In the bed, I stared into his eyes. The light from outside cast everything in a dark blue, like we were under the ocean. It was barely there, but I could see him clearly. He was smiling a little, his eyes so happy. The side of his face laid there without a pillow, gazing at me the same way as I was at him.

His fingers found my cheek, and he sighed as he touched my skin. The light reflected off his teeth as he smiled that smile which I adore. His eye crinkles appeared, and he pressed his lips together, then smiled at me again. I was speechless, his beauty was making me breathless. My precious love, he was everything to me.

With effort, I pressed my cheek more into his hand. His eyebrows went up, his mouth parting. He breathed deeply, and slid closer to me. Our bellies pressed together, and he wrapped his arm around me. With a sneaky smile, looking upwards, he found my arm at my side, and then extended it around his own waist. He grinned at this, and let out a chuckle. I laughed with him, he was so adorable. His hand slipped up between my shoulder blades, holding me securely.

I yawned, and heard him make a noise. My eyes opened again, just in time to see him catch my yawn. I smiled so big. He was so cute. He made that sneaky smile again, then it went bashful as he slid his face closer to mine. He closed his eyes, and like a dream he was puckering his lips to me, coming closer slowly. Delicately, they met my lips and their softness was like feathers brushing my skin. Over and over, so lightly, they met my mouth, almost teasing. But, I couldn't have been happier to meet them like this.

His hand on my back got firmer, pressing me closer to him, our chests touching. My fingers on the small of his back began to tickle there, bending the tips of my fingers, the most I could do. His breath got quicker, and his head moved slightly forward, getting more into the kiss. His hand stroked upwards, going to the back of my neck, brushing there, and entwined with my hair. His fingers got lost in it, and brought my face closer to his. Like this, his tongue slipped into my mouth.

I let out a slow moan. His long breath released into my mouth at this. His tongue licked the side of mine, and I felt my toes curl hard under the blanket. I let out a much louder moan as they curled, my desire like a shockwave going up my body. His tongue exited, and he licked my lower lip teasingly, and kissed the side of my mouth. Tiny kisses radiated downward, on my jawline, then under my chin, trailing to my neck, where he put his entire mouth. He began sucking at it, and my breaths came in rushes with my voice, out of control now. My nails found his back, digging in a little.

He let out a loud moan at this next to my ear. This caused another wave of incredible feeling to shiver up my body, making another even more powerful moan escape my throat.

"Sana," he whispered, breathing hard. He was so beautiful, his eyebrows peaked and his eyes pinched at the edges a little, his mouth parted in his desire.

"I want you," I whispered back, breathing hard, too.

In a burst, he pressed me to himself so hard. Both of his arms wrapped around me, lifting me a little from my side position on the bed. One of his strong hands was in my hair again, and his leg extended over my legs. We were completely wrapped around each other.

"I love you," he said into my ear with such sureness, and began to kiss the top of it.

"I love you, too," I breathed.

He settled back in front of me, smiling. His hands went to my cheeks, and they were so warm. He held them dearly for a moment, and with a grin, he put one on my shoulder. He pushed, and I rolled over on to my back. I watched him shift himself, and he was kneeling on either side on my thighs. His hands swept up my hips, to my stomach, my chest, and landed on either side of my shoulders. His beautiful face lowered to mine, and like flower petals touching there, his lips landed on my lips. His hand descended, finding my belly and tickling downward.

I gasped into his mouth as his fingers found their mark.

"If you can have sex, then I'd say it's about time for you two to go home." Yokohara-sensei was visiting us the morning after our late night intimacy. Surprising me and making me blush like a tomato, Tetsu had excitedly told her what we'd done last night.

"Really?!" Tetsu gasped, almost standing up from his chair in excitement.

She looked deeply amused. "Yes, think about it. How hard does your heart have to pump in order to reach climax? There were no problems, right? That is a major improvement. It's an incredible improvement, in fact."

