a cast on your arm.” He headed out of the room and Ashton looked back at me, shifting on his chair.
“I’m pretty sure it was a girl anyway,” he said, crossing his legs confidently.
I smirked at him. “Uh-huh, she was just freakishly tall,” I agreed, laughing quietly.
He made a distasteful sound in the back of his throat. “She was tall,” he admitted, wincing and closing his eyes.
Two hours later and I was drifting in and out of sleep. Ashton had gone to get some food even though it was only just after five in the morning. Thankfully, and I think to give me a break, he’d taken my parents with him. My mom was driving me nuts, fussing over me, crying, and wailing that she could have lost me, Rosie and DJ all in one night. She was exhausting me.
The door to my room opened, so I looked over, expecting them back. Instead, Rosie stood there. My tense muscles relaxed as I saw her. She looked beautiful as ever, even though she was covered in dirt and soot. She was just standing there in the open doorway, looking at me with the most adoring expression on her face that I had ever seen.
“Hi,” I croaked, pulling the mask off again. I’d been on oxygen for hours now, it was helping with the tight feeling that I had in my chest from breathing all of the smoke.
She let the door swing closed behind her as she stepped into the room. “Hi. I’m so sorry I couldn’t come sooner. DJ wouldn’t let me leave him, even with my mom there. He was scared and so I had to wait until he fell asleep. I’m sorry, I wanted to come sooner. I’ve been so worried,” she apologised, walking to the bed quickly.
I smiled and shook my head. She didn’t need to apologise to me. “Is he okay? Did I hurt him when I landed?”
“He’s okay.” Her gaze raked down my body as her eyes filled with tears. “You’re not though.” Her chin trembled as she spoke. “God, Nate, look at you.”
I smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine. Though, I may need a nurse to look after me for a while. Someone might have to push me around in a wheelchair and give me sponge baths for a few weeks,” I teased, trying to cheer her up.
She didn’t laugh like I thought she would. Her watery eyes met mine again. “I just don’t know how to thank you. What you did, it was… so incredible. Thank you,” she whispered. A tear rolled down her face, and I longed to kiss it away.
I patted the bed with my good hand. “Come sit with me.” She nodded and obediently sat down, taking the plastic mask out of my hand and putting it back over my mouth again. I smiled. She was going to be worse than my mom, I could tell. “What did the doctors say about the kid?” I asked. Both Ashton and I had been asking for information from the nurses but as we weren’t ‘family’ we weren’t entitled to know. All I’d been told was that he was doing well.
Rosie sighed; the back of her fingers stroked the side of my face as she spoke. “They said he’ll have to stay in for twenty-four hours for observation. He’s coughing because of the smoke, but they said that should start to clear up soon. He has a couple of little cuts, but only one of them needed stitches. Some bruises and a twisted ankle, but other than that, he’s perfect, just… perfect. He’s been asking for you.”
She bent down and kissed my forehead softly. I closed my eyes at the feel of it, just loving the attention from my girl.
“And what about you? Are you okay?” I asked, looking at her curiously as she pulled away.
She smiled and held up one hand showing me a couple of little blisters on her palm. “Just this. I’m fine too,” she assured me. “Can I lay with you, or will that hurt you?”
“You can always lay with me,” I replied.
She immediately lay down at my side, barely touching me. She was looking at me so softly, so tenderly, that it made my heart speed up. “I can’t believe you did that. You risked your own life to save my son, you could have died. You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met, Nate,” she whispered. She was stroking my chest, her fingers grazing along the edges of the coverings they had put on the little cuts. “I love you,” she purred.
I looked into her eyes and sighed. I hated this moment. I didn’t want to have this talk with her at all. I shook my head and pulled the mask off again.
“No you don’t, Rose.”
She frowned; a bemused smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, I really do.”
I closed my eyes, loving the sound of those words coming out of her mouth. I just wished they weren’t because of some stupid trauma attachment. “Stripes, you’re just confused. This is perfectly normal. I see this all the time, actually. It’s an attachment disorder that happens to a lot of people. It’s when someone saves you or a loved one; your body can’t differentiate between love and gratitude. You’re just confused right now because of what happened,” I explained.
Rosie laughed and shifted next to me. I opened my eyes to see her moving to lean over me, our faces inches apart. If I raised my head I would be able to touch my lips to her sweet little mouth, and I wanted nothing more than that in that second.
“Nate, I think I know how I feel,” she countered raising one eyebrow at me playfully. I shook my head, opening in my mouth to protest and tell her that it was a proven fact, that it was documented, but she put her hand over my mouth stopping me from saying anything. “When you ran into that building, I couldn’t stand it. The thought of never seeing you again, never talking to you or hearing any of your slutty remarks, that hurt so much. It has nothing to do with some disorder that you think I have. When you ran into that building, it felt like you took my heart with you, and I was so scared that I would never get to tell you how much I loved you. I thought you died. This isn’t some gratitude thing because I knew I loved you before you and DJ got out.”
Holy shit. She really loves me? She means it?
“Yeah?” I asked, just wanting to hear it again.
