His lips twitch. "He. She. I don't know.” he shrugs. “I defaulted to she."
"Did you?"
He shakes his head and presses a kiss to my lips.
I inhale deeply, loving how attentive he is. "I thought it was stress," I whisper, horrified at how wrong I was. "For two weeks I thought it was stress."
He presses a kiss to my forehead and holds it there. "I know."
The doctor leaves a few minutes later, promising to arrange the scan and reminding me to rest. The second the door closes, silence settles over the room. Lorenzo sits on the edge of the bed and takes my hand.
His thumb brushes over my knuckles, back and forth, like he needs to keep touching me to remind himself I'm here.
I look at him, he’s got dark circles under his eyes, and stubble on his jaw, he looks utterly exhausted. "You still haven't slept."
His jaw tightens. "Not really."
"Lorenzo." His eyes lift to mine, and I swallow hard. "Talk to me," I plead.
Pain flashes across his face. "You stopped breathing properly." I go still and his hand tightens around mine. "The EpiPen wasn't enough." I watch him release a ragged breath. "I thought I lost you."
My chest aches. "Lorenzo."
His eyes close briefly. "I was sitting in that ambulance thinking about what I was going to do if you didn't wake up."
My throat tightens.
"I couldn't figure it out." His voice is rough. "Because there wasn't a version of it that made sense."
A tear slips down my face, and then another. He notices immediately and reaches for me. "Hey."
I take a shaky breath, then another, and I'm tired of holding back, tired of waiting, and tired of being scared. "I love you."
Lorenzo freezes, I don't think I've ever seen him look shocked before.
"I love you," I say again, hoping he won’t reject me.
His eyes don't leave mine. "Quinn," he says thickly.
My stomach flips. I love the way he says my name. "I mean it," I tell him.
His hands comes up to my face. The warmth of them seeps into my skin. "I know," he says simply.
I gape at him and he just laughs at me, he drops his forehead down to mine, the laughter easing as he grins at me. He presses a kiss to my lips. "I love you too."
And just like that, every broken, bruised part of me settles, and I know that we’re going to be okay.
The door opens and Lorenzo steps back from me. I instantly miss the heat, but within seconds, I’m pulled into Valentina’s arms.
"Val," I say, leaning against her.
"Don't," she says. "Don't say you're fine. Don't."
"I was going to say I'm glad you're here."
She pulls back and looks at me with red eyes. "Well," she says. "Good. How are you feeling about the baby?"
I grin at her. “Excited. I can’t believe we’re having a baby. You’re going to be an auntie.”
