“I’m going to marry you again, Liv. And I want to have babies.”
She tried to tell herself the words were driven by drugs and life-altering trauma, but they still took her breath away. She wanted that more than anything. “Whatever you want, sweetie.”
“Four kids. And a dog.”
“That’s sneaky, adding the dog on after I’ve said yes.”
“Did you?” he murmured, his eyes drifting closed again. “Did you say yes?”
The silent tears returned and she nodded, but he couldn’t see her.
— —
He was sick of the beeping. And even though Liv was a constant visitor, between his temporary cast and the drain and the damn pain medication, he felt like it had been weeks since he’d properly held her. Not to mention the stream of doctors, nurses, medical students. And earlier that day, he’d had to put up with an SIU investigator as well. Forty-eight hours had somehow stretched into an eternity. He was being released in the morning, but they weren’t going far. He needed to stay close to the hospital for a week of outpatient care before transferring his care back up north, so the police association had arranged for a short-term furnished condo rental. Dani and Jake had driven home the day before, and his parents arrived today. He would have insisted they stay in Pine Harbour, but they drove down separately, his mom bringing Liv’s car so they’d have a vehicle in London.
And they’d promised not to stay long.
The door to his private room swung open and the glorious scent of deluxe pizza made him drool.
“How’s my boy?”
Rafe grinned at his dad’s booming voice. Probably wanted a pretty nurse to come and tell him to keep it down. “Hungry.”
“We brought you pizza and salad, I can only imagine what blech the hospital served you for dinner.” His mom moved the pile of papers and oversized water cup from the moveable table and plunked down his food.
The Jello had actually been pretty good, but Rafe wasn’t about to tell her that. He took as deep a breath as he could manage without jarring his shoulder. His parents stood side-by-side at the foot of his bed trying really hard not to look worried. He smiled. “Thanks.”
“Gianni, go ask one of the nurses for another chair.” His mom offered him a polite smile. “Olivia will be here in a minute. She drove herself.”
Shit. “Did she tell you I asked her to?” No, of course she hadn’t. That silly ninny. “Ma, I appreciate you guys offering to drive her back and forth from the hotel yesterday and helping her get settled at the condo today, but we haven’t had any time alone since this happened. She’s going to stay here for a bit tonight after you go.”
“Visiting hours—”
“Don’t apply to my wife.” He made sure his tone left no room for negotiation. He might be a temporary invalid, but he didn’t need Liv to put up with any flack on his behalf. “Got it?”
His dad pulled Anne in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “We got it.”
“Go, chair, now,” she shooed him away, but she was smiling for real now.
Liv slid in just as his dad returned and after a quick hand squeeze and a kiss to the forehead, they dug in to dinner. While they were eating, his evening nurse came in and introduced herself, took his vitals, had a quick look at his incisions, and left them alone again. Now that he’d mastered getting in and out of bed pretty much on his own, she’d have no reason to bother him for another four hours when his next vitals check would happen. He’d offered to take his own damn temperature but that didn’t get any traction.
As soon as he politely could, he started yawning.Get out, get out, get out, he wanted to tell his parents. His mom studiously ignored the cue, but his dad gave him a broad wink and started packing up. “We’ll take the leftovers back to the condo. What time do you think you’ll be busting out of this place tomorrow?”
He repeated what the resident had told him earlier, that it would be after rounds, but the paperwork could take a while. Probably mid-morning.
While his parents were bundling up in their winter coats, Liv yawned for real and he felt a pang of guilt for asking her to stay.You want to go?he asked with a wrinkle of his brow. She shook her head and traced her index finger over the back of his hand with a little smile.
As soon as they were alone, he shoved away the table stretched over his hospital bed. “Come here, baby.”
She stood gingerly and looked at the narrow strip of bed between his left side and the railing. “Uhm…”
“We’ll make it work.” His voice caught on a weird note and he felt hot, prickly tears well up in his eyes.Oh, hell no. He gruffed up his voice. “Damnit, Liv, here, now.”
She laughed and moved the table fully out of the way, then slid onto the foot of the bed.
He awkwardly patted his hip. “I won’t bite.”
“How disappointing,” she whispered, and slowly crawled toward him, carefully avoiding putting any pressure on his body. He wanted to tell her it was fine, but it probably wasn’t. Even the sophisticated pain management schedule he was on didn’t keep him fully comfortable. He’d been warned it would get worse before it got better, as he figured out his limits.
