St Vincent Hospital East Pavilion
Portland, Oregon
3pm Sunday July 26th

I slowly came awake to the sound of machines beeping and a blood pressure cuff squeezing my right arm. I took a look around and realized I was in a hospital. The antiseptic smell was strong even though there was an oxygen tube in my nose.

"Try not to move," a familiar female voice said.

I looked over and saw Doc Sinclair reading my blood pressure results. What the hell happened? Just as the thought went through my brain, it all came back to me. The ransom drop going horribly wrong. Fucking James shooting me. And Lydia--

"Lydia?"

"She's right there," Doc Sinclair said, pointing to the cot in the corner.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her there. I didn't know how long it's been since I got shot; but she was in the same clothes as when she was taken. She was sleeping soundly and was facing me. I could clearly see her black eye and split lip and my anger started to spike. Fucking James.

Doctor Sinclair sat on the side of my bed as she looked over at Lydia. "She's a stubborn one. She was determined to not go to sleep until you woke up. She finally couldn't fight it anymore."

"Is she alright?"

The doc met my eyes. She knew what I meant. I wasn't talking about her injuries, I was talking about mentally. So much has happened over the past few weeks, I was worried how she was handling everything.

"She's...okay. She was more worried about you than anything else. I think worrying about you helped her not focus on what happened."

I would never forget what happened.

"She's strong," Doc Sinclair added as she started to leave the room. "I've got a surgery, but I'll be back to check on you guys."

"Thanks, doc. For everything."

I knew she understood what I meant when she looked st Lydia. She gave me a warm smile before she left the room.

I looked over at Lydia? and shook my head. Incredibly strong and stubborn. She was the strongest person I know. There weren't many people who could have taken what had happened to her and survived. Not only did she survive, but she had the biggest heart he had ever seen.

"Sean?" Lydia called in a sleepy voice.

Her eyes met mine and I couldn't hold back the smile that broke out on my face. "Hey, beautiful."

I had never seen her move so quickly. She hurled herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck and burying her face against my skin.

I groaned in pain, now realizing my left arm was in a sling. It hurt like a bitch, but I wasn't complaining.

She pulled back from me too soon, moving to get off the bed. "I hurt you! Im sorry."

I grabbed her with my good arm. "Hey, where are you going? Get back here."

She smiled as she sat back on the side of the bed. I couldn't do anything except stare at her. This is the first time I was really able to touch her since she was...taken. I didn't want her to go anywhere.

I reached out and tightly traced her split lip with my thumb at the same time I looked at her black eye.

"I'm okay," she said quietly. "Thanks to you."

"This happened because of me, Lydia. I'm so sorry, baby." She didn't know how sorry I was. Both PSYCHO Amy and James were connected to me. It was completely my fault.

"Stop blaming yourself, Sean. This isn't your fault. None of it is." She raised a brow before adding, "Besides, if I remember correctly, you offered me an out when you first suspected that PSYCHO bitch was stalking you. And what did I say?"

I simply held her stare, refusing to answer.

"Well?" She prodded.

"You said you wanted to stay."

"Exactly. It was my choice to stay on this crazy adventure with you. It was my choice to help you get her arrested the first time." She smiled at me before asking, "What if I did leave when this all started? What if you never decided to go to The Hamptons? Then we wouldn't have met and we wouldn't have made such a strong bond. We wouldn't have fallen in love. We wouldn't have each other right now. Can you honestly tell me that you regret that?"

"No," I answered immediately. I didn't regret any of that. "Meeting you was the best thing to ever happen to me. Falling in love with you..." I couldn't even think of the words to describe what she meant to me. "If anything had happened to you, Lydia, I don't know what I would have done."

I didn't realize I was crying until she wiped a tear from my eye. "Shh. I'm okay, and you're okay. Most importantly, we're together."

"Kiss me," I begged. I needed to feel her; any part of her. Skin against skin. Since I obviously couldn't have sex right now...

She placed her lips against mine. I groaned as I deepened the kiss, needing more of her. If I wasn't in a shit-ton of pain right now, I would have her straddling me while I got lost in the pleasure that only her body caused. Later. Yes, there was time for that later.

She pulled away from me with a frown before swatting my good shoulder.

"Ow. What was that for?"

"That was for this!" She pulled out the goodbye letter I wrote her from her pocket. "I can't believe you wrote me a fucking Dear John letter in case you died. How could you do that?"

"Okay, for one, you are a woman. So, that analogy doesn't apply. Two, Dear John letters are for when a couple breaks up. Three..." I let out a long breath before I finished my sentence. "I couldn't see you or talk to you. At least not without being overheard. There were things I needed to say. Just in case something did happen. I had a bad feeling going into that meet, Lydia, so if I died, I was going to say goodbye to you. One way or another."

Her face softened slightly even though I could tell that she still wanted to argue. She slid the letter back into her pocket before she stretched herself out on the bed next to me. She laid her head on my chest as she draped an arm over my stomach.

I leaned back against the pillow, relaxing as I stroked her hair. I wasn't sure how much time passed before I heard her say, "You are not allowed to die. Ever. Do you understand me? I need you to promise me."

I closed my eyes tight before I could find my voice to answer. The anguish in her voice caused an ache in my chest. "I promise."

9:35pm

"You took all the fortune cookies," Lydia accused Michael.

