Chapter 2 -- Hot and Bothered
"Hey, Mel!" Jess said, hurrying around the bar and approaching Mel and Cole.
Cole had one hand on her arm, but did not seem to be supporting her. Her face was slightly flush, but otherwise she looked just fine. She smiled widely, reassuringly at Jess.
"Hey... How you been holding up?" Mel asked her gently, smiling and patting her shoulder.
"Fine, fine. How are you?" Jess asked, staring at her uncertainly. She was dying, she was supposed to look bad, but she actually looked wonderful, prettier than before. Her face seemed to almost glow from an internal light. Jess knew that the fever was probably causing that, but she could not get over the fact that Mel simply did not look that ill.
"I'm... fine, I guess. Restless. But I really don't feel that bad..." She smiled reassuringly at Jess. "Hey, cheer up."
Jess nodded, not sure how Mel could be so damned cheerful under the circumstances. "Right. You want a drink or something?"
Mel shook her head. "I think I'm going to climb straight into the tub." She patted Cole lightly on the chest before pulling away from him and slowly making her way up the stairs.
Jess and Cole stared after her in confusion.
"What's with her?" Jess asked softly. "Does she even realize how serious this is?"
Cole shrugged. "She feels fine, she doesn't look sick. Maybe the doctors were wrong, Jess."
Jess frowned. Denial. Poor Cole. "Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing to the papers he carried in one hand.
"Mel's medical records. To see if the doctors missed anything." He looked down at the duffle-bag in his other hand. "I should put this in her room now."
Jess nodded and patted his shoulder. "Yeah. I'm going to go home and get some sleep. You call me if you need anything, Cole."
He nodded. "Yes, Jess. Thank you." He started up the stairs, leaving Jess staring after him. One second he was denying that Mel was sick, the next he was talking as though he could find what a battalion of doctors had missed. "Poor Cole..." she muttered, shaking her head sadly.
***
Mel leaned back in the bathtub and closed her eyes, enjoying the way that the warm water lapped at her chest, soothing and relaxing her tense muscles. In the candle-lit bathroom, she allowed herself to imagine Cole's big, gentle hand caressing her, mimicking the action of the water. She could almost feel the heat from his warmer-than-normal skin. She smiled and sighed deeply. Her eyes popped opened at the sound of light tapping on the door.
What the hell were you thinking? she demanded of herself.
As a rule, she was always very careful to avoid allowing her thoughts of Cole to take such a track. She was even more careful not to dwell on them when they did occur. Especially since they had gotten back from the conference, when her thoughts had started turning that way more and more often, whether she wanted them to or not.
"Um, come in..." she said softly, sinking deeper into the tub, allowing the bubbles to cover her. As the door slid open, she wiped the guilty expression from her face and replaced it with a slightly curious one.
"I brought you some ice-cream..." Cole said softly, walking into the room with a bowl of ice-cream in his hands. "I thought you might enjoy it while you took your bath."
She smiled and started to sit up, then recalled that she was naked and this was Cole. She slid farther into the tub again. "Thank you, Cole."
He nodded and offered her the bowl.
"There's a tray over there. Could you grab it?" Mel asked, taking the bowl from his hands. Cookies and cream, her favorite. She smiled at him as he carried the tray over to the tub and secured it to the edge. "Thanks." She smiled and put the bowl there, taking a small bite of ice-cream. "How are you doing?" she asked him softly.
He shrugged. "I don't know, Mel. A little worried... Mostly just confused."
"Why confused?" Mel asked gently. She took another spoonful of ice-cream and raised it to her own mouth. Changing her mind, she fed it to Cole instead. He looked like he could use it.
He looked more than a little surprised by this, but he took the ice-cream anyway, assuming that it was some human custom that he had not yet learned about. "I'm confused because... you don't seem upset, Mel."
"I'm not." She shrugged and lightly touched his chest. "No clue why, but I'm not. I don't feel sick. I feel... nice." She smiled at him and ate some more ice-cream. "Here..." She fed him a few more mouthfuls. "Cheer up, Cole." She smiled at him and sat up slightly, smiling when Cole remembered to look away. He was learning. "What am I going to do with you?" she whispered sadly.
"I don't understand, Mel." Cole stared at her uncomprehendingly, not sure what she meant.
She shook her head and took one of his hands in hers, resting it firmly against her chest, over her heart. His warm skin felt almost cool against her own, fevered flesh. It was wonderful. "Cole, I don't want you to be sad. What do I have to do to make you happy?"
