She nodded. “Just… until I fall asleep. The pain comes in waves, and it’s nice to have someone nearby.”
“Alright,” I said softly.
I turned off the lamp and sat down in the chair beside her bed.
She shifted under the blanket, the heating pad tucked against her stomach again. “You’re comfortable there?” she murmured, voice sleepy.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve slept in worse places.”
“Marine Corps?”
“Exactly,” I said with a grin. “Once slept sitting up in a Humvee with three guys snoring in my ear. This is luxury.”
She chuckled weakly, her eyes fluttering closed.
Silence filled the room again, gentle and easy.
After a minute, her breathing evened out. I thought she’d drifted off, but then she whispered, barely audible,
“Logan… just get on the bed. There’s plenty of space.”
She offered space next to her like it was simple, like it didn’t change anything.
Like it didn’t matter that every instinct in me was already too aware of her.
“You sure?” I asked.
She nodded, already shifting slightly under the blanket. “I’m not asking for anything,” she said gently. “Just… stay.”
That word landed.
Stay.
I exhaled slowly, then moved.
Kicked off my boots. Sat on the edge of the mattress for half a second longer than necessary, like I was giving myself one last chance to reconsider.
Then I lay back beside her. The bed was a big enough, plenty of room between us if I wanted it. But the moment I settled, It didn’t feel like distance existed at all.
She turned slightly toward me, not all the way, just enough that her warmth reached me. Her leg brushed mine under the blanket, her hand finding my arm again like it belonged there.
And suddenly, she was close, closer than she should have been for something that was supposed to be simple.
I stared at the ceiling for a second, jaw tight, forcing my body to stay still, to not reach for her, to not close the space I was already hyper-aware of.
Her breathing slowed beside me before she spoke again. “Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not making me feel weak.”
I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I reached over, brushed a damp strand of hair from her cheek, and let my fingers linger just long enough for her to know I meant every word.
“You’re anything but weak, Dani.”
