Epilogue
THREE YEARS LATER: MEGAN
Throughout the entire graduation ceremony, Megan clung to Charlie’s hand. Their fingers were tightly intertwined, and hers were turning white from lack of blood flow. She didn’t mind, though. She could feel the strength of his grip and the steadiness of his hand. He made her feel so comfortable and safe despite the pressure of the event they were attending.
The resident graduation was held at yet another hotel conference room. This one looked much fancier than the last. It was all white and gold with huge, crystal chandeliers. Megan felt completely out of place, and she was pretty sure Amy and Keith shared her sentiments. But Charlie seemed more than comfortable in this kind of environment. Anyone might assume he owned the place by the way he carried himself here, and Megan had so much respect for him now that she knew his wasn’t an easy position to be in.
She squeezed his hand again, and he squeezed back. She barely heard the speakers and only knew it was her turn to go up on stage when Amy, who was sitting behind her, nudged her. Everything felt automatic, like being in a dream. She heard the speaker mention her intention to go into private practice in addition to research and development. Her research would focus on her mother’s illness, which was in desperate need of more study.
When they called Charlie to the stage, they spoke about his intention to go into pediatric surgery and his passion for looking after patients first. Megan couldn’t agree more. He had quit his fellowship just like he’d said he would and returned to Grand View Hospital to finish his residency. His energy picked up immediately on his first day back. He and Megan had continued their romance, but they took it home far more frequently. They quizzed each other, ribbed each other, and never ever stopped laughing.
Ever since Charlie had gotten the courage to step out from under the Sullivan family shadow, he had begun prioritizing his patients over everything else. He was no longer too proud to make random conversation with children, no longer too proud to ask them about dinosaurs. When Megan was feeling extra generous, she admitted that he seemed to be even better at it than she was.
After the ceremony, Megan and Charlie mingled in the lobby and got separated in the process. Megan found her way to the buffet and filled her plate. She’d been hungry all day because she’d been too nervous about the graduation ceremony to eat breakfast or lunch. Once her plate was full, she sat down at one of the tables to eat. Someone sat across from her, and she assumed it was Charlie.
“All mingled out?” she said before looking up. “Do you want to go waste some valuable time with me at home? It would really piss your father off, so win-win, you know?” She laughed, looked up, and nearly passed out when she saw that it wasn’t Charlie sitting across from her at the table. It was Jon Sullivan himself.
Megan immediately tried to undo the damage she had likely done. “Dr. Sullivan. Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. That was just a joke meant for Charlie. You know how he tries to be all rebellious. Not that I think rebellion is a good thing or anything. I think you probably have some really great advice for him, and you surely want what’s best for him. I mean, he should probably listen to you a little more than he does. Not that he should just do everything you say or anything because he should totally be his own man. I just, you know… I just didn’t mean it like you probably thought I did.”
Dr. Sullivan sat through Megan’s rambling speech with all the dignity she lacked. He didn’t have to say anything. The look he was giving her spoke so much louder than words, and with it, he managed to shut Megan up without uttering a single phrase.
“I was hoping you and I would get a chance to talk,” he said, and Megan froze in her seat. “Rightly, I blamed you for Charlie giving up the fellowship. I’m still not happy about it. Let’s make sure we’re clear on that. But I saw how motivated he became when he was back working alongside you. I must admit, it was more motivation than I have ever seen the boy have.”
He took a sip of champagne and Megan waited for the surprise scolding she knew was coming next. It didn’t happen, though, and Megan found herself reevaluating all the things she’d ever wanted to say to Charlie Sullivan’s father. About all she could manage was a tentative, “Um… thank you?” She cleared her throat and added, “Where is Charlie, by the way? I seem to have lost track of him.”
“He’s talking to your mother,” Dr. Sullivan said. “At her request.”
Megan’s jaw dropped. “What?” Something weird was definitely going on here, but she was too scared to start flinging accusations around. “I mean why?”
“I imagine for the same reason I wanted to talk to you. Both of you seem to be more serious than I suspected. Initially, I was under the impression that my son was just sowing his wild oats while he could.”
Sowing his wild oats? Megan rolled her eyes, but at the same time… “I mean for a while he kind of was. But then we got to talking and found out we had more in common than we realized. He’s been really good for me, too, you know? He’s helped to motivate me to be a better doctor, to work harder and study more. I guess being as good as Charlie is a goal I sort of made for myself, and truly, I think he’s the reason I made it through. He’s good… really, really good. I would be so proud to be half as good as he is.”
Dr. Sullivan leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the table. “I believe you match him in more ways than one, Ms. Bright. He has nothing but praise for you whenever we speak. I’m just here to make sure you understand something about Charlie that he will have hidden from you. He is very good at hiding his vulnerabilities. Few people know he even has them. By now you do, I’m sure, but you likely don’t realize how deep they run. I just need to know you aren’t going to take advantage of him.”
Megan laughed at that. The idea that anyone could take advantage of Charlie seemed ludicrous. But his father wasn’t even smiling, so she stopped laughing. “Sorry,” she muttered. “It’s just that I don’t know how anyone could take advantage of him. He’s a rock, if you know what I mean.”
“He’d like you to think that,” Dr. Sullivan said. “But it is an act, like much of his persona. Charlie is the younger brother, which means he had Justin to look up to, and Justin doesn’t let anything get to him. Growing up, Charlie was the softer boy deep down, but he didn’t want to let anyone else know it. So, he built up this tough exterior and pretended he didn’t need anyone. He developed a haughty attitude, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
There was no denying the truth of that, so Megan nodded, and Charlie’s father smiled in understanding.
