Chapter 41: Going back

They were married. They barely believed it. Hansa and Ben came to hug them after the priest declared them husband and wife. "Congratulations!" They both yelled in the same time. "We are so happy for you!"

Neil and Claire hugged them back. "Now if you want to follow us, we prepared some little things for you."

"No, you didn't…"

"Seriously bro! You really thought I was gonna let my best friend marry without even preparing him and his loved one a wedding party?! Hansa helped me to plan something cool!"

Hansa and Ben took Neil and Claire to a small room at the end of the lobby. Inside, their three kids were having fun listening to a small band playing music. Some balloons, some orchids on a table, a little wedding cake on another. Neil and Claire shared a conniving look, it was perfect. They turned to Ben and Hansa.

"We could never thank you enough for what you did."

"Our pleasure, Claire. Thanks to you for making Neil so happy. Never seen him like this before."

Claire let out a smile. "He changed my life too."

Hansa and Ben called their boys and let Claire and Neil enjoyed their party. "Shall we dance with me, Mrs. Melendez?"

"Mrs. Browne-Melendez! Not letting go of my family name so easily."

Neil laughed. She was stubborn and determined. That was why he loved her so much. "What are you laughing at? I'm not kidding!"

"I was sure you were about to tell me you only kept Browne and chucked Melendez out."

"I'm not that awful!"

He pulled her closer to him and lost his face in her hair. She put her head against his chest. It felt so good to be like this. They kept dancing for a moment. They didn't know for how long. Who cared anyway? They were just the two of them.

After a while, he invited her to eat a part of their wedding cake and offered her a glass of champagne. This party might have been small and simple but it was all they liked. No need of embellishment when you already got all you wished for. "Promise me this is all real, Neil…"

"It is… Even better that I could have never imagined." He kissed her, it didn't matter her mouth was full of cake. Her lips were even more appealing. She kissed him back and giggled. "Stop Neil, I've got cake everywhere."

"Don't care!" And he kissed her again and again as if both of their mouths couldn't spend a moment without connecting. He stopped for a moment, kept her head in his hands and looked at her in the eyes.

"Stay here, I've got something for you. It's not a lot but I'd like to give it to you, right now."

Claire looked at him puzzled. "Ok I'm not going anywhere. By the way, you know that since this day, you can't get rid of me so easily."

Neil smiled. "Not even crossed my mind. Just stay here, I promise I'll be back in a few minutes. He ran to the band and asked something to the singer. He came back to her with a ukulele in his hands.

"You do know how to play ukulele?"

"What can I say? I'm a man of multiple talents!"

She laughed. Then she felt both embarrassed and blissful. What was he doing? He sat in front of her and started playing and singing.

"Oh I hope you know,

Oh I hope you know,

That I was barely hanging on,

When I first saw you I was pitful,

And I was losing every night.

I asked if you might,

Stay a while,

Oh stay a while,

You said maybe if your voice could,

Make me smile,

Oh make me smile,

And I told ya give me one chance,

I don't deserve you to give me this one chance,

You're my medicine,

You're my medicine.

Oh I hope you know,

I hope you know,

You pulled me up when I was down,

You showed me love when I knew hoplessness,

Breathing slowly softer sounds.

I asked if you might,

Stay a while,

Oh stay a while,

You said maybe if your voice could,

Make me smile,

Oh make me smile,

And I told ya give me one chance,

I don't deserve you to give me this one chance,

You're my medicine,

You're my medicine.

And maybe I hold you,

Maybe I look you in the eyes,

And maybe I give it all to see you smile,

And maybe I hold you,

And maybe I look in the eyes,

And maybe I tell you that I love you tonight.

You're my medicine,

You're my medicine,

You're my medicine (Oh I hope you know)

You're my medicine (Oh I hope you know)

You're my medicine (Oh I hope you know)

You're my medicine." (Havelin – Medicine)

Once he has done, she was voiceless. He grabbed her hand. "I'm not a good singer as you are but I just wanted to show you how important you are to me…. Thank you for making me the happiest man on Earth, Claire Brown-Melendez."

She embraced him and pressed him so much he thought he couldn't breathe anymore. Their forehead met. Head to head. Not a word. Eyes locked. Just them connected.

"Even despite my messy habits and my stubbornness?"

"That's part of the whole package. I can do with it."

They danced again for a while. Then the band came to tell them goodbye. "All our congratulations. You really do belong together. You look so happy. Love seems so easy with guys, don't change a thing."

Claire and Neil thanked them and looked them leave. "It seems that now it's only you and me…"

"Forever, Neil."

This night, they didn't sleep a lot. As soon as they joined their bedroom, they couldn't control their irrepressible urge to touch their bodies, to feel their warmth, to share their energy. They needed to be with the other, in the other. They needed to mix their tongues and show how much they meant to each other. There were soft moments, others were wild. One at a time, above and under, leading and following, learning and teaching. They fell asleep hours later. Neil's head lying on Claire's naked breast. She played with his hair – a little longer since they were traveling through Thailand – some minutes before falling asleep too.

