Her sun-drenched face finally moved, after so many hours being asleep. Taylor blinked and yawned loudly, scratching her head and her stomach. When she finally opened both of her eyes, she took a look at the spot beside her and saw that John was not there. The sheets on his side had not even been pulled, and the pillow was still all clean.

Suddenly, a sweet smell of flowers took hold of her nose; she turned her head on the right and saw three big bunches of flowers resting on her bedside table: lavender and yellow orchids, white camellias, and croci. With each bunch came a small card, all with a different handwriting. Taylor sat up without any difficulty on the bed, stretching out her arm to take the closest one. The handwriting was very elegant, though some words could be hard to read; it was funny how the lines were perfectly straight.

“Dear Taylor, I send you loads and loads of good wishes for your quick recovery, I can't wait to see you again amongst us, all healthy and happy. Lots of love, Freddie.”

A wide smile grew on her lips, as she covered them with a cupped hand, touched by Freddie's words. How sweet he was! She grabbed his bunch, this of camellias, and smelled it. When she looked again at her bedside table, she saw a cuddly toy. It was a cat, the same kind as Malo. Taylor giggled and picked it up, looking at it closely, hugging it and silently thanking Freddie. She carefully put down the bunch on John's spot, wanting to read the other cards. However, she kept the toy against her. She took the second card and examined the handwriting, trying to guess before looking at the signature. Surprisingly, it was even more conscientous than Freddie's, and the words were closer than one another. It was definitely Brian.

“How terrible it is to hear about your current state! I sincerely wish you all the best and good luck to get out of it and laugh with us like we used to. With lots of love, your friend, Brian.”

Taylor chuckled, feeling tears of joy coming to her eyes. Next time she would see Brian, she would owe him a big and warm hug. She picked up the bunch he sent her, this of orchids and smelled it, putting it down beside her. And it was time for the last bunch, Roger's. She took the card, and looked at the handwriting once again, though she knew it was from the drummer. She smiled, as she noticed that all the “y”, “g” and “f” formed long vertical lines.

“To my dearest homonymous friend, I send all my love and best wishes for a quick recovery. I will be standing by your side through those hard times, hoping that they will soon vanish or turn into sunnier days. With love and kisses from your favourite Carboy (Roger)”

A tear rolled down her cheek, and she did not bother wiping it off. She stared into space for a moment, just to take a moment to realise how wonderful her friends were. She never regretted meeting them, as they had been sweet towards her from the very beginning, even when they barely knew her. Of course, Suzy was awesome as well, she could not forget it.

Taylor smelled Roger's bunch and gathered the cards, which she put back on the bedside table. She wanted to keep them near her every time she would be forced to stay in bed. She felt that the words of love and compassion she received were the strength she needed. The fight would be way easier with the support of her friends.

She got up from bed and was surprised to see that she did not lose her balance at all. Finally, she was standing on her feet without any help. Pressing the cuddly toy against her heart, she picked up all the bunches and walked out of the room, heading for the kitchen. There she found a vase with dying flowers in them, some that she randomly bought for John. She threw the flowers in the bin and washed the vase, filling it with clean water. She arranged the flowers in a beautiful way, mixing the different sorts.

As she smiled at the result, she heard a loud snore, making her jump. She spun round and noticed John, sitting at the table, his head resting on his crossed arms. She grinned and saw Malo sleeping next to him, her head touching his. She walked on tip-toe to the living room to get a blanket, which she used to cover her dear husband's shoulders.

Taylor stood there for a moment, watching him sleeping. Poor John, he had not slept for two days. Because of her. A feeling of guilt grew in her chest, making her wish to throw herself at him to hug him tightly. But she wanted to let him sleep, he deserved it so much.

Malo woke up and miaowed at Taylor. The latter pressed a finger against her lips, asking Malo to let John sleep peacefully. She wanted him to sleep in a comfortable place, but there he was, sleeping with his head on a table. However, she could not carry him to the bedroom, she was not strong enough for that.

