Page 87 of I Knew You
“I just want to know you’re okay. Are you okay? You still feel all your parts?”
I wiggled my toes enough that he could see them under the blanket. “All good.”
He smiled and squeezed my hand gently. I noticed large, dark circles under his eyes and the wrinkles in his clothing. Had he grown more stubble within the few hours I was out?
“You look worse than I do,” I commented.
His million-dollar smile spread across his handsome features. “You have to be fine, leading with insults like that.”
I nodded. “For the millionth time, I am okay. I pulled through.”
He leaned over the bed. “Yeah, well, if you go, I go. I need you to know that.”
I scoffed. “That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, and not how it works.”
“It is, sweets. If you jump, I jump.” He brought my hand to his mouth, moving his pillow-soft lips across the back of my hand. It was a sensual moment, one meant to be comforting, but instead sent my scrambled mind reeling. All he had to do was touch me, and I was listless without a life raft. I wanted to find purchase and stability. What was this? What were we?
He’d made it clear he wanted me. I’d made it clear I wanted him. But under the haze of morphine and post-anesthetic, nothing seemed confident.
“I’m exhausted,” I whispered. He reached for the light-blue hospital blanket and stood, spreading it over the sheet that already covered me.
“Get some sleep, my love. Who knows when they’ll be back to move you.”
My love.Another nickname I could get used to.
“I will,” I relented and snuggled into the blanket. “One more thing. I think you should go home.”
He shook his head emphatically. “Not up for a debate.”
“Lakey?”
“Mel is watching her tonight.”
“But it’s Friday and the MCA supper is tonight. You have things to do. I’m well looked after here.”
“Gladys has it all handled at the dinner. There are plenty of boys to help her with the supplies.”
I pursed my lips. “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
He shook his head. “No. If I had, I would have brought your fuzzy plaid house slippers.”
My cheeks heated. “How did you know my feet are icicles?”
“I notice things. And your feet are always cold if they touch me while we’re on the couch together.” He laughed.
“So, you knew when you brought me here that you were staying?” The medicine was making me emotional.
“Why is it so shocking that I want to watch out for you?”
“Because you…you forgot about me for so long.”
His eyes glazed over with unshed tears, and my heart swelled. He kissed my forehead, my cheek, and then my lips gently. “I never forgot you. In some form or fashion, I thought of you every day. My life has been full of the memory of you, and I wanted it that way.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said weakly, holding his hand, feeling my eyes closing. He kissed my forehead again before I slipped into blissful slumber, thinking of what he said and how much I wanted to believe it.
Chapter Nineteen
Julianna |October 14, 2024
