Page 77 of The Choices I've Made
“Poor girl.” I smiled.
“So, you forgive me?” he asked, our eyes meeting once again.
“Only if you forgive me. And, besides, it would be hard not to, sitting next to you in this hospital bed.” I laughed with a sly smirk across my face.
“Good. I’d hate to send my mom after you again.”
I chuckled. “I thought she was going to have a stroke, Dean. Shame on you!”
We continued to talk while he polished off the rest of his ice cream. He told me about his recovery. He was honest, saying the pain was intense and he was scared. I completely understood.
I was scared for him.
“So, what’s new with you—besides Millie giving you grief?” he asked.
I bit my lip before blurting out, “I kissed Jake.”
His eyes widened before he burst into another fit of laughter. “That didn’t take long.”
“Shut up!” I said, trying to keep from smiling. “If you weren’t in that hospital bed, I’d chuck something at your head.”
“Hey, my head is still as solid as a rock. It’s the rest of me that’s a little beaten up. Is that why you looked so damn nervous when you walked in here? Because you thought I’d somehow found out?”
I shrugged. “Well, word does get around quick. I figured you’d heard by now, and you were going to call me out on it.”
“And what would I have said?Hey, I’m really mad that you went after the love of your life, especially when I let you go with such gentlemanly tact.”
I rolled my eyes. “He is not the love of my life.”
“Oh, okay, so we’re still in the denial phase. Sorry, I’m just trying to get caught up.”
“You know, I think I liked it when you were less talkative,” I said, immediately hating myself for the comment.
He apparently didn’t because he smiled like a Cheshire cat and threw a comeback before I could even blink, “Oh, come on, Mols. You two are crazy for each other. When are you going to realize that? When is he?”
“He meets one hot nurse, and suddenly, he’s a love expert,” I mumble.
His hand found mine once again, but he was doing the squeezing this time. “Look, I’m not trying to give advice here—no, scratch that. I am trying to give advice here because I’ve watched you guys play this hit-or-miss game for far too long. And, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this whole ferryboat ordeal, it’s that our lives are not infinite. You don’t always get a second or third chance for these kinds of things.”
“Is that why you let me go?”
“Not for my second chance,” he said. “For yours.”
I took a ragged breath. “He’s going back to Chicago, Dean. Nothing will keep him here. Not even me.”
“Then, take what you can get, Mols, even if it’s a week or a month. Hell, take a day. Love doesn’t have an expiration date, and God knows, you two prove that point. It’s been so many years, yet when he looks into your eyes, Molly, there’s no one else. Just you.”
“I can’t lose him again,” I said, my voice cracking, as tears flooded my vision.
He pulled me close, and our foreheads met.
“My heart would never recover.”
“Love is messy. You and I know that most of all. Sometimes, it’s good, and sometimes, it’s so bad, your heart feels like it’s been dragged across the ocean by a hook. But, looking back, would you be more regretful over what you didn’t do or what you did?”
I looked up into his eyes, my lips pursing together to keep the tears at bay. “When did you become so wise?” I asked, sniffling, as I wiped away the moisture from my eyes.
He shrugged. “Part of the package of a near-death experience. I can also glow in the dark.”
