"Come on! You're seriously telling me that you've never seen Firefly?! How is that even possible?"
"It only lasted one season, how good could it have been?"
I sat there with my mouth hanging open. Was she serious!
"One perfect, amazing season. It was cancelled far too soon, but the story is timeless. They made a movie to bring it to a close, but the show was way better."
How? If she likes sci-fi, how has she not seen Firefly?!
"We're so watching it! Like now!"
"Wait, I thought we were watching Doctor Who."
The pout on her face was just too much. We'd already watched six episodes and it was getting late. She hadn't been hungry enough for lunch, which I could understand, but I wouldn't let her skip dinner too. So I made an executive decision.
"You know what? Let's put together a picnic and eat by the lake."
"Mmhhmm, I don't want to watch your show and suddenly you want to get me out of the house. I get it."
For a split second I thought she was serious, but the look on her face was pure mischievousness. She was so beautiful, even when she teased me. Was I really going to be able to let her go? How could I? But how could I ask her to stay when she's so passionate about her work? I knew how important it was to her, and understood far better after our talk.
She taught others that sex wasn't just about release. It was about being intimate and loving both them and yourself. I wish she felt comfortable enough to be totally honest about her story, more people would see how much she's had to deal with, more people would take the time to learn from his mistakes.
When I think about what he did to her, my blood boils. All I want to do is hold her, protect her, love her. It was taking some getting used to, but I was sure that I was in love with CeCe. It wasn't just her beauty, I knew that the minute I saw her. It went so much deeper. She's the first woman I've even contemplated spending my whole life with. I never thought I would or could. I was too selfish, and coveted my privacy. Even with my staff, being alone gave me peace. Now I can't fathom a life without her in it.
"I know you're just teasing, but if I had my way, you'd be in this house all the time."
I gave her a smirk and she threw a pillow at my head. Instinctively I reached for her and discovered something invaluable, CeCe is ticklish!
"Eli! I swear on everything good and holy, if you tickle me again I cannot be held accountable for my actions!"
That wasn't going to stop me. She held up her hand and ran away laughing. Oh she was so going to get it. We rounded the kitchen, I could easily have caught her, but the chase was too good to resist. Finally I grabbed her, picked her up, and threw her back on the couch. Her giggles were like music the my ears.
"Eli! Please!"
I stopped, looked in her eyes, and leaned in. I wanted her to make the next move, I wanted to give her control. It's what she needed, whether she knew it or not. My hand caressed her cheek, and slip behind her head. She pushed up and let her lips find mine. I took it slow, but she wanted more. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she pulled me down. I tried to keep my weight off of her, but she kept pulling. I leaned back and took her with me, setting her to straddle my lap. We never broke the kiss, and I was surprised when she started grinding into me. I set my hands on her hips to keep her still. I'm sure it was just a natural response, so I didn't want her to take things too fast again. It seemed that she took it the wrong way. She broke away and looked hurt.
"You don't want me now, do you? After hearing everything, how could you possibly want me?"
She started to get up and I held her down.
"I. Want. You. Trust me. You can feel how much I want you."
I bucked my hips so she could know just how badly. Her eyes went wide and she blushed. Oh my, that blush.
"Never question my need for you. Never question just how much I want you. The only thing I want more is for you to never feel pain again. I won't put you through what happened this morning. I can't."
"Eli..... I lo... I...."
My world stopped. She was trying to say that she loved me! It may sound cliché, but it was like time was frozen in that moment. I knew how I felt for her, it was insanity, after such a short time, but I knew.
"CeCe, I love you, too"
She looked up, surprised. After everything she'd been through, I understood why she would always question men and she could easily refuse another's love.
"I don't know what to say. These feelings are so much deeper than I ever thought possible. I teach others about love, but I hadn't realized that I didn't know what it really felt like. I thought I loved Paul, I know now that I never really did. I'd justified so much with that one word, so many years wasted, all just... waiting for you."
Tears glistened in her eyes and the only thing I could think to do was kiss her. I was struck with such an overwhelming desire to be with her. The slowness was a pleasurable agony, both of us seemingly afraid to speed up. Afraid that this wasn't really real. I hated to let her go, but I also knew we couldn't go much longer without eating dinner. When I pulled away, she let out a frustrated moan. I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Patience, there's plenty more where that came from. As much as I would love to make out like teenagers, we need to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."
Arousal swept through me, I was hungry alright! Breathe in, breathe out.
"Ugh, fine. What, pray tell, are you making me tonight?"
The smiled wide. Dammit! I loved that fucking smile.
"I thought you were cooking! Shit, well I guess I can find something."
"Mmhhmm, smart ass."
I almost brought up the cursing thing again, but I could tell she had said it on purpose. I'm gonna get her swearing like a sailor before she even knows it.
"Alright, how about you get off me so I can look to see what we have."
Rolling her eyes, she slid off my lap. I felt the loss of her heat like a strong wind. Self-control was what I needed now, I had to walk away, quickly.
"I have deli meat, I could make sandwiches."
"Sounds good."
Sweet, an easy meal. No cooking required. Once I put everything together, I checked to see if she wanted chips or anything, but she said she'd rather save room for ice cream, which I was all for.
"Your dinner, milady."
"Why thank you, kind sir."
I bowed and she laughed, then we decided to start a movie while we ate. All my plans of being outside today were thrown out the window, and I was fine with it.
"This is so good! I don't think I've ever tasted one made like this! What's in it?"
"Oh, okay. It's pretty standard. There's turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo..."
"MAYO!!!! Shit! That's eggs, like all egg! No wonder it tasted different, I've never had it. Shit!"
