Can We Kiss Forever? (Wattys 2022)

LOMBARD... WHEREFORE ART THOU?

For the next two weeks, Julio went to work; Lombard helped him out at the gym, he hung around with Max, Teo, and Alexis at Yelena's, went to the cinema, read some books with Lombard, went on more dates, walked Chico, and helped the new workers settle into their posts at their job.

Everything was going swimmingly...

... Or so it seemed.

Until that one Saturday morning when Julio got up early as he usually did to go on and do a run around the park with Lombard. He'd put on his gym clothes, chain, and sneakers and made himself a cup of coffee before calling Lombard.

He continued to call him for the next five minutes, much to the chagrin of his already annoyed neighbors:

"AYO LOM, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!"

He checked high, low, and even in the yard and there was no sign of him. He let out a sigh and decided to go back inside and finish up his coffee.

After that, he tried again, and then he heard a faint groan, and afterwords someone whispered "... Jules, I'm behind the sofa..."

Moments later, he checked the sofa and the window and saw a very faint, silver outline of Lombard. He was twitching and barely moving. Julio frowned and burst out crying. "LOMBARD?!"

Julio could barely see Lombard's concerned features. "... I think something is happening to me... something might be happening at the hospital..."

Julio leaned down to hug Lombard, but neither of them could feel each other. "Lom, Lom... what can I do?"

"Jules... you need to find out updates and a way into the hospital to figure out what's happening... before it's too late..." Lombard wheezed. "So that I  don't leave... die without knowing..."

Julio nodded and wiped his eyes. "I want closure too. We both want it and need it. And deserve it. Do you need anything?"

"Please... nothing... just let me know what's happening... please leave me here... I'm becoming too weak to carry on..."

Julio didn't run. He walked around the park, thinking long and hard about what to do about their situation. He was considering calling up Max, and Alexis but he didn't want to disturb them so early in the morning, especially on a Saturday. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before, and it was his own situation to solve.

Being in love for the first time was bittersweet for him.

He'd enjoyed the highs, and the thrills, but now he was experiencing the low point.

For better, or worse.

By the time he'd paced around the park, he'd decided to go to the café and brainstorm some ideas on how to update Lombard on the situation. And how to leave him with good memories if he was about to pass on.

His early morning coffee tasted sour, and the pancakes tasted stale. There was no banter, or enjoyment, and eating them felt like a chore.

He had no one to talk about his issues with first thing in the morning.

No one to consult.

No one to share his feelings with.

It was a lonely morning, and the sun splitting through the window didn't cheer up his mood much either. Neither did looking across at the bustling cityscape.

To him, it was no use and had no meaning if he couldn't share it with Lombard. No meal would ever be the same, and no activity would be as fun.

He was beginning to miss Lombard, even if he was just hanging in there for a moment, and hiding from the gaze of the world around him, and had started to fade into obscurity and was beginning to lose control of his consciousness.