Dream

Adrian slowly opens his eyes, as the gentle chirping of birds awakes him from his deep slumber.

My eyes squint as the sunlight hits me. Rolling off of my side to shield my face, I notice the familiar ceiling. I'm back home. More importantly, I'm still alive.

Exhaling with relief, I remove a wet and sloppy towel that's been sitting on my forehead. I raise my hand and stretch my fingers completely. My eyes focus in and out of the fingers and the rendition of "The Creation of Adam" painted on the top of the ceiling. I make a ball out of my fist and clench them together hard. The pain makes me feel human and it puts me at ease as a smile breaks out on my face. 

"Just a bad dream, huh...", I whisper to myself.

I get up and rest my back against the white headboard on the bed. My vision is blurry from sleeping for God knows how long. My eyes search around the room, while I rub them, trying to figure out the things in the room. I look around and everything seems normal, before I see the sight of Anita on the right side of the king-sized bed. This makes me recoil, but I regain composure as I make it out that she's actually sleeping.

Anita is sitting on a steel chair right next to the bed, and she has a cozy home outfit on. Her brown hair is a mess, not even in a bun, getting all over her face and there are dark circles under her eyes. Seems like she was busy taking care of me all night, seeing the weary look on her face. She's dozing off, with her head slowly going down as a trickle of drool escapes the corner of her mouth. This vulnerable sight of her, makes me smile.

"She also has an innocent and sweet side to her, huh...", I think to myself.

Her head rocks back and forth as she tries her best not to fall asleep. For a split-second, she falls asleep, and her head drops down, before she jerks herself awake, letting out a cute noise in the process. Anita cleans her mouth with her sleeve and looks around the room before our eyes meet. 

"ah~"

Anita lets out a tiny gasp and the tired expression on her face eases up as she sees that I've woken up. Without hesitation, Anita lunges at me, and embraces me hugging me tightly as she bursts into tears,

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so soo sorry!!~", Anita apologizes profusely. She chokes on her words as she says, 

"I'm never going to force you *sniff* like that...I promise."

A sigh escapes my mouth as I run my fingers through her messy hair. I should give her a proper oiling head massage once I get up and running.

"You promise? You're never going to do anything like that again right, honeybug? ", I ask with a concerned tone.

Anita shakes her head up and down as she's still wrapped her hands around me and her head is pushing into my abs. I bring her face up with the help of my hands cupping her face, and I see her face; It has ALL the symptoms of an emotionally wrecked human being: her nose is runny, with fluid going over her lips and down to her chin. Her tears are mixed with it as they make their way down her pretty face. Her lips are shaking and her chin is quivering. My heart melts at this defenseless sight of Anita. I sigh and I inhale sharply. Right as I'm about to forgive her, I stop dead in my tracks.

I stop myself and trace back my steps. She looks the most vulnerable she's ever been in her entire life. It hurts me yet it brings me joy to see her crying, in contrast to her nasty and smug face that she showed me that night, after beating me into submission. A faint smirk spreads across my face as a sinister idea sprouts inside my brain.

-

"Hey, Anita."

Anita nods slightly, to show that she's listening.

"If you ever do something like that ever again,"

Adrian leaves a brief pause to heighten the tension.

"I won't hesitate to divorce you."

-

Anita's entire expression changes at the mention of the word, "Divorce". Her eyes snap wide open, and her face seems to freeze instantly. I can feel something inside of her break at that very moment. She looks at me with an extremely worried look, before she takes a big gulp, and nods.

"I...I understand...y..you could've died...a..and it would've been my fault...I won't ever force you again...y..you have my wo-*sniffle* word..", Anita states with a teary voice, almost feeling like her throat would give out at any point.

Seeing that I finally broke her, I smile internally. This is payback.

I heave a relieved sigh, as I turn over and grab a clean dry towel from the nightstand. I hold her face up with my hand around my chin. She closes her eyes and mouth, surrendering herself to my care for a brief moment as there's radio silence in the room.

Anita finally pulls away from Adrian and gets off top of him. She adjusts her fluffy slippers on her feet and straightens her cute Hello Kitty top, as she stands on the side of the bed next to him. She's standing with her hands clasped in front, showing submission. The couple is gazing at each other with love in the air. It looks as if they've both fallen in love with each other for the first time all over again. Anita has a smile on her face, but deep down she's hurt. She knows she deserved it, but she didn't know it would sting her THIS bad. She has no other option but to take responsibility and take it on the chin.

Suddenly a loud growl resonates from Adrian's stomach, breaking the silence in the room. 

"D-Don't worry, I'll cook you up something nice, okay?", Anita stutters as she moves around the bed, and out of the room.

-

"Say aaah~", Anita incites me with an adorable voice.

I munch on the pancakes. A bit of the honey syrup drips down my chin. Anita cups her hand, catching a dribble of it before licking it off her fingers while giving me a seductive look.

"How is it?", Anita questions with a curious face.

I finish swallowing the pancakes in my mouth with a gulp, before answering,

"It's pretty nice. I didn't know pancakes were your specialty.", I compliment her cooking.

Her face lights up in excitement as she takes pride in her cooking. She closes her eyes, puffs her chest out, and places her hand on it.

"See? I can cook too, if I put my mind to it, hmph!~", she proclaims with confidence and a huge grin.

Anita slowly opens one of her eyes and sees Adrian adoring her with a slight grin. Her excitement dies down quickly, as the sickly sight of her husband in bed reminds her that SHE'S the reason for Adrian's illness.

With the plate empty and sitting on the nightstand now, Anita settles herself right next to Adrian, with her back against the headboard. She coils her hands around his, intertwining her fingers before placing her head on his shoulders. Adrian returns the favor by holding her tight, comforting and reassuring her. The couple's bond deepens even further, as they share this heartfelt moment in complete silence, with everyone being happy.