Oh fuck no! Fuck no!!! I tell her I love her, then try to kill her?!
"Where's your EpiPen?"
"Bag"
I ran to the bedroom and went through every bag in there, nothing.
"It's not there! Could it be in your cabin? How many do you have?"
"Um... I don't know. Need something, my throat is getting really scratchy, it'll close up next."
FUCK!!!!!
Okay, think! I picked up my phone and called Megan. She would know better than anyone. I didn't even let her speak when she picked up.
"MEGAN! CeCe is having an allergy attack and doesn't have her EpiPen. What do I do?!"
"Shit! Hospital, now!"
"Got it, I'll call you when we get there."
I rushed to pick her up and went to the door, realizing I had left my keys on the kitchen counter. Dammit! I was trying to keep it together, but her coughing was getting worse every second. I found my keys and had to drop her legs to pick them up. So I told her to wrap her legs around me, until we got out to the car. That helped a lot, I was able to open and close the door, then open the car. I put her in the passenger seat and buckled her in, then ran to the drivers side.
Thankfully my cabin is right by the camps private entrance, the one only grounds staff use. I know that the closest hospital is almost 20 minutes away, but fuck that, I'll be there in 10.
I called Luke, he's my second in command, to get him caught up. It was only 8pm, so there are plenty of things that could go wrong while I'm away. I told him to expect a call from Megan.
Her face was turning blue, this cannot be happening! Then I did something I hadn't done in a very long time, I prayed.
"God, I know I haven't been the best, or whatever, but CeCe is. Please! I can't lose her now! Help her!"
We got to the hospital and I ran her into the ER. When I got up the desk, I was completely freaking out. The nurse took one look at CeCe and called for her to be taken back. It was less than a minute and I was asked a ton of questions while they got her vitals.
"She has an egg allergy, but I was a fucking idiot and put mayo on her sandwich. At first she seemed fine, but her throat started closing up. I got her here as fast as I could."
"Has she taken anything for it yet?"
"No, she thought she had her EpiPen on her, but I couldn't find it."
"How much of the mayonnaise did she ingest?”
"Almost a whole sandwich, and my stupid ass self slathered it on. Fuck! Is she breathing?"
They put an oxygen mask on her and started an IV, but she was still looking blue. Dammit, how long can someone go without breathing? I'm sure she'd been trying to breathe from her nose, but by the way she looked, I didn't think it was working.
"Sir, we need you to step out into the waiting room. You've done all you can here, I'm sure the front desk would be thankful for any additional information you can give."
Shit!!! I didn't want to leave her, not like this, not fucking ever! I hadn't realized there were tears running down my cheeks until I lifted my hands to my face. I don't cry, ever, but for her... I guess I do.
Megan! I said I would call her. I pulled out my phone and fumbled to find her number, while I made my way to the waiting room.
"Eli!!! What is going on?! I'm gonna be the next one there, because I'm having a panic attack!"
"Meg, calm down! She's in with the doctors and they're trying to get the reaction under control. Now, I'm gonna text you Luke's number, since I'll be here for a while."
"No way!!! I'm coming over there! Where are you? I need to be with her!"
"Meg..."
"Eli! Where are you?!"
"I'll send that info with the text. You're going to have to be available for the camp though, you know very well that CeCe would be pissed if you dropped everything for her."
Silence. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head.
"Fine! But I'm heading there as soon as possible. Once dinner service is done and activities close up, I'm there!"
"I couldn't imagine you doing anything else. Oh, just thought of this! Ask Luke to open CeCe's cabin, see if you can find her EpiPen. Bring it with you and I'll see if we can get some more of her dosage. That'd be good, right?"
"Yes, it would be good, and I'm on it."
After hanging up, I sent off the text. Then I headed over to the main desk to find out what information they would need. But she was busy with another patient, so I waited. A woman cradling her hand was at the desk.
"Hey! I'm hurt too, why did she go back before me? It's not fair!"
"Ma'am, the woman who went back a few minutes ago was not breathing, you are. This is a triage, it is now, and has always been, how we do things."
I was pissed! Seriously? This lady thinks that an emergency is more important that her, what, broken finger?
"Excuse me, are you fucking kidding me? My girl's face was turning blue, and you think you should have been seen first? Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
Suddenly a very large man stepped up and looked ready to kick the shit out of me. It's a good thing I'm a very large guy too, bring it, asshole!
"You have no right to speak that way to my wife! So apologize then sit the fuck down."
"No way in hell am I apologising for the truth. And I'm in no place right now to deal with your attitude too, so why don't you and your bitch wife shut the fuck up?!"
That was probably not the best thing to say in that moment, but I was terrified for CeCe and they were pushing me over the ledge of my sanity. I stared the big asshole up and down, then I noticed he had a pretty nasty shiner. It hit me so fast that I couldn't help but bust out laughing.
"Oh my god, she punched you! Didn't she?! She broke her hand hitting you. What did you do? Fuck around?"
Oh shit.
He ran at me like an animal. I could hear the nurse calling for security, but at the moment all I could think about was letting go of all this rage that's been building up. The need to put Paul into the ground, almost killing CeCe because I didn't think about her allergy, and plain old pent up aggression.
Security ran in and pulled us apart. A couple of nurses checked us out and deemed us fit to go. Then we were thrown out. Banned from re-entry! This just made me more upset. What was I supposed to do now! I called Megan again.
"Eli?! Any news?"
"Um, not exactly. There's news, but not about CeCe."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I got kicked out of the hospital for getting in a fight. I'm not going to get into it right now, and I know what I said a bit ago, but I need you here. Now. Please."
"I'm on my way!"