"Live, Mel." It was half answer and half plea. He stared into her wonderful, amazing, beautiful eyes, lightly tracing his fingers around the hollow of her throat.
Mel's eyes drifted shut and she leaned into the touch, wondering not for the first time why the hell it felt so good when he touched her like that. Her mind turned to the time that she had taught him how to bathe himself, and she thought about how wonderful it would be if he would touch her as she had touched him.
"Cole..." she groaned as the warmth from his hand spread inward, suffusing her body.
Startled, he pulled his hand away, mistaking the pleased exhalation for an unhappy one. "I'm sorry, Mel..." he said softly, rising. He should have known better than to touch her while she was not wearing clothes. He knew from past conversations that he was not even supposed to be in the same room with her while she was unclothed. Touching her in such a way, knowing what it did to him when she touched him similarly, had been unforgivable.
Mel sighed, ignoring the disappointment she felt as the wonderful warmth faded. "My fault, Cole. My fault. Please, don't go."
Cole hesitated uncertainly for a moment, then knelt next to the tub again. He felt very strange. His face was burning, his heart was beating much, much harder and faster than usual, and his thinking was oddly fuzzy.
"More ice-cream?" Mel offered.
He shook his head. "I don't think I should stay, Mel. You... aren't dressed. You said..."
"I know what I've said in the past, Cole. But right now, I do not want to be alone." She sighed. "When I'm alone, I'm afraid. Being with you calms me. Please stay..." She stared at him hopefully.
Cole could not have resisted that plea if he had tried. He stared at the floor so that he would not have to look at her invitingly bare chest. Touching was still a relatively new experience for him, but it had not taken him long to learn that, just as being touched in certain ways could feel very good or not good at all, touching other things could feel either pleasant or unpleasant. Mel was one of his favorite things to touch, her skin, unlike his own, was smooth and soft and completely flawless. Touching Mel made him feel warm all over, and, always, very eager to continue touching her. He looked up again only when he had heard her slide more deeply into the water.
She was smiling again, that gentle, reassuring look that she always gave him when he was upset. Normally the look cheered him greatly. This time, it just made his heart ache. He knew that he was crying, but he did not care. He smiled at Mel, returning her own beautiful smile and sat down on the floor next to the tub. Absently, without really knowing why, he began feeding her the ice-cream. Normally being so close to her was oddly comforting. Today, it only intensified his pain and confusion. He felt strangely empty and supposed that it was grief over the thought that she really might die.
Smiling lovingly, Mel reached up and dried his tears. She loved that he could cry. Even the normally sensitive Vic, sitting with her in the hospital as she had signed her Living Will, had been ashamed of his tears. Of course, Cole was unashamed by many things that humans would have been ashamed to do and say. Innocence left no real room for shame, Mel reflected, smiling gently at him. His innocence, more even than that amazing body, was what drew her to him. He was so different from any man she had ever dated, and all of the differences were good ones.
By now, the water was getting almost unbearably cold. She sighed. "Cole, I need to get out of the tub now."
He nodded and rose, taking the empty bowl of ice-cream and leaving the room. Mel stared after him for a few moments, sighing and wondering why she could not find a nice human man like him to settle down with. Of course, with every passing day, the fact that he was Cirronian and not human seemed a little less important to her. He was a great guy on a world where great guys were in short supply. How much could something minor, like the fact that he had been born over 100 light-years away, really matter? It was not the first time she had entertained such thoughts, but it was the first time that she failed to dismiss them immediately. Fantasy was one thing, serious speculation something else entirely...
Shaking her head, she climbed from the tub and began drying herself, wincing at the harsh texture of the towel on her skin. She ignored it and finished drying herself, her thoughts returning to Cole. Normally, just thinking about the gentle alien was enough to make her smile, but right now she was just worried about him. She had always thought of him as practical, even when he was being his normal, naive self. His refusal to accept that she might die, though, was just unrealistic.
"Unless he knows something you don't..." she muttered, pulling on a heavy knit sweater and a pair of jeans.
It was not, after all, completely inconceivable that Cole would find something that the doctors had missed. Naive and unworldly he may have been, but he was also smart, far smarter than any human that Mel had ever met. He was also honest, and if he said that he could find out what was wrong with her the odds were good that he could. And then there was his puzzling fixation on the strength of her life-force. She had always assumed that life-force was the alien equivalent of the human soul, but Cole acted as though it were something more, a reliable barometer of a person's health.
