“Almost,” she repeated quietly, “isn't accomplished. You saved my life.” She glanced beyond me, then back. “Can you stay with me? Please don't . . . don't leave me?”
“Never,” I murmured.
Relief turned her expression to something more relaxed.
Carefully, I lay next to her on the bed. She grimaced as she repositioned, then settled back against me. Her head rested in the crook of my neck when she turned onto her left side, cuddled in my arms, and sighed. Her eyes fluttered closed. Her heart rate slowed on the monitor behind us.
I stared at the ceiling while the hospital moved around our little room, and let the relief follow. Feeling her body pressed against mine was the reassurance that I needed. All the rest of the tension fled for now.
Sera was mine.
That's all that mattered.
Epilogue
Serafina
Collective whispers came from behind a closed door when I slipped out of Benjamin’s SUV the next day. Walking felt good, but my head was still a little groggy from the pain meds. The quiet drive from the hospital back to Pineville had given me a moment to collect my thoughts. Benjamin hadn’t let go of me, or left my side, since he arrived in the ER.
Now, he opened my door and helped me out. I gave him a little smile, and he pulled me into his side with a soft kiss to my forehead.
“Let’s get you home,” he murmured.
Home.
That was exactly where he’d brought me.
Hernandez had texted Benjamin updates early this morning. Amber has pending charges and is awaiting trial on several counts, he said. Won’t be getting out for a long, long time. The smallest of the two thugs at her side had gone missing when the copes arrived, and Benjamin insisted I stay at his place until he was found.
I didn’t dispute that.
Benjamin’s hand paused on the doorknob seconds before it would open. He glanced down at me with a little amusement.
“You like surprises, right?”
I grinned. “Definitely.”
“Good.”
He pushed the door open and tears filled my eyes. Mom, Dad, Dagny, and Ava stood there around a monstrous bouquet of balloons that would have been obnoxious if they didn’t spell out WE LOVE YOU. Shiny red heart balloons surrounded the letters, and a dozen pictures that Ava had clearly colored lay scattered across the table. Macarons of various colors scattered a plate topped by a chocolate cake.
Mom had been stress baking again.
Mom stood next to Dad, tears in her eyes that she smiled through when she saw me. Dad let out a relieved breath.
“Welcome home, Sera!” Ava cried with a happy squeal, then threw a fistful of confetti. “We wanted to throw you a party! And we bought lots of things for you!” She darted forward, grabbing the arm that wasn’t broken, and tugged me into the room. “Come on! First, Dad called a lady and now we gotta go talk to her about our problems. He said that would help us get you back, and we both really wanted you back. Then he wanted us to buy these, but your Mom and Dad had to help us out while you were getting better in the hospital.”
I staggered behind her quick steps and faster chatter until we skidded to a stop at the empty spare bedroom. This time, it wasn’t empty. A new queen-sized bed stood in the middle of the room, fresh sheets stretched across the top. The far wall had a map of the world splayed across it, plastered there recently, if the hammer and nails on the top of the bed meant anything.
While Ava skipped around the room, chattering about how they put the bed together and a bad word that my Dad said when the mattress fell on top of his hand, another warm body moved up behind me. I leaned back to feel Benjamin back there. He put an arm around me and pulled me close.
“The bedroom is so you know you always have a place with us,” he murmured against my ear, his breath warm. “But I don’t intend for you to sleep here long.”
“No?”
He brushed a few tendrils of hair away from my neck, the tips of his fingers gentle on the hollow between my shoulders and neck.
“No. Once I can take you on a proper date or two, talk to your Dad, officially meet your brother, and convince Ava to help me, I’ll pop a ring onto your hand and we’ll move you into the room you really belong in. Mine.”