Love in the Dark

I woke up to the sound of voices. I opened my eyes and found Bruce, Lucius, and Jonathan standing in the living room, talking quietly. I tried to sit up, but was too weak to. I moved a little, and that caught the attention of both Jonathan and Bruce. Both came over to me, "How are you feeling?"

I smiled as they looked at each other, realizing that they had both said the same thing, "I'm okay, I guess."

"You guess," Bruce furrowed his brow.

"I'm too weak to sit up.... How did you want me to answer that?"

"She still has some spunk in her," said Lucius as he came over, "How long have you been feeling ill?"

"Two days."

"Have you been sleeping a lot?"

"Yes."

"Mind if I take a blood sample?"

"No."

"Alright then." Lucius took out a syringe and put it in the vein at my elbow. Blood pooled in the vial that was inside, and once it was filled to his liking, he took the needle out of my arm and smiled.

"What, no sucker?"

He laughed, "No, sorry, fresh out of them."

"Well, shoot."

"What all have you eaten since you've been sick?"

"Eggs, toast, and that's it."

"Did the eggs make you sick?"

"No. I got sick after eating French toast, but they've never made me sick before."

"Did you make these meals?"

"No, Jonathan did."

"Did you make the meals here?"

Jonathan nodded, "In the kitchen."

Lucius looked to the kitchen and nodded, "I don't think the food is what's making you sick. You're probably just experiencing a case of the flu. However, I will still run the blood for anything uncommon. I'll get back to you as soon as I get the results."

I nodded.

Bruce, Jonathan, and Lucius walked away to let me rest, and I fell asleep.

~

The sound of the phone ringing woke me up, and I opened my eyes a little. Jonathan answered it, greeting Lucius. They spoke for a while, and from what I gathered there was nothing uncommon in my blood. Jonathan was relieved. He thanked the older man and hung up the phone, going back to whatever it was that he was doing.

~

Waking up, I found it was morning again. I was feeling better. Sitting up, I found Jonathan sleeping next to me. Rolling over, I wrapped my arm around his waist and hugged him. Settling back down, I closed my eyes as he rolled over to face me. I felt a kiss on my nose, then I opened my eyes. Looking into the stunningly light blue eyes of Jonathan Crane I smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

I took a moment to assess my body and nodded, "Better."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Don't ever get sick again."

I giggled, "Okay, I'll try."

I kissed his nose, then pulled back. Looking into his eyes, I saw something different, "What's wrong?"

"I had... a terrible dream last night."

"What happened?"

"I relapsed."

I frowned, "Jonathan."

"I relapsed and I took you down with me." I didn't say anything, I just looked at him, "I don't want to do that to you, Bethany."

"You won't."

"I've been looking for an other place to live."

"What?"

"I have a viewing this afternoon, it's close to Arkham-"

"Jonathan, what are you talking about?"

"I don't want to drag you down to hell with me, Bethany."

I cupped his face in my hands, "You are not going anywhere."

"I have to."

I felt tears prick the back of my eyes as I thought of something terrible. With a whisper I asked, "Are you breaking up with me?"

Jonathan rolled on top of me and kissed me, "No. I would never-"

"Then why are you leaving me?"

"I'm not leaving you."

"Yes you are.... I want you here, Jonathan. I might go crazy if you leave this bed."

Jonathan looked at me, then a smile formed on his face, "Oh really?"

"Yeah." He moved, and got out of bed and looked at me. I lay there for a moment, then felt the places where Jonathan was grow cold. I reached out to take his hand, and he took a step back, "Johnathan... please come back."

Jonathan smiled and came back, "I won't leave you.... I'll cancel the appointment."

Looking up at him I smiled, "Don't think like that ever again."

"Why?"

"It scares me.... I'm not ready to be out of love with you."

Jonathan kissed me, "Then you won't have to be."

Later that evening, Bruce called to see if I was feeling better. I told him that I was and he invited Jonathan and myself out to dinner. Jonathan nodded, letting me know that he thought it was a good idea.

"Great, I'll meet you guys at the Hampton."

"Wait... the hotel?"

"Yeah."

"Alright."

Bruce laughed, "It's got great food."

"Oh I don't doubt it."

"I'm glad you're better Bethy."

"I am too."

"Do you remember the time when you got sick? You were like... eight. We were playing in the green house and you just... ran away and puked?"

"Oh yeah! I was sick for two weeks."

"Your parents were so worried."

"And you were miserable."

"Well I wanted to play and you were too busy with your head down the toilet."

"Well I'm sorry." We laughed, "Do you remember the time we found the first arrow head?"

"Yes."

"You took it from me."

"I hid by the well."

"And then you fell in...."

"Not so much of a fond memory for me."

"Never said it was."

"I miss having you here, Bethy."

"I'm sure I can come and spend the night."

Bruce chuckled, "I'm sure."

"How about I come over sometime and we watch a Hawks game, yeah? You cheer for whoever you want, and I'll rub my team's victory in your face."

"Oh ha ha."

"Jonathan is giving me weird looks... I should go."

"Okay. Take care of yourself."

"I will."

"I love you Bethy."

"I know you do, Bruce."

"Just making sure you know that."

"I'll see you tonight."

"Okay."

Hanging up, I set my phone down and walked over to Jonathan. He set his magazine down and placed his hands on my hips and pulled me to him. I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck. Looking down at his magazine I said, "Watcha readin'?"

"I'm reading about psychopharmacology."

I frowned, "Oh."

"What?"

"You're reading about science."

"Well as a matter of fact, I am a scientist."

I smiled, "And you're my scientist."

Jonathan smiled and kissed me, "I love you."

"I love you too."