Chapter 137: Improvement

After washing up, I left my pyjamas on, and walked out of my room and down the hall, heading toward the living room. Even though there were a few bedrooms on the second level, I decided to use the bedroom on the main floor as my room.

I glanced in a few rooms I passed as I went, and then noticed the patio door was open slightly.

I walked over to the patio door and looked outside, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the sight in front of me.

Alicia was curled up in a chair under the sheltered part of the back yard. She still had her pyjama's on, but I noticed she was wearing one of my black, zip up hoodies. It was slightly cool outside, with it being November. She was completely engrossed in her sketchbook, and I knew she must be drawing something.

Gracie was curled up in the other chair, with her head on the arm rest and facing Alicia, as if keeping a watchful eye on her.

I watched the two of them in silence for a few minutes, and then opened the patio door and stepped outside, sliding the door closed behind me.

As I turned to walk over to Alicia, she must of heard me, because she suddenly looked up. When she saw me, she smiled, and all thoughts of my nightmare flew from my mind.

I smiled as I walked over to her.

"Mornin' doll," I said, as I leaned down and kissed her gently, her head tilting back to meet my lips with her own.

Gracie barked and lifted her head when she heard my voice, her tail wagging as she watched me.

"Morning," Alicia replied after we pulled back from our kiss. She was still smiling, and her eyes were sparkling. But then she frowned slightly as she noticed the dampness of my shirt around the neckline.

"Did you have that nightmare again?" She asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah," I replied while petting Gracie, and then leaned down and scooped Alicia up into my arms – which caused her to squeal in surprise – and took her place in the chair, and had her sit on my lap.

She carefully shifted her position so her legs were stretched over one of the the arm rests, and I wrapped one arm partly around her lower legs, my hand coming to rest on her knee.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," she replied softly, as she reached up and gently stroked the hair on the back of my neck. "I woke up early. Felt pretty good, so I decided to get up," she added.

My eyebrows raised and I smiled.

We were into a little over six months of Alicia's recovery from the car accident, and they had been rough. Physically, she was back to perfect health for a while now, but mentally and emotionally, she was still having a rough time. To hear her say she felt "pretty good" made my heart leap with joy.

"No worries, doll," I said, reaching up to push some hair back behind her ear, and she smiled.

It was then I noticed her sketchbook again, which was on her lap and still partially open.

"Were you drawing?" I asked hopefully, since it was something she hadn't done in a while.

"Oh, yeah," she replied, looking down at the book and opening it. On the page, was an unfinished drawing of Gracie in the position she had been in before I had come over. "She looked so cute. I swear she was modelling for me," Alicia added, laughing.

I laughed and smiled as I looked down at the drawing.

"Looks amazing so far," I said. "We'll have to frame it and hang it up somewhere once you're finished," I added, and she smiled.

"I suppose, if you really want to," she replied, then tilted her head slightly. "You sure are cheerful this morning, especially after having one of your nightmares," she added.

"Makes me happy to hear you say you're feeling good, and seeing you doing something you love again," I replied softly, reaching up and gently stroking her hair.

She smiled at me.

"It feels good…almost like normal," she replied softly.

I smiled and nodded in agreement.

"We'll get everything worked out, I promise," I said, referring to the issues she was still dealing with.

"I know," she replied softly, smiling, and then leaned forward and kissed me gently.

I smiled and kissed her back gently, sliding my hand from her hair and gently wrapped it around her, while I felt both of her arms wrap around my neck and shoulders.

Our kiss lingered for a while longer, before we both pulled back for air, but we still held each other close.

"I love you, Zak," Alicia said softly, and I smiled.

"I love you too, Ali," I replied softly, gently squeezing her knee.

She smiled and tucked her pencil into her sketchbook, and then closed it, before looking at me again.

"How about I go make us breakfast, so you can grab a shower to help you forget that nightmare?" Alicia asked, and I was surprised.

Cooking was another thing she hadn't done since the accident.

"That sounds great, doll," I replied, leaning up and kissing her cheek.

She smiled and then began to get up, and I held onto her waist gently to help her make sure she got up okay.

"Any requests?" She asked, wrapping her arms around her sketchbook.

She looked adorable with her hair down, no make up, and wearing my oversized hoodie.

"Hmmm…pancakes?" I asked, a bit unsure, since I wasn't all that sure on just how much she felt up to making.

"You just read my mind," she replied, smiling, and I smiled too. "C'mon Gracie," she said, looking at Gracie.

Gracie playfully growled and then hopped off the chair, and followed Alicia inside.

I couldn't help smiling to myself as I walked back toward the patio door to go inside.

Maybe today wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

Roughly 30 minutes later…

After finishing my shower – which did help me relax significantly - I changed into a pair of dark grey jeans, and a black sweatshirt, and styled my hair into my traditional "Zak fin", and headed out toward the kitchen.

