Day 2: Awake and Dreaming
Rita looked at her haggard face and unkempt hair in the mirror. The hospital lighting didn't help, she realized... "You're a mess Lance," Rita muttered to her reflection.
'Lance,' she considered her name silently.
She missed her adoptive parents, the Lances, so much. She missed her father, and the birth-mother she never knew. She'd lost so many people over her life—-family, friends, and even lovers turned killers. Would she have to add Chris to that list? She couldn't endure it. Would she even survive it?
She roughly dragged a comb through her hair and finally giving up pulled it back into an untidy ponytail. 'I need to do something about my hair. Maybe cut it shorter." She considered her options silently, and couldn't stop herself from wondering how Chris would like her with shorter hair.
He'd like it. Chris always supported her decisions. He might not agree, he might argue his case, but he'd always be honest about his feelings. His feelings. The phrase made her pause. What were Chris's feelings for her?
He loved her, that much she was sure about. She'd known that for a long time, since that magical week, the week they'd spent together as children. She knew because he'd told her. She smiled at the memory of a nine-year-old Christopher Lorenzo.
"Rita?" Chris called to his new friend, Rita Fontana, the girl who was quickly becoming his best friend. "Can I ask you a question?"
Rita looked up at him, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow, as he helped her to the top of what, in a more rugged state wouldn't even be worth calling a hill, but for coastal Florida, it was quite a steep hill. She said nothing, at first, as they both settled down to look over the modest, but pretty, vista.
"Sure you can. What is it?" Rita grinned at Chris and he grinned back, but after a moment she noticed his blue eyes looked suddenly sad and distant.
"Have you told anybody you loved them?" Chris was afraid to ask what seemed, to him, such a silly question, but to his relief, Rita seemed to understand what he was trying to say.
"I told my Daddy all the time… But it didn't… He started getting quieter and quieter… I thought... I thought if I told him how much I loved him he'd change. It didn't help." Rita brushed away her tears, as Chris rubbed her back consolingly.
"I know," Chris admitted, "I say it to my parents too, but they still leave me, not listen to me. But my Grandma Rose, I know she means it. I wish I could stay here, stay with her, and… stay with you."
Rita didn't want to think of Chris ever leaving her. "The Lances say it all the time too, but…" Rita shrugged her shoulders. "I can't say it back, not yet. I think they understand, but I know it makes them sad." Chris nodded but fell silent as they watched the sun begin to set on a beautiful summer's day.
"You're my best friend Rita," Chris suddenly exclaimed. "I'm closer to you than to anybody else, but my grandma. I love you, Rita. I really do."
At this Rita's green eyes danced and glowed in a way that made Chris' heart flutter. She brought out feelings in him that he would not understand for many more years.
Rita's heart fluttered in return and butterflies took flight in her stomach. "I love you too, Chris. I'll always love you."