The Sympathy Screw | 18+

Chapter 13 - Hold

Author's Notes:

The theme song for this chapter is:

"Can You Hold Me?" (featuring Britt Nicole) by NF

~-~

Two weeks ago ...

I had just loaded my brush up with toothpaste, but I couldn't wait to have this conversation. Through the mouthful of paste, I asked, "Andrew, are you sure you want to go into the hospice facility tomorrow? You know that the doctor said you could wait another few weeks if you wanted."

Andrew looked at me cajolingly. "Vi, Babe, you know that you can't be here all day. What if I should suddenly take a turn for the worse? Do you want me to be here all alone?"

"I know," I conceded, "but I want to spend as much time here with you as we can before ... you know." I shrugged lamely, not wanting to say the words.

"Before 'you know'? You mean before I die? Violet, you know I'm going to die. You can't be afraid just to say the words. Words only have power over you if you let them."

"But I don't want you to die," I argued, as I prepared to snuggle up to him in our bed.

In an oddly dramatic voice, striking a pose with one hand on his heart and the other outstretched in front of him, Andrew quoted, "Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.'"

I groaned and tossed one of the throw pillows from the bed at him. "Not another Braveheart quote! You know I can't stand that movie! It was awful! The whole movie was just all blood and guts."

"It was a great movie," Andrew said, sitting on the bed and taking off his socks, having just taken his pants off. I noticed he was struggling to reach his feet and winced when he bent over, but I knew he was supposed to already be a lot worse than he seemed to be doing, so I let it pass.

With a grin, I added, "At least it wasn't as bad as Inception or Contact! Or that football movie, Rudy, that you like to watch with all of your buddies."

"I love those movies, Babe! I DVR'ed all three of them! And Braveheart!"

I pulled my toothbrush out of my mouth, pointed it at him, and added, "And once you're in hospice, I'm deleting all of those monstrosities right off the hard drive!"

"You most certainly will not," Andrew chuckled, "Even after I'm gone, you're going to keep them as a reminder of how awesome I am. And when the next serious relationship comes along, you'll pick a guy who loves those movies! That's how you'll know he is right for you. Because he'll be awesome, too."

I rolled my eyes and finished brushing my teeth, then crawled into bed to find Andrew already underneath the covers. When I pulled the blankets over me, he wrapped both arms around me and pulled me in close.

As his hands started to roam my body gently, I kissed him, but pulled away slightly. Andrew seemed so winded and tired that I just didn't want to force anything. I didn't want him to overexert himself.

"What's wrong, Vi?" he asked, wrapping one of my curls around his finger and using it to playfully tickle the side of my face when I didn't immediately answer, "Babe? Huh? You gonna tell me?"

"I was hoping just to snuggle tonight. We both love the sexy times we have together, but sometimes it's just nice to just be close."

"Bullshit."

"No really," I tried, running my palm along his tricep, but I could see in his eyes that he wasn't buying it.

With an obstinance I hadn't seen before in his eyes, Andrew insisted, "Vi, if this is my last night in this bed with you, I want to make love to my wife. Both tonight, and again in the morning. I want us both to feel each other come and be so blissed out that we can't take it anymore."