In the middle of the night...
Maria
I lay in the dark with Owen’s arms wrapped comfortingly around me. My body wants to melt into him and join him in sleep, but my mind is wide-awake and scared.
After tasting Heaven tonight, I’m terrified of what’s coming in May. When we graduate, what will happen to us? I can’t bear the idea of not having him in my life, and he needs someone he can trust to hold him through his nightmares.
“Owen?” I whisper. “Are you awake?”
“Yes,” he answers. “You can’t sleep either?”
“No,” I answer, snuggling up next to him. “I need to talk.”
His chest presses into my back as he takes a deep breath, and he hugs me tightly.
“I’m listening. Talk to me.”
“I... well, I asked my research advisor if he’ll let me stay on for my doctorate next year.”
“You did?” blurts out Owen excitedly, all pretense of sleepiness gone. “When did that happen?”
“While you were out getting wine. I sent him an e-mail and asked.”
“Oh God, I hope you get accepted!” he gushes. “That’d be amazing!”
“But... what if I don’t get in? What if you don’t, or what if you get a great job offer or something and we get separated?”
I swallow hard as a lump forms in my throat.
“I’m not ready to go,” I whimper, feeling tears rising inside me. “I need you with me.”
He holds me close while I calm myself down.
“It’ll be okay, Maria,” he whispers back to me.
I roll over in his arms to face him and plant a loving kiss on his lips.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m yours, no matter what happens,” he answers, hugging me tightly. “I need you, and I’m not going to lose you like that.”
I cuddle up close to him and lay my head on his chest. A smile creeps across my face as I take in his words, and I kiss him softly on the cheek.
“We’ll find each other somehow. We’re not lost anymore," I whisper to him.
My eyes flutter shut, and the last thing I see before I fall asleep in his arms is the forgotten pomegranate sitting on the bedside table, still beautiful and perfect on the inside.
Nadia Simonenko is a Ukranian-American scientist and author currently living in Indianapolis with her husband, two cats and a dog. When she isn’t writing, she develops new oncolytic compounds for chemotherapy and dreams about someday getting to take a vacation.