She grinned, blushing slightly as she nodded. “Yeah.”
I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. The girl I was in love with was in love with me too. Life couldn’t get any better than this. Well, actually, I could have her naked and covered in whipped cream, that would certainly make this moment better!
A stupid grin stretched across my face. “I love you too,” I whispered.
She seemed to visibly relax as she closed her eyes. Her eyes opened and locked onto mine, and I could see it there in those big brown orbs. It was totally obvious, and I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it before. All of my dreams that I’d had over the last couple of months seemed to be coming true. Rosie York was in love with me, and her son loved me more than chocolate cake. Life didn’t get much sweeter than that.
Wait… fuck it!
“Damn it, Rose! Seriously, you had to say that right now? Your timing sucks!”
Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Huh?”
I sighed dramatically. “I had two things I wanted to do as soon as you said those three words, and now I can’t do either of them. Way to ruin it for me, Stripes,” I grumbled, frowning playfully.
“And what where the two things?” she inquired. “I can guess one of them, actually,” she added, bending her head and kissing the edge of my jaw.
I laughed. “Well yeah, we were waiting for the ‘L’ word to be exchanged before I ravaged you to within an inch of your life. Looks like that’s not gonna happen for a while,” I grumbled, frowning at the thought of the injuries that would put a stop to that for a while. They’d already told me that I wouldn’t be back to normal for up to four months. Karma was a bitch if I was going to have to wait for four months to finally do the nasty with my girlfriend.
She giggled against my neck. “Well, you can still lie on your back, can’t you?” she teased, biting on my earlobe gently. I groaned trying not to let her turn me on, but I was fighting a losing battle. I had broken bones, cuts, burns and bruises all over, but she still managed to make me horny. She really had a talent. I bit my lip, trying not to think about it. Rosie pulled back and smiled at me. “You don’t always have
to be in control, you know. I could take advantage of you not being able to move. In fact, as soon as you get discharged, I think I might take advantage of it a lot,” she teased.
Oh, hell yeah.
“We could play doctors and nurses,” I suggested excitedly.
“Or we could play helpless guy in hospital bed, and girl that thinks he’s the hottest thing that ever rocked a pair of boxers,” she flirted.
“Kinky, I like it.” I really liked where this conversation was going. But then I remembered the other thing that I had wanted to do when she said those three words. “So about the other thing that I wanted to do once you fell for me.” I could feel the nerves building up inside me; I was actually more scared of this than when I thought I was going to die in that fire.
“What’s that then?”
I took a deep breath, willing myself not to mess it up. “As soon as you said those three words to me, I was going to drop down on one knee and propose to you.” I said it quickly before I wimped out and didn’t do it.
She didn’t react how I thought she would though. She didn’t gasp and look at me shocked. Instead, she burst out laughing, shaking her head.
“That’s a good one,” she replied around her giggles, settling herself back down onto the bed next to me. I remained silent, waiting for her to catch on that I wasn’t joking. Slowly, I saw it sink in. The giggles stopped, and the smile slowly faded from her face as her eyes widened. “Oh God, seriously?” she asked breathlessly.
I nodded in confirmation. “Seriously. But your timing ruined that for me too. I can’t exactly get down on one knee right now because one’s busted and the other leg’s broken, so that plan’s out of the window.” I laughed at my choice of words. Out of the window – yeah, it literally was.
“Nate, what the…” she trailed off, looking at me like I was crazy. “You must have hit your head harder than they thought. They said you had a mild concussion.”
I smiled and took her hand that was on my chest. I knew I needed to man up and do it. I was already half way there, I just needed to spit the words out and pray that she said yes. Or, at the very least, that she said she’d think about it in a few more months if I asked her again at a later date.
“Stripes, I know it’s not been long since we met. It’s only been just over five short months, but I know how I feel about you. I’m crazy in love with you and I have been for a while, I’ve just been waiting for you to fall in love with me too. I know I’m not the most romantic guy in the world, I mean, look at my idea of a proposal, this blows big time. But I promise to take care of you and DJ forever if you’ll let me. I love you, and I want to marry you, but if you need more time then that’s okay, I understand that.” I gulped as I watched her bewildered expression. Disappointment settled in the pit of my stomach. “Christ, I’ve totally blown it. That speech sucked, and Ashton was right, I should have made some grand romantic gesture. Flowers, a restaurant, sky writing, anything would have been better than this. I don’t even have a fucking ring. Damn it, I’m such a cock with this romance stuff!” I grumbled, shaking my head at myself.
“That was a perfect Nate Peters proposal. Though, you should have maybe thrown in a little slutty remark for good measure,” she teased.
I looked back at her and couldn’t help but laugh. “See, I even forgot the sex references,” I agreed, rolling my eyes playfully.
She smiled at me tenderly, her eyes locked onto mine making me feel like I was the most special man on the planet. “I’d love to marry you,” she whispered.
My body jerked in surprise. Hope built in my chest. “You would?” I asked, needing confirmation that I’d heard her right. Maybe I really had hit my head harder than they thought.
