In the early morning, we were in the shower together. It was the best way to get washed. That way, I could get washed myself, and monitor Sana as he got clean. One of my greatest fears is of him drowning in the bath. He could feel weak, fall asleep, pass out, and drown. No control. Or, he could fall in the shower. So, we'd quickly determined this was the best way. He has a shower stool as well, and can sit down if he gets too tired.

I was washing his back with a light blue loofa. We were taking turns. He'd just washed my back. I made sure to make these showers quick. I didn't want him to get too tired. Keeping this in mind, I put some purple shampoo which smelled of lavender in my hand, and began working it into his hair. I washed my hands in the gentle current of water, and applied some rose hip shampoo to my own hair.

With the purple suds in his hair still, he turned to me. He was smiling, his pearly teeth glinting in the light. I brought my shampoo covered hands to his hips, and pressed him to me. He giggled. He was so warm on my body. My hands searched his back, feeling up his lean muscles and skinny frame. His hands found my back and began doing the same. They landed between my shoulder blades, his fingertips meeting there. He held me this way, his nose smelling my neck, his warm breath all over it.

I breathed in his fresh lavender smell. I'd smelled it a million times, his hair always full of that scent. My hands slowly glided over the slopes of his back, over and over, drinking him in, his soft skin, so clean.

"That tickles," he whispered into my neck.

That's all I needed. My fingertips descended on his back, a flurry of tickles. His back arched and he burst into giggles, wiggling and twisting. My fingers flew over his waist, finding that curved spot which makes him laugh the most. He gripped my back and he laughed so much in my ear, jerking this way and that.

"Oh," he said, his tone entirely different. I knew this tone. I stopped tickling him immediately. He straightened up, and I saw it. His eyes were drooping. In a moment, I was holding him and his eyes closed fully. His head rolled down, his lips parted.

I pressed him to me again, and reached behind me with one arm. I found the shower head attachment, and took it down from its hook.

"Keep your eyes shut tight. I'm going to wash the shampoo out of your hair," I said, gently. He nodded, and I saw his eyes crinkle as he tightened them closed. My lips found these crinkles, and I kissed them as softly as butterfly wings. He smiled so sweetly at this. I smoothly waved the shower head attachment over his head, making sure the water ran clear on every part of his hair. Satisfied, I rose it above my own head and did the same. This always was the last part of our shower. I turned off the water, and thought to myself for a moment.

I slid the shower curtain away, and wondered how I was going to get him out of the shower. He was falling asleep, something wrong. I wanted to get him some help, figure out what was going on. But first, I had to get him out of the shower safely. We were in a tub, so we had to clear the side.

My head nodded once. I'd thought of a solution. So carefully, I turned us around. Slowly, I sat him down on his shower stool. He leaned against the wall of the shower, and I hoped it wasn't too cold. He didn't seem to mind, his eyes still closed. Listening carefully, I could tell his breaths were ones of sleep, though he might not be asleep just yet.

I carefully stepped out of the shower, and grabbed his wrists. This was the most dangerous part, I'd determined. As I breathed in, preparing, I pulled, and luckily, he wasn't asleep yet. His eyes opened briefly, and he stood up. I pulled him the rest of the way to me, embracing him, our chests touching. Like this, he stepped over the side of the bathtub, onto the bath mat.

"I've got you," I assured him. "I won't let you fall." On the bath mat, still embracing, he pecked my neck. I held his face in my hands, and drew him in. We kissed, and I was so grateful the dangerous part was over.

I brought him over to the toilet, and sat him down on the closed lid. Now he was safe. I brought over a mint green towel, and began rubbing him down. Cutely, I wrapped his hair in the towel. As he sat there, I dried myself with another towel, squeezing water from my hair at the end. To finish off, I helped put clean underwear on him, and he seemed to be resisting sleep in order to help me. He looked pretty in his pink, lacey underwear. I put on some new black boxer briefs myself.

I led him back into our room, and sat him down on our bed. I swung our closet open, and found a pretty, white dress with rainbows of different kinds of flowers all over it for him to wear. It was a flowy thing, with double spaghetti straps, nice and cool looking. I brought it over to him.

