Page 86 of Simply Yours

“You were?” Matthew grinned. “’Bout time.” He hugged Jason tight, clapping him on the back.

“Good.” Luke nodded. “She’s good for you.”

Jason let out a shaky laugh, overwhelmed by their reactions, by their unwavering support.

“Oh, I’m so happy,” Toni whispered, glancing at Derek, her joy spilling over even in the midst of fear.

Derek simply reached out, shaking Jason’s hand firmly. “Say the word, and we’ll make that wedding happen just like you did for us.”

Jason managed a chuckle, shaking his head. “My sister is a force of nature. That was all Toni.”

Toni sniffed, giving him a watery smile. “Don’t be modest.” She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tightly.

He swallowed, his throat burning. “I don’t want a big wedding… but I need to see what Caitlin wants.”

The room went silent.

All of them stared at him like he had completely lost his mind.

“What?” he asked, defensive.

Matthew rolled his eyes. “She wantsyou, ya’ big dummy.” His voice was exasperated, but there was warmth there, too. “She doesn’t care about the latest trends or what music’s playing. If you married her in an alleyway, she’d be happy. Say the word, and I’ll have a guy here so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

Jason’s heart clenched. “You really think so?”

Matthew gave him a look. “Iknowso.”

Jason rubbed a hand over his face, emotion threatening to break him all over again. “I just… I need to see her, hold her hand—” His voice cracked.

“She’s gonna be fine,” Matthew promised, pulling him into another hug. And Jason, for the second time that night, fell apart.

By the time he was finally allowed into Caitlin’s room, nearly four hours had passed. It felt like a lifetime.

His steps were slow, hesitant as he crossed the threshold.

Her shoelaces had been cut because the swelling was so severe. Her jeans had been shredded from the thigh down, and he could still see the marks on her skin, the places where they had tracked the venom’s spread with a marker.

He would never forget the way her foot had looked in the ER—blue, swollen, and mottled with patches of death creeping up her leg. By the time they had arrived, she had been sweating, gasping for breath, her body locked in a fight for survival.

They had given her antivenom.Six vials.And they still had two more ready in case her symptoms worsened.

The doctor’s voice was a low hum in his ears, talking about how close it had been, how lucky she was. If they had been even a little later, she could have lost her foot. Or worse.

Jason had to sit down, his head in his hands, his stomach churning.

He had almost lost her.

Not in some distant, theoretical way. Not in a vague, someday kind of fear.

She had almost died. Tonight. In his arms.

He took a shuddering breath and lifted his head.

Caitlin was asleep, her face pale against the pillow, her body impossibly small beneath the hospital blankets. But she was breathing.

Alive.

He moved to her side, sinking into the chair beside her bed. His hand found hers, lacing their fingers together as he pressed a kiss against her knuckles.

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