Epilogue
Charlotte
A few weeks after the accident, I went back to work. During my time off, I disclosed to HR what happened the night Damon recorded the video. Xander didn’t waste any time getting an attorney involved, and Damon recanted his claim I was harassing him, and we still were involved within a few weeks.
It didn’t take long for HR to wrap up their investigation. He was fired, and Xander’s attorneys continued to go after him.
We finally got the original version of the video, and Damon signed papers under oath he hadn’t distributed the footage to anyone besides HR and this was the only copy.
It has been a few months since my accident, and Xander and I are in a comfortable routine.
Since we are in most of the same surgeries, we leave for work and come home together almost every day.
Even though we are together most of the day, Xander still finds moments to leave blueberry muffins, coffee, or other little gifts for me in my locker.
I’m about to close it when my phone beeps. The notification says, “NYSurgeon is waiting for you to make your next move.”
I pause for a moment, thinking about all the memories I made with Xander playing this game. As tough as it was at times, there was a lot of laughter, too.
I open up the board and read my letters. Smiling, I write “heartbeat” and throw my phone in my locker.
Xander is already looking at the list for the day. He groans and turns to me. “Charlotte, you need to win rock, paper, scissors today. I can’t do it again.”
I laugh. “It was only a three-hour surgery. It could have been longer.”
Xander puts his hand on my back and guides me out of the locker room. We are halfway down the hall when he says, “Hey, I have something to show you tonight. Don’t make any plans.”
“What’s that?”
He grins at me. “I’m not telling you.”
“You’re going to make me wonder all day what it can be?”
He laughs. “Yep.”
“You’re evil.”
He kisses me on the top of my head and opens the door to the operating room. Tabi smirks at me, and I smirk back as she puts our gloves on us.
Our day goes quickly, and after we shower and change, I pull out my phone and see a notification that Xander has just created a sixty-seven-point word. I write, “Nice job.”
“Good to see you’re back.”
“I won’t be going anywhere again.”
“I’m going to give you some extra dessert tonight for writing that.”
I laugh out loud, and Tabi looks at me. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
Xander has his bag, and he grabs mine. “Have a great night, Tabi.”
“You, too.” She smiles at him and smirks at me again.
We’re walking down the hall, and Xander leans into me. “You’re smoking hot.”
I shake my head. He tells me that every day. “So, where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
He guides me into the parking garage and opens the car passenger door for me.
“You’re making me nervous,” I tell him when he gets in the driver’s side.
“Don’t be nervous. It’s nothing bad. So what do you rate the pus factor from patient number three today?”
I shrug. “It was kind of disappointing. I give it a five point three but was expecting more like an eight.”
Xander laughs. “Yeah, I didn’t see that coming, either. Total disappointment.”
We fall into our banter that anyone else would think is gross and are soon pulling up to a building. Xander parks in the parking garage, and we get out. He leads me into the elevator and hits a code.
“Where are we?”
“You’ll see.” He winks at me, grinning.
When the elevator opens, we step into a massive empty shell, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city and the lake. It’s spring, and there is no snow, but you can even see the ice skating rink.
Suddenly, Xander looks nervous. “I bought this for you.”
I jerk back. “You bought this for me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand.”
He gets down on one knee, pulls out a stack of cards, and places them on the concrete. They are the cards he included when he sent me roses every week. Everyone says, “Don’t forget me” and some form of “I miss you.”
Blinking back tears, I stare at him.
Xander pulls out a massive diamond ring.
“You never forgot me. And I didn’t have all the pieces, but my heart was empty without you.
I don’t ever want to miss you again. I won’t ever forget you again.
I want you to have everything you never had.
..with me. So I bought you this penthouse so you can design it any way you want for our family.
I want you to be my wife and forever mine.
You’re my sunshine, and I want to be yours. Will you marry me, Charlotte?”
As I stare into his eyes, our journey together races through my mind. There’s been so much pain, but all I can see is love.
“Yes,” I whisper to him as tears fall from both our eyes. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He slides the ring on my finger and pulls me into him, kissing me with so much love, I wonder how I ever existed without him.
“I love you,” I whisper to him.
“Thank you for loving me through everything.” He kisses me again, and I pull back and look at the ring.
“It’s beautiful.” I tell him.
Xander stands up, pulling me into him.
I lace my hands around his head.
He smiles. “You did that the first time we kissed.”
I nod.
“I’ve been trying to figure that out. We were on the dance floor.”
“Yes.”
He traces my lips with his finger. “Do you like the penthouse? If you don’t like it, we can get something else.”
I laugh. “It’s amazing.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
He shows me around, and we stand in front of the windows. He is behind me, his arms around my waist. After he kisses the top of my head, he says, “Okay, time to go.”
I glance up at him. “Why?”
“We have a game to play tonight.”
“Medical Term Scrabble?”
He laughs. “Nope.”
I look at him in question.
A cocky grin comes on his face. “Dirty Doctor.”
I laugh. “Dirty Doctor?”
He nods and with a sly look says, “Yes. And my patient has requested I be extra filthy.”