“You,” he exhaled, a peaceful smile on his face. “The doctor said I’m stuck here for at least two weeks while they treat my burns. After that, let’s go somewhere and get away from everything for a while. I want to go somewhere different, somewhere fresh, somewhere we can get the new beginning we both need. We’re already in Florida. We’ll go rent a house in Palm Beach for a few weeks. We can wake up every morning and watch the sunrise. We’ll spend our days watching the relaxing waves. Every night, we can make love like it’s the first time. Hell, we can even get married while we’re there.”
“What?!” I exclaimed, pulling away and staring at him, wide-eyed.
He reached for my hand, caressing it once more as my spine remained taut. I wondered if this was simply the pain meds talking. “I know it may not be entirely conventional, but since when have we really followed any rule book?”
“Never,” I replied, laughing through my nerves. Everything about this was completely unexpected. But, then again, everything about my relationship with Tyler had been that way from the very beginning.
“Serafina Galloway,” he began, surprising me with the ease he spoke my real name, “I know things haven’t always been easy between us, not to mention the fact our entire relationship early on was based on lies. But I’d rather be completely exasperated by your thick-headedness than have it easy with someone else. I’d rather fight my way through every jungle, desert, and stormy ocean to hold you than to never feel my heart race with adrenaline like it does when I think of you. I’d rather wake up to an empty bed without you in it than wake up next to the wrong person every day for the rest of my life. You are it for me. You’re my turtledove, my lightning strike.”
I remained speechless, holding my breath. This proposal seemed different than his first one. That one was tainted with his lies and deception. I had been hesitant to consider marrying him back then, concerned with the fact that it was too soon, that people didn’t just meet and get engaged a few weeks later. But now, after everything that had transpired between us, there was no hesitation on my part. I knew what my answer had to be.
“Tyler, I…”
Before I could finish what I wanted to say, he reached into the neck of his hospital gown and pulled out his dog tags.
“Since when do you wear those?” I asked.
Shrugging, he lifted them over his head, cringing a bit from the pain in his ribs. “Usually only when I go somewhere that could be dangerous. It’s always good to have them as a form of identification, just in case. I wore them every day while I was over in Sudan.”
“Was it dangerous there?”
He shook his head, toying with the chain a bit before breaking it open. “No. I wore these to keep a reminder of what I lost close to my heart.”
I followed his hands and saw him slide off a brilliant diamond solitaire, the stone easily at least three carats, surrounded by a double band of smaller stones. “Serafina Galloway,” he said, his voice steady, his expression serene, “I’ve lived every day with the pain I caused you. I know we still have a long way to go, but I promise I will do everything I can to make you smile more than you frown. I promise to love you and our son more than words can even express. I promise to always be honest with you. Please, marry me.” He raised the ring to my finger, his eyes eagerly awaiting my answer.
Ever since I was a little girl, I had dreamed of what my proposal would be like. I had envisioned a handsome man clad in a suit kneeling before me, asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. I never imagined sitting in a hospital room, my Prince Charming covered with burns and scars, holding a stunning ring up to me, begging me to give him a chance to prove his words were true. But I wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. It was perfect. It was meaningful. More importantly, it was us.
“Yes, Tyler. Of course I’ll marry you!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him and kissing him fully on the mouth.
He let out a low groan and I pulled back to see a look of