Kiss Me Tenderly

White.
Solid, blinding, white.
The sound of a steady beep sounded in my ears, the smell of antiseptics filled my nose.
The hospital. That’s where I was. I didn’t need to open my eyes more than a crack to know that.
I groaned as a wave of pain hit me. It lanced through my chest, skittered across my cheek bone, shot straight through my brain. Ow.
“He’s awake!”
“Daddy!” “Daddy!”
I tried opening my eyes fully, failing and having to squint instead. The sound of two pairs of little feet hitting the floor and making their hurried way towards me, two little blurry black blobs rushing my way.
I blinked, forcing the world to come back into focus. The happy little faces of my daughters appeared in my line of vision. They both were clutching at my left hand, fingers barely able to wrap around mine.
“We were so scared, Daddy. But Uncle Krissofer said you were gunna be okay, we just gotta wait for you to wake up!” Missy smiled at me, curling her little fingers around my hand even tighter.
“Look, Daddy, look at they put on my arm!” Sassy thrust out her arm for my inspection. The little blue cast was wrapped around her elbow and her entire forearm, already covered with mermaid stickers that I suspected the nurses in the pediatrics ward had something to do with.
Missy pouted. “I didn’t get one. Uncle Kris says it’s okay, ‘cuz that means I didn’t get hurt as bad. They gave me stickers and a band aid anyways though. I like the nurses here, Daddy, they have lots of stickers.” A trail of stickers, ranging from Scooby Doo to the little Mermaid ran the gamut of her arms. She even had one stuck over the band aid on her forehead. I was so glad the both of them were okay. I silently thanked Ven for keeping her daughters safe.
I smiled at them, the movement feeling like it would just about split my face in half. My skin felt like it was going to crack right in two, that was how stiff I felt. God, the pain was terrible.
“Hey sweeties,” I croaked at them, my throat dry as the Sahara desert. Kristofer finally stood up from what must have been a very uncomfortable plastic chair squished in the corner of the room and walked over, grinning down at me.
“Nice to see you’re back from the dead.”
I tried waving him away weakly, the plastic tubing running up and down my arms scooting across the plastic floor. “Not funny.”
“Hey, Daddy?”
“Yeah, Miss?”
“Can we sit with you?”
I smiled. My daughters were adorable.
“Of course you can. Can you get up?”
As soon as I had given them the okay, they had both started scrambling up onto the pristine, bleached sheets. I guess I didn’t really need to ask them if they could get up.
Missy curled up against my right side, Sassy against my left. I wrapped my arms around them, squeezing them close to me.
We lay like that for a few moments, content to just be quiet and enjoy being alive after the accident, before Sassy spoke up.
“Daddy?” Her voice was inquisitive, almost scared, but.. Inquisitive.
“Yeah, Sassy?”
“Did you see mommy when you were asleep? Uncle Kris said you were asleep but that you would see mommy before you came back.”
I stilled, almost stunned. I shot a glance at Kristofer who looked at me with a bewildered expression and held up his hands like, what was I supposed to say to them?
I sighed heavily, pulling them closer, trying to be mindful of the bandages.
“Yeah I saw mommy, sweetie.”
Both daughters tilted their heads up to look at me, big eyes looking straight into mine.
“Was she pretty?”
I looked into their earnest eyes and saw the same curiosity that ran through their mothers veins like quicksilver, saw the curve of her nose, the arch of her eyebrows apparent on their faces. I saw the quirky dip of her cupid’s bow, the lush dark upper lashes and sparse lower lashes. Looking closely, I realized that both child and mother had a freckle in the same spot, a little dot underneath her left eye.
I cuddled them close, nuzzling my nose into their feathery black hair before answering.
“She was beautiful. Just like you two will be when you grow up.”
Both Missy and Sassy sat up rather abruptly and looked at each other, bickering almost immediately.
“You ask him.”
“No, you, you said!”
“No, you!”
“Rock, paper, scissors!”
I looked at them both, rather bemusedly. What in the world were they doing?
“Cheater! You didn’t put your hand out on time!”
“Yeah huh!”
“Nuh uh! Liar liar pants on fire!”
“Again!”
“Rock, paper, scissors!”
“Hah!” Sassy cried out in victory, punching the air and almost falling off the bed in the process.
Missy pouted. “No fair. I don’t wanna.”
“You gotta, you lost, that’s the rules,” Sassy prodded her sister. “Ask.”
“Fine,” Missy scowled. “Daddy?”
“Yeah, little miss?” I was still rather confused at what was going on.
“Can Uncle Kris take us to go get pudding?”
I blinked. That’s all they were bickering about? Kris stood behind them, muffling his laughter into his hand.
I glared.
“Stop laughing, Kris. Of course you can go, girls. Just don’t make a mess and be quiet until you get downstairs, okay?” I requested wearily, fatigue lapping at the corners of my mind again, willing me to sleep.
Their eyes brightened and they scooted off the bed, dragging the sheets down a little with them. Bounding to the door, they bounced in place, waiting for Kris to go with them.
Kris laughed again, loud this time, and ruffled my hair.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of them. Get some rest, yeah?”
I swatted his hand away feebly, closing my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah.”
I heard Kris usher the two girls noisily out of the room, heard the swish of the door, the click of the look.
I sighed and rolled over, trying not to think about what Ven had told me. What did she mean, people will come to love me? How... Ominous.
With these thoughts plaguing my mind, trying to riddle it out, I was dreaming within minutes.