p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Everything you've done up until now has been worth it. All the sleepless nights, all the hospital visits, every single one of those doctors appointments and even… even all three months of your new job. Three months of training and a trial period as a repo man was the minimum requirement for Roxy's surgery./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"br /You watched the surgeon behind a glass window place the already beating heart into Roxy's chest, hook it's wires to her pacemaker, and sew her up. The last heart anyone would ever need, guaranteed to beat even after death. Even her body couldn't ruin this one./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"br /You got six weeks off work to take care of her. It was six of the best weeks of your life. Roxy got color in her cheeks. She went off the heart monitor. She even worked herself off Zydrate with your help. She got up on her own, dressed in something other than pajamas. Every minute, every second was worth it to watch Roxy walk down the stairs by herself./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She was wearing old clothes of hers from before she was bedridden. The shirt was a little low cut, showing off the tips of her Y-shaped incision that was able to scar. The black long sleeved shirt was a little big on her, she'd bought it before she'd lost her weight, but with luck and good food she'd fill back in. The pastel pink leggings she wore with it had those black upside down crosses on them, and the studs on the toes of her black boots matched her headband./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was one of those outfits she'd bought from Hot Topic while making fun of people in Hot Topic. She wore it with too much eyeliner, but she still looked good./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I need a belt, I think. My jeans fall down my hips," she huffed, stepping down onto the ground floor from the staircase./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You won't, not if Jane has her way with you," you laughed./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Bluh. Jane's cakes are really good but she's been trying to get me to gain weight for two years," Roxy rolled her eyes. "Ask her to make me a pie, will you?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I will," you agreed, getting up off the couch to join her where she stood. You didn't exactly tower over her, but you were certainly looking down at her as you pulled her into a hug. You rocked her quietly and kissed her head. Her face was buried in your shoulder, letting you jostle her whichever way you wished./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You look very pretty," you whispered into her blonde, blonde hair./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No, Dirk, don't say that," she mumbled into your chest./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You are. You're beautiful, Roxy," you insisted, squeezing her a little tighter. Her shoulders were trembling, you realized. She was crying, her nose buried tighter into your chest. She hiccuped, and gasped, and drew in shaken breath after breath./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What's the matter?" You asked, quickly using your hand to pull her chin up. Once she was looking at you, you could see how puffy her eyes were getting./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I don't deserve you," she struggled out, crying out and pushing her face back into you. You were her rock, her safe space so it was really no wonder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Roxy, look at me," you requested, but when she didn't, you placed a hand on the back of her head and pulled her tighter against you./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Roxy, you're beautiful. It's not about deserving it or not deserving it. I love you. I love you like my own family, you're my best friend."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You've been taking care of me so long, Dirk," she choked out. "And I know you didn't wanna tell me, but Jake slipped, and, and, and," she hiccuped, "I know what you did for me for my surgery. But even if Jake hasn't said. I knew. I found your gloves in the bathtub."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Roxy," you hushed, "I'm sorry you had to see that."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Don't be," she shivered. She took even breaths, gasping still but better. She pulled her face away, and wiped her eyes finally, using her sleeve to wipe her runny eyeliner./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Thank you," she professed, flashing you a weak, wobbly smile./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You're welcome. You're the most welcome."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She was worth it, and honestly, you didn't mind at all./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"br /You watched the surgeon behind a glass window place the already beating heart into Roxy's chest, hook it's wires to her pacemaker, and sew her up. The last heart anyone would ever need, guaranteed to beat even after death. Even her body couldn't ruin this one./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"br /You got six weeks off work to take care of her. It was six of the best weeks of your life. Roxy got color in her cheeks. She went off the heart monitor. She even worked herself off Zydrate with your help. She got up on her own, dressed in something other than pajamas. Every minute, every second was worth it to watch Roxy walk down the stairs by herself./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She was wearing old clothes of hers from before she was bedridden. The shirt was a little low cut, showing off the tips of her Y-shaped incision that was able to scar. The black long sleeved shirt was a little big on her, she'd bought it before she'd lost her weight, but with luck and good food she'd fill back in. The pastel pink leggings she wore with it had those black upside down crosses on them, and the studs on the toes of her black boots matched her headband./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was one of those outfits she'd bought from Hot Topic while making fun of people in Hot Topic. She wore it with too much eyeliner, but she still looked good./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I need a belt, I think. My jeans fall down my hips," she huffed, stepping down onto the ground floor from the staircase./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You won't, not if Jane has her way with you," you laughed./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Bluh. Jane's cakes are really good but she's been trying to get me to gain weight for two years," Roxy rolled her eyes. "Ask her to make me a pie, will you?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I will," you agreed, getting up off the couch to join her where she stood. You didn't exactly tower over her, but you were certainly looking down at her as you pulled her into a hug. You rocked her quietly and kissed her head. Her face was buried in your shoulder, letting you jostle her whichever way you wished./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You look very pretty," you whispered into her blonde, blonde hair./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No, Dirk, don't say that," she mumbled into your chest./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You are. You're beautiful, Roxy," you insisted, squeezing her a little tighter. Her shoulders were trembling, you realized. She was crying, her nose buried tighter into your chest. She hiccuped, and gasped, and drew in shaken breath after breath./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What's the matter?" You asked, quickly using your hand to pull her chin up. Once she was looking at you, you could see how puffy her eyes were getting./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I don't deserve you," she struggled out, crying out and pushing her face back into you. You were her rock, her safe space so it was really no wonder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Roxy, look at me," you requested, but when she didn't, you placed a hand on the back of her head and pulled her tighter against you./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Roxy, you're beautiful. It's not about deserving it or not deserving it. I love you. I love you like my own family, you're my best friend."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You've been taking care of me so long, Dirk," she choked out. "And I know you didn't wanna tell me, but Jake slipped, and, and, and," she hiccuped, "I know what you did for me for my surgery. But even if Jake hasn't said. I knew. I found your gloves in the bathtub."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Roxy," you hushed, "I'm sorry you had to see that."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Don't be," she shivered. She took even breaths, gasping still but better. She pulled her face away, and wiped her eyes finally, using her sleeve to wipe her runny eyeliner./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Thank you," she professed, flashing you a weak, wobbly smile./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You're welcome. You're the most welcome."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She was worth it, and honestly, you didn't mind at all./p
