He looked to his side but didn't find Liesel. She had removed the bedside table and the two beds were united now to one. Max searched his tired mind remembering the events of the previous day.
Then his eyes wandered to the wall with Liesel's piece of art in front of him. He smiled when he saw it and his smile grew bigger with the discovery of each one of the names.
Liesel walked in still in her night gown.
"How are you feeling Max?", she asked, sitting down next to him. The fever seemed to have dropped.
"Better" he replied looking at her. "It's for you..." she said "so they all can watch over you in your sleep..."
"Thank you Liesel" he said, holding her hand and kissing it softly. She moved closer to him and ever so delicately she kissed his lips. They were soft and gentle. He replied the kiss on Liesel's sweet, pink lips.
And it was as if everything suddenly had a different colour. Everything around them was beauty...no space for tears or sorrow.
It was the first kiss of a new life and it was the first kiss of many more that they would give to each other and steal from each other that very same day.
Wars, like nothing else, have a way of breaking people's souls. They burn and hurt and they devastate everything on their way.
And although scars will forever remain, love, like no other thing in this world, can heal the wounds of war...