The room was cold. It was cold in a way that could not be masked by blankets or sweaters. This cold penetrated into the very core of one's being. This cold belonged to one man alone and unfortunately alone is what he needed to be.
"Hey I hear someone is feeling a little under the weather today." Her voice came to him like a candle in the darkness; a welcome surprise. "Anything I can do to make you feel better? How about a cup of soup, or another blanket? Or I can come in there and heal you with my prescience alone?" He could imagine a sly smile engulfing her face.
"N-n-n-n-o-o-o" he replied. His voice shaky like a seasick mans taking his first steps onto earth. "I-don't-want-a-n-y-one-get-t-ing-what-I-I-got."
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad. You just never get sick." Her tone assured with only a note of concern"
"N-n-o" he replied "I'm not ki-d-d-ing this sucks."
"Are you really serious?" Her assuredness had now been fully replaced with concern.
"Ye-a-h, I'm sorry. I ap-p-re-ciate the co-n-cern but maybe for tonight you j-u-s-t stay at your M-o-m-'s." The words were more coherent than before but the force behind them was minimal.
"No way that's gonna happen! If I can't come inside can I at least stay by the door to keep you company? She heard what she took as an affirmative sounding moan leave the room.
She removed her shoes and gently sat against the door. It seemed less dusty than before. "Great, I'm gonna fix you right up. I'm just gonna have to get creative. I take it your feeling a bit chilly today? Perhaps stepping into the sun itself would not even be able to warm you?" Her voice had adopted the town of a college professor.
"B-u-l-l-s-e-y-e" he replied.
"Wonderful!" she exclaimed. Suddenly he could see the candle again but only briefly. "I have just the thing! Now I'm guessing you've already completed this step but close your eyes." A low gasp emanated from the room. "Very good! Now picture a dark room. Actually, you probably don't need to close your eyes for that but do it anyway. Now the room is unendingly large and dark but fear not, I am here. I stand in front of you wearing that big sweater you got for me to wear to your parents Christmas party." She paused for a moment. Again switching her tone to something a bit more subdued. Kind but not unendingly so. "It was the toastiest article of clothing around. Filled with an affectionate heat. Only matched by her fuzzy pajama pants." This was another gift, one that predated the sweater. It was also full of heat but one that originated from a different source. A ragged breath came from the bedroom. Creating a silence thick as the door that separated them. "I walk forwards to you only stopping when I am close enough to feel the cold radiating from your body. I gently reach my arms up. Stopping only when they have reached shoulder height. I slowly wrap them around you and as soon as my hands rest upon the top of your back I pull you close into an embrace. The heat of the embrace begins to calm your shivers. Your body begins to remember a time before the cold. Now it is your turn. You shakily reach your arms up, stopping at the middle of my back. Your embrace is hesitant but effective. As our bodies become one heat begins to melt the cold of your form. Though it is not enough. The cold is stubborn and will not fall easily. I tighten my embrace, my head meets your shoulder and a low heat fills your mind. As two become one a furnace starts up in your chest. You feel good." Her voice had begun to rise at this point filled with emotions. " The collision of souls creates a crackling that fills the room. It is no longer dark and lonely. The new being filled with a kind of heat that is not entirely unknown but one that was thought lost." She pauses waiting for a shaky breath. It comes. Closer and stronger than before. She smiles "In a space only occupied by the two souls a voice reaches out."
"I guess I need to be all in for this to work. Now I will give you one last thing. An incantation. One you taught me so many moons ago. Do not worry it won't take long. Forgive me it is something I have not used for a long time but I think it will work." The cold begins to creep back into the being. It's a desperate attempt and one that threatens to break the souls apart. Her voice rings out into the encroaching darkness. It is said with clarity of purpose and charged with a solitary emotion.
"I love you!"