Page 101 of Take The Risk

​“If she makes it through the next twenty-four hours, I’d say we have every reason to be optimistic. She coded twice—”

​I sucked in a breath. No…

​“—she came back both times. I’ve seen a lot of gunshot wounds like this. They’re catastrophic. She shouldn’t be alive now. I’d say she’s a fighter, and that will make all the difference.”

​He didn’t need to say no one had survived this type of injury before.

​“I want to see her!” Alex and I blurted out at the same time.

​It was too much. I needed to see her. I needed to tell her, even if she couldn’t hear me. I was done waiting.

​“She’s only allowed one visitor in the C.I.C.U. and usually not until she’s conscious. However, I understand that you’re her best friend.” Alex nodded vigorously. “And you’re her—”

​“Fiancé.” It wasn’t a lie. I was marrying her as soon as I saw her.

​“—then we can allow you five minutes. No one else, though.”

​“Lock needs to see her,” I argued. He needed to see his mother as much as I did.

​Doctor Wolstencroft shook his head. “We can’t allow that. He’s exposed to too many germs in school, and an infection is dangerous. As it is, you two will have to be gowned and scrubbed and won’t be allowed to touch her.”

​“He needs to see her.” I wasn’t backing down. “Can’t he just look in? From the doorway maybe?”

​In the end, Lock would be allowed to see Phoebe from the observation room. Only after Alex and I saw her first. No matter how much we desperately needed the reassurance of seeing her for ourselves, we agreed we needed to see her so we could support Lock when he finally did.

​“I know it looks scary,” Nurse Autumn said. “She’s really doing very well.” She led us into the room that was silent and yet not. Air hissed as it pushed through a tube into a mask over Phoebe’s face. A machine beeped softly by her bed. There were tubes everywhere. I watched the yellow line jump on the monitor, afraid if I looked at her, she wouldn’t be there.

​That yellow line was her heartbeat.

​“You can’t touch her,” the nurse reminded us. “I promise we aren’t trying to be assholes. It really is for her protection.”

​“We understand.” Alex was subdued.

​“You have five minutes,” Nurse Autumn warned and then left us with Phoebe.

​I couldn’t look away from the jumping yellow line.

​“You’re going to be fine. Do you hear me?” Alex leaned over Phoebe, not paralyzed the way I was. “You’re going to live, Phoebe. While you’re sleeping, I promise Wanda and I are going to take care of everything here. Do you remember in high school when I was in that car accident, and you made a nuisance of yourself? Sneaking into the hospital? Baking for me? God, you were annoying. I couldn’t understand why the girl I’d been picking on was being so nice to me.”

​That was news to me. I snapped out of my paralysis and rounded on Alex. “You bullied her?”

​She waved a hand at me. “I’m busy here.” She snickered. “Men, right? As I was saying, you chose me then. I know everyone thinks I’m the strong one, the tough one. That isn’t true, is it? You’ve always been strong. You were kind when others were mean. You kept me sane and out of prison—”

​That didn’t surprise me.

​“—you kept getting up when someone knocked you down. You fight quietly and with grace, when others can’t. Now you need to fight for you. Fight for me. Fight for Lock. Fight for Ty. You chose me first, but I will choose you always, even if I have to do twenty-five to life for you.”

​Finally, Alex stood. Tears glistened in her eyes, and I finally was able to do it. I looked at Phoebe.

​“I’ll give you two a minute.” She left quietly.

​I took her in. They say people look small in their hospital bed, and it’s true. I would never be able to describe how she looked because all I saw was my whole world with her lashes brushing her cheek and her pale skin I knew felt like silk. I saw the smile she gave when she was happy. I heard her laughter ringing in my ears. I saw the way her skin flushed when I touched her.

​“I love you.” I couldn’t keep it inside anymore. “I love you so damned much. From the first moment I saw you, I knew deep down that you were mine. You are the reason I know there is a God because he gave me heaven the day he gave me you.”

​I moved as close to her as I dared.

​“I, Tyler Marcus Brockmann, take you, Phoebe Jennifer Lebonaire, as my wife. I vow to love you, encourage you, and honor who you are every day of my life. I promise to love Lock as my son and raise him knowing how amazing his mother is every day. I swear I’ll keep Alex out of prison…er, I’ll try. I’ll help her get to France, if necessary. I vow to drive you insane and leave you love notes that make you smile. I’ll help you work out every plot detail whenever you get stuck. I vow to let you dream and promise to make the world a safe place when you’re ready to return from those amazing worlds in your head. Most of all, I vow to be yours. Completely. For this life and the next, and the next, and the next. I exist because you do.”