10. leap

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Gillian rested back on her pillows and closed her eyes

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Gillian rested back on her pillows and closed her eyes. All of a sudden things seemed surprisingly clear. And thanks to Holly Morphine, even easy.

"You okay?" Brock asked, his voice softening to talk to her.

She nodded with a mild smile, her thumb brushing the back of his hand. It felt so good, their hands together. That was the feeling she needed to hold on to in order to keep the fear in check.

"About last night..."

Her voice was but a whisper, and Brock leaned in to listen to her.

"What I said..."

He cut her off gently. "It's okay, Gillian. You don't need to explain. Anything."

She smiled wider and kept her eyes closed. It made things even easier. His voice and the last faint trace of his cologne were enough.

"You know I'd wanna be with you, don't you?"

Brock stiffened, taken aback by such a blunt admission from her.

"Yes," he replied, cautious. With Gillian, there was no telling where the conversation was going. "And you know I too wanna be with you." Clarification was never out of place with her.

"Yeah," she muttered, still smiling.

She turned her face to look at him straight in the eyes. Her smile caused him a chill.

"But you know it's not easy for me," she said.

He nodded at the brink of a scowl. Which she found just so adorable. No man had ever listened to her like Brock did, so focused and attentive. No one had ever understood her like he did.

"That's why I need you to go back to Cincinnati."

The tip of his eyebrows came lower down and closer together as he nodded again. Just for her to go on, not because he got the meaning of her apparent contradiction.

"For me, it's like jumping from the roof top to the building across the street, you see? But this is the real world, not the Matrix. So I need to step back. To ramp up for this leap." There, I said it. I just committed. At least to try. And I'm still alive. Not that hard after all, right?

Her soft, warm voice. The word 'leap'. Her smile. He could only take her hand to his lips. She waited for him to meet her eyes again. And before his brain could even register what was going on, Brock leaned in further and brushed her lips in a gentle kiss.

A soft knock on the open glass door pushed him back to a proper sitting position. Gillian shot a death glare at Doctor Cole at the doorway.

"Sorry to disturb, Reg. I just wanted to let you know we're ready to transfer you to a regular room. But I can come back later. Like, before leaving in the evening or tomorrow morning."

She rolled her eyes, wishing the heat burning her face scorched the man on the spot.


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