AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The last year has been really tough for me,” I explained softly. “Since my parents died, I haven’t felt like I have a home. I sold my parents’ house. My apartment is big and lonely. I visit my friends, and they’re supportive and loving, but it’s all just temporary. But when I’m with you? I feel like I’m home again, no matter where we are. Whether it’s the hospital, or Elkhart, or the Residencia Al Gladiatore hotel, I’m home whenever I’m with you.”
“Damn, Feisty. That speech definitely trumps myI love you.”
“Expressing our love isn’t a competition,” I said. “Although if it were, I’m sure you’d find a way to cheat.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Nope!”
The doctors kept me in the hospital for two more days, just in case. Now that my condition wasn’t as dire, I was moved to a larger room that I shared with about fifty other patients. It was cramped, but I still considered myself lucky. It could have been worse.
It could have beenso muchworse.
I replied to the standby email and got myself added to the same flight as Donovan. The timing worked out perfectly: the flight was scheduled for the evening when I was released, which was forty-eight hours since I’d had a negative test. Donovan and I were safe to fly.
“It feels so good to walk around!” I said when we finally left the hospital. “It’s beautiful out. Rome really is gorgeous. Maybe we should stay longer.”
“You’re babbling,” Donovan said while wrapping an arm around me.
“I can’t help it. I’m excited! We should have sex.”
Donovan laughed.
“I’m serious,” I insisted. “I can’t wait until we get back to the hotel. Let’s find an alley to hide in so I can jump your bones.”
“As appealing as that sounds, we’re on a tight schedule,” Donovan replied. “Our flight leaves in three hours. And we have to pack.”
“Plenty of time!” I said.
He grinned over at me. “Well, I was sort of hoping you would use that time to take a shower. You’ve, uh, been in the hospital for a few days. And before that you were bedridden.”
I pretended like I had been stabbed in the chest. “Ouch. Guess the honeymoon’s over.”
He leaned over and kissed my hair. “Love means being brutally honest sometimes. And I’m sure the other passengers on our twelve-hour flight will appreciate your hygiene.”
“Good point.”
When we got back to our rooms, we were greeted by a powerful, pungent smell. The containers from our last meal before leaving had been sitting out for several days now. It was a wonder the room wasn’t filled with flies.
Donovan pulled out forty Euros from his wallet. He placed the bills on the nightstand. “This is the last cash I have on me. The maid who eventually has to clean our rooms deserves it.”
Both of us took long showers in our rooms. Donovan spent a few minutes trimming his beard down so that he didn’t look like a seventeenth-century pirate. Then we hastily gathered our belongings. It felt surreal to pack. Part of me had thought this day would never come.
“Molly?” Donovan called from the next room over. “Come here.”
I found him on the balcony. He waved me over, and put his arm around me.
“One final selfie before we go,” he said, extending his phone and snapping a couple of photos.
“Wait,” I said. “I have a better idea.”
We ran up to the fifth floor and took the ladder to the roof. The view there was much better. Donovan wrapped an arm around me and took the photo. The sun was setting behind the Colosseum, casting long shadows across Rome.
“Our last Roman sunset,” Donovan said, holding me close.
“Our last,for now,” I said. “We’ll come back someday. When everything’s normal again.”
“Forget that,” Donovan said with a laugh. “The next time I come to Europe, I’m visiting Paris!”
