Jesse opened the door to the bedroom. Robin was sprawled across the bed, lying half-on and half-off the plush dummy Cam and I had named Frank—short for Frankenstein. The kitten had already done some damage. Frank had a few new scars, and Robin had taken a bite out of one of his shoe-covered feet. The sight made me smile despite the exhaustion.
“How long will it take Robin to completely destroy Frank?” Jesse asked, grinning.
I shrugged and immediately regretted it. “I’d say at least a week. We’ll be picking up fluff for days.”
“Let me move him—”
“No. He’s comfortable, and I want you both next to me tonight.”
It was true. The thought of sleeping alone, even for one night, made my chest tight. I’d spent too many nights in that hospital bed staring at the ceiling, listening to monitors beep and nurses’ footsteps in the hallway, feeling utterly isolated. I needed them close—both of them. My weird little family.
Cam cleared his throat. “Make sure sleeping is all you do in bed for the next week or so.”
“Damn straight.” Nikki had showed up beside him and was surveying us atop her eyeglasses. “Overdoing it could pop his stitches, and BAM! He’d end up on my table.”
“Nikki,” Jesse gasped.
“I mean it,” Nikki said. “No strenuous anything until after his post-surgical visit.”
“Okay, just shut up.” A visible shudder ran through Jesse.
I wanted to laugh at the thought that I might be able to do anything in bed except sleep. I felt as though I’d never be able to have sex again, and I was too drained to even panic about it.
I lay on my right side, trying to find a position that didn’t make everything hurt. Cam arranged a pillow under my left arm, tucking it close to my body and keeping it at the necessary angle the physical therapist had shown us. The pressure eased immediately.
“That should do it.” Cam stood back and turned to Jesse. “If you guys need anything, call, okay?”
“We will. Thanks, bud.” My eyes were already closing.
I felt Jesse’s lips press against my forehead, heard Cam and Nikki’s footsteps retreating, and then I was drifting, the riptide of exhaustion pulling me under.
I didn’t fall asleep right away though. I lay there, listening to the muffled voices from the living room—Jesse thanking everyone, saying goodbye. Finally, the apartment went quiet. The front door closed and locked. Footsteps approached the bedroom.
I opened my eyes as Jesse walked in.
“I thought you were asleep,” she said softly.
I chuckled, which hurt, but I didn’t care. “I was waiting for them to leave, so that I could finally be alone with you.”
Her expression turned tender, heated and careful all at once. I knew what she was thinking. Hell, I was thinking it too. We hadn’t been intimate since before the accident, and my body was starting to remember what it missed, even if it was in no condition to do anything about it.
But that wasn’t what I needed most right now. What I needed was her presence, her warmth, the simple comfort of knowing she was here.
“Thanks for everything, Jesse.” My voice was rougher than I had intended. “Thanks for being here. The gifts were great, but the best part was coming home to you.”
She smiled, that beautiful smile that made my chest ache with love.
“I wanted to wait until everyone was gone to give you my present,” she said.
I blinked in surprise. “This whole party, bringing me home, and putting up with me is enough. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Yet I did.”
She pulled something from the closet—a canvas, not too large, but substantial. She held it up, and my breath caught.
It was a painting of us. Not literally us, but a metaphor of us. Two figures intertwined, abstract but unmistakable, made of fragmented pieces stitched together in a mosaic of meaning. It reminded me of kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold, making the cracks part of the beauty. The colors were warm—golds, ambers and deep reds—and there was something about the way the brushstrokes moved that made it feel alive. Love, captured in oil and canvas.
Below, there was a hand-painted message:I see your scars, and I still think you are the most beautiful person in the world.
