“Just going to bring you some warm water for your medicines.” With that, he rushes out of the room.
I shake my head fondly at him and take in my bedroom. It feels like I haven’t been here for years. Everything seems so distant after the accident. But the warmth of the walls of home I feel calms me.
Everything seems to be in its place, untouched. My eyes fall on the succulent on the windowsill, and I have no recollection of when I last watered it. So, I bite my teeth and stand up, wincing at the pain that shoots in my abdomen.
Grabbing a bowl from my bathroom, I fill it with water and head over to the plant in the pink bucket.
Just as I’m done and putting the bowl aside, Ezra enters the room. “Why are you standing?”
He rushes to my side and takes the bowl from me as he walks me back to my bed. “I can walk, you know. I’m injured, not invalid.” I roll my eyes at him.
He bites back a smile. “I know. But why wouldyou need to do anything when you have me at your beck and call, my lady?”
His comment makes me chuckle. “What were you doing by the way?” he asks, dropping beside me as he hands me the medicines to swallow.
I gulp them down with the glass of water he brought. “Good girl,” he praises me with a smile when I hand him the glass back that he promptly keeps on the side table.
“I was just watering the plant. I couldn’t remember when I did it the last time, and I couldn’t just let it die. Stacy gifted it to me.” I answer his earlier question, resting my back against the headboard.
Ezra tries to cover the smile that slips from his face. My brows furrow at his reaction. “What happened, Ezra?” His reaction when I first told him about the succulent resurfaces in my mind. “You were upset when I first told you about it, too. Why?”
He shakes his head, feigning a smile. “It’s nothing. Don’t you worry about me.”
My eyes narrow at him, but my heart feels heavy. “I’ll never not worry about you. So, tell me what it is, darling?”
With a sigh, he answers, “Stacy never gave youthat plant.”
My brows furrow in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“It was I who kept it for you in the staff locker room to congratulate you for getting the job you thought you lost.”
My eyes widen while he looks at me, unsure of my reaction. “You didn’t!” My voice rises an octave, unable to believe what he said.
Ezra’s lips turn up. “I did,” he says softly.
“All these years, I thought that Stacy…But you hated me? I was so mean to you. Why would you give me a gift?” I ask incredulously, my eyes darting between his.
He slides to my side and drapes his arm over me, burrowing me in his embrace. “I told you I have always liked you.” He shrugs.
A calm unlike ever before washes over me, knowing that he has always been there for me, rooting for me from the shadows. His silent love, care, kindness, and support wrap around me like a warm blanket.
“Why do you call me Feather? I still need to know,” I ask him, nuzzling into his shoulder.
His lips tug in a grin. “Remember that time when you drank your weight in tequila and ended up in my bed?” I nod, playfully smacking his toned abs. “Well, I found it cute that you were such a lightweight and could hardly hold your liquor. That’s when Feather struck me. Used to tease you with it, but then the sentiments changed.”
I would’ve never guessed that. I’m eternally grateful that I collided with him all those years ago. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad you spilled your coffee over me.”
Ezra sputters out a laugh, his headthrown back, and I join him. “Is that right?”
“Mhmm,” I nod with a smile on my face, causing him to shake his head with a rough chuckle. “I love you,” I tell him, pecking his lips.
“I love you, too, Feather.”
I promise to always protect the brilliant smile he showers me with.
Epilogue
6 months later
