“Move in with me, Tab. I’ll take care of you.”
“What about when you’re not there?”
“Then Raeann can come over. And I’ll hire you a nurse. Or if you’re more comfortable staying with Raeann while we’re gone, you can do that. Or you can travel with me. You can have whatever you want. I just want you with me all the time.”
My face flashes with heat. “You really want me to?”
“More than anything. And if you don’t say yes, I’ll have to tell the movers to stop bringing over your stuff.”
I laugh. “You didn’t.”
“I did. Raeann is supervising right now.”
He pulls up a text thread and shows me a video of men packing up boxes in my room.
“I can’t believe she let you get away with that.”
“Hmm. She said something about you wanting a big, tough football player to boss you around a bit.”
I try to keep from smiling, but it doesn’t work. Pretty sure I did say all those things. “Well, if you’re going to be like Micah, you’ll have to take it to the next level.”
“I don’t have to be like Micah. I have to be like me.” He kisses my hand. “I set up a security system. I got the paperwork to change your mailing address—all I need is your signature. I hired an interior designer to come chat with you about any changes you want made when you feel well enough, and I have another little surprise for you when you get back home.”
“That’s a good start,” I tease, but in reality, my heart beats overtime. Levi is everything I could have dreamed of.
“It’ll make me feel better if you’re with me.”
“Me too.”
The nurse comes in, followed by the anesthesiologist. “You ready, Tabitha?”
I hold on to Levi’s hand tighter as panic sweeps through me.
“I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“It’ll work,” Levi states with that confidence I love so much. I swear he could talk me into anything. He quickly touches a few buttons on his phone, and I hear it ringing. Raeann picks up, and soon, Micah is in the picture, too. “She’s going in for surgery.”
“Girl, you got this,” Raeann exclaims. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too,” I say, my eyes heating and tears threatening to spill.
“Good luck, Tab.” Micah smiles. “Everything will be fine.”
They wave, and then Levi ends the call, standing when the nurses start to wheel me away. He walks with me a little, but stops at the doorframe, bending over to kiss me. It’s a quick brush of lips, but I savor it, as if I could bottle it and take it into surgery with me. “I love you.”
The moment in time sticks there like I can commit it to memory. I swallow hard, realizing I’m about to say words that I’ve never meant more in my entire life. “I love you, too.”
He holds on to my hand until he can’t anymore, the nurses rolling me down a hallway lined with fluorescents.
“You got this, Rapunzel!”
They turn into a room at the end of the hallway, and somehow, I have a smile on my face.
The harsh lightsmake my eyes open slower than normal. Long, drawn out blinks until the brightness focuses, and I can scan my surroundings. I’m in the recovery room, machines beeping intermittently. A hand slips into mine and all I can see is Levi.
He stands next to the bed, his gaze studying. He smiles. “Hey.”
