Page 69 of What Comes After

Theo lifted the bears to his mouth, his eyes studying my face. I couldn’t handle the intensity in his stare, so I eventually looked out at the view again, resting my arms on the railing in front of me.

A few moments of silence passed before Theo joined me in the same position and said, “Sometimes, I think I’d give anything to go back there.”

I couldn’t say I disagreed. There was so much I would have done differently. So, I replied, “Yeah. Me too.”

Then, I reached into the bag, pulled out more bears, and shared them with Theo. And as we stood there in the silence, staring at the gorgeous view, I foolishly allowed myself to think about how different my life might have been if I’d been given the chance to do it all over again.

SIXTEEN

Devyn

Finally.

I could finally stop it.

And it was a good thing, because I was done. I’d reached my limit, and I needed to put a stop to all of this.

Opening the door, I stepped out into the waiting room, my eyes immediately meeting Theo’s concerned ones. I moved in his direction as he stood, and the two of us walked out of the office together.

Once we stepped outside, he asked, “How’d it go?”

“Great. The doctor said that everything looks really good, and he’s happy with how much I’ve healed. He cleared me to return to normal activities, obviously keeping in mind if I experience anything that doesn’t feel quite right, I’m supposed to reach out to him,” I replied.

“That’s excellent,” Theo declared. “I had a feeling you were going to get good news from him today.”

We made it to the car, where Theo opened my door for me.

He’d done that every single time I’d gotten in his vehicle since the day I’d been released from the hospital, and he’d taken me back to his place.

I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that I’d probably only experience that one more time before it ended.

Because this was all going to end.

I was making it so.

After Theo rounded his SUV and got in on the opposite side, my thoughts began to run wild. My emotions felt like they were all over the place, because while I felt relieved about a lot of things, I felt fear over others.

But regardless of the mix of emotions, there was one thing that was certain. I had finally reached the point where I could do something about all of it.

As it turned out, based on the appointment I’d just had with my doctor and my overall sense of well-being, I’d healed enough from all that I’d been through. Even if everything had gone in the right direction there, I had several other concerns occupying my mind at the moment.

Work.

It was now the beginning of September, the Friday before the Labor Day weekend, and I hadn’t worked in weeks. Up until today, I hadn’t received clearance from my doctor to return to work, and given the physical nature of my job, there hadn’t been any choice but to give my body the time it needed to recover.

While it had paid off in the physical sense, money was one of my biggest concerns, if not the biggest.

I had bills to pay, clients who might not be prepared to wait much longer, and a life to get back to.

Yes, I was fully aware I’d been living in a fantasy world over the last few weeks. If I had been anything but realistic, I probably would have been content to stay there.

But I knew better.

I knew it couldn’t continue forever.

In fact, given how great things had been going between Theo and me lately, I knew it was even more of a reason for me to make the change now.

I had to go home.

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