such a horrible cough
"you sound so miserable and sick,"
i know i said, and i would ramble on about tanbark and necklaces, her never quite knowing what i was talking about, and finally i would tuck myself in thinking that my hands were hers, listening to her voice as she read me a story
i asked if she wanted me to read to her and she said okay and as much as i huffed and coughed she was listening, wrapped in my words, me telling her a story as if she were a little girl ready to go to bed.
and as we departed we both said we missed each other, i said bye starfish in that innocent but cheesy way that i do, and she said goodbye and we went to our respective beds and took a much needed nap