We were both more exhausted than we thought. When she laid beside me earlier, we both fell asleep. For the past six hours. When we finally woke up, Lydia was starving and we had Michael pick up Chinese food. The three of us were now sitting in my hospital room with Lydia's mom. We haven't had a chance to get to know her, but she was adamant about getting to know Lydia and to be in her life. And Lydia felt the same way.

"I didn't even take one," Michael said as he took a bite of his Lo Mein. "Ask your boyfriend."

I reached into the bag and pulled out a fortune cookie for her. "Here, baby."

"Thank you," she said with a warm smile.

"Told ya," Michael laughed.

Just as Lydia was going to open her cookie, there was a knock on the open door. "Hey, guys. Hope I'm not interrupting."

Agent Caffrey walked into the room with a wave.

"Not at all," I answered, "Come in. Is everything okay?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and gave us a smile. "More than. Our New York office is gathering the evidence from your assistant that proved he stole from your company. Not to mention, everything else he did." He glanced to Lydia. "Are you holding up okay?"

She nodded. "I'm okay. Thanks for everything."

Agent Caffrey smiled before looking back at me. "There is too much damning evidence against the both of them. They will be put away for a long time. No chance of parole by the looks of it."

"Good riddance," Michael grumbled. "I hope they fucking rot in there."

"What about the charges against me in New York?" I asked him and heard Lydia's sharp intake of breath. We were both still worried about whether or not I would be arrested for punching him.

"Considering everything that happened, we were able to take care of that."

"Thank you," I breathed, disbelief clearly in my voice.

"No problem. You really helped us out; and not just to save your lovely lady there." He gave me a pointed look before he asked, "Do I have to remind you of a certain non-disclosure you signed regarded a certain software?"

Yeeeaahhhh, I probably shouldn't have used that facial recognition software. "I won't touch it. You have my word." Unless Lydia's life is in danger...

He gave me a look that said he didn't believe me. "Yeah, we'll see," he said with a laugh. "Try to stay out of trouble. Hopefully, we won't have to see you again."

He left the room and Michael let out a snort. "He's pretty cool for a Fed."

He wasn't lying about that. "Yeah, for sure. We were lucky to have his help."

Doc Sinclair cleared her throat before she asked quietly, "So, I was wondering...what your guys' plans were? Once your discharged?"

Lydia looked to me before she answered her mom. "I want to try to return to New York and get my life on track. I want to do something with my life."

Doc Sinclair's expression fell and she nodded. "I understand. I hope that you--"

"Wait," Lydia interrupted, "I was going to say that I would love to continue to get to know you. I...want you in my life. I mean, if you want that, too."

Doc Sinclair's eyes teared up as she put her hand to her mouth. "I-- I would really love that."

I tapped Lydia on the shoulder. "Tell her my idea, babe," I said with a mouthful of food.

Lydia rolled her eyes at me and let out a frustrated breath. "Sean, kind of has a...plane. A charter plane. He's offering to fly us back and forth as much as we want." She looked at Michael with a smile. "All of us."

"You have a plane?" Michael asked with his jaw dropped. "You have a plane...and you road tripped across the country?"

"Hell yeah," I answered with a smirk. "The fun is in the road trip."

"Bro, that's ridiculous," Michael shot back.

"Anyway!" Lydia interrupted our banter. "I would really like for both of you to be in my life."

Michael rose from his chair and gave Lydia a hug. "I told you in San Francisco, Lydia. We're in this together."

"Thank you for everything, Michael."

Michael cleared his throat as he let go of Lydia and pointed at me. "Take care of her, Sean. I don't care how far you live, I will come to New York and beat your ass."

I wrapped my arm around Lydia and gently squeezed her thigh. "I only want her happiness."

"Good," he said as he went to the door. "Doc S, it was nice to meet you. I'm glad Lydia found you."

"It was nice meeting you, Michael. Have a safe flight back home."

Michael gave a final wave goodbye and Doc Sinclair walked over to us. She hesitantly reached out to take Lydia's hand. "Thank you for finding me, Lydia. You have no idea how much--" A choked sob cut her off.

Lydia got to her feet to hug her mom and it was a beautiful thing to see. I thought about my parents and wished they could have met Lydia.

Doc Sinclair excused herself and Lydia came to sit back down beside me. She frowned as she looked in my eyes. "What is it?"

I had to clear my throat a few times before I could answer her. "When I get discharged, can I take you somewhere?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "Of course. Where?"

"Chicago. That's where my parents are buried. I-- I'd like for you to meet them." I knew how it sounded, but I felt like this was something I had to do.

She placed a soft kiss to my lips. "I would love to meet them, baby."

"Thank, God," I breathed.

She gave me a teasing smile, "Not God. Lydia. Remember?"

Nostalgia filled me at her words. It seemed like forever ago when I said the same thing to her on the way to Atlantic City.

"Oh, I remember." I nodded towards her fortune cookie. "Open it."

She opened the cookie and a laugh escaped her before she glanced at me. "Did you set this up? Did you pay someone to make this cookie?"

"What?" What the hell was she talking about. "No, I swear. Why what does it say?"

"It says: 'Real love is an adventure that starts with friendship'. You set this up, didn't you?"

I actually didn't. "No, I promise," I said with a laugh.

"Then how do you explain it, Smarty-Pants?"

"What if it's fate?" I asked with a knowing smile.

She wrapped her arms around my neck. She pressed her lips against mine as she breathed, "What if..."