Chapter 36: Days 27-28

Linka is going to be so excited when we tell her the news. It's been so hard to keep it from her. I feel kinda bad too. She's almost caught us a few times. You know how when a conversation suddenly stops when you enter a room and you obviously come to the conclusion that the conversation was just about you…that's happened a few times, but I think I've been able to cover for us by showering her with my usual charm!

I rented City Slickers because I thought it would be a light hearted movie. A comedy about some guys from the city that go on a trip and experience what it's like to be real cowboys…it doesn't go so well for the city boys…it kinda reminds me of myself. I think Linka will enjoy it.

I guess I must've fallen asleep.

"Wake up Yankee!" She huffs as she pokes me in the side.

"It's too early, go back to sleep Babe," I grumble as I burrow closer into her and tighten my arms around her waist to pull her back against me.

"Jason Wheeler, it is lunchtime not early morning," she scolds. When I open my eyes, her tone softens and she adds, "I am going to make us something to eat, try to be awake when I get back."

As I become more aware of my surroundings, her words finally sink in.

"Hmmm? Oh, no Babe. It's okay, I'll get it," I say as I disentangle myself from her and stand up.

"What? Why?"

I playfully trip her up so that she falls back onto the couch.

"Cuz I'm looking after you today. Consider it your day off, to relax and build up your strength."

"Wheeler, every day is my day off right now and I do not need to use up that much energy to walk to the kitchen."

She's irritated, I can tell. She likes that she's been able to do more things for herself lately, but I need to make sure she saves her energy.

"Yeah, you've been having some good days and we want that to continue."

"I AM FINE!" She yells. "I am not going to have bad days that often Wheeler, just what is this about?"

I hate it when she gets angry with me, but I don't want to argue with her. Maybe my puppy dog face will work.

"Sorry… I was just trying to help."

She sighs and then flops back on the couch.

"Fine, go and make lunch and I will sit here like a good little girl."

Great. She's genuinely pissed at me. I don't want her to feel like I'm treating her like she's incapable of doing anything…if she only knew why…

I sit down on the table in front of the couch and run my finger down her arm until I reach her hand and take it in mine.

"Not while you're mad at me."

"I am hungry," she says. I can see in her eyes that her anger is gone. "I will be in a better mood when I have been fed."

I smile and lean forward to give her a quick kiss, but she stops me by putting her finger over my lips.

"After lunch."

I kiss her finger and then get up to go to the kitchen.

I make her a lightly boiled egg and toast. As a joke, I drew a winking smiley face on her eggshell.

As expected, she rolls her eyes and says, "Child!" But her smile lets me know that she thought it was funny.

Now let's see if she keeps her promise. I take my sandwich and sit beside her and with a goofy grin, demand,

"Kiss!"

She's good on her word and leans over to give me a kiss, without hesitation, as if we've been doing this for years and it's completely normal.

After we finish, she insists on taking the dishes to the kitchen. I try to get her to let me take them, but she has the final word.

"Anyway Wheeler, I need to visit the bathroom and that is not something you can do for me no matter how much you may want to, so I may as well take these to the kitchen at the same time, DA?"

I guess she's got me on that one. I watch her leave the room and then reach under the couch cushion, retrieving the secret I'd been keeping.

Linka catches me in a day dream, lost in thought, and I guess the serious look on my face got her worried. Before I know it, she's got her arms around my neck and is asking,

"What has happened Lyubov moy?"

"What? Oh hey, nothing," I say as I quickly try to reassure her by wrapping my arms around her. "Everything's fine. Promise."

She pulls away and looks at me, as if she's assessing whether or not I'm telling the truth. I kiss her nose and hand her the envelope.

"This is yours."

She gives me a confused look before releasing me to open the letter. I have to make one thing clear to her though before she continues so I cover her hands in mine.

"We weren't keeping it from you or anything, I just wanted you to be well enough to enjoy it. It's a special day for you."

I let her open the letter and watch her expression change from confusion to excitement when she realizes what it is.

"Bozhe moy! It is tomorrow? I thought it was months away!"

I don't think I've ever seen her this excited over anything. She actually squeals…yeah, cool, calm, and collected Linka has just squealed in excitement! She throws her arms around me and I can't help but laugh as I return her embrace and share her excitement.

"Now do you see why you have to rest? Can't have you all tired for the grand opening of the Eden Project now can we?"

I don't think anything will wipe that smile off her face. She's a ball of energy, more energy than she's shown in a long time. I think she could probably do laps around the island if I let her…which I won't.

"I cannot sit still and do nothing!"

"And now you know why we didn't tell you," I sigh.

"Fine," she says, still smiling. "But I am bored with watching films, you can let me beat you at chess instead."

