Page 46 of The Storms Between Us
thirty-eight
The next morning,I’m more than ready to get the hell out of this hospital. I’m tired of being poked and prodded like a fucking science experiment, and it’s been too long since I’ve had a decent night’s sleep. I tried to coax Ember into the bed with me last night, but she wasn’t having it. She was too afraid of hurting me. I won’t go another night without her next to me, though.
We load up into the Jeep with Rory and my ma following behind us. Kelsea has to stay in the hospital for a few more days, so Ev said he’s staying behind with her. I know there’s something going on there, but I’m not gonna push. The only thing I want to think about right now is getting home and decompressing with Ember, getting some kind of normalcy back into our lives.
I give Ember a confused look as we drive right past the townhouse. “Where are we going, Sunshine?” I ask. She gives me a mischievous grin and points her Jeep towards the edge of town.
“You’ll see when we get there,” she says with a wide smile. God, I love that smile. I’m the lucky bastard that gets to spend every day waking up next to this woman and I’ll do everything I can to be worthy of that honor. Her strength and resilience over the last few months are nothing short of incredible.
“I want to tell you how grateful I am for you, Em,” I say, my voice heavy with emotion.
“You’regrateful forme? Shouldn’t that be the other way around? Without you, I wouldn’t be sitting here today, Elijah,” she says, her voice shaking slightly. “I never dreamed I would find someone willing to take a bullet for me… literally,”
Thinking back to that night causes anger to spike through me, but it dissipates quickly, knowing Justin can never touch any of us again. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat, Ember. You and this baby are my life now. Nothing will ever stop me from doing whatever I need to do to take care of you two,” I say with conviction.
“I know, honey, and we love you for it,” she whispers. Her voice is like a balm for my soul, instantly calming me in a way nothing else ever could.
We turn down a road I know like the back of my hands and I see the plantation come into view. There are several cars parked out front, some I recognize and some I don’t. As we come to a stop, I see nearly a dozen familiar faces file out the front door and it damn near brings me to tears.
“How the hell did you manage this, Ember?” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. These are the men whose lives I’ve held in my hands, who’ve held mine in theirs. My entire unit, with the exception of Everett, stands on my front porch, staring back at me now. Tears slide slowly down my face, and I feel no shame as they fall. These men and I have already sacrificed so much for each other. The trials of war have warped and weathered our bodies and minds, but we’ve always had each other. That is one constant that will never change.
“It’s done, Eli,” she says, placing her small hand on my wrist. “They all came together to make your dream complete, honey. They were all asking what they could do to help, and Everett suggested this. So they made it happen for you, for us.”
I laugh when I see Breaker standing at the end of the line of men. That asshole rarely ever leaves his computer screens for more than an hour, so I’m shocked to see him here. “Damn, even Batman left his cave,” I gesture towards him.
“Oh yeah, he was actually the one who coordinated all of this for me,” she says, unbuckling her seatbelt and hopping out of the Jeep. She walks around the front end, smiling and waving at the guys as she goes. I’m in awe of this woman, I swear. I open the door and do my best not to wince as I unfold my large frame from the small seat. The pain is manageable, but definitely still there. She takes a step towards the back, but I snag her wrist and pull her into my arms. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch my ma and Rory walk up the steps and hug the guys one at a time.
“I could never repay you for this, Ember. This is amazing,” I say, kissing her softly. No one has ever done something so heartfelt and considerate for me.
“Luckily, you’ll never have to. This is our home now, Elijah. The home we’ll raise our children in. Where we’ll celebrate holidays with our families and fight and make up for years and years to come. There’s no one I would rather have by my side when the storms come to our doors than you. I feel like every moment in my life has led me here. My choices, my mistakes, my accomplishments, all of it. When I’m with you, my past seems worth it. Because if I’d changed even one thing, I may never have met you.” She looks into my eyes with such certainty and devotion that I couldn’t doubt her, even if I wanted to. She is my forever. I’ve known it since I first fell into those stunning green eyes.
