The same, but everything has changed.
I’ve arranged for her to have the best brain surgeon in England to come to do her surgery, and it’s scheduled for first thing in the morning.
Also, we’re in a different hospital room than the one Taylor was in last night. I want her to be comfortable. So, I had them put her in a private room, the best they have.
Donations to the hospital go a long way in getting what you want.
Money brings power, and I have a lot of both, so I will use all of it, if necessary, to ensure Taylor gets better.
Something else that’s different now…I know she loves me.
She loves me, and we’re together.
And we’ll be starting our life together as soon as she’s better.
She is going to get better.
I glance back at her face. Her eyes are closed.
I pick up the remote control from the bed and turn off the television. The moon is full and bright, giving some light to the room.
I stare out the window, up at the moon and the stars glittering around it.
I’m not a religious man. I’ve never been the kind of man who prays, but right now, I’m praying.
Don’t take her. Please.
Turning my chair to face Taylor’s bed, I lean over, resting my arms on the bed, and I gently press my face into her stomach.
I inhale her scent. She smells of everything I want.
Her. I just want her.
Fingers touch my head, slightly startling me.
“I thought you were sleeping,” I say against her stomach.
“Just resting a moment. Talk to me, Hunter.” Her voice is a soft whisper.
I turn my head, resting my cheek against her stomach, so I can look at her face. Even in the muted darkness, I can see how beautiful she is. I will never tire of looking at her.
“What do you want me to talk about?”
“Anything…but not about what’s going to happen tomorrow. Don’t talk about that.”
The surgery.
My mind goes blank as I try to think of something to say. Because the surgery is all I can think of.
“Nothing to say?” Her lips lift into a smile. “Not like you, Hunter.”
“Your beauty has stolen all my words.”
“Did you steal that line from a book?”
“Probably.” I grin.
Her fingers start gently sifting through my hair. “Tell me about the time you sang to that girl. The one you were trying to win back.”
“I thought Cam and Eddie told you all the gory details?”
“They did, and it made me laugh. I want you to tell me, so I can laugh again.”
God, I want to hear her laugh. More than anything, I want to make her happy.
I want her to be healthy and happy.
But I don’t have the power to make her healthy. And I hate the way that makes me feel.
Weak and powerless.
But, for her, I shove my feelings aside and decide on the best and quickest way to make her laugh.
I start singing the words to “I Want It That Way.”
She laughs, and it’s fucking music to my ears.
“You’re crazy,” she tells me.
“Crazy about you.”
My eyes meet with hers. She’s smiling, but even in this darkness, I can tell she’s not happy. She’s afraid. And it hurts to know that there’s nothing I can do to eradicate that fear.
“You shouldn’t sing that song to me, Hunter. That’s your breakup song with another girl. It’s not our song.”
“We have a song?”
“We do.” She smiles. This one seems more genuine. It reaches all the way to her eyes.
That smile makes my heart beat faster.
“Are you going to let me in on what our song is?”
“‘If You’re Not the One’—that’s our song. So, if you’re going to sing to me, you sing that to me.”
“If You’re Not the One” was the song that was accidentally playing on repeat when I asked her to stay in London with me. The night when she told me she didn’t love me and then ran out of my apartment. The night that was the start of my world spiraling out of control.
Two nights ago.
How was that only two nights ago?
“I don’t know if that’s our song, babe…”
Her fingers stop moving through my hair. “You told me you loved me for the first time while that song was playing.”
“You left me while that song was playing.”
Her hand slips from my hair. She goes silent, and I worry that I’ve upset her.
Fuck. Upsetting her is the last thing I want to do.
I look back at her face. Her eyes are on the ceiling.
“Taylor…”
“You’re right. It was a stupid thing to say.”
“I’m being stupid. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t stay then. It matters that you’re here now.”
That’s all I care about.
Her eyes drift back to mine. There are so many emotions in them that I feel them wrap around my chest and clamp down tight, making it hard to breathe.
“I wanted to stay,” she whispers. “In that moment, when you asked me to stay with you, I wanted to say yes so very badly. I wanted to tell you I loved you. Because I did love you then and before, and I love you now.”