Ayden gently twirled one of Caitlin's black ringlets around his finger.
"It's been a hell of a year, Cait" he whispered.
She ignored the delicacy of that assertion which sounded more like a good-bye than a general statement.
"What was your favorite part?" she asked.
Lying together in Ayden's narrow hospital bed, his arm around her shoulders, her head against his chest, she tried to breathe in his scent to keep with her, but his smell of vanilla and deodorant had mixed and disappeared with the sterile smell of the hospital.
"The Grand Canyon" he breathed, closing his eyes and admiring the red rock and an image of Caitlin in shorts and a green tank-top, her hair flying in the wind.
"What about you?" he asked.
Caitlin took her time before answering "The world biggest ball of twine in Minnesota" she answered, and Ayden's chest rose and fell with laughter.
"You lie" Ayden said finally.
"So do you" Caitlin giggled, "you complained that there were too many tourists and that the helicopter rides were too expensive"
"You know what my favorite part was" Ayden whispered.
"I know" Caitlin replied, just as softly, "it was my favorite too".
Neither had to say the words, but they were both transported back to Alabama on January 15th, the day they were married in a small-town council building.
"Hey" Caitlin said, breaking the silence.
"Hey" Ayden replied.
"Don't do anything stupid tomorrow, okay?"
"Like…?" Ayden prompted.
"You know… don't die or anything"
"Okay" Ayden replied simply, "funnily enough 'not dying' was on my to-do-list for tomorrow…"
Ayden allowed for a minute of silence, choosing his words carefully. "We talked about this Caitlin…" he gave a small sigh, "it's all we talked about…."
"I know" Caitlin struggled and propped herself up on one elbow, looking into Ayden's face. "But, can we just pretend like you have a say in what happens tomorrow, and have you promise me that everything will be okay?"
Ayden gently shook his head, "I won't make a promise I can't keep"
As much as she loved them most times, right now she wished Ayden didn't have such stead-fast morals.
"So what can you promise me?" she asked.
Ayden reached out, brushing away a stray strand of hair from her face. "I can promise you have I haven't regretted a single thing this entire year…." He smiled and she struggled to smile back, "I can promise you that I love you…"
"That's not good enough…"
"It's all I got" Ayden said, with a small smile.
Caitlin scrambled to get off the bed, and stood staring at Ayden, "take this seriously!" she ordered.
"I am" came his stern reply.
Tears began to fall down her cheeks, "then get angry!" she yelled.
"I am" was his simple reply.
"No your not! Your just lying there and accepting your fate!"
"I am not, Caitlin…"
"Do you even care? Do you even care that I could…." She couldn't finish before the tears engulfed her and she had to flee the room, with Ayden calling after her.