Chapter 20Vox

The blip of the machine measurin’ her heart fills the room. We’ve been at the hospital for three hours and Rose had a bunch of doctors and nurses around her for the first hour before falling asleep from the painkillers.

Nearly lost my mind when they wouldn’t let me stay with her cause I wasn’t family, but they quickly changed their tone when I firmly told them I wouldn't step a fuckin’ inch away from her before knowin’ she was okay.

Fuckin’ killed me to hear it, cause she’s my old lady and in my mind she’s already as much my wife as I am her husband.

I just plan on making it official once she’s ready after the shitshow they made her go through. All she has to do now is rest, and I plan on taking care of her and showing that she can always rely on me to do so.

Actually, I plan on doing this for the rest of our lives, but I haven’t gotten the chance to tell her yet. Bought the ring in a pawn shop the day after we first danced in my living room.

Even back then I already knew.

But it’s too soon and it actually doesn't really matter now since I don’t plan on leaving her sight for the next hundred years to come.

Doc told me she’d recover but her voice would stay this way. Never minded her being mute. Rose and I have our own way to communicate, and besides, I’m still taking ASL online classes, and I plan on being fluent by the end of the year.

I’m sitting on the chair next to her bed. They’ve put her into a blue hospital gown. Her hair has dried and her breathin’ has slowed down. Can’t help but stare at her masterpiece of a face, wondering how I got so lucky to find an angel like her. She moves slightly, opening her eyes as if she had slept for days. Such a sweet face, I can’t wait to wake up to it every morning of my life.

“Hey, Angel.” My voice is low and raspy, my worries disappearing slowly as I watch a tired smile appear on her face. Takin’ her hand, I stroke it with my thumb. She looks better but still weak. Probably won’t be able to sign yet.

“Gonna give you a heads up, tap once on my hand for yes, twice for no.”

She taps once. Good. It works. Gotta be creative with my angel here. After telling her what the doc told me, I clench my jaw, hoping she’ll agree to what I planned for us.

“After what happened today, I want us to move to Seattle and give you a fresh start.”

It's at the opposite side of the country; she'll be free there, free to be who she wants to be. I sigh, trying to remember the words I repeated in my head for hours sitting on this chair.

“Even knowin’ who I am and what I do, and fuck, Angel, don’t feel like you have to do anythin’ you don’t want to do.”

Fuck, why is this so hard to say?

“Do you want to move in with me?” I squeeze her hand cause fuck, I just jumped off of a cliff and I don’t fuckin’ know if I’m gonna land in one piece. I know it’s frustrating for her to only answer me with taps, but I need to know.

Can’t wait another second. Cause today was fuckin’ hectic and now that she’s rested, perhaps she changed her mind on me, on us.

I won’t stand in the way of her happiness; whatever she wants, I'll give it to her. Even if I have to pay the price of watching her from afar. My eyes stare at hers, a warm smile illuminating her face as I feel her finger tap once on my hand, then squeeze it back.

“Fuck, for a moment I thought… never mind.” I shake my head like a fool.

“Vox,” she says in a broken whisper, almost inaudible. I cover her hand with mine, wanting to touch her face, but I’m afraid she’ll break into a million pieces.

Guess I got fuckin’ scared when I found her unmoving body in the chapel today and it’s coming back now.

But I won’t fight it. I kept my feeling buried in me for so many years that I know now how fuckin’ wrong it is to do so.

“I… want… a… life… with,” one of her hands reaches for her throat, and I fuckin’ know she’s hurting right now but still, I know she needs to say those words so I let her, “you.”

I want a life with you .

As I said, I’m the luckiest motherfucker on earth. Standing on top of her, I cup her cheek as gently as I can with my large palms and kiss her slowly, showin’ her how much I love her, how she’s has become the anchor of my world, the light in my dark soul.

“Mine,” I whisper. “Forever mine.”

-

The next evening, Rose was discharged from the hospital with the only order to rest and take her painkillers. She was eager to move from the hospital bed and get some fresh air.

My home wouldn’t be a safe place for us anymore, but luckily, Ares gave us the keys to his holiday house an hour from Knoxville. A modern wood cabin with everythin’ we could need. I think it was his way of giving us his blessing after today.

Told Rose we would stay there for a week before moving to Seattle and starting fresh. Had to take my stuff out of the house and find our new home on the other side of the country. I knew I would have time to do so while she rested in a safe place with a Raven Sons brother checkin’ on her and protectin’ the area.

