Here's another little chapter to hold you over while I work on the rest. As always I own nothing, enjoy.
"How are you feeling?" Henry rolled over to face Jo after nearly thirty minutes of tossing and turning in bed, he was worried about her.
"I'm alright." Jo tried to assure him. "But there is one thing I'm struggling with."
"What's that?"
"I just can't believe you drove last night." Jo grinned.
"You know sometimes I questions your priorities." Henry couldn't help but chuckle. "And it could be said even without driving these past couple decades I still have more experience behind the wheel than you do."
"Fair enough." Jo laughed, "Hey I know you're scared, I want you to know that I'm scared too. But Henry I have you and I know you'll be there for me when I need you, and that makes me feel a lot better here and now."
"I love you Jo and I wish you had never been shot. Immortality is not a blessing."
"I never said it was, but it doesn't have to be the curse you make it out to be. You're not alone any more, and I'm okay." Jo held his hand in her's, "This is the part where you tell me the first death is always the worst."
"I wish I could." Henry frowned, "Maybe the most traumatic reawakening, but unfortunately a gun shot is not the worst way to go."
"So tell me Doc, which deaths do I avoid?"
"Jo, I… I don't ever want you to go through what I've been through."
"Well that's why I'm trying to learn from your experience." Jo returned.
"Then consider yourself lucky that they no longer hang or burn at the stake for witch craft. Being drawn and quartered and human sacrifice is pretty much unheard of in civilized cultures these days as well. So we should avoid fire, drowning, falling from very high buildings…"
"Henry you died from two of those in the first month we knew each other." Jo frowned.
"Yes well, I hadn't planned on dying either time. I was in fact abducted and trapped in a locked taxi cab by a immortal psychopath for one of them so that's hardly my fault."
"Yea I suppose I can't really blame you for that one." Jo had gradually moved closer to her immortal boyfriend. She would never tell him, but she was terrified by what had happened. She wasn't scared by the thought of dying, or watching loved ones leave she had experienced that already and Henry would be there for her, she was scared by the idea of forever. What did one do with forever? "Henry, make me a promise."
"Anything." He held her close.
"Show me the world." She whispered, "I want to learn new languages, I want to get lost in Paris with you."
"It would be my pleasure. Where ever you want to go?" Henry kissed the women next to him, "But not yet."
"Of course not, we're needed here, but when we're not I want to see everything."
"And you will." He promised, "We have nothing but time."
They were silent for a moment just drifting off to sleep, but Jo had one more concern, "What if we go somewhere like a beach, what about swim suits?"
"I suppose we would wear them." Henry was more than a little confused by the question.
"But what about…"
"Oh, our matching scars." Henry caught on, "I suppose if asked we would make something up. They are actually tattoos or something."
"My dad always said tattoos were like scars, only scars have better stories behind them." Jo sighed.
"Well one scar for thousands of stories." Henry nodded, and Jo slipped her hand under Henry's shirt simply to feel his scar once more.
And that is exactly how they fell asleep, holding each other close with dreams of London and Paris. Jo the girl who had never been anywhere was going to see the world after all, and Henry was right they had nothing but time.
H enry had also been reassured, he was still worried about Jo he knew it was still to fresh for her to be as okay as she insisted she was, but she wasn't going anywhere and he would be there for her when she needed him.