She would go ask him about it, she decided, and, if he was still upset, she would comfort him. She was not entirely surprised to find him in his room, sitting in front of the computer.
"Working?" she asked gently, resting her hands on his shoulders.
Cole spoke without looking up. "Studying, Mel."
Mel leaned over him for a better look at the computer screen, sliding her hands down his chest as she went. "Studying what?" she whispered in his ear.
Cole looked up at her curiously. "What are you doing, Mel?" he asked gently.
Whatever it was that she was doing, it was making it very difficult for him to concentrate. All of his attention was diverted from the words on the computer-screen to his body, which was reacting in a strange, if not entirely unpleasant, fashion. It was very odd, though. It felt a lot like anxiety: his heart beating faster, his mouth growing dry, his thoughts becoming confused. He stared at Mel questioningly, not entirely sure if he wanted the sensation to stop or not.
"Trying to see what's on the computer-screen..." she muttered, straightening quickly. What the hell had she done that for? Obviously the fever was starting to affect her brain.
"Oh..." Cole nodded absently, suddenly able to return most of his attention to the computer. He still was not entirely sure why he had reacted like that, but it seemed to be passing, so it could not have been anything to worry about. There would be time to consider his reaction and its implications later.
"What are you studying?" Mel repeated, taking a few judicious steps backwards until she had achieved a safe distance.
"Human physiology..." he told her. "So I can find out what's wrong with you."
"Learn anything yet?" Mel asked, leaning against the door-frame. She felt more than a little embarrassed by her behavior, but fortunately Cole seemed not to have noticed that she had been acting any different than usual.
"Yes..." Cole replied, not elaborating.
Mel grinned. Typical Cole. Given a yes or no question, he was likely to answer with a yes or a no. "Learn anything useful?" she asked gently, feeling a lot more hopeful. Cole was a genius, and, if anyone could find out what was wrong with her where the doctors had failed, it would be Cole.
"I'm not sure yet. It's all very basic so far."
Mel approached him and leaned over his shoulder again, careful not to touch him this time as she glanced at the screen. She understood the word 'metabolism' and nothing else in the solid block of 'basic' text that filled the screen. She lingered in that position for a few moments longer until she realized that she had stopped looking at the screen and was simply enjoying Cole's radiant heat. She straightened up again.
Cole sat rigidly still, facing forward and staring at the screen, wondering why it had suddenly become so difficult to concentrate on anything except the woman leaning over his shoulder. Mel could be distracting, but never before had she been this distracting to him. It did not help that she was radiating so much heat. It felt very nice. When she straightened, he exhaled deeply, suddenly more able to focus on the task at hand.
"Cole, tell me more about my life-force."
He turned to face her, surprised by the request. "What do you mean, Mel?"
"You said that it's different. Stronger?"
He nodded. "Yes, Mel."
"How can you tell?"
"Cirronians can sense life-forces, Mel..." he reminded her.
She nodded. "I know. But... how can you tell that mine's... um, different?"
Cole hesitated, wondering if the careful scrutiny he had paid to her life-force would offend her the way she became offended when men stared at her too closely. "Living with you has allowed me to become very familiar with you, with your life-force..." he began cautiously.
"Oh." Mel nodded, accepting this. Living with a person definitely allowed you to get to know them very well. She supposed that Cole's familiarity with her life-force was the same as her familiarity with his tastes and habits. "How is it different, Cole?"
"It's stronger, Mel, more alive." He rose and touched her chest. "Can't you feel it?"
Mel, who had felt something very strong when he touched her chest but doubted that that was what he meant, shook her head. "All I feel is restless, Cole."
Cole nodded, somewhat disappointed. He was certain that he was not wrong about the state of her life-force, but how could she not feel it? It was so strong that he was having a hard time focusing on anything else, and she had not even noticed. Could any human, especially Mel, really be that oblivious? More likely she felt it and simply did not know what she was feeling.
"I'll find out what's happening to you, Mel." Sick or not, something was going on inside of her, and he was determined to find it.
"I know you will, Cole." She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest.
"You should get some rest, Mel..." Cole suggested gently, sliding his arms around her.
"Not tired." She nestled against his chest, closing her eyes. It was hard not to feel completely confident and content in those arms.
Cole smiled and tightened his grip on her. It felt very nice to hold her like this, satisfying somehow, and she was so wonderfully, perfectly warm. "You smell nice, Mel..." he said softly, burying his face in her hair.
