Week 409 – Can’t wait to see what happens next

Can’t wait to see what happens next.

A month had passed since the day Calico finally opened her big green eyes and looked up at him from that hospital bed. Twelve days of sitting at her bedside not knowing if she’d ever wake up, not knowing if she’d still be the same person as she’d been before if she did.

Now after a month of rehab, of resting and slowly rebuilding strength, of speaking to a psychiatrist and working through some of what she’d endured, it was finally time.

“Excited?” he asked as he curled his fingers into fists to stop them reaching for Calico’s shoes and put them on himself. Part of what Garret had to learn over the last month was respecting Calico’s independence and not trying to step in. She was moving slowly, but she was regaining her strength, and shockingly capable for someone with a broken leg and arm, and who had spent almost two weeks in a coma.

“Very.” Calico beamed up at him as she managed to awkwardly slide her food foot into her sneaked. That triumphant smile every time she achieved even the most simple of tasks made him fall a little more in love with her.

“And you’re sure you’re good with staying at my place?” Although she’d accepted his offer to stay with him until she was fully healed and no longer needed help, Calico wasn’t the only one that needed closeness. He needed her by his side just as much as he knew she needed to be at his.

“Nowhere else in the world I’d rather be,” she said, pushing to her feet, wobbling precariously as he pushed over the wheelchair so she could sink down into it.

Dropping to his knees in front of her, he took her hands in his. This was crazy, they hadn’t known each other all that long, and most of that time they’d both been on edge from a serial killer being on the loose.

But it felt right.

Now he just had to hope Calico felt the same way.

“I know this is early, and I understand if you’re not ready,” he started, keeping her hands cradled in one of his while his other slipped into his pocket. “But I love you, Calico, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

She gasped and her eyes filled with tears. Happy tears he assumed since she was also grinning at him.

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes.”

Slipping the ring onto her finger felt like new beginnings. Curling a hand around the back of her neck, he guided her lips to meet his, careful not to cause her healing body any pain.

“H-hmm,” a voice cleared from the door, and he pulled back, to glance over his shoulder and find Tony and Natasha standing there, both of them smiling.

“Your chariot is here to take you home,” Natasha said, and he noticed something sparkling on her finger.

“Are you engaged?” Calico squealed.

“Tony proposed last night,” Natasha gushed. “Wait a minute? Is that a ring?”

“Garret proposed about ten seconds ago,” Calico answered, love shining in her eyes as she gifted him another smile.

Congratulations were exchanged and as Garret looked around at their little group, a the woman he loved, his partner, and his partner’s fiancee, he realised it was a new beginning for all of them.