Page 70 of From the Embers

“I’m just glad I moved back to Chicago, but now we have to figure out where we go from here.”

“I don’t care, as long as you’re with me.” Then I smirk, remembering. “Wait, how do you know my middle name?”

“I know you’re named after your dad, duh.”

“Oh,” I laugh. “Right.”

She folds into my arms and I hold her precious body close to mine. Nothing will ever compare to having her re-enter my world. Nothing will stop me finding Adelaide and making her mine. “And I’ve been thinking about Hope,” she says into my shirt. “I think we should try and foster her.” She lifts her head. “If you’re up for it? I think we’d have a better chance if we’re a couple.” We’ve been going to visit Hope every day, we both feel really bad when we have to leave. We’ve both been separately too when one of us is at work, so some days she gets multiple visits.

I cup her face. “I’d love that, and I think she would too, but we need a bigger place.”

Her eyes pop. “I’m not even moved in yet and I’m moving again?”

My shoulders shake. “We can work between the two places for now, until we figure it out. Let’s not get our hopes up, but I think we have a really good chance of being her guardians. Plus, she likes us.”

“She’s so brave. She’ll be so upset to hear you’ve been hurt.”

I kiss her forehead. “She will, but she’s strong, just like my girl.”

“Just don’t scare me like that again.”

I don’t want to ever scare her, but my job comes with risk. I know she’s just worried, and I love her for that, but it’s my job as a man to worry about her. Taking care of her is my priority.

“I won’t. But this job is dangerous, you know I’ve always lived for the adrenaline.”

She smiles sadly. “I do know that, and I’m not asking you to change anything, just be careful.”

I kiss her again, needing to be closer, not close enough. “Stay with me. The pain meds are kicking in and I don’t want you to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere, so you’re stuck with me,” she says. “Your parents and mine are a little while away still.”

“The whole family is coming?”

“Don’t act surprised, my parents love you. They were beside themselves when we called them driving over here.”

I pinch her chin. “It’s gonna be alright, all of it.”

“I’m just so relieved you’re gonna be okay.”

“I’ll live, but I may need a nurse to help me get back on my feet. Any takers?”

She looks up, a sparkle in her eyes. “I’m so glad you didn’t damage your face, pretty boy.”

I laugh out loud, then wince because it hurts. “You’re gonna pay for that when I’m better.”

“Famous last words.”

24 hours later

“You’re sure you’re feeling up to it?” Mom asks. “It seems too soon to be leaving the hospital.”

“Mom, I’m fine, I want to go home,” I tell her as gently as possible.

Dad helps me up. “Leave him be,” he tells Mom. “You know he’s stubborn as a mule so you’re wasting your breath.”

“The doc okayed it, and I’m just sitting here staring at the wall. I could be home doing that, plus Bodhi needs me.”

My sister came by earlier, but has been and gone. She went and got Bodhi from my apartment and took him with her. Home is the best place for me, and since I have some time off on my hands, I can look into the fostering information a little more closely. I want to try. Hope deserves it, and at least this way, we’ll know she’ll be safe while she gets all the support she needs.