“Do you promise?” he asked, his voice sounding hoarse.
Caroline choked on a sob as she raised her head to see his green eyes staring back at her.
“I promise.”
“Marry me, Caroline,” he gritted out.
“You’re in the hospital. We can talk about this later,” she laughed and placed a light kiss on his lips.
“You said you chose me,” he said, gazing at her. “Tell me you’ll marry me.”
“I’ll marry you.”
He closed his eyes as if falling back to sleep, and she sighed in defeat.
“Go home. I’ll be here when you get back. We got a wedding to plan,” he said slowly.
“It’s about damn time,” Garrett grumbled from the doorway. “I called the doctor.”
Jameson never glanced in his direction.
“Do you trust me, Honeybee?”
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.
“You have my word. I’ll rest until you come back,” he said, his voice sounding weak.
Caroline knew her actions at this moment would determine her future. Making herself rise, she replaced the railing and kissed him gently on the cheek.
“I’ll be back,” she promised.
“I’ll be waiting,” he said, sleepily.
A Week Later
They movedJameson from the ICU into a regular room. Caroline held his hand as they wheeled him down the hall.
“Did you see Delaney’s baby?” he asked.
“Yes, but I can’t tell you the gender. She wants to keep it a surprise until you can come down to the NICU to see for yourself,” she informed him.
“I’ll go down tomorrow. The doctor said, I can be discharged at the end of the week,” he said as they pushed him into his new room.
“We’ll see,” she said, as she plumped his pillow and covered him.
The nurses left them, closing the door.
Jameson took her left hand and played with her fingers.
“Come lie by me,” he ordered softly.
Caroline let the rail down and gently lay beside him. His hand took hers, and he slipped a ring on her finger.
Immediately recognizing it, she gasped.
“They found this among Nancy’s things. I recalled seeing it on your mom’s hand and asked Rebecca to release it from the evidence. With the security footage, they didn’t need everything they collected. I thought you might like to wear it to remember your parents. I want us to have the kind of love they did,” Jameson explained.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought. Traditionally, the woman takes the husband’s name. What if instead, you took mine?” she asked. “Then you’ll no longer be Jameson Stanton. You’ll be Jameson Bates. The Stanton name will die with your father.”