“On one condition,” she bargained.
I smirked at her, already knowing what this was going to be. My girl was developing a serious fetish. “Bring the uniform home?” I asked, raising my hand to cup the side of her face.
She laughed and nodded. “At least once a month. But, also, there’s something else.” I nodded for her to continue with her conditions. I’d give her anything she wanted; she could make a list as long as my arm, I would do anything to marry her. “Don’t ever change,” she whispered, looking at me seriously.
I smiled. I wasn’t expecting that at all. “Okay.”
She bent forward looking at me sternly. “I’m being serious. I love that you can’t say anything romantic without messing it up. I love that you have no idea how sweet you are sometimes. I love that you make me laugh with the smut that overflows from your mouth. I just love everything about you, Nate. So don’t ever change.”
I grinned; happiness built inside to the point where I wanted to jump out of the bed and do an awkward, broken happy dance whilst shouting “Booya!”
“Conditions accepted!” I agreed wholeheartedly. She laughed and bent forward placing her lips on mine. I rejoiced at the feel of it and kissed her back, tangling my one good hand into her hair.
Before the fire I knew I loved her and DJ, but as soon as I’d answered my cell phone tonight and was told that her building was on fire, I knew that love didn’t even cover what I felt for the pair of them. I had never been more terrified of anything in my life than I was during that short, speedy drive that I’d made to her apartment.
She pulled back and smiled, just staring at me contentedly. A happy silence fell over us, neither of us moved. I just couldn’t take my eyes off the girl that had officially agreed to be mine. Part of me wished I’d met her years ago; if I’d just met her five years ago then DJ would be my blood. If I’d just met her four years ago then I would have been the one she left Josh for. If I’d just met her three years ago then I would have been the one to pick up their pieces after what that scumbag did. Then I would have seen DJ’s first step, heard his first word. Maybe DJ would call me daddy instead of Josh.
None of that mattered right now though. You couldn’t change the past; our future was all that mattered.
After a few minutes, I smiled as details of what needed to happen started rushing into my brain. “So, I guess I’d better get out the vacuum and tidy up if you two are going to be moving in with me,” I teased, knowing my place was a complete mess.
“You want us to move in with you?”
“No, I want to marry you but continue to live in two separate apartments,” I replied sarcastically. “Rosie, I don’t want to wait forever to get married. This whole thing just made me see how important things are. We shouldn’t waste time because you never know how long you have left. Tonight proved that. I want to live with you, I want to marry you, I want to have babies with you. Everything. And soon, because I don’t see the point in waiting,” I continued.
My words didn’t seem to shock her in the slightest. She nodded in agreement as if she knew that life was too precious to take for granted too. “Whenever you want. You just name it, and I’m there. But don’t worry about the vacuum, I can run that around until you’re back on your feet,” she teased, nodding down at my broken leg and busted knee.
“Awesome. I’ll even buy you one of those little maid uniforms to wear while you do it.”
She smiled and touched her lips to mine in a gentle kiss. When she pulled back, I frowned as more things started playing out inside my head.
“So, I guess I have some paperwork I’ll have to fill in then or something. You’ll help me with that, won’t you?” I mused, not really sure how it all works.
She frowned. “Paperwork?”
“Yeah, adoption papers.”
Her eyes widened. “You want to adopt DJ?”
I nodded, looking at her like she was crazy. Hadn’t I just said all of that stuff? Didn’t she just agree to marry me? “Well, yeah. I can’t very well make you a Peters and not him, can I?” I teased, wondering why she looked so shocked.
She sighed, closing her eyes. “This is another one of those moments where you have no idea how special you are, Nate.”
I laughed and rolled my eyes. “W
hatever. Anyway, I guess I have two people I need to talk to before we make this official,” I said, wincing slightly. One of them I was terrified of speaking to, but I had to.
“And who’s that?”
“Well, I need to ask your dad if I can steal his daughter.” That was the easy one. “And I need to speak to DJ to make sure that it’s okay with him that I marry his mom.” That was the one I was worried about. What if he said no?
She sighed dreamily. “I love you, Nate.”
I smiled happily. I still wasn’t used to hearing those incredible words. “I love you too, Stripes.”
She smiled and pressed her lips to mine for a split second before pulling back and snapping the mask back on my face, smirking at me with her ‘I’m the nurse, and you’ll do as you’re told’ face. I laughed quietly. I liked that face; I could see we would have a lot of fun with that one!
Chapter Thirty-Seven
After a little while, Rosie had to excuse herself to go back up to DJ. My parents and Ashton kept me busy, fussing over me for a few hours, before they left too so I could get some rest.
Once I was alone, I tried my hardest to sleep, but sleep didn’t come easy, and even when it did, I was plagued with dreams of the fire. Memories flooded my brain, images of Rosie shaking and mumbling words that I couldn’t understand while she was standing by the ambulance. I dreamt of DJ and the look he gave me when he understood that we were going to die. Thankfully, the hospital was busy, so I was woken often by talking or doctors banging around. The noises brought me out of my nightmares before they reached the climax.
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