“It’s all an act,” Jon said. “He’ll pretend to be fiercely independent, and he’ll do a good job of it, too. He did the same thing right after losing his mother. But he needs a partner by his side. He needs someone to confide in, someone to drive him forward and give him hope.” He leaned in and gave Megan the same serious scowl she had come to expect from Charlie. His father really did look a lot like him. “What he doesn’t need right now is a broken heart. So if you’re only using him, I’d like you to come clean about it.”
Megan didn’t hesitate. “I’m not using him, Dr. Sullivan. I would never do that to him. Even if I wanted to, I’m a terrible liar, you know. He’d see right through me. So would you.”
“I believe you,” Charlie’s father said with a smile. “Just remember that as things become even more serious between you. If he shows you the slightest hint of vulnerability, that’s his whole heart laid on the table before you. Know that, going forward, and I believe you will suit him just fine.”
A nervous laugh escaped her, but she cleared her throat to cover it up. “I wonder what Charlie and my mother are talking about.”
Dr. Sullivan didn’t hesitate. “Something very similar, I assume, considering.”
Considering what? Megan decided not to ask, and instead stood with her plate. “Where did you get that champagne? I think I’d like a glass, too.”
He pointed her in the direction of the bar, and she left to get a drink. On the way there, she felt the familiar sensation of a hand squeezing her arm. Though she didn’t need to turn back to see who it was, she did so anyway and was not at all surprised to find Charlie behind her with fire in his eyes. “Bad timing,” she said. “I’m on my way to get some champagne.”
He leaned in closer and murmured, “Get your glass and meet me in the coat closet. I need you right now.”
There was no point in refusing him. She couldn’t deny that the conversation with his father had flustered her, and she knew she could use a little relaxation herself. It was for old time’s sake, she reasoned. So, she got her champagne and made her way to the coat closet as he requested. How he had gotten access to such a place, she had no idea, especially considering what he would be planning to use it for. He must have paid someone off.
The coat closet was dark and small. A sliver of light came through around the gaps in the door. Megan leaned back against a wall and casually sipped her champagne while she waited for Charlie to arrive. He took so long getting to her, she had to wonder whether he really needed her as much as he claimed.
Finally, after five minutes that felt like an eternity, Charlie found Megan in the coat closet. In the sliver of light coming from the crack in the door, she could see the expression on his face. If someone had asked her to describe it, she would have called it pure mischief.
“Should I gulp this down?” she asked, lifting her champagne glass. “Or do you want to try to balance it without spilling a drop? Could be an interesting challenge.” She laughed, trying to match his mischievous mood.
“You don’t have to gulp it down, and I don’t think you’ll have any trouble balancing it. This won’t take too long.”
“Well that’s not very optimistic, is it?” she quipped.
“I think it’s extremely optimistic,” he said, and Megan started to get a very real suspicion that he had not, in fact, come here for the reason she had originally thought. Her suspicion was as good as confirmed when he pulled a small, square box from his pocket and slowly began to drop to one knee.
“Charlie,” she said, her voice low and a touch accusatory. “What are you doing?”
Charlie didn’t answer, instead he opened the box and revealed the glint of a gold ring. “Bright,” he began, and then he corrected himself. “Megan, will you give me the honor of being your husband? And will you give me the pleasure of having the most beautiful, intelligent, and ambitious young woman as my bride?”
There was no way this was real. Megan had to swallow a sob before she burst into happy tears. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. She finally found her tongue and asked him the question he hadn’t answered at their last dinner, “Does this mean I win?”
He stood and took her hand in his. “Only if you see me as a prize.”
“I do,” Megan answered, laughing. “I mean I will. I mean yes!” She didn’t wait for him to put the ring on her finger. She leaped into his arms and held him more tightly than she’d ever held anyone. He lifted her off her feet, and she never wanted to let him go. He was going to be her husband, and she was going to be his wife.
Charlie took a moment to set her back on her feet before he leaned close to her ear and whispered. “But just so you know. I think you’re the prize here. And that makes me the winner.”
“Promise me we’ll never stop competing with each other,” Megan said.
“I swear it.”
“And we’ll never stop supporting each other.”
“Of course.” He began kissing her neck, and her insides started to warm at the sensation.
“And we’ll take on the whole world while we’re at it.”
“Anything you want, Bright.”
“I want you.” She kissed his lips, running her fingers through his hair. Then she pulled away to say, “You’re the most important person in the world to me, and I don’t want anything more than I want you right now.”
“Lucky you,” Charlie said, pressing a hand to her back and kissing her again. “I’m already yours.”
They didn’t spend much longer in the coat closet. As it happened, Charlie had indeed made a deal with someone, but he’d been clear he needed the space to propose. He’d said it was nostalgic, and the hotel staff were so touched that they offered it to him at once.
On their way back to the graduation party, Charlie handed Megan the little box and said, “Put your ring on, Bright.”
“We should tell our parents while they’re here,” she said, slipping the ring onto the appropriate finger.
He glanced back at her, still holding her hand. “They already know. I told them both my plans tonight.”
Well, that explained his father’s little talk — his father, who was going to be her father now. She grinned at the idea, realizing that she was not afraid of him at all, especially now, and that she could stand up to him for Charlie if need be. She also imagined dinners, game nights, and vacations with her mom, how wonderful their future would be together.
Once again, everything was sunshine to Megan Bright. But now Charlie brought the thunder into her world, and Megan loved the sound of it.
The End