Epilogue
“ I couldn’t have done it without you,” Zoey murmured quietly into Evan’s chest.
Evan kissed her quickly before stepping away so he could get a good look at her.
If it had been any other day, he would have frowned in disapproval of how much of her body was hidden from his hungry gaze, but she did look adorable in her black graduation gown and matching cap.
Her cheeks were pink with elation and she was holding a big bouquet of brightly colored spring flowers.
He bent to kiss her forehead when she looked up at him quizzically as he stared unabashedly at her. “Congratulations, Nurse Lu. You deserve it. You’re going to be a fine nurse.” He then cradled her to him again, grinning when she scolded him for crushing her flowers.
Zoey grinned and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him once he pulled away. It had been a trying last couple of years and she was relieved to finally be done with school. Nursing school had been the longest two years she had ever been through .
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she repeated, narrowing her eyes when he didn’t agree immediately.
“I didn’t do much,” he argued. He leaned in to whisper, “All I did was offer up my firm hand when it was needed.”
Zoey blushed and looked away, looking around her school’s wide quad.
There was a lot of stress associated with the school, but a lot of joy as well.
It was the place she cried when she was overwhelmed during finals, but it was also the place where she discovered her compassion for the sick and injured.
She had been uncertain with this next step at first, but she finally knew that healthcare was truly where she wanted to be.
She had Evan to thank for that and she was determined to prove that to him over time.
They spent the next half hour or so mingling with her fellow graduates and taking pictures with them. She didn’t want the day to end, feeling proud of herself for her achievement, but she was relieved when they got into their car and took the half-hour drive home.
“I’m really proud of you,” Evan told her for what felt like the fiftieth time as he drove.
Zoey blushed for what felt like just as many times. “Thank you,” she murmured. “Thank you, Evan. Really, for everything. For taking me in when I had nowhere to go and for helping me get this degree… and for loving me. All of it.”
“You’ve done so much for me as well, Zoey,” Evan told her.
Zoey was surprised to detect some shyness in his normally sure voice.
“I really was just going through the motions of life before I met you. I was happy being a doctor and helping people, but I still felt like something was missing. You gave my life more meaning than I thought was possible.”
Zoey was tearing up by the time they pulled up to the house. Evan put the car in park and turned to face her, brushing some hair away from her forehead and kissing her tenderly.
“I’m going to assume these are happy tears?” Evan asked. He was pretty sure they were, but couldn’t help still being concerned at the sight of her tears.
Zoey nodded with a giggle, wiping at her eyes when Evan pulled away to step out of the car. He came around to her side and opened the door for her, offering her his arm. Zoey took it gratefully and stepped out of the car, cradling her flowers in one arm.
“So, what happens now?” Evan asked as they walked up to the house arm in arm.
Zoey shrugged, her head spinning a bit. “I guess I’ll start applying for work.”
“You could wait a bit,” Evan suggested. “You’ve worked hard. Why not take some time for yourself before you jump right into working?”
Zoey looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowing. She stepped up to the door and turned to face him. “I shouldn’t wait too long,” she said in a disapproving tone. “It won’t look good on my resume if I do.”
Evan shrugged. “Even if you wait a couple of years, you’ll always have a job if you work with me.”
Zoey rolled her eyes. “Oh, I don’t doubt that,” she said. She looked up at him with playful eyes then. “I’ve heard office romances never last. ”
Evan rolled his eyes, mimicking her. “We’ve already worked together,” he reminded her.
He stepped up so there were mere inches between them and caressed the side of her face, enjoying the way it made her cheeks color.
“It’s way too late for me anyway. I don’t want you to work anywhere else, but with me.
Besides, we’ve been needing more nurses for a little while now. ”
Zoey shook her head, shaking away the dreamy fog that had settled in her brain.
“We were barely dating when I was still there,” she pointed out, but deep down, she knew she didn’t want to work anywhere else either.
She wasn’t going to admit that at the moment though.
She wanted to look around first for other possible places she could work.
It felt only natural to find a new workplace.
She was no longer a nurse’s aide; she was going to be a registered nurse.
Evan bent to kiss her forehead. “We’ll talk about it later,” he murmured against her skin. Then he reached around her to open the front door. “Today is just for celebrating.”
Zoey had turned to look up at him with love overflowing from her eyes.
“So, what would you like to do?” she asked shyly.
She turned to face the inside of the house and was met with a room full of people.
When she met their excited gazes they began to cheer and shout, many of them jumping up and down.
Zoey could barely make out the cheers of “Congratulations, Zoey!” and “We’re so proud of you” as she stood in the doorway, frozen in shock.
It took her a moment to realize that they were people that she knew.
Many were co-workers of Evan’s from the rehab center, the ones that Zoey knew personally from her time working there.
A few of her classmates were there as well.
How had they gotten to the house before them?
‘Congratulations, Nurse Zoey’ was written on a large white banner that hung from the ceiling.
There were balloons and streamers, and sitting on a nearby table were brightly colored presents.
Before she could say anything, several of her friends came up and hugged her.
“Surprise,” Evan murmured, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her cheek.
“You planned me a surprise party,” Zoey said in shock.
Evan chuckled. “Yes, I did,” he said.
