I care about your feelings

"I swear upon this day with heaven and the earth being our witness to hold our love as a love everlasting. My love, I promise to share my entire life with you in everything. Within the presence of everyone, I vow to eternally be honest and promise myself to you. I stand on my words this moment to never in my life cheat on you with another person. I hold to this sentence with my breath that I will never allow you to share tears because of another, not just for this moment, not for an hour, or a day or a year, but for the rest of our lives I will love you always."

The alarm begins to buzz. "Um...," Jackson said as he rubbed his eyes. He turns and throws his hands stretching out for his wife. But the space beside him was vacant. Jackson searched the bed with his eyes still closed. However, he could not touch her. Jackson slowly opened his eyes, and he seemed not shocked when her side of the bed was unoccupied.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Did you dream about me?" Jennie asked childishly.

Jackson shifted his head around and saw her standing by the window. She appeared remarkably gorgeous this morning in his sights. Her black straight hair, pink lips, blue eyes, and fair skin glows in the morning light that escapes the yellow window floral curtain.

"Yes, I did." He answered.

Her lips curved into a smile, and she blinked her lashes lightly. Jennie carelessly ran her fingers on the curtains.

"What happens in your dream? I saw you smiling happily in your sleep when I woke up. So I left the bed quietly in order not to wake you." She said.

Jackson withdrew from the bed and approached her. Jennie tried to turn toward him, but she felt his hands around her stomach. He relaxed his head on her shoulder and blew a slight breeze around her neck.

"I dreamt about our wedding day. It was mostly about my wedding vow to you, and it made me realize what I have been doing wrong these recent days. I recall that my last words 'I hold to this sentence with my breath that I will never allow you to share tears because of another, not just for this moment, not for an hour, or a day or a year, but for the rest of our lives I will love you always."

Jennie attempted to shake him off her, but he held on tighter. Hooking his hands closer together, Jackson settled his chin on her shoulder, and his head stuck against hers. Jennie could feel him inhaling, and she could detect Jackson's breathing sound.

"Yet, I haven't kept my word to you. I have been making you cry every night, and for what? Simply because I am too insecure and self-absorbed to realize that you have done nothing to betray this marriage. I have occupied my mind that something is wrong with this relationship, not realizing that my accusation is the problem. I am the issue, and my dream made me understand that clearly. And I am so sorry, hubby." He continued with his explanation.

Jennie had no desire to manipulate the moment she and her husband were undergoing. He had been honest, and she was not doing the same. The beautiful sunrise appeared dusky to Jennie, and its light seemed to hurt her eyes.

Jackson, I have something to tell you..." Jennie cried. Her voice sounded shaky, and her hand trembled. Today is the day, and Jennie knew that she had to tell him the truth, no more secret. Her teary eyes and pounding heart could not mask the fact that she felt defeated knowing this day had arrived.

"Stupid idiot, you thought it was a wise idea to take a cold shower with the chilled weather we had last night and the air condition at sixteen degrees Celsius." Steven scolded himself.

His body ached, and he felt too weak to get up from his bed. Though Steven's temperature was high, the sense of coolness spread throughout his entire body, and he was shivering uncontrollably under the comforter. The sweat from Steven's body made him miserable, and his mouth felt dry.

Joe turned himself in for work at Steven's home like every other day and knocked on the door. However, there was no answer. After thirty minutes of knocking on the front door, he took out the spare key from under the flowerpot and unlocked the door.

"Sir!" Joe called throughout the house, yet he got no response. He reaches Steven's door and bangs on it. Still no reply. So Joe turned the knob, and the door opened.

Joe saw Steven resting in bed with pale skin, droopy eyelids, and he seemed tired.

"Call doctor Benson." Steven murmurs before fainting from his fever.

Joe rushed to Steven's side and grabbed his phone from the draw. He was so worried that he did not pay attention to Steven's call log and the number he dialed.

"Sir, please stay with me. I will get you to help in a minute." Joe uttered with the phone placed to his ears.

"Joe? Is that you? What happened to Steven?" Julie asked from the other side of the call.

"Julie, I am sorry. Sir is not well. He has a strong fever. I tried calling Dr. Benson, but I dialed your number instead of the doc contact." Joe stated.

"Joe, please text me his address. I am on my way." Julie uttered.

She rushed out of bed, changed her clothes, and ran out of the room. Mrs. Harper had set the table for breakfast. She was about to call her daughter down to eat when she saw Julie running out of the bakery door.

Mrs. Harper stared at the door her daughter walked through and sighed heavily. "She is all grown up, but my heart still aches when I think about how broken my fifteen-year-old daughter looks after what she had to go through in school, and I wonder if this time will be any different."