Chapter Forty Two:
Saturday, November 1, 1997 – Los Angeles, CA – Cedars-Sinai
After an acknowledging nod to the uniformed officer still on-duty outside Enos's door and before gingerly opening it, she slipped the scrunchy off the tail of hair at the nape of her neck and let it fall down over her shoulders.
"Soonie."
He said it with such a sigh of relief that it took her breath away.
"Have you heard anything? Did they find the plane?"
"We can talk about that later," she said, and moved closer to the bed. As hard as she tried, she couldn't stem the one tear duct that refused to be stopped. A stream of salty water ran down over her cheek and onto her chin. "You look," she sniffled in staccato breaths, "better than I imagined."
"You're not gonna' yell at me again are you?"
"Of course not."
He had taken her hand and was massaging the back of it with his thumb. She wondered if he knew what that did to her.
"I'm sorry I made you worry. Seems like that's all I seem to do lately."
He rubbed a few strands of her hair between his fingers, appreciating the sleekness of it, then reached up to wipe the wet off her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned her face into his palm.
"Stop. Just…stop apologizing," she said, sniffling in deeply to make the stream stop. "I know you think you have to be responsible for everything. And strong for everyone. But you do not. I cannot help the tears. They come on their own but not because I am afraid of losing you. I am afraid of not making the most of whatever time…"
"I love you," he said, caressing her face in his hand. Now his face was wet too. "I love you."