Chapter 7 #2
Giselle's eyes got watery, and she nodded.
“Okay, Francesca. Whatever you say.” She looked down and pursed her lips.
“But can you do me a favor?” Her eyes hit mine.
“Don't hurt him. He's a wonderful man, and he doesn't deserve it.
Be gentle with his heart. Okay? Promise me you'll be gentle.” Giselle looked like she was about to cry. Over what, I had no idea.
So what if she caught me making out with Stefan? That didn't mean we were going to get married and have six kids.
“Look, I don't know you. I don't know Stefan.I don't know any of your family. I don't know what you think you saw the other night. And I don't care. And, no. I won't be hurting anyone.”
Giselle nodded and gave me a small, sad smile. “Okay, fair enough. But he really likes you, Francesca. I can tell. And so do I.” With that, she turned and headed down the hallway.
I decided to get lost for a while. I didn't want to go back into Stefan's room yet. Instead, I helped out some of the other nurses. Until one of them pointed me in the direction of Stefan's room. I was ordered to go “deal with him.”
So, I did.
He was alone when I walked in, and I was glad for it. Giselle seemed nice enough, but she had gotten the total and completely wrong idea about us.
Honestly.
The woman practically already had us moved in together. And that was never, ever going to happen.
Not in a billion years.
“Decided to come back?” he asked, still sitting up in his bed. “Where'd you run off to?”
I walked up to the side of his bed. “I work here, Stefan. I have stuff to do. What do you need? I don't have much time.”
He smiled and set his hand on my arm. “Bullshit. They sent you in here because none of them want to deal with me. Were you the last hired nurse on the floor? I'm assuming everyone else has seniority over you.” His hand started rubbing up and down my arm, and it felt way too good.
“No, I'm not a nurse. I only have my nursing assistant certificate. That's it.”
His eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
I sighed and said, “It means I took a course. I don’t have a degree.” Talking about this made me uncomfortable, and I really hoped he gave up on this soon.
“How long did you go to school for your certificate?”
I huffed out a breath. “About five minutes. Any other questions?”
He nodded. “I'm guessing you don't get paid as much as the nurses.”
I let out a laugh. “You guessed right.”
He gave me a frown. “You do everything around here that they do. Why don't you go back for your nursing degree?”
That made me laugh. “Why don't pigs fly, Stefan?”
I tried to pull my arm away from him, but he tightened his grip. “Why are you getting pissed? I just asked you a question.”
I rolled my eyes and stared down at him. “Why do you think? Do you know how much a nursing degree costs? Do you think I'm made of freaking money? Do you even know how long it took me to scrape together the cash to get my stupid certificate?”
He shook his head. “No, how long?” His tone wasn't cutting or mocking.
And that made me take a breath before I spoke again, “It doesn't matter.”
He went quiet for a moment and then asked, “You could take a loan out.”
My head fell back, and I laughed.
Hard. “No, you could take a loan out. Things like that aren't as easy for people like me.”
The confusion on his face was real. And that stunned me. How could he not know what kind of person I was? Where I came from?
“People like—you? I'm not understanding what you mean.”
Good grief.
He was going to make me spell it out for him. “I'm from the wrong side of the tracks. And from the look of your expensive haircut, and the company you keep, I'm guessing you're not.”
Giselle and Eve wore expensive-as-heck designer clothes. That stroller Giselle wheeled in here was definitely top of the line. You didn't have to be a genius to realize that. And those babies were decked out in the best of the best.
Even Carlo, the lumberjack, had on great quality clothes.
As my father would say, they all reeked of money.
“No, I'm not,” he said. “But Eve and Giselle had humble beginnings.”
This man. What was he trying to prove?
“Any other questions before I go?” I could feel my frustration growing. I needed to get out of here. Talking around in circles was getting us nowhere.
“I'm sorry.” He sighed andlaid his head back as he looked up at the ceiling. What he didn't do, though, was let go of me.
Nope.
He kept a tight grip on my arm. “I'm saying all the wrong shit to you. And that's just pissing you off. Which is the last thing I want to do. Christ,” he breathed out, sounding just as exhausted as I was.
He turned to me and said, “What I was trying to say is,” he cleared his throat, “is that I'm grateful you were there in the emergency room when I got there.”