"Sana reached climax three times, actually. That's so true. That's why I told you." Tetsu's hand went over his mouth as he grinned so much.

I blushed even harder.

Yokohara-sensei smiled at me, so pleased. "That's even better. I'll tell Harada-sensei about your progress. I'd say the medication regimen we have you on is doing even better than we'd hoped. To make this much of a difference... It's only a matter of time until you make more improvements with what you can do." She eyed Tetsu sharply. "But having sex was very risky. I wouldn't have recommended it, but I guess you can't stop newlyweds. However, this time I'd say the risk paid off."

Tetsu looked so cute, smiling so much that his eye crinkles were there and his eyes were almost closed in his joy. "When do you think we could go home? When Harada-sensei says?"

"Yes. I'm sure he'll want to observe Sana's interaction with the medication for a little longer, but he'll be excited about this progress. He'll want to create a plan for when you're at home. I heard he wants Sana to start physical therapy? I think it's a good idea. It'll strengthen more than his muscles. It'll be good for his heart function, too. There's exercises you can do at home, too."

"What kind of exercises?" Tetsu asked. He leaned in closer on the other side of the bed from her.

"Oh, simple things. You can take his wrist and straighten his arm out, and make half circles, kind of an arc. You can take his ankle and foot and bend his knee and have him press as much as he can on your hand. Similarly, you can make the knee bend up to his torso, but that one can hurt a bit so I don't recommend that one right now. More so, the first two are good beginner exercises. We can have a physical therapist come and teach you."

I pressed my lips together. Little blips were arcing around my stomach. My displeasure was in every one. My cheeks went even hotter. Before I could stop myself, my unhappy feelings came out.

"I don't want those exercises."

Yokohara-sensei sighed, her face became annoyed. I'd forgotten how well she knows me. I looked away from her, and found Tetsu's sad expression. Oh no.

He took my hand in his. My heart immediately softened at his touch. "Please can we try them? Just a few. I want you to feel better." He sweetly scratched the palm of my hand over and over, making my lip poke out at his cuteness. He was convincing me.

"Are you embarrassed, or what is it?" Yokohara-sensei asked. She sighed deeply. "I wouldn't be surprised. You've always been so proud. Are exercises beneath you?"

"No."

Tetsu matched my poked out lip with his own, making me laugh. He laughed with me, and I was enchanted by his face.

He smiled so beautifully to me, the white light of the window making him look ethereal, catching the baby hairs in his hair. "It'll be okay. I won't hurt you. We'll go slow. I'll make it fun. There's nothing to worry about."

I smiled back at him. He made everything better, always. "Okay."

"Gosh, Tetsu, where were you ages ago? Treating him would have been so much easier with you around."

He laughed, and my eyes widened, enjoying him so much. Yokohara-sensei was laughing with him. He could put anyone at ease. I knew that if he hadn't broken the tension and convinced me, that this conversation between Yokohara-sensei and I would have gone much differently.

We were no strangers to her yelling at me and me reacting like an arrogant teenager. I knew exactly where my feelings had been going, but Tetsu had miraculously stopped it. The truth was, yes, I was scared. I didn't want to have to do physical therapy. It was another descent into the unknown, another progression in my illness that I wasn't prepared for. It was yet another step down from being normal, or what I called normal. What was normal anymore? But staring at Tetsu, his smile. He could take me anywhere, and I knew that I'd be safe. That erased any bad feeling I could possibly have.

"I heard you two are going to have a wedding?" Yokohara-sensei asked, her tone completely changing. It was tinged in honey. "Can I be invited? Where will it be?"

I looked back at her, and she was smiling so warmly, so proud.

"Oh, it'll be in Hawaii. I'm unsure who will be able to make that journey. But, if you think you can make it, we'd love to have you there. You're family to Sana. It would mean so much if you could come. Maybe we can figure out a way to get you there, too. We're currently making a plan to get my family there, and Sana's guests, too." He squeezed my hand twice as he was speaking, making happy blips in my tummy.

