“But if I could just talk to them…”
“Doctor Fernandez. You will drop this now, or I’ll have you escorted off my base.”
Silence descended but for the approaching footsteps. When they arrived, the surgeon looked red-faced and tight-lipped, while General Davies had on his stern, don’t fuck with me face, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Well,” the doctor briskly said, moving toward Erik as Chloe got up from the bed. “At the rate you’re healing, I think we can take this off now.”
Finally.
“Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready, Doc.” As the surgeon gloved up, Chloe moved around to the other side of the bed and gripped Erik’s hand.
Nervousness flooded him as the doctor removed the apparatus attached to his face. All the previous times the doctor had checked underneath it, Erik hadn’t been allowed to see the progress, the opinion being that he should wait. Well, the wait was finally over.
He kept his eyes on Chloe, waiting for her reaction, and when she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Finally, her hands fell away, and her smile was beaming. The breath he’d been holding expelled in a loud whoosh of relief.
“What’s the verdict?” he asked.
Chloe’s eyes narrowed. “I think I’ll have to get a big stick.”
“Why?”
“To beat off all the women who are going to be falling all over you.”
Erik laughed. “Good thing I only have eyes for you.”
Doctor Fernandez was holding a mirror, but before he handed it to Erik, he cautioned, “We’re still in the early days, yet. I expect, at the rate you’re healing, the skin will even out in the next few days.”
Erik took the mirror, and as he looked at his reflection, emotion swamped him. Two matching turquoise eyes stared back at him. His new skin was shiny, still a bit pink, but it was smooth. The channels, pockmarks, and rough texture were gone. The transition between the two sides of his face was nearly seamless. They’d even fixed his ear. The monster he’d seen in the mirror for eighteen long years was finally gone.
His breathing hitched, and his sinuses clogged. Dropping the mirror into his lap, he covered his face with his hands as he lost it. Tears squeezed out from his closed eyes as his shoulders shook, and Chloe’s arms were around him, holding him tight.
“Let’s give him some privacy,” he heard the general say before the door closed.
Bruce whined, and a wet nose nudged insistently at Erik’s elbow. Dropping his hand to give some reassuring scratches, he took a few deep breaths and managed to blink back the tears and pull himself together. His eyes met Chloe’s sympathetic gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” Leaning in, she kissed him sweetly, her lips lingering on his as she whispered, “Nothing.” Grabbing a tissue, she gently blotted away the wet tracks on his cheeks.
In some amazement, he murmured, “I can take you out now. To a place with people without embarrassing you.”
“Oh, Erik.” Her fingertips gently skimmed over the new skin on his face. “You’ve always been able to do that. I’ve never once been embarrassed to be with you. I love you, and I’ve been proud to call you mine right from the start.”
This woman… The way she made him feel. The way she’dalwaysmade him feel. She’d never seen the monster, only the man. She’d healed him in ways she’d never fully understand.
He drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “If it weren’t for you, Chloe, I don’t know where I’d be.” He let out a low chuff of a laugh. “Probably still shut up in my apartment, keeping everyone at a distance while life passed me by. I don’t know how to repay you…”
Her fingertips covered his lips. “Just love me, Erik. That’s all I need.”
“I do. I love you so much that I can no longer imagine my life without you in it.”
“Same.” With a soft smile, she kissed him again. “No more watching life from the outside for either of us. We’ll live it together, side by side, day by day.”
Picking up her hand, he kissed her fingers. “There’s no one else I’d rather live it with.”
Epilogue
Seven months later…
