“Yes? Did you really tell him you’d pay for it?”
When my parents told me Matt had insisted they find the best surgeon to treat my face so I’d have minimal scarring, I’d thought it was a morphine-induced hallucination.
It was too much. Too grand a gesture, even after our declarations of love.
There was no denying the reality when the surgeon visited me this morning to discuss my treatment plan.
He laid out a detailed plan that included tension reduction via the subcutaneous stitches he’d add, and using surgical tape to reduce the pull normal movement made on the external stitches.
Ninety minutes later, he was done and I was back in my room.
“Thank you.”
When I coughed, I no longer sounded like I was hacking to death, though it still sounded unpleasant.
Matt nodded as he reached for my water cup. “Drink.”
After soothing my throat, I said, “Why?”
“First, I love you no matter what you look like.” He brushed a few strands of wayward hair off my face. The tenderness of his touch soothed my nerves.
God, I need a shower.Myhair was oily and still reeked of smoke.
“Hey, where’d you go?”
“I must smell awful.”
When his laugh turned into a cough, I told him to drink.
“I hadn’t noticed. My new smoke-scented aftershave must be overpowering it.” His joke lightened the mood.
We sat for a few seconds in silence.
“Why’d you do it?” I asked again, barely above a whisper. Unlike Blake and Nathan, Matt wasn’t wealthy, and paying a top-rated cosmetic surgeon to come on demand had to cost a small fortune.
“It’s not because I care if your face is scarred, so remove that thought from your brilliant head.”
It had crossed my mind, even after my father explained Matt’s reasoning.
He leaned down and kissed my temple. “God, it feels good to do that for real.”
It really does.
“I’ll pay you back.”
“You’re in for a rude awakening if you think I’ll accept your money.”
“But—”
“Will it make you feel better if I tell you your father insisted on sharing the cost?”
My eyes flew open.
“Kept that part to himself, did he?”
“He did, guess he wanted you to have all the credit.”
“Or to take all the heat.”
