Page 47 of Falling for Carla

“Because I have to take pain meds?” she said, “that’s a bitch.”

The nurse and doctor bustled in before I could answer her.

“Look who’s awake,” the nurse said, smiling at us. “I got the notification that her pulse and bp went up, and it’s just what I wanted to see.”

The nurse checked monitors and tapped the tablet while the surgeon I’d met before checked the incision and helped her sit up. The nurse expertly adjusted the bed and placed a pillow under Carla’s hip so she could sit without putting pressure on her incision.

“Can I have a brush? My hair is all over the place,” Carla asked. The doctor chuckled.

“Young lady, your hair should be the least of your worries. The fact is, this guy here got the paramedics on the scene fast enough, and I did my job well enough in the OR that you don’t have anything to worry about other than a peaceful recovery and following doctor’s orders.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ve had a rough couple of months, to tell you the truth, and I hope the worst is over.”

“It should be smooth sailing from here on out. I’ll trust Drake here to fill you in. He hasn’t left your side, and I don’t think he plans to anytime soon.”

Carla turned and smiled at me. Her face was weary but happy. I was grateful beyond expression.

“Thank you,” I said to the doctor and nurse, and found myself overpowered and unable to say more.

“It’s good to see you awake, Ms. Russo. How would you describe your pain according to this scale?” the nurse said, taking over as the doctor took his leave.

“I’m going off duty, but my colleague Dr. Morgan is taking over. She’ll be in to check on Ms. Russo in about an hour. Best of luck to you.”

I shook his hand and thanked him again. The nurse finished up and gave strict instructions that Carla was to stay sitting up, drink some water, and not try to get up without help.

“I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere,” Carla said. “Thank you.”

“This one here is in a hurry. I thought he was going to toss you over his shoulder and take off out of here before you woke up,” the nurse said good-naturedly.

“Was I that obvious?” I asked.

“You were this close to saying ‘me Tarzan her Jane’ and swinging away on a vine,” the nurse joked.

After finishing up her vitals check, the nurse left us alone and I finally had a chance to talk.

“Carla,” I said.

“If this is another speech about how we can’t see each other because it’s wrong, save it. I’ve been shot. I think we can agree that’s kind of life-altering, so give me some credit for knowing what I want,” she said wryly.

“It isn’t. Forgive me. I was wrong to have ever said that or cared anything about the consequences. I want to build my world around you, Carla. In fact, it’s probably too late to say that I want that. I’m doing that. Whatever it takes. I love you I knew I loved you before we went to Napa, I just hadn’t said it. I’m saying it now.”

“You’re saying I had to get a gunshot wound for you to admit it?” she said, but her gorgeous smile belied her sarcasm. “I love you, Drake, and I think I did from the minute you showed up in that alley outside the bar. I knew right then that you were always going to be there for me, always have my back. Even though you made it really hard with all that talk about ethics and harassment and my degree and your career and being so damn reasonable and practical all the time.”

“I spent too many years never following my heart, Carla. I only did what was practical and responsible. I didn’t want things that made no sense, things that I shouldn’t want. Until I saw you, and wanting you drove me crazy. I couldn’t get you out of my head. You were so beautiful and fierce and independent, and you weren’t taking any shit from me. When you let me help you, I was so honored—I was grateful for my training on the force so I could protect you better. And I have never, ever been more afraid than I was today when I saw that man shoot you.”

“How dead is he on a scale of one to ten?” she asked wryly.

“I’d say a twelve,” I said with a half shrug. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but what I have right here. You, alive and well and generous enough to give me another chance even though I don’t deserve it. I almost lost you, Carla, and if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s this. I’ll never take that risk again. I don’t mean when you were hurt, I mean when I pushed you away. When I walked into my apartment every night, so goddamn happy to find you there and to eat dinner with you, and I sat there like a dumbass, not telling you every chance I got that you had moved in and made my life worth living. You are going to get so tired of me telling you how much I love you, how glad I am you’re in my life. How you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and how I’m the luckiest son of a bitch in the state of California,” I said.

“Just California? Not the west coast or the entire world? That’s just insulting,” she said, but her voice was soft, loving.

I lifted her hand and kissed it. “I love you, Carla Russo. And I’m never letting you go.”

“I better tell Brenda she’ll need a new roommate,” she said.

“I think she knows. When the cops got the phone out of my car, I contacted her to let her know what happened, that you were in surgery. She knows you’re going to make a full recovery, but she said something about you and Professor Sexypants sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” I chuckled.

“That’s much more polite than I expected from her,” Carla said with a rueful laugh, “and I’ll call her tomorrow and update her. There’s no hurry.”

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