A pink and yellow brightness woke him up from a dreamless sleep. For a few moments, Warrick struggled to remember where he was, until he became aware of the frail body his arms were wrapped around. He'd had his share of women, but in all his years of post-prepubescent social interaction, he'd never felt this way: as if he might squeeze the life out of her if he held on even the tiniest bit more.
He gently released his grasp, climbed out of bed without waking her up and went towards the window. Warrick looked out of it and noticed how the morning dew had already subsided. The view out of Jo's room had always reminded him of one spectacular storm their last summer together. Winds raged in unnatural ways, rain pelted the glass so hard that the two teenagers thought that they were going to die by force of water, and he distinctly recalled how Mr. Parker slipped down the small hill leading to the lake, and almost drowned in it. But the next morning, the water was so calm, you could see the mountains perfectly reflected, and Jo's dad was eager to motor up the boat for a fishing trip.
Warrick always reverted back to that incident whenever a case was especially harrowing; somehow, eventually, there would be some kind of settling peace.
"Hey, man. What are you doing, checking yourself out in the reflection? Don't flatter yourself so much," a voice he had forgotten about sounded into his ear, her breath skating on his skin.
He turned around, "Yup. Ya got me there." Warrick softened his tone and moved to kiss Jo on the forehead, "How are you feeling, this fine morning?"
"Actually, not too bad. A little bit tired... but I'm always tired. And eventually, I'll be so tired that I won't wake up," she added a smile, but the sadness was obvious in the rest of her face. Warrick was dumbed by her comment, racing through his thoughts to at least attempt some sort of redeeming reply, but he couldn't find a single one. He simply held her in his arms as a consolation.
Finally, he lightened up the mood, "Are you hungry? Do you want to go for a walk? Do you want to grab some food and go for a walk?"
Jo chuckled, "You sound like you're talking to a dog! But uh, not really, sure, and no, it's okay."
"I think I just confused myself."
"Let's just go for a walk."