“You okay?” I signed as I attached her seatbelt next to me. Took my car this time. No way I’m driving her on my bike in this state.

She nodded and signed back, “I’m kind of hungry actually.”

“We’ll stop on our way, Angel, no worries,” I say before kissing her again.

Can’t help myself now that she’s all mine. What we have is too damn precious to not enjoy it.

I haven’t told her yet that I had already sent a prospect to buy her a complete wardrobe with different styles of clothes so she could choose whatever she wanted to try. And I sent Ash to pack the fridge at Ares’ cabin with her favorite foods and snacks.

Wanna make sure she’s got everythin’ she needs.

The drive was quicker than I thought, and I fuckin’ loved watchin’ her eyes widen when she entered the house. Ares has good taste, and it fuckin’ showed. Wood furniture with metallic accents and high quality appliances. I know I’m gonna offer her a similar home in Seattle and I can’t wait to see her in our future kitchen, drawing in her notebook while I cook for her.

“I’m going to take a shower,” she signed to me after I gave her a quick tour of the home.

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me,” I signed back with a smug smile cause I'm getting good at signing and I'm kinda fuckin’ proud of myself. I started making her macaroni and cheese when she came back downstairs in one of my large black t-shirts from the club that I had left on the bed. Love to see her like that, bare legs and my t-shirt on.

No need for any fancy stuff on her to look like a vision.

I stopped cutting the vegetables, dried my hands, all while keeping my gaze on her, then walked towards her. She smelled like the vanilla shower gel I had brought from home cause I know it’s her favorite.

“Thank you for the shower and… everything,” she signs with a cute as hell smile . “The food smells so good. I’m… I don’t know how to thank you for all of this.” She waves at our surroundings. I had understood most of what she said, well hopefully.

“It’s nothing, Angel, you deserve it. Our home will look like this too, ya know?”

And I can't fuckin’ wait.

I rest my hand on her waist, feeling the warmth of her skin across the thin fabric.

“Thank you,” she says silently, before surrounding my neck with her arms, pulling herself close to me, and crushing her lips on mine. There’s an intensity to her kiss that takes me off guard. I stop us for a second, stroking her cheek while I look at her, making sure I understand what she wants.

God, I love her.

My heart skips a beat and I kiss her back, knowing we’re about to step into a new milestone of our relationship. She keeps kissing me as I lift her thighs across my hips, carrying her upstairs. Her breathing gets louder as each second passes.

Rose and I aren’t people who need to talk to know what the other feels, so I know she wants this as much as I want it.

“Tell me to stop and I’ll fuckin’ do it, Angel,” I say softly, my voice raspy and filled with a mix of desire and caution. But she doesn’t utter a word, nor does she try to push me away. Instead, she surprises me by grabbing my jaw with her delicate hand and turning it to the side. Then she does something I never expected.

She bites my jaw, sending a surge of electricity through my veins, before turning my head back to face her, her eyes brimming with fire. Holding her hips tighter, I grin in amazement at the woman in my arms. Watching her embrace her darkness is the most intoxicating thing I've ever experienced.

"You were made for me, Angel," I mutter before pushing the door of the bedroom with my leather boot, carrying her onto the bed like a bride on her wedding night.

The image of her walkin’ toward me in a long white dress flashes before me. I won’t push this on her anytime soon cause we have all the time in the world, but I know that one day, I’ll tie myself to this woman in every humanly way possible.

The light of the sunset lights up her gorgeous face. As I lay on top of her, our clothes still separating us, I sense her fingers running on me.

What are you doing, Angel?

She’s writing letters on my chest until the pattern makes sense, and I understand the three words she's carvin’ on my skin.

I.

Love.

You .

That's what my angel is writing, over and over.

"Right there with ya, Angel," I answer before cupping her face and kissing her again. And right here, in this cabin, far away from the noise of the world, we become one. Two lost souls burning bright in the darkness.

No more running away.

No more building fuckin’ walls.

In the quiet of the night, I grip her cheek, my thumb tracing the curve of her jaw.

"I’m yours Angel, forever yours," I rasp, my voice husky and raw, laying bare everythin’ I am, everythin’ I feel for her. And as our eyes lock, I see her understanding, her acceptance of the man before her, flaws and all. I see it reflected back at me.

A love as fierce and wild as my own.

And as we fall deeper, lost between passion and worship, hunger and salvation, I know one thing for sure : I ain't never lettin’ her go.

She's mine, and I'm hers, and together, we'll ride through whatever the hell comes our way.

THE END