Alex giggled and tried to lift her arms to accept the
tool, "Damn casts."
"I'll do it," offered Nancy, getting a cup of water and
the hospital toothpaste. James chuckled as he
watched Alex endure the scrubbing that the helpful
nurse applied to her teeth. Rolling her eyes, Alex
accepted a drink and rinsed her mouth into the
bedpan and took another drink of water.
"Better?"
"Yeah."
James leaned over and kissed Alex on the mouth,
both of them reveling in the renewed closeness, "Oh, God, I missed you," he whispered against her
lips.
"Ahem. Don't mind me. I'm just going to get her
dinner tray," joked the nurse before bustling out of
the room.
"Tell me everything," Alex demanded, "My last
memory is crawling in that tunnel and a loud
explosion."
James detailed the attack in the alley outside of the
Planned Parenthood office and Francine's tragic
death, "Since he just participated in the assault on
Grayson he could be released on bail. Tad must
have done that before coming here to kill Grayson." "Poor Francine; I'm sorry for you too, James. You
lost an innocent child because of me," Alex said
tears forming her eyes.
James looked her over and completed the details on
what happened once he arrived at Hasani, "All ten
of the officer's died from burns when the oxygen
tank exploded. Everything in the plant from the
weld shop forward has been destroyed. Jeff is
working on reconstruction now."
Alex let the tears come as James finished his tale
including Tad's last minute attempt on James' life
and her own, "Where is he now?"
"Tad," James asked, "He went through about two
hours of surgery to repair the damage to his
groin. He'll never have children; that's for
sure. Anyway, the cops arrested him and had him transferred to the prison hospital up in Danbury as
soon as he was stable. He's still there awaiting
trial. His family has called in some hot shot lawyer
from Boston and is declaring he went insane."
"He did, James. He wasn't like that when we were
together. "
"I know, Alex. You couldn't have loved him if he was
that way. "
Alex shook her head in agreement and stared at
James. There was something troubling in his eyes,
although he was happy to see her. Perhaps it was
the loss of his child that drew his brows together,
"Are you alright," she asked.
"Yeah. Alex, there's something I need to tell
you. " "Okay," Alex replied.
James grasped one of her hands being careful not to
brush against the sore ribs, stitches or broken
bones. He rubbed the calloused thumb across the
back of her hand and stared into her eyes, "Alex,
I've actually lost two children in this disaster," he
began.
Alex looked at him and flinched. She had felt the
stitches in her stomach and wondered about them,
the sense of something missing had been there
since she had woken up, "What are you saying?"
"Alex, the injuries you sustained in the explosion
triggered a miscarriage."
"Miscarriage; I wasn't even pregnant."
"Yes, you were. " "Oh, God," Alex began to cry, "I killed our child. I
killed our baby."
"Alex, no it wasn't you. . . "
"Yes, it was!"
"No, it wasn't Alex," James declared reaching up to
hold her head in his hands careful not to brush
against any of the bruises or cuts, "This was Tad's
fault. If he had been sane he never would have
done what he did. It's his fault, Alex. "
"Oh, James for you to have lost two children," Alex
cried wishing she could hold him.
"Alex, we'll be fine. We'll have others, I promise
you. Our house will be so full of noise you're going
to miss the silence. " "Others, our house; James, what are you talking
about," Alex asked confused.
"I guess I jumped the gun, huh," he laughed pulling
the small velvet box out of his pocket and opening it
to display the diamond ring inside, "Will you marry
me," he asked expectantly.
"James, after all we've gone through, and
everything that's happened. . . ," Alex began
tears streaming from her eyes.
James face fell, "I understand; if you don't love
me. . . "
"Love you? Oh, James, I didn't think I could love
more, but as of right now I do. Don't you
understand? The first time we danced at Grayson's I
thought my whole body was on fire. You held me so close and our bodies just fit together like pieces
of a puzzle. My skin tingled with the thought of
lying next to you at night and feeling your skin on
mine. Every time you spoke my name I was
entranced and when you smiled at me, all I wanted
to do was explore every inch of that
mouth. James, your kisses leave me breathless
and your love makes me realize that dreams come
true. I want nothing more than to marry you and
have a houseful of children who have your eyes,
your smile and to share in our love."
"Is that a yes," James asked flabbergasted.
"Yes, it is!" James wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her
soundly, "We're going to be a family, Alex. I
promise. And I’ll leave you breathless forever. "
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27