Zoey’s eyes filled with tears as she took in the brightly colored decorations and the smiling faces of her friends. “Thank you,” she said, her voice cracking.
The party was a blur, but also the best day of Zoey’s life.
It was strange to see their large, but normally quiet and intimate home brought to boisterous life with party music and people dancing and chatting loudly.
Zoey was shy by nature and unused to being the center of attention, but she found herself not wanting the night to end.
“Congratulations, Zoey!” her classmate Kasey called as she and their other classmate, Madelyn, approached.
“To you too!” Zoey said after swallowing a mouthful of cake.
The three girls hugged one another, despite having done plenty of that just hours earlier after the graduation ceremony.
Zoey’s eyes watered. She hadn’t known Kasey and Madelyn that well just a year earlier.
She had subconsciously avoided them after they had convinced her to skip class last year, but the three had found themselves together again.
They had bonded over anxieties associated with the future and their life goals.
They had been inseparable during their final year of nursing school, getting together several times a week to study or just unwind after a long day of classes.
Zoey snuck a glance at Evan, who was across the room chatting with a few of his co-workers.
He knew very well that inviting the two girls would make her extra happy.
She wondered briefly how he was able to contact them about the party.
He didn’t have their numbers or emails. She gazed at him with love, her gratefulness toward him suddenly overwhelming.
Feeling her gaze, Evan turned his head and winked at her.
“Let’s clean up the decorations tomorrow, Zoey. It’s late,” Evan said.
It was just after midnight and the last of the party guests had just left. Zoey was exhausted from the big day, but giddy as well. She wasn’t ready to go to bed just yet, so she decided that cleaning up from the party would be the best way to get the rest of her energy out.
She pouted up at him. “I don’t want to sleep yet though.”
“We got the trash all thrown away,” Evan told her gently, taking her hands so that she was forced to drop the armful of balloons she was holding. He brought her hands up to his face, kissing each of her knuckles before kissing her on the lips. “Let’s leave the rest for now.”
Zoey looked up at him, detecting something odd in his voice. She smiled at him flirtatiously. “Hmm, can you think of a better use of our time?” she asked mischievously, moving a hand to the front of his black pants .
Evan took her hands again and lowered them, confusing her. “Yes, I can think of something better.”
Zoey couldn’t think of what could possibly be better than having sex at the moment, but she sighed contentedly when Evan wrapped his arms around her and began to rock them back and forth in a gentle dance.
“Are you very happy here with me, Zoey?” he asked, his lips falling to the top of her hair.
Zoey shut her eyes and pressed her cheek against his chest as they danced to their own music, to the gentle beating of their hearts and the soft taps from their feet against the hardwood floor. “Of course I am,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I am right now.”
His arms tightened around her and then he pulled away so he could look down at her. “I feel the same way,” he said. And then he stepped away.
Zoey’s heart flew up into her throat when Evan got down on one knee in front of her. His eyes sparkled as he pulled out a little black velvet box from seemingly out of nowhere.
“You know I love you, Zoey,” Evan said, his voice shaking the slightest bit with emotion.
“I told you before that I thought I had found meaning with my career as a doctor, but you’ve taught me there is so much more to life than a career.
You’ve brought so much meaning into my life just by being you. Will you marry me?”
He opened the little box then and Zoey nearly choked when she saw the ring nestled inside.
It had a simple, but shining golden band.
The oval-shaped diamond shimmered brightly as Zoey gazed down at it with wide eyes.
She stared open-mouthed at Evan and tried to speak, but her throat suddenly felt tight.
Tears dripped from her eyes and she just nodded as the sobs started.
Evan chuckled warmly before slipping the ring onto her finger and scooping her up into his arms, kissing her firmly while she sobbed against his mouth.
“Zoey,” he sighed, pulling away and kissing the tears off her face. “I’m touched by the tears, but this also isn’t exactly how I pictured this going.”
Zoey laughed between her crying. She could tell he was teasing her by the playful tone and the light in his eyes.
She hugged him fiercely. “I’m just so happy,” she said when she could finally draw in a breath.
It was her turn to tease him. “It was already a really emotional day with the graduation ceremony and the surprise party. Couldn’t you have waited just a little while before proposing? ”
Evan raised an eyebrow and surprised Zoey by smacking her bottom lightly. “I’ve been wanting to propose to you the moment you stepped into this house a couple of years ago,” he informed her.
Zoey laughed, delighted by his confession. “Why didn’t you?” she asked, wanting to know.
“I forced myself to wait until you were finished with school,” he said. He narrowed his eyes. “I only have so much patience, but I thought planning a wedding would be too stressful for a full-time nursing student.”
Zoey couldn’t help but giggle. He was rational to a fault, but she realized he was right.
Evan suddenly spanked her again, lightly, but hard enough to make the slapping sound echo in their large living room. “Laughing at me, young lady?” he demanded playfully .
Zoey giggled even more at the embarrassment in his voice. She tried to wiggle away from his spanking hand. “So, even when I’m your wife, you’re still going to spank me whenever you want?” she demanded, but she was grinning.
Evan froze and Zoey laughed loudly at the appalled expression on his face. “Of course,” he said, sounding slightly affronted.
Zoey rose on tiptoes to kiss the confused frown off his face, making him smile. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
The End