They sat down with coffee, waiting for their orders to come. There was so much to be said but where to start...?
"When are you going?" he ventured.
"Ah, I have three days."
"Oh."
She was a fool and she knew it. He'd saved her life. Not to mention that he'd risked his own to do it. He was her best friend. She'd never had that before either. She'd never loved like this. She'd never been loved like this. It was terrifying for sure. But only a fool would walk away.
"Mark..." she started.
"No. Don't. Don't say things. Don't say you're sorry and leave anyway."
"I have to leave." He was making this difficult and she was angry at him for it. she took a deep breath. "I only wanted to say that I love you and please never doubt it." She finally met his eyes, pleading for mercy. "What am I supposed to do? I don't want to make promises. I have three days. Can we have just three days?" she begged, swallowing her tears and blinking in a last ditch attempt to pass this off without an emotional scene.
He was disarmed instantly, reaching across the table, wiping her tears, the warmth of her skin burning his fingertips.
He was tired. His body was still healing though the skin looked all but healed. She took him home and he left the door open. It was her decision. Stay or leave.
He lay down on the sofa, holding his side to keep the skin from stressing, though the stitches had dissolved.
Susan wanted to keep busy. She knew he needed rest so she tidied up a bit – he'd barely touched his unpacking. The kitchen was bare so she wrote him a note and left to get groceries.
He still slept when she got back. She put away the shopping and sat on the couch beside his legs. He needed to take his meds before the pain woke him, reminding him the hard way.
"Mark." She touched his shoulder.
He opened his eyes mumbling, "Yeah?"
She smiled and helped him sit up, giving him a glass of water and several pills.
"Hey, I was wondering," he asked sleepily, "the guy who shot me... why did he go at you? He said something about his girlfriend but I can't remember."
"She ODed on her prescription. She'd been brought in earlier that day and she'll be fine – in fact better off now that her charming boyfriend is locked up."
"So all that for nothing?"
"I think it's a male thing – doing something stupid for a girl." She smiled, not wanting to go much deeper into any conversation about her 'last' day at county.
"I don't regret it but he might." Mark sat up more.
She watched him, thankful he didn't wince. "You're crazy."
"Yeah. You have this strange effect on me."
She took his hand looking at it thoughtfully.
"Look at me." He spoke softly.
She exhaled then looked up.
"You were right before. We have three days."
She smiled. Time wasn't exactly on their side so they couldn't waste it. He touched her face like it might break, kissing her too softly, drawing her into him.