Chapter Seventeen
Ezra
When I finally woke up enough to be completely aware of my surroundings, Levi was asleep next to the bed, wedged into an uncomfortable looking plastic chair. A nurse was checking my vitals.
“Oh good,” she said, and smiled. “Are you thirsty? Let me get you something fizzy to drink.”
I nodded my head yes, because when I swallowed, my throat felt like sandpaper. It didn’t hurt; I just felt dried out.
The sound of the nurse’s voice roused Levi from his sleep. His face lit up when he saw me awake, and I swear he almost crushed me to death in his embrace. I felt a twinge of pain in my abdomen, but I ignored it.
“Now now,” the nurse admonished. “You’ll rip his stitches and then where will we be?”
Levi let go of me as if he was dropping a venomous snake. “Oh my goddess. I am so sorry. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
The nurse chuckled. “I’m sure it’s fine, but please be careful. We don’t want to have to move Ezra here back to intensive care.”
I wasn’t even awake for a few hours when a police detective showed up to interview me. Levi got all protective and wanted to make him come back later, but I said it was okay. Truth be told, I wanted to get anything having to do with Gavin over with, so I could move on with my life.
I almost felt a little bad for Cruz. Almost. With Tony and Gavin dead, you knew he was going to end up with all the responsibility pinned on him. I just hoped that if he cut a deal in exchange for turning over someone higher in the food chain, he wouldn’t end up coming after me. I wasn’t going to worry about that too much, though. I had Levi to protect me, and I knew Cruz was better off staying away from me. Whatever crimes they got him for, I probably knew about more. That would be my insurance.
The detective assured us that Levi was in the clear. It was obvious that the killings were self-defense, but when he left, Levi still looked troubled.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, and took his hand.
“Do you remember what you said to me when you were in intensive care?”
“I don’t,” I said, and it looked as though I’d let the wind completely out of Levi’s sails. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember anything after I was shot. I’m sure it will come back, but right now it’s all gone. Why? What did I say?”
“You said we should get married,” he whispered, and the look on his face told me he was bracing for rejection.
“Oh,” I said and sat up as much as I could. “And what did you say?”
“I agreed,” he said sheepishly.
“Huh. Is that so?” I said, and smiled. “Well, Levi, even if you said that just to be nice because you thought I might die, I’m holding you to it.”
“Hell yes!” Levi said, and leaped out of his chair. “This town is pretty small, but it does have one jewelry store.” Levi took a small, burgundy velvet box from his pocket. “I stopped there on the way to the hospital this morning, just in case.”
He opened the little box. Inside was a thick platinum band studded with diamonds arranged in the shape of stars. “Oh gosh, Levi. It’s so beautiful,” I said as he slipped it on my finger. “But I don’t have anything for you.”
“You’ve already given me so much, and you’re going to give me more than I could ever ask for.”
I was about to ask him what he meant when the nurse walked back in. “I thought I told you two to keep things low-key. Ezra’s heart rate just spiked. Do I need to send Levi away for a time out?”
I held up the ring. “We’re getting married. We need champagne,” I said excitedly. “Levi, you should get us some champagne.”
“Oh honey,” the nurse said with a laugh. “You can’t have bubbly in your condition.”
“Right. It probably wouldn’t react well with all of the medicines,” I said.
“He doesn’t know?” the nurse asked.
“I wasn’t sure if I should wait until we knew if things were going to be okay to say something,” Levi said.
“Oh, things are going to be okay.” The nurse smiled. “The doctor put in the chart that the little one is out of the woods and in the clear. I’ll go to the cafeteria and get you guys some apple juice to celebrate with while you break the news.”
“Little one?” I asked Levi when she’d left the room.
“Ezra, I don’t know any other way to tell you this other than to just come out with it,” Levi said and squeezed my hand. “You’re pregnant.”
My hand immediately went to protectively cover my tummy. “A baby?” I said. “We’re having a baby?”
“Yes,” Levi said, and leaned forward to kiss me. “We’re having a baby. Are you happy?” he asked hopefully.