Chapter 45
Elowen
Once I’m done using the toilet, which I can manage on my own since all its functions operate by voice command, I make my way to the sink and call for Salvario to come inside.
I grab my toothbrush with a weak grip and rinse it under the tap.
It’s an electric toothbrush, so I press the button, and it starts vibrating.
Salvario comes over as I begin brushing.
The vibration makes it even harder to keep it steady in my weakened hand.
He lightly supports the end of the toothbrush, just as my therapist instructed, giving me only as much help as necessary, no more.
I lean back against his naked chest. He kisses the top of my head and wraps his arm around my stomach, making me smile around the brush.
Once we’re done brushing, he rinses my mouth, since that’s something I can’t manage at all, neither with a cup nor by hand. After wiping my mouth clean, he kisses my lips, and we make our way to the shower.
Since yesterday, I’ve started using the shower instead of the bathtub, even though it leaves me shaking violently from standing too long. It’s a small push in the right direction.
Salvario takes off his boxers and leans against the shower glass while I manage to turn on the water by pressing the instructions on the touchscreen with my trembling fingers.
Every small task takes me far too long, and it frustrates me.
But then I catch the calm, patient look on my man’s face, and all that frustration vanishes.
Once I manage to start the shower, I stand under the spray and look at him. He’s watching me get drenched from head to toe, his gaze heated.
“Won’t you join m-me?” I tease.
I see the reaction in the twitching of his hardness, which instantly makes me clench my thighs, and I realize I’m sore. Clearly, I’m in no state to tease him, since it will only leave me more sore, which won’t be ideal for today, considering it’s our wedding.
It’ll be a very private ceremony, only close friends and family, since too many people isn’t Salvario’s thing, and recently, not mine either.
“Don’t tempt me, baby,” he murmurs, coming closer.
He’s drenched within seconds. I thread my fingers into his wet hair, fallen over his forehead, and push it back.
He holds my waist and leans down, capturing my lips in a slow kiss.
I become breathless within a few seconds, since we’re under hot water and I’m already working hard just to stay on my feet.
I drop my head to his chest and take long breaths, chuckling. “It’s out of m-my s-scope.”
He runs his hands all over my naked back, from the bottom to my shoulders. “You’re already doing very well.”
I hum and move away from him.
He turns off the shower so he can wash my hair. I extend my hand as he reaches for the bottle. He smiles and pumps some shampoo onto my palm. I rub my hands together and work it through my hair.
He nods encouragingly as I start rubbing my hands over my scalp.
I grin, finding the task easy. But that’s only limited to my scalp, since washing the length isn’t as simple, even with my hair not being too long.
He senses it and places his hands on mine, threading our fingers together and washing my hair with me.
Just a few months ago, we used to have sex in the shower every day.
Now, he’s helping my disabled self wash my hair.
Back then, I thought I was lucky. Now I know I’m the luckiest. It’s easy to find someone who’ll fuck you in the shower, but damn near impossible to find someone who bathes you every day when you can barely move and never once looks at you like you’ve become a burden.
After showering, Salvario dries my hair while I sit, resting my legs.
Then we eat breakfast wrapped in towels, and I take my medicines, a combination of Lyn’s plant-based meds and Dr. Stan’s chemical ones, which they prepared after arguing with each other for three days.
For the long term, I’ll stay on Lyn’s meds, but for now, they need to be taken alongside Stan’s because my condition is still quite unstable.
I still get nausea and splitting headaches when I miss a dose.
I was afraid it would never go away, but Lyn is confident she’ll have the nausea and headaches under control within three months.
After giving me my meds, Salvario helps me into my wedding dress. It’s a long, high-neck white silk gown with a flared skirt of weightless silk. It’s something I can wear all day and night and still look like a beautiful bride.
Now I’m sitting in my gown, and my groom is still in a towel wrapped around his waist, brushing my hair.
“Leave m-my hair for the hairstylist. You s-should get r-re-ready yourself.” I glance at the clock in the closet. “You only have half an hour for that.”
He places the brush down, then picks up my rose attar and applies it to my wrists, behind my ears, and at the base of my throat.
He never forgets to put this scent on me.
He loves it too much. He does it every day, while I used to wear it only occasionally.
But since it’s an attar, the scent clings.
I used to wear it whenever I missed him because its very origin was tied to him—to his rose garden.
After he sent me back home, I had a rose scent custom-made to smell like a garden full of roses.
I’d wear it and lie down with my eyes closed, letting the fragrance carry me back to that rose garden, into my daydreams where we used to play the piano together.
For our honeymoon, we’ll go back to that same Greenland mansion. I’m quite excited for it. It would have been a thousand times better if I could play piano there, but it’s fine. I’ll be happy enough creating my fantasies of having sex with him in his bed there. I chuckle at the thought.
Salvario raises a brow in the mirror, buttoning his shirt. I’m ready to leave the closet, but I decide to watch him get dressed instead.
“I’m thinking about m-making my fantasies come true in your bed in your gothic m-ma-mansion.”
“List them all out. I don’t want any of them to remain unfulfilled.”
