“So we’re doing this?”
“I mean, it would be terrible of me to turn down my husband slash boyfriend slash real-life Clark Kent after such a grand speech.”
“Thank God,” I breathe, and then I’m moving forward without thinking, without analyzing, without running through the scenarios in my head.
I cup her face in my hands and kiss her—not gently, not carefully. This isn’t a tentative experiment anymore. This is certainty. This is need. This is everything I’ve been trying to rationalize away since the moment I met her.
She makes a small sound against my mouth, something between surprise and approval, and then her good hand is in my hair, pulling me closer. The angle is awkward with her in the hospital bed, but I don’t care. I deepen the kiss, pouring everything into it—the fear of losing her, the relief of finding her again, the promise of something neither of us expected.
The kiss turns hungry, desperate. Her fingers tighten in my hair, and I can feel her smile against my mouth.
“As much as I like kissing you, I have some other things in mind,” she smiles up at me.
“Me too, but maybe when you’re not in a hospital bed, and injured.”
“Fair point.”
The door opens, and Emily pokes her head in. “Is it safe to come back? Have you two figured things out, or should I take Max for another walk?”
As if summoned by his name, Max pushes past Emily’s legs and trots to Lila’s bedside, his tail wagging hopefully. He rests his chin on the edge of the mattress, looking between us with those soulful brown eyes.
“We’re working on it,” Lila tells her sister, not letting go of my hand.
Emily’s gaze drops to our intertwined fingers, and her eyebrows rise slightly. She steps fully into the room, closing the door behind her. “So,” she says, crossing her arms with a knowing smile. “Does this mean I need to start planning for a wedding? Because Mom’s been saving her dress patterns since Lila was twelve.”
“Emily!” Lila hisses, her face flushing bright red.
“What? It’s not every day that my sister finds someone who can put up with her. You need to lock this man down,” Emily turns to me with exaggerated seriousness. “Lila’s favorite flowers are sunflowers, she hates the color mint green, and she’ll definitely cry during the first dance. You’re welcome.”
I can’t help but laugh, even as Lila buries her face in her hands. Max, sensing the shift in mood, decides to help by leaping onto the hospital bed with surprising agility.
“No!” I reach for him too late. “Max, get down?—”
But it’s already happening. Max circles once, twice, and plops himself directly onto Lila’s lap, his tail thumping with enthusiastic force.
“Ow! Max!” Lila yelps, then dissolves into laughter as he tries to lick her face. “I’m fine, I’m fine, you big doof.”
Emily snaps a quick photo with her phone. “Perfect. That’s going in my Christmas card this year.”
“Don’t you dare,” Lila warns, still trying to fend off Max’s affection without hurting her shoulder.
“Too late.” Emily shows me the screen, where Lila is caught mid-laugh with Max’s tongue aimed at her nose.
“I think we just created your first family photo,” Emily declares proudly, zooming in on Lila’s horrified expression. “Everyone’s going to love this.”
“Oh my God, Em, delete that!” Lila tries to swipe at the phone, but Max’s weight pins her down.
I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face. “I’d like a copy of that.”
“Oh my God, you two are insufferable already,” Lila groans. She looks at me over Max’s golden head, and for a moment, everything else in the room goes soft and out of focus. Just her. Just us.
Emily clears her throat. “Right. Well, I’m going to go find the cafeteria and give you two some...space.” She makes air quotes that are completely unnecessary. “Try not to do anything that would make the nurses kick me out of visiting hours. I drove six hours to get here and I’d like to keep my privileges.”
The door clicks shut behind her, and we’re alone again. I look down at the mess of us—Lila trapped beneath Max’s enthusiastic affection while she tries to ward off his tongue with her good hand. There’s something about this that feels right. Like this is where we’ve been heading all along.
LILA
Hospital time isits own special kind of hell. Four days. Four goddamn days I’ve been staring at this ceiling, watching the fluorescent lights flicker like they’re trying to communicate with me in Morse code.
