Page 43 of Neptune

________

CASSIE

A iden finishes the cream soup that I feed him. He grins after taking the last spoon of his dinner, and a smile touches my lips as I put the bowl back on the tray.

"It tastes super delicious," he says.

I feel relieved that he's back to his cheerful self. It's like the accident never happened. How can this be possible?

After I help him drink the water, he sighs in satisfaction. "I'm so full."

"That's good to hear," I say tenderly. "Because after this, you need to rest again and recharge your energy," I remind him even though he doesn't look sick anymore.

I help him lie back on his bed and pull the cover over him. Aiden smiles as I stroke his hair, while Luke watches us with the same smile on his face.

"I'll teach you how to swim," Luke says to Aiden. "Next time, you won’t have to be afraid of drowning."

"I'm not afraid of drowning." Aiden pouts, irritation in his voice.

"So, you're not afraid of water?" Luke challenges him.

"No way," Aiden says. "Water fears me, not the other way around."

Wow. That's some spirit for a boy who was drowning. I watch him intently, while Luke playfully raises his eyebrows at Aiden.

"Can't you see it?" Aiden insists. "I was choking from drinking too much of it.

It was nasty. It felt horrible, and I was angry," he says in disgust, and my heart beats faster, unable to hear him going through the pain anymore.

"But then the next thing I knew, I was floating toward the surface and.

..bam! I was back on the ground. How cool was that?

" Now his voice is filled with enthusiasm.

I stare at him blankly—I never thought that he would remember the accident that way. But it's definitely a good thing.

Amusement crosses Luke's expression.

"I see," he says, playing along with Aiden. "So, you're saying that we have some kind of a superhero in the house?"

"I'm a Poseidon," Aiden states, passion laced in every word.

And I can't help but chuckle lightly.

"Still, a Poseidon should know how to swim," Luke says. "You’ll have a swimming lesson with me from now on, every weekend. Understand?"

Aiden's lips form into a thin line, contemplating whether he should agree or not. Maybe he wonders why a Poseidon should learn how to swim, because he should rule the water.

Nevertheless, he answers in a small voice, "Okay."

I kiss his temple. "That's my boy."

Aiden grins, while I adjust the bed cover closer to his chest.

"Sleep tight, Aiden," I soothe, brushing my fingers against his hair, praying that he won't have any nightmare like I did.

Aiden closes his eyes, looking contented as I keep stroking his hair. I feel like I could do this every night—wishing him good night and sweet dreams before he goes to bed.

It feels so natural to me. How strange.

When Aiden starts to drift off, Luke's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "You should eat too. You need to recover too, Cassie."

I look at my dinner prepared on the rolling food tray and sigh before pulling it closer to me. As he said, I need to recharge my energy too.

When I quietly finish my meal, the sudden pain in my head attacks me again, and I feel like throwing up .

Oh, God. Not again.

I choke on the food, and Luke rushes to me. He holds my shoulder and pats my back lightly. "Are you alright?"

Quickly, I nod. I don't want to cause another unnecessary drama, because Luke already looks very worried.

Nevertheless, the pain in my head is so powerful that I can't help but wince, touching it.

???

"She's dying. Call an ambulance!"

I heard people shouting madly. I tried to move my shaking fingers, but I couldn't do that even just to lift one.

Frantic whispers and gasps surrounded me. A tear slowly rolled down my cheek. Was I going to die?

What about him? What if he didn't make it?

Please, save him.

" No !" I abruptly sit up on my bed, panting, my chest rapidly heaving up and down.

I stare at the wall of my room. The clock shows that it has passed midnight. I remember getting back here after having the headache in Aiden's room.

"Cassie." Luke's voice makes me snap my head toward the side of my bed, and again, I find him holding my hand firmly, sitting beside me. Panic skates all over his face. "What's the matter? Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare again?"

My lips tremble, and I nod. Luke quickly gets up and sits on my bed, pulling me into a tight hug, making me freeze.

I don't think he can hold back anymore after seeing how traumatized I am. And I let him hug me—I don't push him away like I thought I would.

"Don't worry," Luke urges, tightening his hold on me. "It wasn't real. It doesn’t matter anymore. You're safe here, Cassie. With me. "

I feel like crying from hearing his sentence, like it's the only thing I need to hear. When we pull away, he stares into my eyes, trying to search for what's bothering me.

