Taylor slowly woke up, blinking and frowning. She could not move her legs, not even her fingers; she could hardly move her head. She felt all numb, but this time, it seemed like the pain in her kidneys was gone.

Her drowsy eyes scanned the room, which was all white, from the floor to the ceiling. There was a television in front of her, resting on an old green plastic table. She turned her head to the left with difficulty, and noticed an empty armchair, and she guessed that someone had been sitting on it recently, due to the folds on the fabric. Right next to it stood a bedside table, on which she could see three empty paper cups and a full bottle of water. She turned her head to the right and saw a weird machine with green curves moving; there were not any straight lines. Before it stood a tall iron bar to which was hanged an IV bag, which was linked to one of her veins through a catheter. The needle was covered with a band aid. She raised her eyes and saw a long bar above her head, with a handle.

There was a wooden door on the right, next to the television, along it was a long window with curtains. Taylor was obviously in a hospital, but why? She did not remember coming here, and she could hardly recall what happened before she passed out.

Two figures standing in the corridor near the window caught her eyes. The first one belonged to a tall man wearing a long white coat; his hair was black and he had slanting eyes. He was holding a clipboard, and a stethoscope was hanging to his neck. The second one belonged to a man, who also was tall, with short brown hair wearing a bright white shirt tucked into blue jeans. Taylor had to crane her neck to see his head: his cheeks were red, and his face was drenched in tears.

John.

Taylor wanted to scream his name and wave at him, just to let him know that she was alright. She struggled to make a sound and tried to sit up, holding herself to the handle above her head. But when she did, her head began to spin.

John wiped off a tear from his cheekbone, before it could roll down and tickled the corner of her lips. He sighed deeply, shaking his head as another wave of tears took hold of his grey eyes. He managed to calm himself before looking up to the Japanese doctor standing before him.

“So” he spoke “you don't know what happened to her? Not at all? Not a single clue?”

“We have an idea, but we can't be sure, as we didn't examine her further. Anyway, there's obviously something wrong with her kidneys. There's something inside one of them, we saw it with the x-ray. To make sure that what she has is what we think, we need to make her pass more examinations. How long have you been in Japan so far?”

“Three days” John sniffed.

“You're from England, aren't you?”

“Yes.”

The doctor nodded and rubbed his upper lip with his finger, as he pondered about the situation. John took out a tissue from his back pocket, blew his nose, causing everybody in the corridor to stare at him with disgust. The doctor chuckled and leant in to whisper.

“We never blow our nose in front of everyone in Japan. By the way, why did you come here, for your job? For a simple visit?”

“It's our honeymoon.”

“Oh, I see. I'm afraid that you'll have to delay it, due to her state. It's too dangerous to make her stay in Japan. If she follows a treatment here, it will be way more expensive for you, and she absolutely needs a rest in a place she knows. If possible, bring her back to England tomorrow.”

“But what if she gets sick during the trip?”

“We will give her enough morphine to handle the trip. And if needed, we'll give you strong painkillers for her to feel nothing until you bring her to the hospital. But first, let her rest and stay constantly beside her.”

“I will. What do you think the problem is?”

“As our hypothesis aren't certified, I prefer not to tell you. We don't want to worry you, you don't need that, I guess. But as I said, it clearly comes from her kidneys. And if you don't go back to England as soon as possible, it might get serious.”

John nodded, trying to calm himself down. As the doctor had to see another patient, he shook his hand and left. John dried his eyes. If she saw him in such a state, it would be terrible for both of them. He breathed a bit loudly, sighing and closing his eyes, feeling his cheeks get cooler.

Taylor was trying to move her hand and finally succeeded. She touched her neck, her lips and her chest. For a moment, she thought she was dead but no, she could feel her heart beating under her skin. She was alive. She was safe.

She heard the door being opened and looked up. John was there. When he noticed she was awake, his face lit up with a wide and tender smile.

“Oh my darling” he whispered, as if he had just opened the best birthday present ever, “you woke up!”

“I... I did.”

John quickly walked up to her, refraining from running. He sat on the armchair beside her, slowly taking her hand, locking their fingers together.

“How do you feel?”

“Numb. I can't even feel my body.”

“You'll feel better, don't worry. You just need some rest.”

“What happened?”

