The Man Who Saved Me

Time to turn in soon, thought Adam.

“No, it’s not. But who is this?”

“Malia. And Carlos. We need to talk to you, Dr. Dreamboat. And if I don’t like what you have to say, I’m kicking you right in the balls.”

Adam was bemused.

He had met Malia and Carlos, of course. Malia was a spitfire, though he had seen the compassion, too. The brusque exterior, he suspected, was mostly to compensate for her delicate and almost ethereal beauty.

Carlos was a gentle giant. That might be a cliché, but it truly was the best way to describe him.

Why were they so angry with him?

“I haven’t done anything wrong!”

The denial was instinct. He’d said that when he’d been caught stealing cookies, too.

He’d always done something wrong, though.

“Oh, shut up, Malia. Adam, this is Carlos. Look, this is going to be a very awkward conversation. It might also take some time. Do you have it?”

Adam, still bemused, agreed that he did.

As the conversation progressed, the bemusement turned into a mixture of delight, surprise, determination and a happiness so strong that he had never felt anything like it before.

By the time he hung up, Adam felt lighter than air.

He felt like he could leap and fly.

Shonali needed him. She might not have said it, but she did need him.

And he could finally admit that he needed her, too. He didn’t have to sacrifice his own one chance at real happiness as he tried to save the world.

He could let himself be happy, too.

He could go home and find Shonali, and he could give her what the people who knew her best claimed that she needed, but would not ask for.

He could give her himself, and trust that she would give him everything.

It would only take a couple of weeks to get everything arranged and leave.

He was going to do it. He was going to leave, and go back to Shonali – because he needed her, and it looked like she needed him, too.

*****

“I said I’d go out, Mal. Isn’t that enough?”

Shonali was sulking. She was trying not to, but she felt as if she hadn’t slept in ages.

Malia was trying to fix the effects of that with makeup, and it wasn’t working all that well.

It wouldn’t have mattered, except that Malia insisted that they both look good as they went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant that she’d had her eye on for a while.

Shonali knew that she was being a bad friend. She just needed a little more time.

“Come on, Shon. I’m not asking for all that much.”

Shonali knew that, too.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. Okay, let’s try that powder-based concealer and this liquid foundation, with that compact on top of it. Then we’ll try that highlighter and some bronzer. That should help.”

Malia cheered up and nodded.

“Excellent idea,” she declared, and got to work.

In half an hour, they were both dolled up and on their way to the restaurant.

Malia seemed keyed up. Shonali wondered, finally and belated, just what was going on.

When they reached the restaurant and got to the door, Malia gave her name and they were led to their table quite quickly.

Malia suddenly got up.

“Need to powder my nose. Order a nice wine,” said Malia, and suddenly got up and bolted.

Shonali stared at the wine list, wondering what the hell was going on.

“May I have this seat?”

The voice.

Shonali’s heart nearly stopped beating when she heard it.

She would know it anywhere.

She’d been dreaming it for so long.

Was she going completely insane?

She squeezed her eyes shut. She was not going to have a hallucination. She didn’t do things like that.

“Shonali?”

Boy, her hallucinations sure were insistent.

Shonali looked up, trying to make it seem casual, because she was sure there was nobody there.

Oh, great, her hallucination affected the eyes as well as the ears.

But boy, she did it well. He looked so handsome!

Though a little skinny, and a lot tanned.

“Shonali?” said the hallucination again, and this time, it sat next to her, reaching for her hand.

She felt the warmth and marveled at the powers of her mind.

Maybe she should be an X-Man.

X-Woman.

X-Person.

The hand squeezed.

“Oww, damn it!”

“Shonali, it’s me,” said her imagination, which looked and sounded and felt and smelled remarkably like Adam, who was obviously not there.

He was in Uganda.

Something clicked.

“Adam?”

“Yes, of course it’s me. Adam. Shonali?”

“Adam!”

She squealed and jumped on him, hugging him so tight that she was surprised that there were no bones broken. She felt him squeeze her, too, and breathed in his scent. She felt his heart beating against hers.

She felt the world come alive again. She saw colors again. She felt everything again.

“You’re not a hallucination!”

“Of course I’m not. And neither are you,” said Adam, and she heard the raw emotion in his voice.

They kissed, long and hard, as if they would never let each other go.

It felt like being home, at long last.

“Adam… What’re you doing here?”

Adam smiled and reached to cup her face in his hands.

“I missed you. I was going crazy, missing you. Apparently, so were you. Your friends decided to take matters into their own hands because we are, in their words, a couple of bloody stubborn idiots who don’t know what’s good for us.”

Shonali grinned.

“Oh, Mal!”

Adam nodded.

“Yeah, she sure was forceful. So I packed up and came back, because I needed to be back with you. Because I needed you. I need you, Shonali. I love you.”

Shonali felt everything in the world slow down as he said the words she had longed to hear for so long.

She couldn’t help the tear that slid down her face.

“Don’t cry,” whispered Adam.

Shonali shook her head.

“I didn’t think you loved me. I’ve loved you… I loved my image of you for so long. But then I met you, and I realized that my picture of you didn’t do you justice. I fell in love with you, the man that you are, Adam. I need you. But I thought you needed me to let you go.”

Adam smiled tenderly and kissed her again.

“I guess we’re both a couple of bloody stubborn idiots,” said Adam, making her laugh, though she couldn’t stop the tears, still.

“I guess we are.”

“We can be idiots together.”

Shonali nodded.

“We can,” she agreed happily.

She knew that this was just a beginning. But as far as beginnings went, it was one of the best, she thought as they kissed again.

“Why don’t we go home? We can get pizza on the way. Carlos and Malia can have the table,” said Adam, obviously unwilling to stop touching her.

She didn’t want him to stop, either.

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” she agreed.

They held hands as they walked out, waving to Malia and Carlos on the way, and left.

Together, as they had both finally realized they were meant to be.

The end.