Redo

After Noah had left to take care of business and Laila had made herself scarce, Maria and Steve were the only ones left in the hospital room where Steve had been brought to recover from his surgery. Maria was still holding onto Steve's hand. As if it had become an instinct, she continued rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb while she looked at him. Despite being so worried that she could barely stand on her own two legs, now that she had seen for herself that he was doing well, Maria's worries had eased up enough for her to be able to joke with Steve.

With a serious tone and a look of genuine interest on her face, Maria asked, "So, tell me, since when have you had these desires to be woken with a kiss from your best friend? Have you always had this princess syndrome or is that something you have picked up recently? As your girlfriend I think I have a right to know these things, so that I know what I am signing myself up for."

Steve was feeling way too exhausted to deal with silly jokes like this from Maria, especially after dealing with Noah as soon as he woke up from his anaesthesia. He was feeling sluggish, a bit dizzy and oh so tired. So, instead of responding, he answered Maria's question with a look that said, "Really..?". After he felt that she had gotten enough time to decode the expression on his face, he looked down at the sheets and his own hand that was fidgeting a bit. As he avoided eye-contact Steve mumbled in a soft voice, "Why does everyone keep insisting that I wanted Noah to wake me? My own girlfriend included. You know damn well that it is you who I wanted that kiss from and no one else." But Maria surprised Steve when she answered to his words of sulking by saying with a straight face, "Well in that case, why don't we redo that part."

Steve turned towards Maria with a speed that could give a person a whiplash and he looked at her with a look of disbelief. Though they had become boyfriend and girlfriend, making a kiss nothing shock worthy, but Maria's boldness certainly was. Knowing that it was just the two of them, Maria felt comfortable to do and say things she wouldn't if other people were present. Along with the scare of having almost lost Steve, she too was feeling the need to do more than just hold his hand. Somehow just seeing him wasn't enough and she wanted to use physical intimacy to feel close to Steve. To fill the emptiness she was feeling when she wondered if she would ever get to hold him again. So, now that he had returned to her side and she could do more than just stare and wait, she wanted to make use of this opportunity.

Steve gave an answer to Maria's suggestion by just silently laying back down and closing his eyes. This was all that Maria needed to oblige to her own heart's desire and consent to redo Steve's waking scene. She got up from the chair she had been sitting in and while continuing to hold his hand, Maria bent over Steve's body. Her face was hoovering above Steve's and she glanced at his long lashes and the serene look on his face before she closed her eyes and gently pressed her lips on his. She placed her other hand on the side of his face and used it to deepen their kiss.

Steve was enjoying his redo a lot more than the original way he had woken up from his medically induced slumber and he was was getting fully immersed in the situation. He had expected to receive maybe a peck after initially expecting nothing at all. But somehow, the woman who had ran away and hid herself in her room after giving him a kiss on the cheek, was now giving him a kiss that made him feel as if he was floating on cloud nine. He did not know she had it in her, especially so soon after getting together and he became convinced that there wouldn't be a day where she would cease to amaze him.

When Maria ended their kiss, having expressed all that she wanted to say without speaking a single word, she asked, "Was that the wake-up call you had in mind?" Steve sat back up and nodded before he said, "And then some. If that is how you plan on waking me every time I wouldn't mind getting hurt more often." With a chuckle he added, "Though maybe not as drastically as this." But Maria immediately dismissed that thought. Joke or not, she refused to let him even think of getting hurt a second time.

"Don't you dare mister. Not only will I teach you the meaning of regret the very day that I discover you have gotten yourself hurt unnecessarily, I will give you a smacking equal to the hurt you have managed to inflict on yourself."

This seemed to have been enough to cause Steve to cave and he said, "Alright, alright, I get it. No need to put my life in even more danger by giving me a beating. I guess this just means that you will have to give me a kiss without any reason and do so frequently. This of course being on top of the many kisses I will be stealing or giving to you myself. Only then will I feel loved and only then will I not have to find ways that you don't approve of to get what I want."

Maria laughed and said, "I see that you drive a hard bargain but I think that your demands can be met. But a single scratch on this pretty face and you will have to answer to me."

While still in his bed, Steve straightened his body as he saluted Maria and shouted, "Aye, aye, madam. Maria chuckled before she raised her own hand to salute him. This is when the two of them began laughing, and for a moment they both forgot they were in a hospital and all that had happened. For a moment they were blissfully happy, a feeling they hoped would last for a long time to come.