“You passed out at the Taiwanese pavilion. I didn't know what the problem was, I panicked. I called Tomohisa, and we brought you here.”

“How long have I been... sleeping?”

“A few hours.”

An awkward silence fell upon them. Taylors stared at him lovingly, stretching out her hand to stroke his cheek.

“John?”

“Mmh?”

“You've been crying.”

John's eyes widened. Even though he looked at his reflection in another window before coming back to the room and did not look like he had been crying, she managed to know about it.

“How do you know?”

“I saw you with the doctor. And even if I didn't, I would've guessed it. I can feel it, you know.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I'm not your wife for nothing, am I? I can't say that I know you by heart, but perhaps I do a little.”

John smiled weakly and pressed her hand against his cheek, making it stay, closing his eyes, enjoying her touch.

“But there's nobody on this Earth who knows me more than you do. Remember the first time we met, you already knew me.”

“I only guessed.”

“And you did it well.”

Both grinned, and John slowly leant in, pressing his lips against hers. Suddenly, he felt his cheek becoming wet. He frowned and lightly pulled away. He was not crying, but... Taylor was.

“Are you mad at me, John?” she sobbed.

“Why would I be?”

“Because I didn't tell you about my kidneys and my pain, because I kept hiding all that, and I hid myself away from you in a certain way.”

“I can't be mad at you. I know your only purpose was to protect me, I know you meant absolutely no harm. Is there any other reason why you didn't tell me?”

“I just didn't want you to freak out” she cried harder. “I'm sorry, John, so sorry. You still love me, huh? Tell me you still do, because without you, I just can't go on!”

John abruptly stood up from the armchair he was sitting on, and bent over the hospital bed, taking her in his arms, kissing her cheek endlessly. He buried his face in her hair, squeezing her tight against his chest, as she wept harder.

“I will never stop loving you, Taylor Deacon. If I married you, it's because my life feels complete with you, every day that goes by. I promised to stay beside you through good and bad, remember? I'm not mad at you at all, not even a tiny bit. I simply want you to get better. If anything serious was to happen to you, I'd hate myself because I wouldn't be capable of taking care of you. I promise I won't let you down. And you won't pay one single thing.”

“I don't want you to pay. I don't want to be a burden.”

“Who speaks about burden? You've never been one, and you never will. And I will pay. I want you to be safe and happy. I won't be ruined, you know that.”

Taylor sniffed and shrugged. She rubbed her eyes with her fists, trying to calm herself down. She cleared her throat.

“John?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Can you please... kiss me?”

John chuckled and lightly pulled away from her, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand, and stared at her lovingly.

“You don't need to ask.”

He smiled and slowly leant in, kissing her gently. She shyly parted his lips with her tongue, before John invited her to deepen the kiss. Kiss deepening was a whole story for them, wasn't it? He moaned quietly, feeling his whole body shiver intensively.

Feeling way better, Taylor pulled away and left a space beside her on the bed. She patted the spot, inviting her beloved husband to lie close to her. He did and wrapped his arms around her fragile body. She snuggled against his chest. She pulled a face and started to unbutton his white shirt without a word, much to his surprise. When she saw her press her cheek against his bare skin, he chuckled and squeezed her tight against him, making sure that the sheets covered her well. She opened her eyes and looked up to him, with an expression that reminded him this of a child wondering about the world.

“By the way, what did the doctors say about my health?” she whispered. “Did they see what my problem is?”

“No, they saw nothing. They only saw that something was in one of your kidneys, but it must be a cyst, nothing too serious. Though they had an hypothesis, they refused to tell me. As they're not sure, they didn't want to worry us.”

“Oh.”

“And I'm afraid that our honeymoon is over.”

“Wh... But why?!”

“The doctor I saw earlier told me that it would be too dangerous for you to stay there. If you follow a treatment here, it will be extremely expensive, and you need to rest in a place you know and that reassures you. Once we get back home, you'll have a big nap if you want to, and I'll take you to the hospital. But I'll call the doctor for an appointment too.”

“It's serious, huh?”

“We still don't know. I don't think so. I hope it isn't.”

John sighed and rested his cheek on the top of her head. He closed his eyes and gently rocked his lovely wife.

“I will never let you down, Taylor. Never.”