"Why are you here?" I whisper even though I don't want to make him leave. "Aren't you supposed to stay with Aiden?"

Luke shakes his head.

"Langston is watching over him. I'm worried about you. You acted strange back there. I knew that something was up," he says, concern laced in his voice. "You're shaking."

I am. I can't control my body. The nightmare felt so real, and it still frightens me to the core even though I'm already out of it.

"I—" I stutter, not knowing how to explain to him. I'm still afraid that I'm going to be pulled into the same darkness again, just like what happened in my nightmare.

I've never felt an agony so painful. It seems like everyone dear to me was taken away from me.

"I just—" I can't finish my sentence, my voice hoarse.

Luke turns to my nightstand to give me some water, but the jug is empty. My throat feels dry, and I might be dehydrated, my body covered in sweat.

"Let me get some water for you." Luke stands up, but I pull his hand, not wanting him to go.

"Stay," I stutter. I don't want him to leave me even for just a second. I still very much feel like I'm in my nightmare, where there was no one left for me, nothing left for me but death.

Luke's eyes soften, and he sits back beside my bed, caressing my hand.

"Okay," he says. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." His voice is so tender, and I believe him.

He brushes his fingers against my cheek.

"There's nothing to worry about. You can rest again." He helps me lie down on my bed again, and I sigh in relief.

My eyelids still feel heavy no matter how much I don't want to close my eyes—I'm just so tired, mentally .

But knowing that Luke is here with me, I try to convince myself that there's indeed nothing to worry about. That the nightmare won't come again.

And it doesn't.

???

I wake up again. The clock on the wall reads 3 AM. I thought that I slept for quite a while, but it turns out it hasn't even reached dawn.

Turning to my side, I find Luke asleep, sitting beside the bed, his head on the mattress, his hand still holding mine.

My heart sinks as I stare at him. He must be tired too, but he doesn't dare sleep on the bed with me.

Before I know it, tears pool in my eyes. My throat hurts, my chest tightening. As I look at him staying by my side like this, a strange feeling stirs inside me.

Somehow, it feels so familiar, like I've felt something like this before.

The tears fall onto my cheek, one by one. Why am I feeling like this? Why do I feel like he's indeed not just a temporary husband?

Why do I feel like I know him better? Why do I feel like we are indeed real? Just as he said.

Why do I feel like I need him so much?

Why? Why does my heart tell me that I miss him? Isn't he just an arrogant, cocky man who barged into my life?

But I've never felt a longing so deep in my heart. What kind of nonsense is this?

How can this feeling be so strong to the point that it hurts me? To the point that I start to question my feelings toward any other men before him.

I don't even realize that I'm already sobbing, and this wakes Luke up. When he looks up at me, he startles, seeing tears streaming down my face.

"Cassie?" he asks, worry crossing his expression again as he sees how much pain I'm in.

But it's not because of the nightmare. It's because of this longing inside me that I can't control. I don't know where it comes from.

Luke is stunned. He doesn't know what to say while I keep crying. "Cassie—"

I shake my head, signaling that he doesn't need to wonder what he should do to make me feel better, because there's only one answer to that.

"Kiss me." My voice is barely a whisper, pleading. I stare at him like my life depends on him. I need him so bad.

Luke freezes as if he can't believe what I said. It hasn't been long since the last time I told him to back off. But now, what am I doing?

His eyes glisten, filled with so many emotions. It seems like the feelings he's been trying to hold back finally explode too, because I see the unshed tears in his beautiful hazels.

Slowly, Luke hovers over me. He wipes my tears away and cups my cheeks. We stare into each other's eyes, drowning in each other for a while, before I close my eyes.

His soft lips graze mine, and I feel like I've just gotten my life back, as if all this time, he has taken my breath and now finally gives it back.

He kisses me softly, and I kiss him back. I know that we've kissed a few times before, but this one feels so like home.

This kiss washes away all my pain and worries.

I circle my arms around his neck as we continue to kiss, him on top of me. I don't care about all these questions in my head.

I don't care if I'm doing the right thing or not.

One thing for sure is that it's the very thing that my heart wants.