freefall |[ luke kuechly ]|

|[paris]|

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June 12, 2013
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"Hey pretty girl," Luke spoke softly as if he were dreaming. Luke stared at her in wonder, he couldn't believe this was happening.

"Hi," the petite woman said from her hospital bed. She looked around in a confused manner. Luke broke away from the crowd of doctors and nurses to engulf his girlfriend with a hug. He had waited anxiously for four days now to hug her and kiss her. His muscular arms wrapped around her in a protective way but softly, to avoid hurting her. Ellen's eyes widened.

"I missed you so much, I'm so glad you are okay," Luke whispered in his ears as tears of joy rolled down his cheek.

"You did?" Ellen asked trying to pull herself from the tight gripped hug. Her eyebrows were crinkled together. Luke finally gave into her wish and pulled away.

"Of course I did. We all did. You had us all so worried," Luke tilted his head. Luke sat on the edge of the bed next to her and his large hand rested on her thigh.

"I don't understand," Ellen said roughly. Her voice was hoarse, due to her vocal cords not being used for days.

"What don't you understand?" Luke asked crinkling his eyebrows together.

"What happened?" Ellen asked, returning the same confusion that Luke had.

"You got into a really bad car accident. You could've died," Luke explained. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember driving to your house, then everything went dark," Ellen said recalling the memory from four days ago. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Luke asked tilting his head, unsure of what she was sorry for.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to go to the Bahamas. I know you were looking forward to it," Ellen said biting her cheek.

"That's the last of my worries. I'm just glad you are okay and alive," Luke spoke softly, he leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend's forehead. He was thankful she was here and that he still had the ability to kiss her. Her lips moved down from her forehead to her lips. Ellen breathed him in. The smell of his cologne was faint, and now getting a closer look at him his hair was greasy and clothed were wrinkled.

"Luke," Ellen said faintly pulling away from the kiss.

"Yeah?" Luke said. A look of sadness shown on his face, not wanting the kiss to end.

"You stink," Ellen said holding back a small laugh. She was afraid to laugh because of her injuries.

"I'll go shower," Luke said laughing, Ellen's words not hurting him. "I'll tell your mom and Nicole to come see you. I missed you," Luke said planting one more kiss on her forehead before exiting the now empty hospital room. This was the first time Ellen had been alone since the accident. When waiting for her to wake up, she had someone by her at all times.

Luke's smile could have lit up the whole hospital. It was light and ever present on his face. His love was finally awake and back to herself. Of course, he didn't want to leave her, but he also didn't want to displease her with his smell. He wasn't aware of how bad he smelled but he figured it couldn't be good if had been four days of just waiting by her bedside.

Luke went to a nearby bathroom, that had a shower and everything he needed to cleanse himself of the filth that engulfed him. The hot water running down his back was stress relieving and calming. His muscles finally relaxed after days of being tensed up.

Luke dried himself off and got dressed in clothes that Nicole had brought him. It was a Panthers shirt and black athletic shorts. Luke's hair dried quickly and his curls were as bushy as ever. He went back to the room where Ellen had been.

He walked in and a smile instantly came to Ellen's lips. Luke's smile still never left. "Do you guys mind if I talk to Luke, alone?" Ellen asked shyly. Karen nodded and pulled Nicole out of the room with her.

"How are you feeling?" Luke asked sauntering over to his spot on the side of the bed.

"Good. How are you smelling?" Ellen asked with a crooked smile.

"Good. I think," Luke replied giving her the side eye. The two acted as if it had been years since they spoke.

"So. You know how I almost died?" Ellen began.

"How could I forget," Luke said, a chill spreading through his whole body recalling the accident.

"Well, I'm young and I don't want to go through life with regrets," Ellen continued. Luke ooked into her deep brown eyes trying to predict what was happening but he couldn't.

"So what are you saying?" Luke asked with a stinging heart. Was she going to hurt him now? After he waited and waited for her to wake up.

"I'm saying I want to experience things. I want to travel. I want to learn. I want to have kids. I want to do everything I can in case I do die, I want to be able to say I lived a full life," Ellen said her face lighting up with more events she said. "I want to eat Chinese food in China. I want to tutor kids in Haiti. I want to climb Mt. Everest. I want to eat spaghetti in Italy. I want to be kissed under the Eiffel Tower. More importantly, I want you by my side when I do these things."

Luke let out a sigh of relief. He was worried he wasn't involved in Ellen's new outlook on life. "You had me worried there, Eleanor," he said leaning forward on the bed. "I can't get you to Paris right now, but how about a kiss in this hospital bed?" Luke said inching his face closer to Ellen's.

"I could kiss those lips of yours anywhere and I would be happy," Ellen leaned forward carefully to finally close the gap between each of their wanting lips.

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