1
Marie watched the way her hand trembled as she clasped the cup and frowned. Just a result of the accident, she told herself and put the cup down. Bright morning sunlight gleamed off the sparkling clean objects in her private hospital room and made everything surreal, and for a second, it felt like time crawled by as she moved her eyes around the room.
“Good morning, lovely lady. How are you feeling?” Tara, Marie’s morning nurse, asked as she walked into the room with a smile on her face. The nurse was young, blond, pretty, and dressed in a salmon pink uniform. They all wore that color in this ward, even the male nurses.
“I’m alright, Tara. How are you?” Marie pushed her breakfast tray away and prepared herself for the examination that the nurse would perform. She held her arms out to the side so the nurse could lift her gown and examine her body. The wound was healing but it still stung when the nurse pulled up the bandages to inspect it.
“At least you didn’t get an infection, you were lucky,” Tara said as she inspected the incision the surgeon made when he opened Marie up to remove the bullet and repair the section of her intestine that was damaged by the bullet.
“I certainly was. Do I get to go home today?” It was a question she’d asked every day for the last month. She was more than ready to go home.
“You do indeed. Your husband is coming to pick you up and the doctor will be here to discharge you shortly.” Tara’s smile broadened as Marie sighed with relief.
“Thank goodness.” Marie let her head fall back to the pillow and smiled for the first time in days. She’d felt so cooped up in here, smothered, and she wanted to be back out in the world again.
“I love you too,” Tara said playfully, and Marie laughed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Her cheeks felt warm and she put her hands up to hide the blush.
“No offense taken, sweetie. We love it when our patients get to go home.” Tara patted Marie’s hand and took down her vitals. “I’ll remove your IV when the doctor gives me the go-ahead and we’ll get you ready to go, alright?”
“Thanks,” Marie answered and looked up when the door opened. Matteo was there and her smile grew even brighter as her excitement grew. “I get to go home today.”
He wore another one of his tailored suits, this one a gray that matched his eyes. The suit couldn’t hide the fact that her husband was a very healthy male and kept his body in top shape. Her gaze drifted up and down his body before it came back up to his face. She stopped there as he started to answer.
“I know. I have the room prepared for you with everything you might need in place. How are you feeling?” His smile made his fierce gaze softer as he looked from the nurse to Marie. His face always went soft when he looked at her, even if he’d just been glaring at someone for invading his space. And as far as Matteo was concerned, she thought, she was all his space.
That made her blush deeper, and she looked away before she smiled again and looked back.
“I’m good. A little sore, but that’s to be expected.” She examined his face for signs of trouble, but those glittering gray eyes of his distracted her and nearly took her breath away.
“It is, and it will go soon.” Matteo watched as the nurse left them before he came to sit in the chair at the side of her bed. “You’ll be back to normal in no time, don’t you worry, Marie.”
“I’m not. I know I have you.” She held her hand out for his and when he took it, she felt a peace come over her. That always happened, every time he touched her, he brought her peace. “I can’t wait to get out of here and sleep with you at my side each night.”
“Ah. For now, I’ve decided to put you in your own room, until that wound has healed fully. But I’ll come in with you until you get to sleep each night.”
“That’s your final word on the matter?” She looked up from under her eyelashes as she added a bit of flirtation to her voice.
His left eyebrow crooked before a smile spread over his face. “Of course, it is, dear.”
“I see.” She pouted for a moment, but couldn’t keep it up. “If that’s how it has to be then so be it.”
“Only for a little while. I’ve also hired security for the place. You won’t be alone when I have to go out, and there will be men outside at all times.”
“I still think they mistook me for someone else,” she interrupted, her worry now evident in the way she clutched at his hand. “I don’t think it’s necessary to go overboard, Matteo.”
“I don’t know, Marie. There’s a lot I still don’t know about how this happened, and until I do, you won’t be alone or unguarded. That’s how it’s going to be.” His tone told her there was no point to argue so she pursed her lips and nodded.
“Fine. But I won’t like it.” She glared at him but the minute her eyes caught his, the glare faded. “Especially since it’s August and the leaves will start changing soon. That’s one of my favorite things to see. Nope, I won’t like it at all.”
“You don’t have to. It’ll make me feel better, so that’s all that matters.”
“Selfish,” she spat out and looked away. But her lips twitched. “But in this case, I guess it’s good you are.”
“I know it is.” He patted her hand and they both looked up as the doctor came in.
“Guess who’s going home today?” The man’s smile was infectious as he came into the room.
Time to go home, at last.
“It’s been a month since I was released from the hospital, he still won’t let me leave the penthouse. It’s almost October. The leaves have changed and I probably won’t get to see them now. Our anniversary is soon too.” Marie turned to fill Trina’s cup with fresh coffee from the French press that she’d brought into the living room. There was regret on her face mixed with a sadness that pulled at the corners of her mouth.
“It’s not safe out there,” Trina responded, repeating her cousin’s own line back to his wife. She couldn’t meet Marie’s gaze and stared out of the glass panes to the gray, rainy scene outside instead.
“I hate you both, you know that right?” Marie’s glare wasn’t mean and disappeared quickly. “I just feel like I’m a prisoner all over again.”
“What do you mean?” Trina sat forward her head tilted to the right as she leaned in towards Marie.
“Well, I told you about my mother, how ill she was? Well, that prison she had me in was a prison my entire life. Before she developed Parkinson’s she was, uh, well, she was an alcoholic.” Marie blurted out the words she’d kept hidden away from Trina.
She hadn’t wanted to open up that much to the other young woman, hadn’t wanted to reveal that embarrassing bit of information, but knew she couldn’t hide it anymore. She also knew by now that Trina wouldn’t judge her for her mother. Matteo’s cousin didn’t work like that, unlike the women back home in Louisiana. Trina’s acceptance and the love she offered from the first moment they met told Marie she had a real friend, at last.