Taylor picked up Malo and hugged her tenderly, petting her head and kissing her endlessly. The cat purred and rubbed her head when Taylor's fingers did not touch her anymore, begging for more strokes and kisses. After a few minutes, Taylor's stomach started to gurgle. She put Malo on the floor and prepared herself a cup of coffee, taking a mug for John as well, just in case. When she closed the cabinet, she noticed a note on the fridge, with John's handwriting. It said “Doctor Maylor, 10 a.m.” She sighed, knowing that it was for her. She had never met Doctor Maylor, but she knew that he had been John's doctor for nearly ten years. Now, she just hoped that it was not too serious.

She silently pulled the chair next to John, put down her cup of coffee on the table and sat on it. She quietly sipped her beverage, staring lovingly at the man she was fond of. What would she be without him? He always took care of her, even when they were not dating, he always showed her his affection through little things like souvenirs or letters, he always was there to have fun, laugh and playing pranks, though he would not look like this kind of guy at first. But most of all, he was the perfect lover. The one who would always cuddle with her in good or bad times, the one who would treat her as equal, the one who would be nice to her and who would try to understand her when something was wrong, the one who would treat her right, the one who would make love to her so tenderly and passionately, the one who would truly love her for who she was. And God knew how weird she could be.

A few years before, never would she have imagined meeting such a man. She was used to bad treatments, despising looks and threats. John gave her a second chance. He gave her the possibility to go back to an Art school, as she could not afford it before, he gave her the ability to study photography, he helped her finding a job as a photographer, and congratulated her for her job at the gallery. She absolutely could not see any flaw in him. Or perhaps she found one: he was terribly missed every time he was away from her.

Seeing that one of his hands was resting away from his other arm, Taylor could not resist. She crossed her arms and imitated him, before tenderly resting her right hand on his. Surprisingly, he did not wake up; however, he smiled. She stayed like that for half an hour, staring at him.

Suddenly, John began to move, clenching his fingers lightly. He yawned and sat up, his eyes all drowsy. He rubbed them and opened them widely, briefly. When they landed on Taylor, his face lit up with a grin.

“Morning, dear, do you feel better?”

“Much better, thanks to you. Sorry that I couldn't carry you to bed, I can't even lift your legs, you know I'm not strong enough.”

John chuckled and scratched his head.

“By the way” Taylor said “did you see all those flowers? It's Freddie, Brian and Roger who sent them for me!”

“I know, they came this morning. They had an appointment for I-don't-know-what. It's for the band, I s'pose. They stopped here to bring you all the flowers and the toy.”

“They're lovely, aren't they? But why didn't you go with them?”

“I wanted to stay with you. And we must see a doctor.”

“Doctor Maylor, 10 a.m., huh?”

“Yep.”

“We're late. It's almost eleven.”

“Oh shit.”

John sighed and covered his face with his hands, rubbing it gently. As he was about to stand up, Taylor stopped him by grabbing his hand.

“I prepared you some coffee, do you want a cup?”

“Oh, sure. Thank you, darling. I prepared your favourite lasagnas yesterday, but you didn't wake up for dinner, so... We'll have to put it in the microwave.”

“I'm sorry that I didn't, dear.”

“It's alright, you needed to rest, I can't blame you.”

Taylor chuckled and kissed his forehead, before going lower and finding his lips. His soft lips. How she missed them during the night. Their lips shared a loving dance for a while, before she stood up and served him a cup of coffee. John noticed the blanket only now and smiled, knowing that Taylor did that.

They had breakfast, drinking coffee and eating biscuits, chatting about the appointment at the studio, which John was missing. He reassured her about Doctor Maylor, saying that he was a great doctor, that he would really take good care of his patients, and that he would be very gentle.

After that, they had a shower together, John being too scared to leave her alone, fearing that the pain might come back, that she might pass out and break her neck on the side of the bathtub. Luckily, she still did not feel anything. However, she knew that something wrong was going on, and she had to find out about it. They had to.