By Coral
Disclaimer: Naja, all Paramount's.. if they can find
me, they can sue me...
Dedication: To Lissa, for making me stay up to half one writing the
thing!
She's in bed, awake, her eyes staring as if they could see the bulkheads and out to the stars. I position myself in her line of vision, so that, for a moment, I can fancy that she is gazing at me with those soulful grey eyes of hers. As I watch, a tear slips down her cheek, leaving a trail of glistening wetness.
I can't bear to see her like this. Her eyes should be bright with lovelight or joy at all times, not sad like this. Leaning forward, I brush the tear gently from her cheek, letting fingers linger ever so briefly as I do so.
She stirs slightly.
I didn't expect that reaction - I didn't expect her to feel it at all.
She whispers my name in a quiet voice. Maybe it sounds slightly frightened, maybe it doesn't - I'm too engrossed in drinking in the very sight and sound of her to notice. Then she sits up in bed, looking around her. For a few moments, she looks right at me, and I wonder if she can see me too.
But the moment passes, and her gaze shifts. She looks around the room
once more before obviously deciding that her imagination was just being
overactive. I can tell that she's already starting to convince herself she
was dreaming as she starts to drift to sleep at last.
I don't know how long I stay, watching her as her chest rises and falls in a
regular pattern. The only sound is her breathing, and it centres me.
Finally, I rise. As I did each morning, I brush my lips against hers as I leave. Then, I turn to go, leaving her to her dreams.
There's a ghost of a smile on her face; and, on mine, the smile of a ghost...
END