Page 106 of I Never Stopped Loving You

Jeremy laughs and tries to cover it with a cough.

“What?” I snap.

“Nothing. You’re being so cute about her. Very different from any other woman I've ever seen you with.”

“Because she's not just another woman, Jeremy. She's the one. I told you that. It’s always been her.”

“That’s so beautiful. How long have you known each other?” the younger nurse asks.

“Three days,” Jeremy scoffs.

“What?” the older nurse asks.

“We’ve only been back in each other’s lives for a few days, but I've known her for years.”

“Oh,” she says, eyeing me skeptically. “Well, she sounds like a lucky woman to have someone who loves her so much.”

“I’m the lucky one.”

When the nurses finally leave, I realize I need to ask my cousin to do something for me. Something that, honestly, I never thought I’d ever have to involve him in. I need him to take care of my little problem in the basement. I hope I’m able to go home tomorrow, but in the chance that I’m stuck here for a few days, this needs to happen.

“Hey…Remember that thing I told you about that’s in the basement?” I ask.

His eyes seem to lock on mine, reading my thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Unfortunately, it needs water,” I say while shrugging.

“I need to go water it?”

“Yep, there’s a hose. Just give it a good spray down.”

“Umm, there’s a problem,” he says after a moment.

“What’s that?”

He sits there for a moment staring at the door, waiting to see if anyone’s going to walk in. Fuck, I hope he doesn’t back out or freak out. We haven’t really talked about it since I told him everything in the office yesterday. Plus, right after telling him, I had to dash out and follow Willow up to her old house.

“I don’t have a key to get in there.”

“Oh.”

Shit, I didn’t tell him how to get into the labyrinth. I only told him that it was a hidden staircase. Damnit. I nod my head, gesturing for him to come closer. He grabs a chair and drags it over, sitting next to my bed but keeping his eyes on the door.

“Okay. I’m going to tell you how to take care of the problem .”

Five minutes after I explained how to open the panel to get to the staircase and then how to get to the center of the labyrinth, which he also made me text the paths to take, he ended up leaving. I hope to God he doesn’t freak out when he sees it down there. I told him to wear the mask as well.

Shortly after he left, I heard the sound of the door opening and her beautiful voice whispering my name. Now I have her wrapped in my arms as I slowly drift to sleep.

“Noah. Are you still awake?” she quietly asks as her hand drifts over my heart monitor pads and teases my chest hair.

“I am. Everything okay?”

“What is this? Between us?” she asks.

I can feel her body tense as I hesitate, trying to choose my words wisely.