Oh, my gosh. He remembered.
Up until now, I thought he'd been too out of it back then to know what was happening.
“You saved my life, Francesca.” His voice grew deeper, and his eyes pulled me in. “When everyone else gave up and left me for dead.” His hand pulsed on my arm. “You stayed with me. You fought for me. It's because of you that I'm here right now. We both know that.”
An intense burning set up behind my eyes. Bringing back those memories was forcing me to visit that time when—everyone had left. They had given up on him.
And if I hadn't lied my face off to that surgeon—Stefan definitely wouldn't have made it out of that room alive.
“I wasn't sure you remembered me,” I whispered, sinking into his eyes. I couldn't help it. Stefan had the most handsome eyes I'd ever seen.
He pulled on my arm, drawing me closer. “I didn't at first. Things were so cloudy when I was in the emergency room. And then when I woke up—I was confused and didn't know what happened.” His eyes started getting glassy.
And that was what finally made me forgive him.
“But everything slowly came back. The shooting. The aftermath. Arriving at the emergency room.” He inhaled shakily.
“Being left for dead. Meeting a beautiful nurse named Francesca,” he said, grabbing onto my shoulders.
“And then you lying to that doctor. Christ, Chesca.
Without your quick thinking, I'd be six feet under right now.”
I couldn't argue with him. We both knew how dire things were. More so him. I didn't experience all that from inside his body. I could only imagine how much pain he'd been in. How much pain he was currently in.
“And I'm grateful for everything you've done to help me up here. I know I'm not the best patient around—”
I couldn't help but snort out a laugh when he said that. And then he followed suit.
“That's putting it mildly, Stefan.”
He pulled me closer until my breasts were tight to his chest. “What I'm trying to tell you, Chesca. Is that I'm falling for you.” His eyes trailed over my face and to my lips. “In a big way. Don't think I've ever felt like this before with anyone.”
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
Did he just say that?
My knees got weak, and I leaned on him. His hand slipped into my hair, and he pulled me the rest of the way to him.
His lips crushed onto mine, and he kissed me.
Thoroughly.
And I met him with everything I had. It felt like years since I'd kissed him last. Even though it had only been a few days. It was still too long.
“Uncle Stefan!” a high-pitched voice pierced my ears. I pulled away from Stefan to see a tiny little girl running toward the bed. She had long dark ponytails and a huge smile on her face. Gosh, she was freaking adorable.
“I drawed this for you!” she said excitedly, waving a scribbled picture in her hand.
“Sorry for interrupting. She's so excited to see her uncle.” It was the blonde-haired woman who I'd seen in the hallway a few days ago with Giselle.
Eve.
And she was equally as gorgeous as Giselle.
Where did those guys find such beautiful women?
“Daniella!” Stefan yelled equally as loud. “Come up here and give me a hug.” He grinned at her and held his arms out.
Eve picked her up and put her on the bed. “Careful, now. Uncle Stefan has a big booboo on his chest. Be gentle, okay?”
Daniella nodded obediently as she looked at Eve. Then she turned around and gave Stefan a big hug.
“Oh, my girl. I missed you so much.”
She nodded her little head. “I missed you, too,” she said in her sweet voice.
“I missed you, too,” Eve sputtered out, tears falling freely down her face. “So much, Stefan.”
Stefan gazed over at Eve and something transpired between them. Something strong. Something powerful.
Something that made me jealous.
“Christ, Eve. Come here. Don't cry. Jesus.” Stefan moved Daniella to his right side. “Let's make some room for your auntie Evie, okay? Squish over a bit,” he said into Daniella's hair. She nodded and complied instantly.
Eve cried harder but managed to sit down on the bed beside them. Stefan wrapped his arm around her and said something into her ear. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but whatever it was, it made her cry even harder.
Oh, boy.
“Daniella? I'm Francesca. Would you like to come with me and find some stickers? I know where some are at the nurse's station. I think we have some crayons and coloring pages too.”
Daniella perked up at that and looked right at her auntie Eve.
“Go ahead. Don't forget your manners,” she said, still crying. Then Eve looked at me as I picked the little girl up and set her on the floor. “Thank you,” Eve said to me.
I nodded and offered my hand to Daniella. Then we walked down to the nurses’ station to find what I promised.