Sally's Secret

Chapter 25

Virgil entered the biocontainment room, dodging equipment and plastic-covered scientists as he made his way to Maria's bed. She was lying on her side, her face turned away, coughing. He placed his hand on her exposed shoulder. She startled. His gloves were probably cold against her fevered skin. She turned and her eyes behind the glasses lit up with recognition. She managed a controlled smile, taking care lest she disturb her bruised cheeks too much.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said gently. "Do you want to come warm me up or are you comfortable there?"

She sat up immediately. He grabbed the sheet he used to prevent skin-to-plastic contact, parked himself in the recliner next to the hospital bed, and then threw the sheet over himself to cover from neck to toe. Maria sat in his lap and leaned over to rest her side in the crook of his arm, which he wrapped around her back protectively. When she coughed, he could feel the gut-wrenching strain of her muscles.

"I think we overdid it with you talking for a while," he whispered. He used his free hand to smooth a few errant strands of hair out of her face. "So I'm going to talk for a bit and you don't have to say anything, okay? There will be time for talking when you're better."

She drew a deep breath and nodded against his chest, her coughing already becoming more shallow and less frequent.

"I love you, Maria."

She obviously didn't care that he'd just told her she didn't need to talk. She croaked back, "I love you too, Virgil." cough, cough.

"Shhhh," he whispered. "Then I'm a very lucky guy. I should have said it sooner, but I didn't want you to think it was just some empty platitude that I didn't think long and hard about. It's not some whim that I'm going to get over. You're not some whim I'm going to get over." He decided to reveal just how long he'd been attracted to her, but it took a little bit of explanation. "You should know that everyone back on Tracy Island knows about your singing now—"

She started to move like she was going to sit up, possibly object. He hugged her to discourage movement. "Shhh. Be still. It's okay. Last month, no one could have paid or blackmailed Gordon and Alan enough to become the Blue Dweebs and do what they did just a little while ago. If they could do that here, then you can sing and dance whenever you want at home. You don't have to hide. I'm telling you now because I also have to confess that I've been spying on you for quite a while, way before anyone else knew—well, everyone except Kayo. Security is her job, so she keeps an eye on everything.

"Anyway, you know how Captain VonTrapp fell in love with Fraulein Maria when she sat on a pine cone at the dinner table?" She would surely understand his Sound of Music reference without any explanation. "Well, I loved you from the first time I saw you dancing in the kitchen, singing some silly song about tacos raining from the sky. It was such a pure expression of joy. I can't get enough of that look on your face when you smile, so I watched you every chance I got."

He heard her sniffle and wished the plastic suit was gone so he could feel the warm tears against his skin like he did that night in the moonlight. "Shhh. Don't cry, honey."

Cough. "It's happy tears," she assured him. Cough, cough, sniffle.

"I'm glad it's happy, but we need to stop that coughing for a while and maybe get some sleep." He reclined the chair to its fullest and gently guided her down with him. Once there, he released her so she could find what was comfortable for her, apart from his need to have her close. She nuzzled in under his chin and sighed dreamily. He chose to ignore the copious medical tethers attached to her, his suit's crinkling plastic, and its annoying barrier between them and concentrated on instead on her closeness. Just like precision gears.