Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Ella

The past few weeks had been taxing on the entire medical team, but the past few days had been especially taxing for me. Amani was being strangely clingy, he would cry if I wasn't there with him, and when he cried, he coughed. However, I wasn't able to spend every waking minute with him, I also had other patients to treat. I frequently missed meals to feed and calm him and would not be able to return to my quarters for sleep until he fell asleep.

The smuggler had also struck again. Two days ago, we discovered missing narcotics again, and according to Captain Cooper, several firearms had also gone missing. Ericka was annoyed that she couldn't return to America yet, she wanted to marry Captain Cooper as soon as she possibly could. The Captain had said that he wanted to marry Ericka in April, whether they were in America or not.

I was currently, helping to feed Amani, who continued to talk in Swahili. I nodded my head as I wiped oatmeal off his chin, "Did you sleep well?"

He said something and smiled, I smiled back. "I've been so tired lately. You keep giving me a hard time, little guy," I playfully rubbed his head, making him laugh. "I don't have any time to spend with my boyfriend anymore! He'll never ask me to marry him now."

The door opened behind me and Whitney came in with Brandon, "Hey, El, you weren't at breakfast today."

I yawned, "I had to get up early to feed Amani." I rubbed his head as he ate his oatmeal. "I'm exhausted, he wouldn't fall asleep until really late."

"Why don't you go get some food?" Brandon offered. "We'll watch him."

"Really? Thank you!" I got up and headed to the door. Before I even put my hand on the handle, Amani started wailing. I came back and gave him a hug, "Hey, hey, shh. I think I've got to wait until he takes a nap."

"Are you sure?" Whitney asked. "You look like death."

I groaned, "I don't really have a choice."

"Well, Gabe's worried you're cheating on him with Amani."

"Seems plausible," I rolled my eyes.

"He misses you," Brandon commented. "He was telling Captain Cooper how you guys haven't had a chance to talk lately."

"That makes two of us," I sighed.

~oOo~

I finally got Amani to fall asleep around 2 'o-clock, and I left his room, I was exhausted and hungry, a perfect combination for crankiness. I had been with him almost all day, except for the two hours he had napped, in which I had checked in on other patients and ate a quick meal of instant ramen noodles. I understood that Amani was lonely, but I felt that I needed to draw a line. I sighed as I stepped out into the night, shivering at the sudden coolness.

The night was quiet, almost silent, and I yawned, stretching a little bit. I debated whether or not I should shower or eat first, and I settled on showering. I began heading towards my room, hopeful that maybe Gabe was in my bed, waiting for me tonight. We hadn't spent much more than a few hours together this whole week, and I was beginning to feel slightly sad.

I pushed my door open and found myself slightly disappointed that Gabe wasn't there. I sighed, what was I expecting, it was two in the morning, wishing he was here would be unfair. I grabbed my towel, a pair of my old Harry Potter sweatpants, my shower caddy and a sweatshirt, heading to the showers.

After I hopped out of the shower, I immediately headed back to my room. My hair was up in a towel and I was sure the bags under my eyes had never been more prominent. I was glad that there was nobody to see me like this: braless, exhausted, hungry, and just generally unflattering.

I was barely out of the showers when Ericka ran up to me, her long hair out of its braid for once. She was wearing an old t-shirt and pajama pants, "Ella!"

"What are you doing up?" I asked her. "It's almost three in the morning."

"Are you hungry?" 

"Hungry?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "I mean, yes."

"Great," she grabbed my wrist and began pulling me to the kitchen. "Let's go eat something."

"Wait, wait," I called. "I've got to drop my things off in my roo--"

"No!" Ericka tried to pull my away, but I yanked my wrist away. "I'm really tired, I'm not in the mood."

Ericka followed me, still trying to convince me to go eat. I bumped into Whitney, Brandon, and Madeline who were whispering excitedly. They looked up as they saw me, immediately asking where I was going. "My room," I sighed.

"Do you want to go out for drinks instead?"

"I'm tired," I groaned. "Amani has been giving me a hard time--you know that!"

"Come on, please?" Whitney grabbed my arm.

I shook her off of me, continuing to my room. The four of them continued to follow me, insisting that I either eat or go out to drink. I was quickly getting annoyed with the four of them, and if I had not been so exhausted, I wouldn't have snapped when I saw Captain Cooper standing just outside of my door. "Jesus fuck, you're kidding me."

"Ella," Captain Cooper stepped forward. "I request that you spend time at a bar with the five of us."

I stared at the five of them incredulously. Strangely enough, they all looked excited although I had snapped at each of them. "I am going into my room, and then I am going to eat instant noodles. I am exhausted, and I love you all, but I don't have time for this." I pushed through them and swung open my door, stepping in. "Goodnight."

I shut the door behind me and turned around, suddenly surprised by the many candles that decorated my room. I stepped forward to a little table, which had a vase with blue orchids--my favorite--in it. There was a note that read 'Now you've taken a tedious journey to me. All you need to do is turn around.' I blinked, turning around, still holding onto the card.

Behind me, a few feet away from me was Gabe, down on one knee. My eyes widened and I began smiling uncontrollably. He looked up at me, his eyes smiling in this candle lit room, "Elladora Anderson, I first met you nine years ago. The moment I saw you--I knew you were speci--" I burst out giggling and he looked up at me, confused. "What's so funny?"

"My name's not Elladora!" I howled with laughter. 

"What do you mean? You told me it was!"

"I wanted to see if you'd believe it!" I dropped to my knees, laughing.

"Shut up and marry me," he laughed.

"Of course!" I laughed a little as he pulled me into a tight hug, kissing my forehead.

"I thought this was gonna be perfect--"

"It is," I kissed him right before my stomach growled loudly. 

"Hungry?"

I nodded as Gabe called in Captain Cooper who carried a tray of...potatoes! "I love you!" I gasped as Captain Cooper placed the tray on the ground. 

"You say 'I love you' when I give you potatoes but not when I propose," Gabe muttered flatly.

"Shut up and hand me the hashed browns, boo."

~oOo~

After Gabe and I had finished the tray of potatoes, we laid in my bed, curled together. I looked at his hands, much bigger than mine, but still the perfect size for me. I smiled at him as we lay facing each other, "Are you tired?"

"No," he whispered back. "I'm too tired--I mean excited--to sleep. You sleep, love."

I shook my head, "I kinda want you...to keep me up."

There was a short silence as he looked in my eyes, asking me 're you sure?' I smiled in response and he grinned back, kissing me deeply.

"Oh, you pervert."