"It's the bubble-bath, Cole." Ignoring the buzzing noise that was trying to infiltrate into her consciousness, she smiled up at him. "Do you like it?" she asked quietly. The buzzing in her ears became more insistent, and she realized it was the telephone. She sighed and pulled away. She did not really want to get it, but she was one of those people who could not let the machine pick up a call while she was in the house. "I'd better go get that."
Cole nodded reluctantly. He had not even noticed that the phone was ringing until Mel had mentioned it. "Okay, Mel. I should get back to this..." He pointed to the computer.
Mel smiled and nodded. "I'll talk to you later." She walked to her room and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Mel."
She smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. "Hi, Vic. I was going to call you later. What's up?"
"Jess called and said that you'd decided to come home from the hospital..."
"Yeah, Vic. I was going stir-crazy in there and they really weren't being that helpful, so I decided to come home."
"Is that wise, Mel? I mean, what if something happens?"
Mel rolled her eyes. "Vic, it's okay. It's not like I'm alone."
"Oh, so Cole's back?" Vic's voice remained cautiously neutral.
"Yeah."
"Good, Mel, because I really don't think you should be alone right now."
"I agree, Vic." Mel smiled and leaned against the headboard. Someone was angling for an invitation. "I want to be with people, it's part of the reason I came home. Coming over later?" she asked. It was not, she knew, the invitation that he had probably been hoping for, but it was the best he was going to get.
"Yeah, Mel. I'm at a scene now, but as soon as I get that secured I'm coming straight over."
She grinned. "Sounds good, Vic. See you then."
"Bye, Mel. Hang in there." He sounded very tired.
"Yeah, Vic. You, too. See you later." Mel hung up the phone. "Company is good..." she muttered, rising. She had noticed since she got sick that she did not feel completely comfortable unless someone was nearby at all times. That first day in the ICU had been almost agonizingly lonely. "Company is very good..."
"Mel, why do humans do that?" Cole asked. He had been returning to his room with a glass of water, but stopped and regarded her curiously.
"Do what, Cole?" Mel asked, smiling at him. That quizzical expression on his face was, for lack of a better term, adorable.
"Talk when no one is there. Why do humans do that?"
"Why do people talk to themselves?" Mel smiled and shrugged. "They just do sometimes, Cole."
"But why?" Cole persisted.
Mel grinned. "Um... sometimes it's just a good way to help yourself think, and... sometimes it makes you feel less lonely."
"Do you feel lonely, Mel?" he asked gently, frowning with concern.
"Sometimes, yeah..."
"Now?" he asked, frowning uncertainly. The idea of Mel ever feeling alone was almost intolerable to him. He would have hated to think that she could feel alone when he was in the house with her.
She smiled and shook her head. "Not now, no, Cole."
He nodded, glad. "Then why were you talking to yourself?"
Mel laughed gently. "Why do you always ask so many questions?" she challenged cheerfully.
He smiled, liking this mood she was in. It was a nice change from her more subdued behavior at the hospital. "Sometimes it's the only way to learn anything, Mel."
Mel grinned. For some reason, that struck her as funny. "Fair enough, Cole."
"You're in a good mood, Mel. I like that."
"Me, too, Cole. Is there any ice-cream left?"
"Yes, Mel." He nodded and walked with her to the kitchen.
"Thank you, Cole..." Mel said softly as he placed a dish of ice-cream on the table for her. "Have you found anything yet?"
He shrugged and sat down across from her. "I can see why the doctors were confused, Mel. With your fever, you should be in a coma, but you're in perfect health." He shook his head and tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the table.
Mel covered his hand with hers. "If I'm in perfect health, then we don't have to worry, right?"
Cole shook his head and glanced down at her hand. It was so invitingly warm. "You're human, Mel. This fever can't be good for you."
She sighed. "I know, Cole." She looked up at him. "What's happening to me?" she whispered. She was not exactly afraid, but, like Cole, she was confused as to why this should be the case.
"I don't know yet, Mel. But I'm learning quickly. I'll need to reconfigure some of my computers, but once I have... I should know more by tomorrow."
She nodded and smiled, feeling suddenly very close to him. "Thanks, Cole. I appreciate everything you're doing for me."
"Well, I care about you, Mel." He gave her one of his heart-stopping smiles.
Mel smiled back. "I care about you, too, Cole."
"I'm going to make you well." He smiled at her, pleased that she had said that she cared about him. He knew it was true, but it was nice to hear. "You should eat your ice cream, Mel. You need to eat."
