedly. “But you’re here and I want to go out and do
things with you, you know? While we have the chance.”
Luke smiled,
racking his brain for something to perk her mood. A slow song came on the TV
and he stood. “Come here.” He held out his hand.
“What?” She
asked in confusion.
“Come here.”
She took his
hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet and lead her around the coffee
table. “What are we doing?” She asked, as he bent to manually turn the
television sound up a coupe notches.
He straightened
and placed one arm around her body, “Come here,” He urged, but before she could
speak, he lifted her carefully onto his feet, so she was standing like a child
ready to dance on someone else’s feet.
She laughed. “No way! This is insane.” She put a hand on his shoulder to
hold her balance. “I’m not a kid!”
“Come on, it’ll
be fun.” He smiled, pulling her body closer to his. “Just hang on.” He took her
free hand in his own, holding on tightly.
She smiled, and
couldn’t help but laugh out loud as he began dancing to an odd waltz, which was
completely off-timed to the music.
He chuckled, and
stopped fooling around. He began to dance normally.
Jen nervously
glanced down between them, worried that her extra weight on his feet would hurt—like
a novice stepping on the toes of someone more experienced.
He moved easily,
like she was lighter than a feather. He was actually surprised at how little
she weighed.
“What?” Luke
asked with a grin, as she bit her lower lip.
She smiled.
“You’re actually a good dancer, even with me on your feet.”
Luke laughed.
“You really think so?”
“Yeah, you’re
pretty good.” She smiled at him.
“I try.” He
smiled, remembering how beautiful she was, even if she was still
sickly-looking.
He kept dancing,
for several minutes longer, after the slow song had ended and a much faster one
had begun.
“Luke?” She
asked, meeting his gaze.
“Yeah, love?” He
asked, still tightly holding her hand in his.
“The
songs over.” She
laughed, slightly nervously.
“I know.” He
admitted sheepishly. He wasn’t ready to give her up just yet.
He leaned
forward and kissed her lips, catching her off-guard. Her eyes fluttered closed
and she forgot everything, falling into the remembrance of being in his arms
and being kissed by him. He pulled her close, making her feel warm and safe,
and for the first time since he found out she was sick, she actually felt
normal, like he loved her still.
When the kiss
broke, she opened her eyes and met his gaze, pursing her lips together tightly.
“What?” He
asked, gently brushing her hair back from her face with his knuckles. “Love?”
“That’s just…”
She looked down between, them. She felt a slight hot blush rise in her cheeks,
and she couldn’t believe she was surprised that her boyfriend had kissed her.
“That’s just the first time you’ve really kissed me since… since…”
Luke squeezed
her hand tightly, and brought it to his lips. “And it won’t be the last.”