Michelle and Danny, having escaped the hospital have fled to San Cristobel. Alone at last, but exhausted from their trip, they fell asleep in their suite overlooking the ocean.
Something is wrong.
This is the thought that wakens me.
Something is wrong.
Sitting up franticly, I instinctively reach to pull the sleeping form of my wife close to me in a protective embrace. In this movement my deepest fear is realized.
Michelle is not there�I was not able to protect her.
Quickly I survey the room, praying that my eyes will light on the most beautiful thing to ever come into my life. I pray that I will find her sitting by the fireplace, or reading one of her books of poetry, or indulging in a bath.
Yet as frightened as I am by her disappearance, a sudden peace washes over me. I would know if something had happened. I would know if she were hurt, or in danger. Our hearts are forever joined..I will always know.
All that I know now is that she needs me. Wherever she has disappeared to, she does need me. It is that need that woke me from my slumber.
It is then that I notice our balcony door open, allowing the soft sea breeze to enter our rooms. Walking out onto the terrace, I see her.
My Michelle.
She is sitting in the soft sand of the shoreline, watching the dark waves of the sea crash towards her, and then fades away once more.
I have to smile.
I used to do the same thing.
I approach her quietly, not wanting to disturb her thoughts. I was not quiet enough.
"Danny," she breathes softly.
"Michelle," I smile. "How did you know I was here," I ask as I sit next to her in the sand.
She doesn't answer at first. Then, gently, she pulls me close and kisses me softly. I wonder if she realizes how much of herself she reveals to me when we kiss. Somehow I think she does.
"I always know where you are Danny. I always will."
Gently I pull her into my arms.
"I know Michelle, I feel the same way."
She nestles closer to me, letting her face rest on my chest. It is then that I notice a dampness that can only come from tears.
"Michelle�what's wrong? You've been crying."
She turns her face to meet mine.
"I know Danny, but I am not sad�really. I was just sitting here, watching the sea, and the waves. This beach is the only place I have seen that is as beautiful as you make me feel. And�"
I look down at my wife, my Michelle, and wonder what I ever did to deserve her.
"And what Michelle?"
"And then�I started to wonder why you hadn't tried to make love to me yet."
Her words came out in a rush, and I realized that somehow in my need to protect her, I had hurt her instead.
"Oh God Michelle, you have no idea. But I wanted to make sure.."
"Danny," she interrupted. "I don't want your chivalry, or your protection, or more separations�I only want you. That's all I've really wanted for a long time now."
Softly she eases me backward onto the beach of my childhood.
"Make love to me Danny."
I don't reply. Michelle isn't asking for a reply. She only wants me, and that is something I will always willingly give.
Without a word, I reach to gently remove the linen gown she is wearing. I realize that it is all she had been wearing, as if this had been her plan all along.
The moonlight loves Michelle's body as I do, and the pale light worships every curve of my wife. I kiss the hollow of her neck, and follow the trail of moonlight to her breasts. I look everywhere but her eyes, for I know one captured there I might never be able to escape. I am trying to move slowly, to love her in every way she deserves.
But her hands are everywhere, claiming me as her own; just as the dark hands of the sea reach forward to claim the shore.
Without warning the first wave crashes over us, its message clear.
This is not to be a gentle loving.
Mutually, our desire explodes. We are clawing, reaching, demanding to see fulfillment. We are a love that has been ignored to long.
I enter her just as another wave crashed over us, drowning out her scream. The tide is coming more quickly now, forceful and demanding.
The sea is in control now.
And finally, without warning, Michelle and I crash into each other, the seawater rushing around us.
Nature and need have become one.
Exhausted we lay there, salt mingling with sweat, fulfilled in everyway.
Pulling my Michelle near, I move to tell her all that I hold in my heart.