Lovely Monster
Page 27
Julie smiled, and she leaned forward to kiss me softly.
“Need a copilot?”
“After you're healed, yes. I couldn't leave without you, Julie.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
Epilogue
“It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.”
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
♥
It seems like yesterday that we said goodbye, but truthfully, it's been about three weeks. Three weeks since we packed our clothes, and a few special things, into the back of my truck, filled up with gas, and drove away from the people we love.
Even though she is frail in my arms, I can feel her fire, and it burns with a ferocity I have never known before. Much hotter than any fire I've ever felt, and I have felt the flames. I figure I'm an expert in the area.
She's getting better. Each day, that fire gets bigger, and she gets stronger and stronger, and she puts on her warrior mask, and she fights it. She pushes forward, and leaves the past behind, because she refuses to let her cancer ever win again.
Her transplant took a toll on her, and me, but everything is looking brighter. The doctor gave her good numbers, and told us he was confident that Julie would not have to worry about her cancer again.
But if it does come back, or her body rejects the transplant, we'll be ready once more, together. We'll fight it again, and again, until it's time to go. I'll be by her side the entire time, because she did the same for me, and I love her.
To be here, holding her, just her, that's all I could ever ask for.
Things always get better, you just have to hold out long enough for God to make them happen. He has His own schedule, but it always happens.
Today, we're in Los Angeles, and she's smiling at me from the white sands of the beach with her black floppy hat covering half her face, and her sunglasses covering the other half. But they can't hide her smile, and it's that smile that keeps me going.
Tomorrow, I don't know where we'll be. San Francisco, Napa, or maybe Las Vegas. Wherever she points, I'll go. Wherever she leads, I'll be only a few feet behind, watching my beautiful warrior fight through this life, and handle everything that gets thrown at her.
I want to marry her. I think she wants to marry me too. I think everyone wishes we would. I think we might, one day.
Maybe when we hit Vegas. With everything else that's happened in our crazy, twisted lives, being married by Elvis doesn't sound all that weird anymore.
To tell you the truth, I don't care where we get married, or if we ever have children and a nice three bedroom, two bath home. I don't care if I ever get a new truck, or a new face, or if Julie and I ever become millionaires.
The future is a funny thing. All of it is based on uncertainty. Who do you spend it with? How do you live it? Where do we go when all of this is said and done?
I don't much care for the future. One day, I'll worry about it, but right now, at this moment, I'm staring at her, and she's alive. She burning brightly, and she's bringing me along for the ride.
We're alive. She's here, and as long as she's here, by my side, I know we can get through anything.
THE END