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He smiles, then takes my hand and kisses the back of it.
“Then I’ll leave you for the evening and not push too much on you. But I’m letting you know now that I want you, Autumn, and if you want me to wait, then I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes.”
With that, he kisses my forehead again and leaves me feeling more confused than anything else.
VALENTINE
I’m driving with Autumn and taking her back home when her cell phone suddenly rings. I gesture with my head that she can answer, and she does.
“Doctor Hayes,” she answers in her professional tone and I hear the police officer introduce himself over the line.
I don’t have to guess what this is about since I saw the accident before 5 am this morning; I didn’t even have to intervene because the fucker crashed all on his own.
“Oh, my gosh! No, I can be right over; thank you for the call!” she says, dropping her phone into her lap and breathing out a sigh.
“Everything okay?” I ask, about to turn into her street, but she shakes her head.
“That was the police, apparently they found my husband's car wrapped around a tree and they pronounced him dead on sight. They suspect drunk driving, which I really wouldn’t put past him,” she says, sounding more shocked than hurt. “Do you mind taking me down to the morgue? They need me to identify his body.”
I place my hand over hers and nod. “Of course; do you need me to go in there with you?”
She shakes her head. “No, I think I’ll be fine,” she says, giving me a small smile.
There’s something odd in her scent and her heartbeat picks up the closer we get to the morgue. I wonder what’s going through her head right now; there’s no sadness coming from her, no apprehension.
Then again, she is a doctor, so I supposed she’s seen worse.
“I won’t be long,” she says when we pull into the parking lot, then she disappears into the enormous building.
It’s the evening after I found her and ever since we kissed, my undead heart feels like it’s beating again. Whenever I look at her, an odd emotion burns in my chest; something similar to pride and adoration.
I never felt this with Giselle. What I felt for her was all-consuming and I always felt like I was drowning in our shared Bond and love.
But with Autumn, it’s different; I feel like I can breathe. I don’t know what this unknown emotion is, but I’d like to find out if she’ll have me.
When she walks out of the building, she seems in a daze. Her eyes are glazed over and her mouth is slack as if she’s not believing something.
“Are you okay?” I ask, placing my hand on her shoulder. She turns to me and nods, running a hand over her face, and the odd look is gone.
“I’m more than okay; my husband is dead,” she says, then chuckles and puts a hand in front of her mouth. “Pardon me, that must sound awful.”
I chuckle and start the car. “Not at all, considering what he put you through all these years. He died how he lived, recklessly and drunk.”
She nods at this, then breathes out a sigh and I catch a hint of relief in her scent. A smile makes its way onto her lips and she stares out the opposite window.
Her shoulders are no longer sagging, she’s actually pushing out her bosom as if she’s proud and happy. It’s truly lovely to see such a drastic change within a few minutes.
“Would you like me to drop you off at home?” I ask her after a while and she audibly sighs.
“I don’t really want to go back there right now, but I do think I need to go clean up and call his family to inform them. I’m sure they’ll want to plan the pyre.” She says, not sounding too thrilled at the prospect.
I’m sure she just wants to get this over with and put it behind her before moving on and getting her life back together. There must be loads of things she’s missed out on because of him.
I stop outside her modest-looking home and she sighs deeply when she sees it. “I hope you don’t mind me not inviting you in right now. He was home all afternoon the last I saw him and I have no idea what state he left the house in,” she says, shooting me an apologetic look.
Taking her hand in mine, I hold it to my lips and place a chaste kiss on the back.
“Whenever you feel ready, I’ll be there,” I say. I notice how my words always seem to ruffle her feathers and she gets all flustered and blushes.
