19. Sophia
SOPHIA
I swing open the door of our new flat to reveal four people standing in the communal hallway.
“Congratulations!” Tess chirps, pushing a bunch of flowers and a bottle of champagne into my arms. “How does it feel to be homeowners?”
I step back to allow the small group of people into our new flat.
Tess and Art, and Kane and Holly, have come for a house warming party.
Rocco and I exchanged contracts and moved in the previous week, so we figured we should celebrate.
Besides, there’s something else that needs doing that we hadn’t quite got around to after the wedding.
My health is great, and I’ve never felt better.
The kidney has taken well, and I’d been allowed to write to the family of the donor—a young man who’d been killed suddenly in a car accident.
It’s all done anonymously through the Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation, but I hope the bereaved family has taken comfort in knowing his organs have gone on to help me live.
I’d shed many tears while writing the letter, but I sent it feeling as though a door on my old life has been shut and I’m ready to start my new one.
I still have to attend regular appointments at the hospital, but now I’ve hit the three-month mark and all’s still looking good, they’re going to get farther and farther apart.
“What can I get everyone to drink?” Rocco asks, and I smile over at my handsome husband.
Husband.
I didn’t think I’ll ever get tired of thinking of him as my husband.
“Ooh, open the champagne,” Holly says with a squeal. “I can’t remember the last time I had real champagne.”
Her boyfriend, Kane, jabs her in the ribs. “I hope you’re not trying to say I don’t treat you well enough.”
She slips her arm around Kane’s waist and pulls him in for a squeeze. “You treat me just fine.”
I smile as the two of them share a kiss, and then carry the champagne out to the kitchen to open the bottle. It’s good to see everyone so happy together.
“You know I don’t normally do home visits,” Art says, opening his bag to reveal his tattoo gun and inks. “But in your case, I’ll make an exception.”
I’m allowed to wear rings now the kidney has taken, but that doesn’t matter. We’ve already decided to have the rings tattooed on, and that’s what feels right. Art offered to do the matching tattoos as a wedding present, and we’re taking him up on that offer.
I grin at Rocco. “Rocco said you wouldn’t mind, as long as we threw a few beers in.”
The big, tattooed man with the spiky dark hair and the silver hole through his ear grins back. “Perhaps I’ll do the tattoos before I have the beers, though.”
I laugh. “Yes, that sounds like a good plan.”
“So, who’s going first?”
Rocco gestures to me. “Ladies first.”
“Is that just because you’re worried you’re going to cry like a baby,” I tease him. There’s no way Rocco would cry. He’s already covered in tattoos. One tiny one around his finger will barely make him blink, even if it is a painful spot to get one.
“This might be my smallest tattoo,” he says, “but it’s definitely the most important one.”
“Yes,” I agree. “It is.”
The champagne is poured, and we all clink glasses, toasting the new flat, and for once I’m able to toast my good health as well.
“Ready?” Art asks me.
I take a sip of the champagne, the taste tart on my tongue, the bubbles going up my nose.
Art’s already laid out a sheet of protective paper from the studio across our coffee table, and I sit on the floor and put my left hand onto the paper.
Rocco stands over me, looking down as Art prepares the ink and needle. “No going back now,” he says to me.
And as the needle’s placed against my ring finger, I smile back up at him. “I’d never want to go back. All I’ve ever wanted is right here.”
T HE END