I chuckle.
A knock comes at the closet door, then Avi’s voice follows. “Hey, guys, sorry to disturb you, but the bride needs to get ready.”
I rise from my chair. Salvario comes to my side and helps me reach the door. He opens it, and I walk out to where Avi is standing. She takes my hand from Salvario’s, and we make our way inside the room while he retreats into the closet.
“I thought I’d find you naked in a compromising position,” she teases.
I laugh.
She leads me out of my room and into the room where my makeup and hair need to be done. Lyn and Autumn are already there with the hairstylist and makeup artist.
It takes no time to do my hair and makeup. Within twenty minutes I’m ready to go, and exactly then, Mom and Dad come to take me downstairs. The ceremony is being held in our garden, decorated with summer flower arrangements.
“Just let me know when you can’t walk anymore. I’ll carry you,” Dad murmurs.
I smile. “Okay.”
“Are you comfortable?” Mom asks as we reach just outside the entrance arch.
I nod. Because of walking from the house to the garden, my legs are shaking quite a lot, but I can keep going, which is a new definition of “comfortable” for me.
Everyone has already gone inside except Alis and Lyn, who is holding her because she’s my little flower girl. They enter right before me. I chuckle as the red-headed mother-daughter duo start their job, Lyn holding the basket while Alis throws flowers from it, giggling.
It takes them no time compared to me to reach the end of the aisle, where Lyn settles Alis in her seat beside her brother, in their father’s care, and moves into position beside the other bridesmaids.
Mom also takes her seat, leaving me and Dad alone to cover the distance to the man standing at the altar in his brown suit.
He’s looking handsome as ever, even without a tie.
He hates ties. Beside him stands Ilyas, his best man.
From the groom’s side, we only have two guests: Antonio and Ilyas.
From the bride’s side, well, as Ilyas used to say, my big-ass family.
He keeps watching me patiently as I take baby steps toward him. When I finally reach him, he takes me from my father’s firm hold into his. Dad kisses my forehead and leaves to settle in his seat.
“Are we good?” Salvario asks as I stand before him, holding him for support.
I nod.
The priest begins: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Salvario De Falco and Elowen. Marriage is a sacred covenant, founded on love, trust, faithfulness, and commitment. Today, these two have chosen to unite their lives and pledge themselves to one another.”
He then turns to Salvario. “Salvario De Falco, do you take Elowen to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and protect her, forsaking all others, and to remain faithful to her for as long as you both shall live?”
He answers with a firm “I do.”
Then he turns to me. “Elowen, do you take Salvario De Falco to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and cherish him, forsaking all others, and to remain faithful to him for as long as you both shall live?”
I smile, looking at my man. “I do.”
The priest says, “Salvario, you may say your vows.”
He holds my gaze and vows, “I, Salvario, take you, Elowen, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward. For better or for worse. For richer or for poorer. In sickness and in health. To love and to cherish. Until death do us part.”
The priest then turns to me. “Elowen, you may now say yours.”
I smile, my eyes stinging.
God, why am I getting emotional? Hold back, Wen, you already can’t speak properly.
I clear my tight throat and start speaking. “I, Elowen, take you, S-salvario, to be m-my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward. For better or for worse. For r-r-richer or for poorer. In s-sickness and in health. To love and to cherish. Until death do us part.”
By the time I finish, my voice is already thin. Salvario gives my hands a light squeeze. I smile, getting more teary.
The priest calls for the rings. “May I have the rings?”
“Our ring bearers are coming,” Ilyas says, pointing toward the entry arch, from where Bruno and Rosie are approaching.
Bruno is wearing a bow tie, and Rosie is wearing a veil. I chuckle, looking at my babies, and now this has restored my emotional state.
They both come to Salvario and me. Ilyas takes the rings from Bruno’s bow tie and hands them to the priest. The priest then continues, “These rings are an outward symbol of the vows you have made today. Their endless circle represents a love without end.”
He extends the ring to Salvario. “Salvario, place the ring upon Elowen’s finger.”
Salvario releases one of my hands and takes the ring. Then he places it on my finger. The same ring he placed there before comes home again.
The priest extends my ring to me. “Elowen, place the ring upon Salvario’s finger.”
I take it in my trembling hand, and despite practicing the moment for a week, I become clumsy as hell and almost drop the ring from my shaking fingers. With a lot of effort, I place it on Salvario’s finger. He, like promised, keeps his hand extended with all the patience in the world.
“By the authority vested in me, and in the presence of God and these witnesses, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Salvario, you may now kiss your bride.”
He releases both my hands. For a second, I lose my balance, since I was standing with their support, but I don’t even get to stumble as he holds me by my waist with his other hand on the back of my head and kisses me tenderly and deeply at once.
And just like that, my fairytale love reaches the place I dreamed of during countless sleepless nights.
It’s not a perfect fairytale. Our roses have long thorns, and our rainbows only appeared after the fiercest rainstorms. But it’s mine and Salvario’s fairytale—the imperfectly perfect story of a beauty and her beast.