Enchanted (The Accidental Billionaires #4)(61)

Maybe I hadn’t known him then as well as I did now, but the feelings had still been there, and the loss I’d felt when we’d parted had been profound.

I was quiet for a moment, and I heard Noah’s breathing even out. Apparently, with the pain medication taking effect, he was going to be able to sleep.





CHAPTER 25

ANDIE



“I don’t know how you did it, Andie. How can anyone stand to be in a hospital for as long as you were in for your leukemia?” Noah asked a week later.

I’d spent the whole week with him, working from his house and spending the nights in his bed.

He’d blown off the notion of me sleeping anywhere else, but he’d been so sore that nothing had happened, even though we were technically sleeping together.

I took a sip of my coffee. Noah and I had just sat down in the living room after eating takeout for dinner. He’d passed up the coffee and grabbed himself a beer.

I was careful not to press against him too hard as I leaned into him while we sat on the sofa.

I thought about his question for a moment before I answered. “I was really too sick to care. I guess it just became a way of life after a while.”

“Do you mind talking about it?” he asked.

Usually, I refused to even think about that period of my life. “No,” I answered him truthfully. For some reason, I didn’t mind talking about it with him.

I was beginning to see it as a part of my past, and not my future.

“That first year . . .” His voice trailed off as if he didn’t know what to say.

“It was a nightmare,” I confessed. “I was looking at the reality of death every single day. I thought about all the things I’d never get to do before I was gone. I’d never travel. I’d never get married. I’d never have a child.”

His arms tightened around me. “You were barely an adult. I can’t even imagine what that would be like at the age of twenty.”

“The second year was easier because I was steadily improving,” I explained. “It almost seemed surreal when I was allowed to go back to my own apartment. I’d forgotten what a real, comfortable bed felt like. That year, I really wanted out of the hospital. Once I felt better, I was incredibly bored, but I spent a lot of time imagining the places I could go.”

“Have you hit every place you dreamed about?”

“Pretty much,” I answered. “There are more places I’d like to go, but I’ve gone to the ones high on my bucket list. It’s been nice to just be home a while.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I hate thinking about you being alone in the hospital.”

“I had Owen,” I reminded him. “And I would have been poor company for anyone else.”

“What were the checkups like? You obviously had to be in Boston for them.”

“They were stressful,” I confessed. “I had to go in every month for a while, and then it stretched out to three months. Then it was six months. It’s nice to know I won’t have to see Boston for a year now. After next year, if everything looks good, I won’t have to go again. I was scared for the first couple years, when I went to see my doctors often. I was terrified the cancer would come back.”

“Did it get any better?”

I nodded. “I was still worried, but I didn’t think about it every waking moment. I occupied myself with traveling, and only got really uneasy right before an exam.”

“I’ll be there with you next year,” he said hoarsely as he played with my bracelets absently.

“I’m not going to let it rule my life anymore, Noah. I’ve learned my lesson. Anything can happen to anybody at any time. Your accident brought that point home. I want to live my life to the fullest every single day, and not worry about something that will probably never happen.”

Does he still want to marry me? God, I hope so.

I was more than willing to commit.

If anything, seeing Noah in the hospital urged me not to squander a single moment that we had together.

There wasn’t a single dark cloud on the horizon, and I wanted to go full speed ahead. In fact, I was looking forward to that.

I hoped I always lived in the moment, but I wanted to make plans for my future with Noah, too.

“I want you to move in with me. Is it too soon for that?” he asked hopefully.

I toyed with the buttons on his polo shirt. “I think I’m already living here.”

Eventually, Noah and I would probably start working longer hours, and it would be nice if we lived in the same place.

“I mean permanently.”

“I’m down with that. As long as you help me move,” I teased.

“I’ll have a moving truck at your place tomorrow,” he offered.

I snorted. “Can you give me a few days to pack up?”

“No,” he said high-handedly. “Now that you’ve agreed, I don’t want you to have time to change your mind. There are plenty of rooms here that you can make into an office and more that you can use as your yoga and meditation room.”

Noah had a huge home gym, and enough space there for my yoga and meditation area.

“Let’s talk about it once you’re completely healed,” I suggested. “In the meantime, I’ll be here.”