Page 67 of Protecting Salvation

“Warren.”

He lay still and she took the seat beside him, taking his hand and holding it in both of hers, kissing it and rubbing it against her cheek. It was warm and his strong heartbeat soothed her enough that she fell asleep with her head on the bed.

Sometime later the nurses came in and removed the breathing tube and fixed a nasal cannula to help him breathe. It was a good sign or so they said. Her eyes wandered over his handsome face and tears fell again as she thought of what might have been. She could have lost him, still could but she couldn’t allow those thoughts to take root.

She must have fallen asleep again because she came awake when she felt fingers threading through her hair and looked up quickly to see him watching her. His warm brown eyes were full of love. Even though he was hopped up on pain meds she recognised it.

“Hey, how do you feel?”

“I love you, sugar.”

Her heart melted into a pool at her feet. “I love you too.”

“I’m sorry.”

Peyton shook her head. “It’s forgotten. We move on. Today is day one of the rest of our lives.”

His smile was infectious and wide and he cupped her cheek. “Marry me?”

“What?”

“Marry me. I love you and I’ve wasted enough time. I don’t want to take another second for granted.”

“Are you serious?” Tears of a different kind poured down her cheeks now. “You’re on all kinds of drugs, you might regret this tomorrow.”

“Never but I’ll ask you every day until you say yes, because I’m not going anywhere.”

“Deal.”

Savannah came in and checked him over and seemed pleased. She talked them through what recovery would look like and what they might expect and said to speak to her anytime but that Charlie would also be able to provide support. Peyton knew Charlie had been shot in the head and by some miracle lived through it, and so had the baby she’d been expecting but any kind of brain surgery was risky and there wasn’t a straight line to recovery.

Titan came by with Snow and Sebastian, who insisted on taking her to dinner. She didn’t want to leave Warren but he was firm that she go rest and eat. Reaper and Bishop had stayed while she grabbed some lunch and that made her feel better. Life wasn’t perfect but it was pretty damn close and, after everything she had been through to get here, she’d take it.