by Ali Parker
Her best friend mumbled something behind her, but she couldn't make it out over the whoosh of blood racing by her ears. She wanted to ask a million questions, but couldn't force her voice to work. They stopped by the ICU recovery room, and Kate moved in as the doctor picked up a clipboard.
"He's not out of the woods, and he's lost a lot of blood, but the hope is that he will make a full recovery."
"Thank God," Kate whispered and moved to the side of the bed, reaching over to brush Jon's disheveled hair back as tears streamed down her face. She leaned over and pressed her lips to his forehead, his cheeks and beside his ear as she cried. "Wake up for me, baby. I need you. Please. Please don't leave me here without you."
The door closed behind her, and she pulled a chair up beside the bed and dropped down into it before taking Jon's hand and pressing her cheek to his thigh. Her tears ceased a few minutes later, and she started to babble. She told him about her childhood, and her teenage years. She laughed through the stories about her and Adam and cried through a few of the ones with Marcus.
A nurse touched her shoulder a few hours later and smiled down at her. "Visiting hours are over. You want us to pull a bed in here or are you going home to rest?"
"I'm not leaving here without him." She stood up, ready to fight anyone who would disagree.
The older woman smiled and nodded. "Okay, well, your friends are right outside the door with a change of clothes. How about you stick your head out there for a minute and we'll pull a bed in here for you to stay beside your husband for the night."
"Okay." Kate squeezed Jon's hand and moved up to kiss his lips softly a few times. "Wake up for me, baby. Please."
She moved back and walked out to find Marcus's complexion off. He was beyond pale. Frightened.
"You okay?" He pulled her into a tight hug.
"Yeah. I will be. He's going to pull through." She wrapped her arms around him and breathed in deeply. "You guys go home and I'll call you later. I want to be here when he wakes up."
"All right. I'm just a phone call away."
Kate glanced up at him. "Will you always be just a call away, Marcus?"
"Always." He leaned down and brushed his lips by hers. "You know that you love someone with every ounce of your soul when you're willing to let them go."
"I realize that." She touched the side of his face. "I love you."
"All the girls do. Take a ticket, baby. Get in line." He winked and pulled back, turning to Zak and smiling. "Let's go get something greasy to eat. I'm fucking starving."
Zak waved and walked down the hospital hallway with Marcus, both of them laughing.
Things wouldn't be easy, but they would be right.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Kate
"Aw man, I fucking hate these monkey suits." Marcus turned as Kate walked into the small room where they were getting ready. "You're not supposed to be in here. Get out!"
Kate laughed and walked up to her best friend, fixing his tie and patting his thick chest. "I rarely follow the rules. You know that."
"Hell yeah I do. It's marriage and then the baby. Don't you know the order of things?” He spun her carefully and pulled her back against his chest, cupping the small baby bump at the front of her stomach. "We're naming him Marcus, right?"
"We're naming her Maria." Jon turned around and shook his head. "You need to go get into your dress, baby. The ceremony starts in fifteen minutes."
"I know. I just hate all this overdone shit." She pulled from Marcus and walked toward Jon. "You look good enough to eat."
"Oh yeah? Maybe we should push the time back." Jon touched her face and leaned down, kissing her softly a few times.
"I can give one hell of a blow job in three minutes flat." She licked at her lips and memorized the strong slope of his jaw and perfectly kissable lips.
"Three minutes? That would never be enough, Katie. Go get dressed and make me the luckiest man in the world today. We'll be in the Bahamas tonight, and we'll have far longer than three minutes." He slid his hands over her ass, squeezing softly as he pressed his mouth to her ear. "I love you more than a man should ever love a woman."
"I like it." She brushed her cheek by his before turning and walking from the room.
"Hey! Where is my kiss?" Marcus called after her.
Jon’s response caused a smile to play along her lips. "I'm not kissing you, Marcus."
The room where she got dressed was empty. She didn't have any close friends, nor did she need them. She had Marcus, Jon, and would soon have their little one. That was more than enough to be blessed by.
After running her hands over her stomach and turning to the side to study the curve in her belly where the baby lay growing, she got into her wedding dress and worked to zip it up.
Marcus had been gone for six months, his time in Chicago proving to be fruitful. He was more alive than she had seen him in years. It was a hard transition to move past having him in her life on a daily basis and considering him to be far more than a friend, but they'd finally gotten it down.
Jon made a full recovery and rejoined the force, moving up into Mike's position a few months after Linda passed away. The funeral was one of the most touching moments Kate could remember, and the one thing that followed her out was to live each day like it was her last. It was almost scary how well she knew the feeling.
"But, not anymore." She turned and worked on the zipper a little more as a knock at the door caused her to ditch her efforts. "Come in."
"You need help, pretty girl?" Marcus smiled and walked in.
"Yeah. Zip this thing up for me, and stop looking at me like you want to rip it off of me instead."
"Why? I do." He smiled and moved up behind her, zipping it and wrapping his strong arms around her. He bent down and pressed his lips to the bend of her neck. "You look like an angel."
"I miss you." She smiled as tears filled her eyes.
"And I you, but life will go on, baby girl. Jon is a lucky mother fucker. If he catches a bullet to the head or something mysterious... come find me." He laughed and backed up, still the crass bastard that he always had been.
"Let's do this." Kate turned and looked up at him. "You're okay walking me down the aisle?"
"Absolutely. As far as I can tell... you're my woman to give away." He extended his arm. "One last ride?"
"For now. Who knows what the future holds." She slipped her arm into his and tried to release the feeling that even though she was making the right choice, she was still letting go of the biggest love affair life might have to offer. Scary how it was happening all in the same moment.
They walked slowly to the back of the church as the music changed, cuing them to walk down the aisle. Marcus would be fine, and would catch the attention of some bad-ass chick in the clubs in Chicago if he hadn't already, and her future was set.
Jon caught her eye, and everything stilled. The sound of her heart beating in her chest was all she could hear.
He was magnificent standing at the front of the church beside Mike. His smile was loving, endearing, adoring. He was the right man for her, and though the hypothetical what if’s would always be a part of the future, there was enough to ground her to reality and leave her fulfilled and complete.
Billy had offered her freedom. Marcus hope. And now Jon was extending a pure, clean love that she never thought she would find or deserve.
"Who gives this woman away to be married today?" the preacher asked as Jon moved up to the other side of her.
"Not me. I'm keeping her." Marcus's voice was filled with joy and the whole congregation of people that had come to support her and Jon laughed.
Jon leaned around her and extended his hand. "Thank you. For everything."
"Anytime. All the time." Marcus bent down and kissed the side of her face, whispering his last words. "I love you, baby."
"All the boys do. Take a ticket, baby. Get in line," Kate whispered and turned from Marcus to look up at the man who had her hear
t wrapped around his.
Marcus was the past, but Jon...
Jon was the future.
The End
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Ali Parker is a full-time contemporary romance writer who is looking to flood the market this year with lots of great, quick reads. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and handing out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.
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