26. Archer
ARCHER
I woke to incessant beeping and an older woman staring at me.
“Welcome back to the real world, Mr . Papadopoulos ,” said the woman, who I now realized was a nurse based on the scrubs she was wearing. “ How are you feeling?”
“Like I was shot,” I groaned, my voice sounding very raspy.
I felt a bit dazed and my left leg hurt like hell, but I was mostly tired.
“Well, you were, so I guess that’s natural,” she said back to me with a smirk. “ How’s your pain level? Do you want some water?”
I just nodded in return since talking was a bit difficult.
She handed me a small bottle of water and told me to take small sips. “ I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake, and he can discuss pain meds with you,” she told me, and I just nodded sleepily back to her.
I must have dozed off again, because the next thing I knew, I was hearing voices around me, and I awoke to the doctor and nurse from before talking.
“Hello, Mr . Papadopoulos . I’m your surgeon,” said the man standing next to me.
He filled me in on how my surgery had gone and what my recovery would be. The recovery did not sound fun, especially the rehab part, but I was happy to be alive.
“You feel up to visitors?” the nurse asked me. “ Your wife and cousin have been waiting to come in, but I can delay them longer if you’d like to sleep.”
My wife. Damn , it would never get old to hear Ace listed as my wife.
“You can send them in,” I told her, eager to see them both.
Unfortunately, I fell asleep shortly after she left the room.
* * *
Everybody and their brother had been in my hospital room over the last few hours. Captain Kerrigan , Coleman , Sara —basically everyone involved in the operation had stopped by for at least a brief moment.
Hector had also stopped by, which gave me a chance to finally talk to him about his brother.
“I’m so sorry about Manny ,” I told him.
“Thanks,” he replied. “ I’ve got some closure now with Giovanni and several other assholes dead.”
I felt bad for not knowing who he was or recognizing him, but I had never actually met him—only seen photos Manny had shown me.
I found out he hadn’t known about Manny’s death until several days after the funeral because he was knee deep in an overseas mission. I felt terrible for him.
Hector and Vince had filled me in on everything with the case. The craziest part had been what happened after I was shot.
According to Kerrigan and Sara , when Rocco came to bail Joey out, he filled him in on everything.
Joey made a few other calls to people who were sympathetic and loyal to him.
From there, he orchestrated a hit on his brother.
There was a standoff at one of their other safe houses.
Many shots were fired, and there were several casualties.
The Pagano Family essentially destroyed itself from within.
The last update Kerrigan had given me was that the only living true Pagano family members left were now the father, who was on his deathbed from his previous cancer diagnosis, and one cousin who wanted nothing to do with the family business.
That meant Ace and I were free and clear. The Pagano Family syndicate was no longer a threat to us or anyone else.
“Good to see you’re still in one piece,” Sara said, walking over to my hospital bed.
I grinned back at her. “ I’m tougher than I look.”
“Good to hear.” She smiled back. “ I’m gonna head out, but I’ve scheduled you a private plane home with your cousin and Anna in three days. I have to go back tonight, so I won’t be with you.”
I thanked her because I was more than grateful for the free plane ride from the feds.
My nurse came in shortly after to check on my vitals. “ You look tired. You need me to kick these people out?”
I smiled at her, appreciating her foresight, and decided I would take her up on it.
There were five other people in my room, and while it was nice to get an update on the case, there was only one person I wanted to see, and she was currently tucked into the far corner of the room, quietly talking on her phone.
“I’d love it if you could kick everyone but my wife out,” I said, grinning.
“Can do, but no funny business with the wife,” she said, winking back at me.
“Alright,” she announced loudly to the room. “ Unless you’re married to my patient, I need you out of the room in sixty seconds.”
Thankfully, everyone listened, and I finally had the privacy with Ace I had been hoping for since I woke up from my surgery.
She hopped off her chair after ending her call and walked over to me.
“You rang?” Her eyebrows lifted in question as she teased me.
“Is it so wrong to want to spend time with my wife without everyone else around? Besides , I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since you told me you loved me, and I needed to hear you say it again.”
I grinned at her, causing her to roll her eyes, but she did it with a small smile.
“I’m scared,” she said as she looked down at my left leg, where I’d been shot. “ What if you realize I’m not the perfect person you think I am and change your mind down the road?”
“Love isn’t supposed to be perfect all the time. It’s experiencing life side-by-side with your best friend—laughing, teasing, arguing, and makeup sex. I should emphasize there is a lot of sex in between all of those other things, too,” I emphasized.
“Look at you trying to be funny,” she said stoically, but I saw her lip twitch.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m always funny,” I told her.
“Funny- looking ,” she mumbled under her breath, but I heard it.
I chuckled and pulled her arm so she was now sitting on the side of my hospital bed with me.
“Thank you,” she said, though it sounded forced and nearly pained her to say.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Yes, it is,” Ace said. “ You took a terrible, no-good, awful day, and you made it slightly more tolerable. So , thank you.”
“If you let me,” I said, treading cautiously, “ I can help make more no-good, awful days much better.”
I reached up and cupped my hand around her cheek. “ I love you, Anna — Ace — Papadopoulos . I’d ask you to marry me, but you already did—twice. I’m hoping this time will stick and I’ll get to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you.”
I moved my hand down and started rubbing my thumb over the back of hers, stroking gently.
“I love when you do that,” she said softly. “ For whatever reason, it calms me.”
“I know,” I told her.
“Archer…” she said, looking contemplative. “ Maybe you should ask me to marry you again. The first marriage you left me on purpose. The second marriage, you tried to leave me after getting shot. Maybe you should try again—third time’s the charm, I hear.”
There was humor in her voice, but none in mine when I responded, as I wanted her to know the seriousness of what I was about to say.
“ I would never leave you on purpose without a good reason, but I promise to do better for our third marriage…if you’ll have me.
Marry me, Ace . This time, let’s do it right—a dress, friends and family present, cake—the whole nine yards. ”
I saw tears in her eyes and a smile on her face as she leaned down to kiss me. “ Okay .”
I kissed her back with everything I had. “ You’re mine, Ace . Always and forever.”