Mel smiled at him. The statement had been a mood-killer, but it had been cute, too. She took a spoonful of ice-cream, then watched him watching her, replacing her spoon in the bowl and giving all of her attention to him. It was hard not to got lost in those amazing eyes, so in the past she had always been careful not to stare into them for too long. This time, however, she did not care if she became lost there. There were far worse places to get lost. Cole had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen: sweet, loving, and gentle. A perfect reflection of his beautiful personality.
Cole was thinking much the same thing as he watched her. Humans called the eyes the windows to the soul, and, watching Mel, Cole was more than able to believe that. Her eyes were as beautiful as she was, a perfect reflection of the life-force that resided inside of her. He had not had as many opportunities as he would have liked to really get to know those eyes. Humans seemed to have a problem with prolonged eye-contact and Mel never let him look at hers for very long. This time, however, she seemed not to mind, so Cole happily accepted the opportunity. It was like something inside of her was, in some indefinable way, calling out to something in him.
"Hey, Mel, you up here?" Vic called.
They both looked up, startled. "That was quick..." Mel muttered, then glanced down at her ice-cream. Chunks of cookie floating in vanilla soup. How long had they been sitting there? "In the kitchen, Vic!" she called, frowning in confusion.
"I should get back to work..." Cole muttered, rising. He glanced down at her melted ice-cream uncertainly, wondering how it could possibly have melted so quickly. It could not possibly have been more than a few minutes since he had taken it from the freezer for her.
Mel nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Cole."
He nodded and left, walking past Vic. Vic stared after him, wondering why he looked so troubled. Shrugging, he walked over to Mel who was emptying her bowl into the sink.
"Hey, you." He smiled at her. "You should not be out of bed, Mel."
She turned around to look at him, a little irritated by how close he was standing. "Not tired, Vic."
"You look... good." He reached out and gently touched her cheek, but she pulled away and moved out of his reach.
"Don't do that, Vic. Your hands are like ice."
"Sorry, Mel." He shrugged, startled. "I... won't do it again. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"Do I not look like I am?" Mel asked, shaking her head. "Let's go downstairs."
"Um, okay." Vic shrugged and followed, frowning uncertainly. She was acting pretty oddly. He wondered if he had disturbed something between her and Cole, but firmly reminded himself that he was no longer dating Mel, so it did not really matter. Besides, getting jealous of Cole was the fastest way he knew to push her buttons, something he did not want to do today. It was more likely, he supposed, that both were just upset by Mel's condition. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently.
"Fine. Drink?"
He nodded. "Please."
"So, you were at a scene?" Mel asked as she mixed two martinis.
He nodded. "Not one you want to hear about if you just ate."
Mel winced and poured him a large drink. "Sorry to hear it, Vic."
He shrugged. "I'm a homicide cop, it's what I do." He took a long sip of his drink. "I'd be happier if I didn't have the Feds breathing down my neck."
"Oh, Vic, I'm sorry."
She knew that Vic had a particular dislike for Agents of the FBI. He had told her more than once that they had a habit of stepping on his toes in big investigations, getting in the way of his investigation and then claiming the credit after it was over. She ran a cop bar, so she knew that Vic was not alone in his feelings, but she also knew that it was one of those things that really angered him a lot.
He shrugged, dismissing it from his mind. "Oh, it gets like this every time a serial case comes across my desk. Same old. Forget it, no big deal." He looked up at her. "I'm here because I'm worried about you."
"You really don't have to be..." she told him gently. "I feel fine, Vic." She saw the look on his face and remembered what an absurd statement that really was. "I know, Vic, but it's true. I feel just fine."
"Which one of us are you trying to convince?" Vic asked gently.
Mel scowled at him. "I feel fine, Vic. A little irritated that everyone's treating me like I'm about to break, but otherwise just fine."
"Mel, I'm just worried about you..." he began.
"Don't be. I... am... fine." She shook her head in irritation and sipped at her drink. Making a face, she dumped it.
"Too sweet?" Vic asked, knowing that Mel liked hers a lot drier than he did.
She shook her head. "Brain-freeze."
"Poor Mel." He reached out to pat her hand but she pulled it away. "Sorry, hands like ice. Right." He held up his hands in surrender.
She sighed. "Sorry, Vic. It's just..." She shrugged helplessly. "I can't really stand being touched right now. It's almost painful..." She trailed off as it occurred to her that Cole could touch her without a problem. Very odd. Must be his warm hands. "You know, it's just so cold..."
