For the Last Time

Chapter 9

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Saint's POV

I forced myself to eat the food that James brought for me. He made the effort to buy it and bring it to me. The least I could do was to eat it.

While he was feeding me, I could see a certain expression on his face, like he wanted to ask me something but was holding himself back.

"Would you like something sweet to drink?" he asked, after I finished the whole bowl of rice porridge. I was really hungry after all.

"Yes, thank you," I said, "that would be nice."

He took a tumbler that had a lid with a straw sticking out of it.

"What kind of drink is in there?" I asked.

"Lemon lime sweetened with cane sugar," he replied.

"I've never tried that drink before," I said, sounding a little doubtful.

"Just take a few sips and if you don't like it I can always go out and buy you the drink of your choice," he offered.

"Okay, go and buy me a bottle of Scotch whiskey," I said.

His eyes grew very wide before he realized that I was just joking.

I took a few sips of the lemon lime. Hmmm... it tasted tangy and sweet. I actually liked the flavor.

Before I knew it, I had finished up the drink.

James looked happy and contented, but there was still that expression on his face.

"Did you want to say something to me or ask something of me?" I prompted.

His chest heaved with a loud sigh.

"Saint, I hope you won't get upset if I asked you a personal question," he said, looking at me very intently.

"It depends on what that personal question is," I countered cautiously.

James drew in his breath again.

He hesitated for a few minutes and then ...

"After you are discharged from the hospital, can I date you on a regular basis?"

There were still a few drops of the lemon lime drink in my mouth and when I swallowed hastily I started to choke and went into a coughing fit.

Before I could reply, we heard my mom's phone ringing.

"Yes, Perth," we heard mom say after she took the call.

I noticed James was frowning but I just looked straight ahead of me, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Did you get home safely?" my mom was asking.

"That's good," my mom said after a brief pause. Perth must have answered her, yes, he got home safely.

After another brief pause, we heard mom saying "Yes, Saint will still be on a liquid diet the whole day but starting tomorrow he will be on a regular diet, according to the nurses."

Upon hearing that, James immediately turned to me.

"You can start eating the fruits that I brought for you," he offered, "and then tomorrow I will bring you your favorite dish."

I must have given him a blank expression.

James looked at me with a hurt look on his face. "Did you think that I would forget your favorite dish after that memorable lunch date we had?"

I felt myself starting to blush as I recalled that particular day, but I did not consider it as a date at all. I don't know why he considered it as such.

On that particular day, after we had watched an early movie he had offered to treat me to lunch. I was trying to decline his offer because he had already paid for our movie tickets.

However he insisted and said that he would be very hurt and disappointed if I turned him down so I felt that I had to agree.

We went to an Italian restaurant adjacent to the mall where we had watched the movie.

When the waiter came to take our order, I had asked for a plate of spinach spaghetti noodles with veggie meatballs. The creamy sauce that was in it made the whole dish taste really good.

"From now on, this will be my favorite dish of all time!" I remember declaring happily.

I also remembered, and this was what made me blush right now while thinking about it, when he brought me home he had given me what I thought was going to be a buddy hug.

Instead, he held my neck and brought my lips to his.