I waited for the torment to subside before I found Whitney’s smiling face next to me.

“I’m so incredibly proud of you again.”

“That was for Gracie.”

Her hand rubbed across my scruff. “I know.” She leaned into me, her kiss starting off tender until her tongue parted my lips, coming in to taste me.

I pulled her closer, gripping the waist of her scrubs, wanting more than anything to rip them off. “Stay tonight. Don’t leave.”

I guided her over, and she straddled my lap but didn’t give me any of her weight.

“Would it be all right if I canceled Veronica?” She held my shoulders, nose brushing the end of mine. “I want to wake up next to you …” A redness moved across her cheeks. “But I wouldn’t be comfortable if there was another nurse here.”

I cupped the heat on her face and laughed. “Welcome to my new world of awkwardness. I’m just fortunate our first encounter was a sponge bath, and you weren’t responsible for removing my catheter.”

“For the record, I’m very gentle.”

I kissed the smile on her lips, and even though she was all I could feel, I still couldn’t get enough of this gorgeous woman. She was an energy, a sensation, a beacon of hope that I didn’t want to let go of.

“Whitney, there’s something so special about you.”

Our faces were only inches apart, the warmth of her breath filled with the sweetness of coconut.

She scanned my gaze back and forth and said, “When I’m with you, I’m not afraid of the ground beneath my feet, and I’m not terrified of falling.”

Like me, I was sure she didn’t recognize the person she was becoming.

But there wasn’t a doubt in my mind when I gripped her even tighter and said, “You’re not capable of falling. Not even tripping. The only thing you’re going to do, baby, is fly.”

She carefully wrapped her arms around me, her chest aligned with mine, her exhales gusting against my neck.

I knew in that moment, no matter what my future looked like, I was going to be all right.

We stayed out on the balcony long after we finished eating the pizza I’d ordered, the first bottle of wine running dry and now onto our second. The air was getting chilly even though she had covered us in a blanket, and despite my wanting to stay up for hours, my body could feel the hardness of the day and how unforgiving this wheelchair could be.

“It’s time for bed, isn’t it?” she asked, my thoughts always so obvious to her.

I lifted my hand off her leg and held the back of her head, rubbing her neck with my thumb. “I just need to lie down; this has been a lot of sitting.”