He nodded. "I understand, Mel. Look, I just want you to know that I'm here for you, okay."
She smiled and nodded. "I know that, Vic. Thank you."
He smiled and nodded. "Hey, that's what friends are for."
Mel nodded and looked up as Cole came down the stairs. "Hey, Cole."
"Mel, I'm going to be at the library for a few hours."
She nodded. "Okay, Cole. Have fun."
"Yes, Mel. Hello, Vic."
"Cole."
Cole smiled absently at him. "Mel, I'm going to go to the store, too. Do you want anything?"
"Um, we're out of ice-cream, right?" she asked.
He nodded. "Cookies and cream, Mel. I'll get more. Anything else?"
She shook her head. "I'm good, Cole."
He nodded. "Okay, Mel. See you later."
"Take it easy." Mel smiled after him.
"Cookies and cream?" Vic asked after Cole was gone. "Since when does Cole know your favorite kind of ice-cream, Mel?"
"Since we started sharing freezer space, Vic." Mel's tone of voice warned Vic not to push the issue.
Vic raised his hands over his head. "Backing down now." He grinned at her, but his smile dissolved as his cell-phone rang. "Damn..." he muttered. "I'm sorry, Mel."
Mel grinned at him. "It's okay, Vic. I understand." It was true, too. When she was not dating Vic it was a lot easier to accept the demands that his work placed on him.
He smiled apologetically and answered his phone. "Vic Bruno. Yeah." He rubbed his forehead. "Okay, I'll be right there." He hung up. "Sorry, Mel. I have to go. We think we have a suspect."
"Okay, Vic. Good luck."
"Thanks, Mel. I'll drop by again tomorrow. Call if you need anything."
She nodded. "I shouldn't, but thanks."
Vic finished his drink and rose. "I mean it, Mel..." he called over his shoulder. "Anything."
Mel nodded quietly and poured herself a glass of scotch, this time leaving the ice out. "Alone at last..." she muttered, carrying her drink over to the jukebox and randomly hitting buttons. She wished that Cole had not left her alone. She was getting increasingly edgy, and Cole's presence was very calming, if somewhat distracting. She laughed softly, irritated for no good reason. "Damn it, Mel..." she muttered to herself. "You're falling apart here..."
She shook her head and sat down again. She suddenly felt incredibly lonely, a fact not helped by the depressing music pouring out of the jukebox. Wherever You Will Go. Good song when you were in a good mood, but damned depressing if you were not. She rose and walked over to the jukebox, hitting buttons at random. Iris started to play.
"Is there a single song on here that isn't a downer?" Mel snapped in disgust, kicking the jukebox.
Shaking her head, she stalked up to her room and took a sleeping pill. If she were asleep, she would not have to think about how lonely she felt. It was stupid anyway, she told herself as she pulled her clothes off. She had lived alone her entire adult life and never felt lonely before. And now, because Cole was at the store, she suddenly did? She dropped face-first onto the bedspread, not bothering to change into her nightgown. Clothes felt about as pleasant as human contact right now. Pill or no pill, the only way she was going to be able to sleep was without them.
Which sucked considering how cold she was. She rose and turned up the thermostat to the ninety-degree maximum then returned to her bed this time, sitting instead of lying. She turned off the lamp and sat in the dark, waiting for the pill to work. They had given them to her in the hospital when it became clear that she was not sleeping. She was not particularly fond of the way that they made her feel when she woke up, but she knew rationally that she needed to sleep. She had skipped her pill last night, which might have been partially responsible for her mood-swings and confusion today. She would feel better after she had rested for a few hours.
She rose again and turned on her CD player, Loreena McKennitt, whose ethereal music, for some reason, always made her think of Cole. Smiling, Mel stretched out on the bed. As she drifted off to sleep, wrapped in the warmth of the room and the airy tones of the music, her awareness was filled with dream-like memories of the Cirronian who had come to mean so much to her in such a short time.
Showing him how to mix drinks... talking and laughing and drinking in the sight of those beautiful eyes.
Teaching him to dance, feeling the warmth of his embrace.
The warmth of the room reinforced the image of him taking her gently into his arms, and her memory shifted seamlessly to the kiss they had shared.
She could feel the heat from his body as he stood so close to her that their clothes brushed against each other. His warm, gentle hands on the back of her head, her face, her throat.
The look of wonder in his eyes, mirroring her own feelings.
Wishing the moment would never end. Touching him, being touched by him, feeling his heat, smelling his smell.
And those beautiful, beautiful eyes...