Live Alaska

5. Fever Dreams and Propositions

Xyla

She awoke from a fitful sleep in her feverish state, smelling the most amazing scent. She must be losing her mind, since all her windows were closed, and she had an oxygen mask over her face to help her breathe properly; something her doctor had insisted she keep around for emergencies.

She opened her heavy eyelids when she thought she heard someone in her room. Sure enough, she saw the very handsome and very worried Leeson coming into her room with a tray of something that smelled amazing.

And she looked like death warmed over.

“Leeson…?” She croaked out before she went into a coughing fit that hurt so much.

He was instantly at her side, helping her to sit up and gently rubbing her back in soothing circles. She must be losing her mind, because she was sure his touch was helping her cough fit end faster, and it didn’t seem to hurt so much anymore.

Then he held a glass of water with a straw to her mouth. She took a few sips before she realized it wasn’t water, but something that tasted like ginger, peppermint and green tea and sweetened with honey. It actually soothed her chest somewhat, and she reminded herself to get the recipe from him for future illnesses.

“What are you doing here?” She asked with embarrassment when she removed the mask from her face. She could only imagine what she looked like.

“I thought I would bring our date to you and take care of you as well. No one should be alone when they’re sick.” He smiled kindly. “I brought you some hearty stew; it should help to keep your strength up.” He had already spooned some out of the bowl and was gently blowing on it, steam coming off it like mist over water just after dawn.

When he was sure it wouldn’t burn her, he held the spoon to her lips. She took the bite with some embarrassment at the sheer hope in his eyes. How could she refuse him anything when his emotions were spelled out on his face? She managed a few bites before she felt the guilt gnawing at her; she had to tell him the truth.

“I have to tell you something…” She said guiltily when he looked worried that she had only managed about seven bites of the stew.

He lowered the bowl to the tray and held her gaze with curiosity. His full attention on her like nothing else mattered, and she was reminded of their first meeting. But for some reason, she didn’t feel so tongue-tied anymore. In fact, she felt comfortable around him. Had texting helped with her anxiety?

She swallowed and then started coughing again. He was right there gently rubbing her back and helping her through the fit. This one was worse than all the others, she had a feeling she was closer to the end than even her doctor had guessed. She had to give Leeson a choice.

So, when her coughing fit ended, she met his gaze. “I’m dying. I don’t just have weak lungs, they are slowly shutting down, and we haven’t found a donor match to date. My doctor told me that I might not last until they find a match. I don’t want you to watch me die,” she confessed tiredly.

He gently helped her to lie back down and then gave her another few sips of the tea that warmed her chest and actually seemed to lower her fever just a little. Where did he get this tea?

“I’m not going anywhere. But I have something to tell you too.” Why did he not seem surprised that she had confessed to dying?

She blinked at him in surprise. Of all his reactions, she had not expected a mutual confession session. He allowed her a few more sips of the tea, before he gently slipped her oxygen mask in place, to help her breathe easier.

“I know of a cure to help you live without having to get a lung transplant; you will be completely cured. But you will have to marry me.”

Xyla blinked at him for a moment, completely stunned by his words. “You know a cure, but you will only help me if I marry you? That seems cruel, to give me such an ultimatum.” Her words sounded muffled through the mask, but he didn't seem to care.

He shook his head emphatically. “No, I can only help you if you marry me. It’s not that I don’t want to help you, it’s that this is the only way to help you,” he answered with complete sincerity.

“By marriage…” She answered dubiously. This didn’t seem legitimate.

“No, for me to help you, we will be bound together, forever. Marriage is just a way to make it clear to everyone else.”

“I don’t understand…” She confessed, feeling like he was trying to tell her something important that she didn’t have all the information to understand.

“You will,” he answered with gentle certainty.

“This seems unfair to make me agree to terms I don’t know anything about. Are you selling me into slavery?” Her words seemed to hurt him, and she felt guilty, but she needed to understand.

“No, it’s not slavery. This will be a mutually beneficial agreement for both of us,” he answered with clear sincerity.

“What can you possibly gain by marrying me? I have no fortune or possessions that could benefit you. What do you get?” The researcher in her wanted the facts, all of them.

“You,” he answered with a deep certainty while he stared at her like she was the most important thing in this world.

“Me?”

“All of you, for the rest of our lives; forever,” he answered, like he was saying vows.

“Why?”

“Because having all of you for the rest of my life is the ultimate gift. It’s the one thing no one else can ever give me. Just you.” He seemed so certain of what he was saying that it was jarring.

“I don’t understand.” She confessed.

“You will, once you’ve been healed,” he answered, as if he was sure she would just magically get over slowly dying.

She wanted more information, needed more, but she felt so tired. And she needed to think; she was not one to just jump into anything. She could feel her eyes drooping. “I’ll think about it…” She answered sleepily, before she could feel herself slip into the darkness again.

She was never one to make spur-of-the-moment decisions; she needed all the facts and time to think before she could make any decisions. But she also needed rest, now that her coughing seemed to be slightly under control. She had to ask him about the tea. It was miraculous, she thought, as she felt him holding her hand in his large one, gently rubbing small circles on the back and helping to soothe her into sleep.