Please Don't Leave Me

Just A Dream

"NOOOOO!" Katrina screamed as she sat up in her bed, sweat pouring down her face. Her husband, Mark Calaway, sat up next to her in bed. Her scream had waken him up.

"Katrina," he asked with worry in his voice. "Honey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Katrina nodded at his still panting. All of a sudden, she began to feel ill. She put a hand on her stomach.

"Katrina..."

Katrina put a hand to her mouth and quickly got out of bed running towards the bathroom. Mark quickly got out of bed himself following her to the bathroom, which connected to their bedroom. Katrina knelt in front of the toilet. Mark knelt at her side just as she began to vomit. Mark reached for her hair and held it back from her face. He rubbed her back at the same time.

"Okay, okay. It's okay," he said soothingly in a deep Texas drawl. Katrina threw up some more. "You're okay. I'm here. I'm here."

Katrina took a few deep breaths as soon as she was sure the vomiting had ceased. She reached up for the handle and flushed the mess away. Mark shut the lid of the toilet and then helped his bride to her feet.

"Easy, honey."

Mark guided Katrina to sit on the edge of their bath tub. He put a hand to his wife's forehead to feel for a temperature.

"No...no fever. You alright?"

Katrina shook her head. "I'm fine."

Mark gently touched her shoulder before waling to the sink to wet a washrag. He handed it to her. He noticed her hands were shaking slightly as she held the rag in her grasp. She brought the rag up to her mouth and wiped away whatever mess was left over. He went back to the sink and filled a small cup with water. He went back to kneel in front of her.

"Here, Katrina. Drink up, honey."

"Thank you," she said taking the cup from Mark's hand and gulped the water down. She looked at Mark, whom was looking at her with such worry and concern. "I'm feeling better." She walked over to the sink to brush her teeth to get the vomity taste out of her mouth.

"What caused that to happen," Mark asked as she put her toothbrush in the holder after rinsing it. "Was it something you ate last night."

"No, I don't think so." Katrina said turning her attention towards Mark. "I'm not sure."

"Well, you said you haven't been feeling well these past few days."

"You're right. I did say that. Good thing it's Saturday, or I would call in to work."

Mark walked over to her and kissed her on the head. "Yeah. Maybe a nice worm shower will make you feel better. I'll go pick out some clothes for you."

"You're too good to me."

"It's cause I love you."

Just then, tears came to her eyes and she would have fallen to her knees there in the bathroom if Mark hadn't wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"What's wrong? Tell me, sweetie."

"Please, please don't leave me."

Mark held her at arms length. "Why would I leave you?"

She told him about the dream she had last night, the cheating, the I-Don't-Love-You-Anymore, and the slap. Mark's eyes widened in shock.

"I...I hit you?"

"And then you left."

Mark pulled her closer into his arms. A lump formed in his throat and tears stung his green eyes, eyes that showed love, care, compassion without a single ounce of hate towards Amanda. A single tear ran down his cheek before he spoke again.

"Katrina," he began to say as he walked her towards the bedroom to sit her down on their bed. "I would never leave you. My life would be empty and lost without you. What would I do without you? As far as hitting you goes, I would never, ever, raise a hand to you. I would rather die than do anything to hurt you. And, God forbid, if you ever went blind, I would still be here to love you and take care of you. You believe me, don't you?"

"Of course, I do. It was just a dream."

"That's right. It was just a dream."

"But I do owe you an apology."

"What? Our argument last night? It was just a stupid argument. You had a rough day at work, I had a rough day at work, we were tired, we were wore out. Plus, you weren't feeling good. It was just a stupid argument. I owe you an apology too. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Yes," she said smiling up at him. "Can you ever forgive me?"

"Yes," Mark said smiling back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They shared a quick soft kiss on the lips before Mark walked over to the closet and picked out some clothes for Katrina. He walked over to the bed where Katrina still sat and placed them in her lap. "Why don't you go take a nice warm shower, and I'll go down to the kitchen to make us some breakfast. Will that work for you?

"I repeat...you're too good to me."

"I repeat...it's because I love you."

Katrina stood from her bed and walked towards the bathroom only to stop at Mark lightly smacking her on the butt. She let out a gasp and turned her shocked eyes towards him. Mark growled playfully causing Katrina to giggle.

"You're bad."

"Yeah, but you love me." Mark said with a wink. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, baby."