Martin soon decided to lie down on the bed beside Zoe, unbuttoning his shirt and untucking the perfectly ironed duvet from the mattress before sinking under the covers.
He pressed the back of his hand against Zoe's forehead and felt a warm sweat forming on her brow. He placed the wet flannel on her forehead again, worried greatly about her.
He pressed his lips against her cheek, and ran his fingertips gently down her neck before he saw her eyes opening slowly.
"Hey.." She breathed, her chest rising and falling.
"Hiya." Martin replied, both his hands on her face, "you're so warm."
She nodded, her cheeks red as her hands reached behind her back to try and unzip her dress.
Martin slid his hands under her back and unzipped her dress for her and helped to slide her out of it before walking over to the French doors onto a balcony, opening the doors wide to let in the cool evening air.
"I'll get you a glass of water." He said, walking towards the main door of the bedroom.
"Thanks." She murmured, smiling over at him and dabbing the cloth onto her forehead and at the back of her neck.
Martin walked into the kitchen, everyone else had gone away, and it was nearly night time. He scavenged through the cupboard till he found a glass and filled it up with ice cold water from the fridge before returning back to the bedroom and sitting down beside Zoe, helping her sit up and pouring some of the water into her mouth.
"There's a baby grand piano in the lounge." He told her, stroking her neck.
"Will you play me something nice?" Asked Zoë, holding his wrist.
"Can't play anymore because of my stupid left hand." He complained, biting his lip.
"Then I'll be your left hand, let me help you." Zoë said, sitting up, "where are the kids?" She asked.
"They're out getting dinner." Martin told her, putting his hand behind her back.
"Do you have a t-shirt or something so I'm not totally naked when they come back?" She Asked, smiling at him. Martin searched in his bag and lent her an over sized blue t-shirt.
"Are you okay?" He asked her as she slowly stood up.
"Yeah, Yeah it just sometimes happens." She told him,
"If you're fainting a lot then.. surely you need some help or something." Martin said, concerned about her.
"Yeah, I think this pregnancy has made me a bit anaemic, I'll buy some iron supplements when we get home." She Replied before stopping completely still, astounded by the beauty of the penthouse they were in and the golden view of the sunset, "wow this place is really nice."
Zoe walked out to the window and looked around at the city as the sunlight faded, "Martin I- thank you! Thank you so much!" She turned back to him and placed her hands around his neck before pressing her lips against his. Martin lifted her up by her thighs and sat down on the piano stool as she pulled her mouth away from his.
"I don't deserve you." She breathed, looking earnestly into his warm, loving eyes.
"Zoe; you're my whole world. You mean everything to me." He responded, his fingers interweaving with her hair. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.
Zoe pressed her hand against his opened chest and felt the pulsing of his heart. He placed his hand on her neck, brushing back her hair with his thumb.
"Maybe we wanna go back to bed.." Martin breathed, their noses touching,
"I haven't heard you on the piano."  Zoë argued, kissing the tip of his nose
"Zoe, honestly I just can't use my left hand, my fingers physically can't bend into position anymore." Martin pushed.
"Try." Zoë encouraged, making him sit down on the piano stool, beside her. With his right hand he played a beautiful Romantic melody, but his left hand simply hovered over the keys.
"Can I touch you?" Zoë asked,
"You're my fiancée and you've just asked me if you can touch me." He laughed, his left hand shivering as he tried to move his fingers.
"I just don't wanna hurt you." She justified, taking his hand and pushing his index finger down onto the key.
"You'll never hurt me." He murmured as his own left hand played a simple chord and his whole heart dropped. "D-did I just..?"
He looked to Zoe who's rosy cheeks were illuminated by the vibrant golden sunset in front of her which coloured her hair almost auburn.
He concentrated on his left hand, and tried his very best to press the keys of a proceeding chord to accompany his soft right hand melody.
"You're rocking it, Marty!" Zoë encouraged, massaging his back and watching with pride as he tried his very best to manoeuvre his straining fingers into position.
The band quietly reentered the hotel with bags of food but sat down on the sofas quite far back, watching intently at Martin, knowing this was a pivotal moment for him. Martin didn't even notice them come in, he was concentrating on bending his fingers and co ordinating them into the most beautiful chords he'd always wanted to play but didn't have the competence in his fingers. Yes, his left hand was aching after just one chord, but it felt so worth it, just to hear what beautiful music he was producing in this simple, heart warming melody which concluded with a perfect cadence followed by loud cheering from his students.
"That was so precious." Zoë whispered, her eyes prickled with tears.
"I actually did it!" He laughed, stretching his left hand which was now in agony, but he didn't care, he only felt a sense of massive achievement, which he hadn't thought was possible previous to now.
Zoe wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his neck,
"Well done! You genius!" She laughed, burrowing her nose into his collar. He bit his lip in aid of concealing his smile, while he closed his eyes in a notion that everything was just perfect.