Normally I would of just thrown on clothes for hanging out around the house, but since Alicia seemed to be in such a good place today, an idea had occurred to me while I was in the shower for something we could do to get out of the house for a while.

When I reached the end of the hall and entered the living room, the aroma of a delicious breakfast hit my nose, and I knew Alicia had definitely made more than pancakes. I could also hear upbeat, pop music.

"'The Backstreet Boys'…of course," I thought to myself, smiling.

I walked into the kitchen to see her tending to the food on the stove, dancing a bit to the music, and I smiled. I silently walked up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist, holding her close.

"Jeez!" Alicia squeaked, jumping at my sudden appearance. "You're too good at sneaking up on me!" She exclaimed, laughing as she looked back at me, one of her hands resting on one of my arms

I smirked at her, and she laughed again.

"I thought you were just going to make pancakes?" I asked, looking down over her shoulder. "Not that I'm complaining, smells good," I added.

She had made a full on course of breakfast food: pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, and she even had two small bowls of some diced up fruits.

"We did, but then when I started making them, I started getting hungry for more," Alicia said, laughing. "Hope that's okay," she added, after reaching up to turn off the burners on the stove, and then looked back at me.

"Of course it's okay, don't be so silly!" I replied cheerfully, and she laughed.

I kissed her cheek and then pulled back and stepped to one side to pick up one of the plates she already had out.

"I'll get it up, you go sit," I said, gently taking the spatula she had in her hand from her.

"Alright, thanks," she replied, smiling.

She turned off the music, picked up the two small bowls of fruit, and walked over to the dining room table and sat down, setting the two bowls down on the table.

I divided up the food onto the two plates, and then carried them over to the table for us – which was already set, and had all the condiments we would need – and set them down.

"I'll get us drinks," Alicia said, going to stand up, but I stopped her.

"No no, I'll get them," I said, quickly jogging over to the fridge.

"Thank you," she replied, smiling.

"No problem," I said, and poured two glasses of orange juice, and then carried them over to the table and set them down. I then took my seat at the table and looked at my plate, my mouth watering. "It all looks so good, I don't know where to start," I said.

"Well, I'm starting with a bit of extra maple syrup, since I've been so good lately," Alicia said, pouring extra syrup on her pancakes, and I laughed.

"Good idea," I replied, and waited for her to finish before taking the syrup bottle myself and pouring a bit more syrup than I normally would.

Since Alicia had woken up from her coma, and eventually had come home once she was cleared to leave the hospital, she wanted to start eating better and start exercising on a regular basis. Part of her decision was based on the suggestion by her physical therapist she had seen early on in her recovery, but I think the main reason stemmed from the scare she'd had. I started changing my eating habits and exercising with her as well, not only to support her, but I knew it would be good for me too.

"So, why are you all 'finned out' and dressed up today?" Alicia asked, and then began eating as she tried not to laugh at her comment about my hair.

I laughed and jokingly rolled my eyes.

"Well, I had an idea in the shower," I said, taking a few bites of food before continuing. "I don't want to push you…but how would you feel about maybe going out for a while today?" I asked softly, looking at her.

"What are you thinking?" She asked curiously.

"I thought we could go to the Nevada SPCA and do some volunteer stuff for the day, or even just a few hours," I said.

"Volunteer at the SPCA?" She asked, seeming surprised.

"Yeah, I've done it before," I replied, eating some more food in between talking. "They're always looking for people to come and help feed, clean, and play with the animals," I added.

"You're suggesting…we go spend a day feeding, cleaning, and playing with puppies, kittens, and other animals?" She asked, sounding excited.

"Yes," I replied, smiling.

"Oh my god, I would love to do that!" She exclaimed excitedly, her eyes brightening. "Are you sure they'd let us come in on such short notice though?" She asked.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling from ear to ear at seeing her so excited.

"They will," I replied, nodding. "I've volunteered before, so they know me. Plus, it's where I adopted Gracie," I added, and Alicia smiled.

"That would be so much fun…" she said.

"Then that's what we'll do," I replied, smiling.

"Yay!" Alicia replied, sounding more excited than I've heard her in a long time. "I'd like to grab a shower first though," she added.

I laughed and smiled at her reaction.

"That's fine, we don't have to rush. I'll call them once we finish eating and let them know we plan on coming," I replied. "I'll make sure to tell them we want as many puppies as possible," I said jokingly.

Alicia laughed, and then reached over and rested one of her hands over mine gently, and squeezed it.

"Thank you Zak…I'd never thought of this before, and it would be nice to get out of the house for a while," Alicia said.

I smiled and turned my hand over and gently held her hand, and squeezed it.

"No need to thank me doll," I replied, and she smiled. "Just don't complain about all the fur you're going to have on your clothes afterwards," I said jokingly.

"Oh, I won't!" She said, laughing, and then began eating again.

"Thank you God…hopefully today is the first of many good days to come," I thought, as I went back to eating my breakfast as well.