Forever (Fallen 3)

He kissed me passionately in front of everyone. He broke away and looked up at his family. “You heard the lady, we have a wedding to plan.”

Chapter Three: Planning

As the doctor predicted, I was released the next morning. They gave me a boat load of pain killers that I couldn’t see how I would ever need. The others were at home waiting for us. It would just be me and Jonathon. He wheeled me out in a wheelchair, which I thought was completely unnecessary, and scoffed the entire time, but he would hear none of it. I sat with my arms crossed, my lips pouted, and my cheeks flaming. I was extremely embarrassed. I was sure no one was bothered with watching some strange girl get wheeled in a wheelchair, but it still bothered me. I always hated to be viewed as weak and here I was being wheeled out of the hospital. It royally sucked. The automatic doors opened and the early morning sunshine shone a promising light.

A dark car I had never seen before was parked waiting for us. Jonathon wheeled me right up to the car and opened the door. I saw that it was a brand new Chevrolet Camaro, black on the outside and black leather on the inside.

Jonathon saw me looking and said, “There was nothing salvageable left from the mustang and I had been wanting a new car so—” he shrugged, with a sheepish expression. “And this one is crash proof. Watch,” he punched the car door. I could tell that he had put a lot of force into the punch and if it was a normal door it would have fallen off with his vampire strength. Instead, there was not even a dent.

I shook my head. “Crash proof? Seriously?”

His eyes became dark, “I will not take any risks with you. It happened once, it could happen again. I learned my lesson.”

I didn’t say anything else. I knew he was doing this because he was worried about my well-being and still seething from the accident. I put my hands on the arms of the wheelchair to push myself up. My ribs and chest were still sore from the wreck. The doctor warned me to keep taking the pain medicine. He said that if I missed a dose, the pain would escalate.

“No, principessa,”

Jonathon scolded and my legs were swept out from under me before I could stand.

“Jonathon,” I groaned.

“Hey,” he smiled, “I could have carried you out of the hospital like this but instead I let you retain some dignity by using the wheelchair.” He quirked his eyebrows as he settled me into the plush seat. I reached behind me for the seatbelt but he was already buckling me in.

I decided to let him have his fun. He climbed in behind the wheel not bothering to return the wheelchair. I noticed something floating in peripheral vision. I turned around to see what it was. “Jonathon—” I groaned.

Floating behind me was a huge balloon that said: GET WELL SOON….well, the equivalent of it, in Italian.

“Wait, there’s more,” he said and leaned into the back to pull something else out. He emerged with a giant, and I mean giant, teddy bear holding a heart. He pushed the bear into my hands. “For you my love,” he chuckled and kissed my cheek.

“Cheesy but cute,” I smiled. “Thank you.”

He laughed, “It accomplished what I wanted.”

“Which is what?” I asked as he pulled away from the hospital.

“It made you smile,” he glanced at me.

“You are too sweet, and kind to me, you know that right?”

“I’m far from either of those things. I just love you and I hate seeing you so hurt and sad,” he looked intently at the road. “I feel like the pain of losing the baby hurt you more than the physical injuries,” he whispered.

I should’ve known he would pick up on that. Jonathon could read me like an open book.

I looked out the window and away from him. “It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t the right time. After all, I don’t want to be a pregnant bride,” I joked.

“Are sure you’re ready to start planning the wedding? We can wait a couple years; have a nice long engagement, if you want?”

“As much as my brothers would love that, I don’t want to wait a second longer. I’m ready.”

“Do you have a date in mind?” he asked.

“Well, kind of. I don’t want it in October because that’s too soon. November isn’t good because that makes me think of when you left and December is when Selena kidnapped me, so that’s out of the question too. January would work but I never pictured myself getting married in the winter. February doesn’t seem right. I want it to be its own special event, with no darkness clouding it, and nothing to distract from it, so I’m thinking May,” I said.

“May suits me good too. Spring is one of my favorite times of year. It seems to hold so much promise. Plus the winter months just make me think of death.”

I covered my ears, “Please, don’t say anything about death. I’m trying not to think about it.”

“Sorry, I’ll zip my lips.” He mimed zipping them.