"Can you raise your arms?" I asked, knowing he might feel weak.

He slowly shook his head, his eyes closed the whole time. He was so tired.

"That's okay, I'll help you." I bunched the dress up, and got his head through it. I pulled an arm through, and then the other. I snugly pulled the dress down over his body, and it looked as lovely as I thought it would. I guided his arms through the straps.

"Thank you, this dress feels nice," he breathed.

I sighed and took in the sight of him. His hair was damp and messy, he was so clean, and rainbows of flowers offset the color of his hair.

I darted over to the corner of the room and grabbed his purse. In a flash, I was back, and started to test his blood sugar. I pricked his finger, and took a tiny blood sample on the strip that I got ready. I slid it into the machine, and we waited patiently. The number came back, and it was ninety-eight. Such a healthy number. Listening to his breaths, I knew it couldn't be a breathing issue. I prepared his blood testing kit for next time, and breathed a sigh of relief while I did.

He really must have just gotten too tired in the shower. So lucky.

Gently, I put my arm under his knees, and then my hand met the top of his back. I picked him up, pressing him to me as always, and laid him down on his side of the bed, the one nearest to our bathroom. The yellow and pink covers were still undone from when he'd gotten out of bed. Now I draped them over him, making him all cozy. It had to feel nice, being all clean with new clothes on, being all warm again. He made the most satisfied noise, so loud. I started laughing, and he laughed, too.

"Come to bed, too. Let's lay together," he said, sounding like a purring cat, so happy.

"In a minute, I'll get dressed first," I answered, still laughing a little.

"Okay. Please hurry. I miss you."

Aww. I made sure to. I found a black sweatshirt in one of our dresser drawers and pulled it over my head. In the bottom drawer, I found some matching sweatpants and put those on, too. Good enough for right now. Quickly, I went to my side of the bed and dove in.

He giggled, rolling over to face me.

"Uh uh," I mock scolded him, "the other way." I had a plan.

He turned back over with jumping movements. My arm wrapped around his belly, pulling him to me. He made another deeply satisfied noise. My face met his wet hair, breathing in his lavender scent, so sweet and syrupy. My arm bent, and my hand slid up to his chest. With every one of his breaths, it moved out and in, loving him. Like this, we fell asleep.

A knock on our door woke me. In a moment, I knew who it was.

"Te-chan, is everything alright? It's past noon. You two should eat." My mom.

I didn't want to wake Sana by calling back to her. Thinking quick, I carefully slid out of the bed. Loud as I dared, I tiptoed on the carpet to the door and opened it.

"Is everything okay?" My mom reiterated, looking concerned.

"Yes, Sana was tired after showering, so settled him down for a nap. I fell asleep, too."

"Ohh, okay. I'm glad everything is alright. But, he shouldn't have missed a meal, because of his new medication. I'll make you some lunch."

I had an idea as soon as she said 'lunch'. I nodded. "I don't think Sana could have eaten. He was so tired that his eyes were closed the whole time I got him dressed. But, he might be okay enough now. That was hours ago. Can you make us some bento? I wonder if we can eat in the garden."

"Oh, like a picnic? I know I have a picnic blanket somewhere. Ah, but don't let him lay down and eat. That's asking for trouble."

"Okay, I'll make sure he's okay enough to sit up. Thank you, mom."

"You're welcome. I planted some more tomatoes this morning. You can check on them."

"I will. I'll show them to him. I bet he'll be impressed." I couldn't help but grin. She was smiling, too.

"Do you think he'll like them? I can't wait to hear his opinion when I get to pick them later this summer. I bet he knows a lot about tomatoes." She was grinning now, too. "I'm so happy he'll be my son-in-law. He knows so much about cooking. We have so much to talk about." She was absolutely glowing, talking about this. Her hands pressed together in her joy as she spoke. It made my heart overflow with pride and love. Before I knew it, I was hugging her. She paused for a moment, surprised. Her arms wrapped around me, though, and she was hugging me tightly, too.