“Esther. You’re Esther.”
She laughed and hugged me. “Yes. And you’re Malachi. We’re still us. We’re still here.”
“HA!” I laughed and hugged her to me.
“You’ve both aged me at least a decade, do you know that?”
Esther moved slightly for me to see, but I didn’t let her get far. Dr. Neecey came into the room holdi
ng a chart and looked us both over. She did indeed look exhausted and the bags under her eyes were proof of that. But I couldn’t help but grin.
“Doctor?” I asked when she came over and took hold of my wrist to check my pulse. “I have three questions.”
“Hold on.” She put the stethoscope to my chest and listened for far too long, so I looked to Esther who smiled back down at me. “Alright. What are your questions?”
“First, is she alright?”
“You do realize you had a heart attack and I’m checking on you right now?”
I smirked at that. “I do, but I need to make sure I’m not hallucinating.”
She sighed and shook her head at us both. “We checked her from head to toe and other than her brain scan she’s completely normal. Your second question?”
“How long have I been out?”
“A few hours, which isn’t unusual seeing as you haven’t been sleeping well.”
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and relaxed as she asked. “And your third question?”
Opening my eyes, I looked directly at her. “Is there some sort of chaplain here?”
She frowned and I felt Esther turn, but I didn’t look at her yet. Grinning I replied. “I’d like to marry this woman before either of our hearts decides to give out on us again…” Esther stared at me with wide eyes. “If she’ll have me of course.”
She laughed and hugged me again. “Do you even have to ask?”
“You wouldn’t want to the good doc thinking I was rude now, would you?” I laughed, but bit my lip as I pressed my cheek against her face while she started to cry on top of me.
“I’ll check and come back,” Dr. Neecey said softly before she turned and left us alone.
I shifted for Esther, who was still crying on top of me. She wrapped her arms around me and I followed suit as we both lay on our sides.
“Esther, I haven’t seen your eyes in days…look at me please.”
She shook her head sniffling.
“Ah! My heart…”
Her head snapped up and when I laughed, she looked ready to smack me. But I sat up the best I could and kissed her lips quickly. Her anger faded and she laid back down, her face only inches away from mine.
“I gave this to you,” she whispered reaching up to touch my scar.
“You remember?”
She nodded. “I remember everything. We began in Pompeii.”
“And we’ll end in this life, looking at each other just like this in eighty years.”
“Eighty years?” She gasped and laughed. “You’ll be well over a hundred.”