Arianna tried hard to move her body, but she couldn’t. How did I get here? Where’s Alex? Her mind whirred with these thoughts. She had informed the hospital, but it had been a while since then and Alex was still not here. Her heart beat fast and, suddenly, all the machines started beeping. Oh, I should not do that. My heartbeat will reveal everything.

She heard a knocking on the door, and then Alex peeped in. A tired smile appeared on Arianna’s face. He’s here.

“Hey baby, how are you feeling?” Alex moved beside her.

“Banged up,” Arianna croaked. Her throat felt dry. Alex noticed and poured her a glass of water. He held it to her lips, and she took a few sips and smiled.

“I’m so happy you’re okay,” Alex said, softly planting a kiss on her lips.

“What happened?” she said.

“Brian confessed, and we broke through your father too. I have bad news for you, though,” Alex said, his face falling.

“What, what?” The monitors started beeping. Thinking about this was worrying her.

“Relax, love. There will be a lot of time for us to do that later on, when you’re okay. Talking about this will make you excited and hamper your healing.”

Arianna frowned. “Tell me.” Her voice came out all raspy.

“They arrested Antonio for his role in money laundering. Please don’t worry. I’ll get you legal counsel if you’re planning to contest, and we can figure something out.”

“No, he can fight his own battles,” she whispered. “I can’t talk. Water.”

Alex held the glass to her lips, and she sipped. Looking at her so tired and broken, Alex felt emotional.

“Arianna, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I should have come sooner. I should have stopped you when you went outside the station,” he said, sounding broken.

“No, it is not your fault. It is Brian’s, and I hope you got him.” Alex nodded. “Good,” she said.

A nurse popped her head inside.

“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to leave. The patient is getting very excited. It is not good for recovery.”

Alex nodded. Just as he was getting up, Arianna reached out for his hand. Alex’s heart almost stopped. He wanted to hold her in his arms and crush her, but she looked so fragile on the hospital bed, he didn’t dare to touch her.

Just as he was leaving, he turned to Arianna. She looked at him.

“Ana, I love you,” he said and walked out of the room as the monitors started beeping again.

Two Weeks Later…

Alex helped a recovering Sophie rest at home. Arianna was fixing her a snack.

“Thank you, Alex.” Sophie looked at him with grateful eyes.

“No problem. So, are you sure you’ll be fine? I’m going to take Arianna out to dinner.”

Sophie nodded. “Go, go. It’ll do her good. She hated being cooped here. And Alex?” He stopped when she called his name. He looked at Sophie fondly.

“Thank you.”

“What for?” Alex was surprised.

“For taking care of my sister.” Sophie grunted as she pulled herself up.

A knock sounded on the door. Alex opened it to find a familiar face.

“Wait, I know you. You’re Ana’s doctor. What are you doing here?”

“I’m Gerald Smith. I, uh, came to check on Sophie. Just to see if she was doing well. What with Antonio fighting his case in court, she must be stressed.” He flushed. Alex raised his eyebrows and opened the door to let him in. He entered the living room. Sophie looked at him and blushed a fiery red.

“Alex, who’s at the door? Ooh, we have a guest. Hello, Doctor Smith. How come you’re visiting here?” she said.

“I, uh, am just making my daily calls and thought I should check in on Sophie.” Sophie deliberately looked away when Arianna was talking to her.

Arianna smirked, seeing the chemistry between the two. She looked at Alex, who pointed at the door.

She nodded.

“Well, I’m leaving right now. Doctor Smith, there’s some freshly baked foccacia on the table, please do enjoy it.” She nodded at Sophie, and she and Alex walked out to his car.

“I think that doctor likes Sophie,” Alex said as he buckled his seatbelt.

“It’s none of our business. Tell me, where are we going for dinner?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise. Trust me,” Alex said.

“It’s not in another park, right?” Arianna laughed, reminding him about their failed date. She quickly sobered. That was one day before this whole mess started. Noticing her grim mood, Alex thought hard about something to make her laugh.

“Oh man, you got me. You got me. I was thinking about a night walk in the park, but now that you mention it, I’ll take you to the Bistro.”

Arianna nodded distractedly, and Alex drove around to the community park. He drove inside to the spot where he had met Arianna.

“Wait a minute, this is not the Bistro.” Arianna just noticed the change of scenery.

“Oh, you didn’t notice so far? Not good, Ms. Belmonte.” Alex shook his head solemnly.

“Why, you little. I’m hungry; where are we and what are we eating?”

Alex walked out of the car and set up a picnic on a blanket. It was a clear St. Helena summer night and his heart was racing.

Arianna seated herself and marveled at the view. St. Helena looked even more beautiful under moonlight. Isn’t this the spot where we met this time around? She turned around to find Alex stroking her hand. She winked at him.

“Arianna,” he said, his voice raspy.

“I promised you, at this very spot, to come back and start our life together. After everything we’ve been through, I cannot, and I assure you, I cannot think of a forever without you. Look, I know we live different lives in different cities, but I want to make it work. I don’t know how we will, and what we will do…”

Arianna jumped into his arms and kissed him deep. He had memorized a few more lines but now they were all cleaned out from his mind. His hand roamed down her back and in her hair. His fingers felt that small lump that had stayed after the Brian incident, and he swallowed. It took him a lot of control to not let these urges overpower him, and he looked at beautiful Arianna in front of him.

“Yes, yes, yes! Let’s make it work. We will figure things out. Shift and shuttle, we’ll figure it out,” she said, kissing him softly on his lips.

“This time, I’m not letting you go. I’m not letting life come in between. I love you, Ana,” he whispered.

“I love you too, Alex. I love you. Nothing will come in between.” She gently kissed his hands.

Alex couldn’t resist. He kissed her deep. His kisses turned urgent and he stroked her arms, trying to show her every bit of the love he felt for her.

“Wait, Alex.” He stopped and looked at her, puzzled.

“Promise me you’re going to be mine, and I am going to be yours. Forever.” The stubborn kid in Arianna refused to let the moment pass.

Alex laughed. They were not pros at promises. They’d not kept the most important one, and they almost didn’t have each other in their life. Thankfully, everything was fine now. They didn’t have a happily ever after as such right now, but they had forever to think it through. One thing he knew, he couldn’t live without her. She was his partner, through and through. For now, though, he promised. Because this was one he intended to keep. No matter what happened.

“I promise you. I promise you us and togetherness. Forever.” He kissed her on her lips.