"I can make it. Tell me when it is, and I'll buy a plane ticket. Oh, I'm so excited. I've known you for so long. I'm so pleased you think of me as family. I've thought of you as family for a long time. But, don't tell my practice that! That breaks the patient/doctor relationship!" She started laughing, and Tetsu joined her. I was smiling so much.

Tetsu calmed down. "We haven't set a date yet, but it might be soon. I know Hawaii gets a little hotter during the summer. I did some research. I was surprised, the temperature doesn't fluctuate much. I thought for sure it would get very hot in the summer. But, I don't want it to get too hot. I'm thinking about Sana in this. I want him to be as comfortable as possible." He smiled at me as he said this, his eye crinkles there the whole time. I loved them so much. They seemed to be getting deeper.

"It should still be mild in Summer," I acknowledged. "But, you're right. April in particular is a good month. Since we'll be in Hilo, if we plan it right, we could even go to the Merrie Monarch Festival. It's my favorite time of the year. You'll love it since you love dance. It's a hula competition. I'd love to go there with you. And since April is so mild, it'll be so pleasant to get married on the beach. There'd be nothing to worry about."

He gasped, his hands going to the sides of his face. "Oh! We should shoot for April! Wah, I can't believe we're talking about this. I've dreamed about it. I want to go to that dance festival with you, too! It sounds magical."

"Ohh, Tetsu..." I sighed, grinning so much. My blush was back. He was smiling so beautifully. I wanted to hug him and have him tell me more about what he'd dreamed. My mind was full of images of us sitting in front seats, watching the hula competition together. My toes ached to feel the soft sand, as we sat together on my favorite beach watching the waves. I wanted to feel the fresh ocean air as his face wandered in towards mine for a lovely kiss.

"But it's already April. Will you be able to rent a venue? What about booking the hotel for yourselves and your guests? I bet with that festival going on, it might be really hard to find rooms. Or do you mean next year?" Yokohara-sensei asked, bringing us back to reality.

"What a downer," I sighed. Tetsu laughed, making me smile again. This made Yokohara-sensei laugh, too.

She shifted in her chair, her expression curious. "Really, though, Sana, I'm surprised. You're speaking so well. Every time I came in to see you, you were asleep. You're really turning around in this. It's night and day. I bet you'll be back and kicking before we know it, and physical therapy will help so much in that."

"Good, I'm glad," I sighed. I really hoped what she was saying was true.

She looked at her watch and jumped. "Oh no. Is it that late? I was having so much fun talking to you two. I have to go see other patients! I'll be back, though. I'm going to talk to Harada-sensei soon and let him know about your progress. I'm sure he'll say he wants you released soon, but don't take my word for it. Talk to you later, okay? And Tetsu, it was so nice seeing you again!" She got up and started to gather her things.

"It was so nice to see you, too. Oh, I'm so happy. See you soon," he said, smiling to her.

She bowed to us, and left so quickly.

He got a sneaky expression on his face. I blushed. I knew what that smile was for. In a flash, he'd lifted my blanket up and slid into my bed. His hand rolled me on my side, and we were nose to nose. I was smiling so much that my cheeks hurt. His eyebrows went up adorably.

"How much time do we have?" He whispered to me, his voice almost purring. I wanted to wiggle in my happiness. "When do you think the nurse will come next? You know, since Yokohara-sensei was so happy about us being intimate...do you want to again?" His eyebrows bounced up and down suggestively, making me laugh again.

I didn't think it was possible to be this happy. We were going to my home to get married, at his suggestion. He was inviting guests to our wedding without asking, so excited. Even getting married to him seemed like an impossibility, no way that could be real, but it was real. The man I loved the most in the world and had for so many years. Now he was asking me if we could have a quickie like we were teenagers afraid that one of our moms was going to come home and ruin the fun.

"Just come here," I laughed again, and he laughed with me, taking me in his arms.

I was the happiest person in the world.