On the morning, when they woke up, they had this blissful smile on their faces. They were happy, they were married. Whatever they will find in San Jose, their lives will never be the same. They had made a promise to love and respect each other till death did them apart and they were determined to honor their words.

"Ready to go home? "

"Not really… But I think we have to…" She looked through the window, enjoying the nature in front of her. Then she turned to Neil and took his face between her hands. "Thanks for this amazing gift you've made me. I had never imagined I'll fly away from anything I knew, from anything I had ever known to go in a foreign country. But you made me do it and it's amazing. I've seen things I'd never expected to see, I've met people I've never imagined they existed. And you have brought me so much happiness… I could never thank you enough for this, Neil…"

"You don't have to… It's the least I could do for the woman who saved my life…"

Their eyes locked. As Always, the world stopped turning when it happened. They were alone in their little bubble. And both hoped inside themselves it will last for the rest of their lives.

At the end of the morning, Neil and Claire had packed their stuff in their suitcases and checked the room to be sure they had not forgotten something. Ben and Hansa insisted to pay them the taxi to Udon Thani airport. It was their wedding gift as they said.

"Hey look who's there?" Ben called them from the other side of the lobby. "How are my fav lovebirds?"

Neil ran to him, leaving his suitcase in the middle of the corridor and went to embrace his best friend. "Thanks for everything, Bro. From the bottom of my heart."

"You deserve it, bro. And Claire is really a nice person. And she loves you. I can tell it just by looking at her right now."

Neil turned and saw Claire looking at Ben and he, smiling. Oh God, he loved her too. "I'm a very lucky man…" Ben patted his shoulder. "Glad you finally find your Hansa! Speaking of the devil, look who's coming to say goodbye."

Claire, Neil, Ben and Hansa spent the next 30 minutes to talk and promise they will be back soon. They hugged and shared their email addresses and phone numbers. "And send us a message when you're finally in San José!" Claire and Neil nodded in agreement and got in the cab.

As they left the hotel, Ben and Hansa and the memories of their beautiful holidays, Claire couldn't restrain tears from rolling along her cheeks. Neil dried them with his fingers. She could see he was sad too. She put her head on his shoulder and grabbed his hand. She looked at their hands clutched together and saw the wedding rings on their fingers. And in the blink of an eye, her smile came back.

As they got off from the taxi, their long travel started. First, they had to take a plane from Udon Thani to Bangkok, then another from Bangkok to Hong Kong, then from Honk Kong to Vancouver to finally get on a plane between Vancouver and San José. More than 22-hour-flight because this time, contrary to the outward journey, there was no direct plane.

"Ready for this very long trip?" He asked her as they dropped their luggage.

"I guess we don't have any other choice. Anyway, I've got a good book in my bag and I'm gonna sleep a lot! I'm very exhausted and I want to be in good fit to go back to work on Monday."

"What about I don't want you to sleep?"

"Good luck. I remember you last night was not quite relaxing."

"Not wrong. But It was fun…" He winked at her. She left a kiss on his cheek.

"And good!" She loved being naughty when he was around. She was crazier, happier, a better version of herself. And for this, she will be always be thankful to him. He gave her all the freedom and lightness she had dreamt of since she was a kid.

They got onthe first plane, then the second. They enjoyed their free time to speak about their trip in Thailand, about what they were about to find once back in Bonaventure. Of the next place they planned to visit when they will have caught all the hours they had to give back to the hospital after this long leave. On the third plane, Claire fell asleep, like really asleep on Neil's shoulder. He could tell that by the snoring noise she was making. He put her hair behind her ear and watched her sleep. She was so pretty. Even if she was snoring. In fact it made her even more beautiful. He measured how lucky he was to have this woman in his life. Whatever was waiting for them in San José was nothing when she was standing next to him.

They were woken up by the stewardess who brought them dinner. Claire grumbled, turned to her right and continued to sleep while Neil awoke quietly. He thanked the flight attendant and ate some soup. He kept aside some bread, fruits and biscuits for Claire. Then he chose a movie to watch and spent the rest of the flight dozing. Claire woke up some moments to eat, placed her head on Neil's shoulder again and fell into sleep again.

As they landed in Vancouver, they took the courage they had left to catch their last flight that brought them home. Two more hours and they will arrive in their city they left 6 months ago. After getting their luggage, they took a taxi and finally arrived to Neil's place. Their apartment as Neil used to say. Claire rented her own to a young resident from Bonaventure for a small price. Anyway, she hadn't slept there in like two and a half years now.

The place was as they left it, except there were flowers in a vase on the table and a card. It was Morgan and Alex, they left them a note to wish them a good return in San José. "This is lovely! Maybe we should call them to thank…"

Neil cut Claire's sentence. "Claire, it's 2 AM, I think they're sleeping. And we should do the same thing."

"Didn't even notice the time! Totally jet-lagged."

They took a long shower together, enjoying each other's body for long minutes before going to sleep. Neil lay next to Claire and put his arm around her waist. She stuck her back against his chest. And before they even knew it, they were deeply sleep.