I laugh, shake my head, and stand up, holding out my hands to help pull her up.

"You'd be bored in five minutes, if you want to beat me you'll have to work for it."

"Not very hard," she says mischievously.

She knows me too well. I'll take her challenge and put up a fight. I think of ways to distract her while we're playing; get flirty? Go shirtless? Play footsy with her under the table and run my foot up her leg…the possibilities are endless! It's going to be a very interesting afternoon.

Day 28

Sleeping is so much better when it's with Linka. I can sleep more soundly when she's in my arms…well, except when she's touching me like she is now, skimming her fingers over my chest. It tickles and I can't help but chuckle a little and hold her tighter. I'm not ready to wake up yet…I'm not ready to give this moment up now, or ever. Why can't it always be this way?

She's tracing the edge of my wound. I know it still worries her when she thinks about how bad it could have been and the scar will always be there to remind us both of it. She mentioned the fact that it will scar once before. I just shrugged it off…add it to the collection right? The physical scars are nothing compared to the emotional ones I carry with me.

"Kiss it better?" I ask, making her jump.

"I wish you would not do that," she says, but doesn't seem all that annoyed.

I have my arm curled around her and am running my hand up and down her side.

"Can't help it Babe, you were miles away. Too busy admiring my wound," I say with a wink.

"How does it feel?" She asks, completely ignoring my teasing.

"Like it needs to be kissed better," I pout, relentless.

She laughs and the next thing I know, she's leaning over and softly pressing her lips on the top of my cut, then below it, and finally on each side of it. Her actions are so tender, so loving, like that of a mother, but I never felt this way when my Ma would kiss my scraped knees or elbows. No, this was way better. Before, no matter how many "healing kisses" Ma placed on the typical injuries of a rambunctious kid, they still stung. Now... "What injury?" I'm feeling no pain. Only good feelings right now.

The best feeling is the way her hair feels as it skims along my chest. I reach out to entangle my fingers in it. I play with her hair a lot lately. At first, it started out as something I did without thinking…now I think about it all the time and my thoughts are not innocent at all. I think about entwining my fingers in her hair as we kiss, tugging gently on her hair to get her to tilt her head back, and when she gasps, I'd take the opportunity to deepen our kiss. I need to change my train of thought because certain parts of me are starting to react to the images in my brain.

"Why do you not go and shower and then I will change your dressing for you?" She suggests.

Uh, getting out from under the covers isn't the best idea at the moment. I gotta stall her, so I pull her back to cuddle in my arms and say,

"Cuz I'm cozy. It can wait."

"Then I will get up," she says, pulling out of my arms and climbing over me. Thankfully, she avoided the lower half of my body. "We are going to the opening today and I do not want to be late."

While her back is to me as she heads towards her bathroom, I get out of bed and make a dash for the door.

"Yankee?"

Busted.

"I'll use my bathroom, you're right we need to get moving."

I make it to the door and leave before she can keep me there any longer.

I really need to watch myself. The more I'm with her, the closer we get, the more often stuff like this is going to happen…not to mention the usual physiological functions of the male anatomy in the morning…if she hasn't noticed already, she's bound to, and then things are going to get weird between us. I just need a shower…a nice cold shower to clear my head…uh, bad choice of words, however accurate they may be.

I take a little longer than usual to get ready due to the length of my shower. Plus it took me a while to find a nice pair of jeans. They were buried in my drawer. Then I find a nice shirt to wear, but I don't put it on yet. Linka's going to put my ointment and bandages on. It's healed enough that I can probably do it myself without breaking it open like I have previously, but I like it when she takes care of me. Besides, I think it makes her feel better…as if she's helping me, just like I've been helping her.

When I get back to Linka's room, she's putting on her makeup, not that she needs it, but I guess she wants to look her best. She says she won't be long, so I sit down on our bed and wait for her. I'm watching her when I look up and see her reflection looking back at me. Oops, she caught me, but she lets me get away with it by quickly looking away.

I lie back on the bed and wait for her. I left my jeans unbuttoned and my belt undone because I knew that I'd be tucking my shirt into them after she got done putting the medicine on.

She sits down next to me and begins rubbing the ointment over my gash. She's still wearing the bracelet I bought her for her birthday. I guess she really does like it; she's kept it on a lot longer than she needed to…the polite thing would be to wear it for a few days, maybe a week after she first got it, and then put it away, forgotten…but she's had it on this whole time. I reach out and spin the bracelet around her wrist, looking at the few charms that I already put on it when I gave it to her. Then I started thinking about when I was going to give her the gift that I bought her for her accomplishment with the Eden Project…should I give it to her now? Once we get there? Afterwards? As I'm playing with her bracelet, my fingers brush against her skin occasionally. The slightest touch is so powerful and stirs up so many feelings in me…it's hard to describe.

