Page 45 of Chase the Sunset
“Thanks, Doc. Pie painted it for me.” I mumbled.
“I wasn’t talking about the gas tank,” she whispered. She moved to the side of the bike and laid her hand on my shoulder. “You think I can chase sunsets with you once your vision clears?”
I grabbed her around the waist, scooted back on the seat, and pulled her onto my lap. “I like you close so I can see you when we talk.”
“I won’t complain about that.” She leaned back, swung her right leg over the bike, and straddled my waist. “The view is nice right here.”
I focused on her face and felt my breath catch.
Birdie was it.
“Easy?” Birdie called. “Are you okay?” She reached up and cradled my cheek with her hand.
If you were to look at my life, you would say nothing was okay. Brain tumor, brain surgery, and I was blind, but I was okay.
I was more than okay.
I was whole with Birdie in my arms.
Gravel had been right. You didn’t see it coming, but when it did, it filled you, and you knew you would die before you ever let her go.
“Easy,” she laughed. “Say something. You’re scaring me,” she confessed.
“I’m good, doll. Just figuring shit out.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to her lips.
“What shit is that?” she questioned.
“You. Me.”
She tipped her head to the side and brushed her fingers along my cheek. “Care to elaborate?”
“That’s it, Doc. I figured out I’m not me without you.”
“Easy,” she whispered.
“You can sit here and tell me I don’t know you, and we’ve only known each other for a short time, but it’s not going to matter, Birdie.”
“We don’t know each other, Easy.”
I shook my head. “Who the hell cares? Can’t I know I want to be with you while I get to know you? Find out all of your secrets and create a life with you.”
“And what if you don’t like my secrets?” she whispered. “What if they are too much?”
I shook my head and pulled her flush against me. “Nothing is going to scare me away, Birdie. If anyone is going to be scared away by secrets, it’s going to you. I’ve done some shit in my life I’m not proud of, but I would do it again.”
Her eyes darted to my mouth and then back to me.
“Doc, what is going on inside your head?” I asked softly.
She sniffled, and tears clouded her eyes. “The one secret I have I thought I left in the past, but it’s back, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
I tipped my head to the side and tried to stay calm. “Tell me. Tell me what it is, and I’ll fix it. Make it go away. Anything.”
“When I was in med school, I was engaged.”
Not what I thought she was going to say. “Uh, okay? Are you telling me you’re married?”
“God no,” she gasped. “Not at all. I’ve never been married before.”