She's done putting the new bandages on. That was fast. This whole thing is over sooner than I'd like. I know she's in a hurry though. I sit up and quickly put my shirt on, tucking it into my jeans, fastening the button, and buckling my belt.

"Thanks Babe."

She smiles back at me. "You are welcome Yankee."

When we are taking off to leave for England, Ma-Ti asks Linka what the Eden Project is about. I know he already knows, I just think he's trying to make conversation. I look over at her and see a brief look of annoyance on her face, but she still explains it, sort of…she gives him the condensed version. It doesn't seem like she really wants to say much more about it. Maybe she is sick of talking about it since she's gone into depth with it on several occasions when discussing it with me. Sometimes I wondered if she'd ever STOP talking about it…not that I minded. It was nice to see that sparkle in her eyes and the way her face would light up when she'd talk about it.

The flight to Cornwall in England doesn't take long at all…of course, I slept through most of it. I become fully awake when Gi yells,

"There it is!"

"That is it?" Ma-Ti asks. "It looks like bug's eggs."

Linka chuckles. It's a great sound.

"They are bio-domes Ma-Ti, self contained environments. One of them is a rainforest, so you should feel at home."

"That's it little buddy," I add as I stretch. "You can tell them if they got it right."

We land the Geo Cruiser in the parking lot and head to the main doors. Some guy is there waiting for us…actually, he's waiting for Linka…I don't think he even noticed the rest of us. This must be Stuart. She's told me a little about him. He's one of the organizers. I size him up…I think I can take him.

"Linka!" He exclaims with a big dopey grin. Then he goes straight for her and gives her a hug. I can feel the back of my neck turning red as I ball my fists up. "Can you believe it's finally happening? We could not have done it without you."

She blushes. Oh come on Linka! Are you seriously falling for this guy's act?

"Nonsense, you would have found the backing without me," she says.

He shakes his head. He's still holding her hand. It's probably the most contact he's ever had with a girl!

"Come on, I have a seat for you on the stage and-"

"Nyet!" She says quickly. I know she doesn't want any attention drawn to her…not now. "I do not want to take part; I just wanted to be here."

"But Linka…" He persists.

Geez, learn to take no for an answer Stu! I take a step forward and say in a very threatening voice,

"She said no."

And while we're at it, back the hell off my girl! I put my arm protectively around her and glare at him. I know it's very territorial of me…I stop short of growling at him and peeing on her leg to mark my territory. But I'm a Rottweiler and he's a Chihuahua. I'll eat him up and shit him out. He realizes this and he releases Linka's hand and smartly backs away.

Stu leads us to our seats off to the side. He offers to give us a tour, but Linka declines and he leaves to go about his business.

Even after he leaves, I keep my arm around her. She leans into me and whispers,

"Stuart is a nice person Yankee. He is a dedicated Planeteer and has been a good friend… but that is all."

A good friend. Aren't those the same words she'd use to describe me? So I'm on the same level as Stuart. Great.

She gives me a peck on the cheek and I can't help the big smile on my face. I knew it was stupid to be jealous…especially of a tool like Stuart. I mean look at me compared to him…I think Linka weighs more than him!

The smile is quickly wiped from my face at Linka's next words though.

"Besides he would not want me if he knew what a wreck I am now."

Does she want him to want her? What about me? I know what a "wreck" she is and that hasn't changed my feelings for her…doesn't that mean anything to her?

"Don't say things like that Babe!" I say quickly, sadly. I hate it when she talks badly about herself. "Don't put yourself down, he'd be lucky to have someone like you care for him."

It's really hard saying these next words. "If you wanted to take that tour he offered, I won't embarrass you."

She moves closer to me. To anyone else, it probably looks like we're a couple who can't get enough of each other, who can't stand to be apart and not in constant contact…actually, that's exactly how it is…for me anyway. She is as close to me as she can possibly get and says softly so that only I can hear, "I was joking Jason, I feel fine today. And no, I do not want him as a guide; I want to spend the day with you."

"Sure thing Babe." I smile at her, but I can't help but feel a little guilty for ever being jealous in the first place. She wants to spend the day with me. She used my first name, so I know she's sincere. She probably thinks I'm a childish, selfish jerk for making her have to tell me that.

Thankfully, Gi puts an end to the conversation by asking a question and then people start filing it. It will start soon. I hope Linka isn't too disappointed in me and I haven't ruined this experience for her.

To Be Continued…

Don't forget, in order to get the full affect of the story, you HAVE TO read Linka's side of the story in Chapter 36 of LouiseX's Codependence.