32. Engaged
Bree woke up from the most uncomfortable sleeping position ever, but then she smiled when she feels him looking at her waking up by his bedside. “Morning,” Bree greeted him with a shy smile.
“Morning, beautiful,” Gage moved his thumb to caress her warm cheek. “I thought I sent you home to sleep in a bed, is Mrs. Mancini with Hazel?”
Bree blushed before she straightened herself in the hospital chair. “Hazel is with Mrs. Mancini, I intend to go back home when you’re in surgery and recuperation. There will be nothing I could do while they do your biopsy and then you’ll be resting afterward.”
“You’ve done this before?” Gage asked, his voice was throaty and Bree helped him with his water then she reaches for her bottled water in her overnight bag.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
“Two times with my aunt, she had cancer, they tried everything, another sample was taken when her pathologist needed more to diagnose.” Bree hoped that Gage’s doctor was better and that his team of specialists will care for Gage with their best abilities.
“I’m sorry that you have to go through this again.”
“You will get better, you have to.” Bree took his hand and hold it tight in hers, she was about to say more when there was a knock on the door. It was Rockford, he brought Coffee and bagels for Bree as instructed by Gage yesterday feeling that Bree would spend the night. And the man was right, and he also asked Rockford to do another errand for him when his loyal employee pulled out a little box and gave it to Gage.
“Alright, I should get going and give you two lovebirds some privacy.” The man smiled at both of them and smoothly exited the private hospital room.
“Gage, we don’t have to do this right now,” Bree knows what the small box was about, she was surprised that Gage had prepared a ring. But she didn’t want it, at least not until Gage was better. “I want to focus on you, we can do this later, I’m not going anywhere.” Bree kissed his forehead but the man took her hand and slipped his ring on her finger regardless. It was beautiful, the ring was subtle. The smaller diamonds circled the gold band and a larger aquamarine-colored diamond rest beautifully in the middle.
“The day you said no to my proposal I decided to buy a ring. I had made up my mind that I was going to repeat the process over and over again until you said yes.” The man took her hand to his lips and kissed her ring finger.
“It’s beautiful, I like the color,” Bree lowered herself down and put her lips on his. Bree loved the ring, it wasn’t extravagant as her last one where her ex wanted to show her ring as a symbol of his wealth, but Gage’s ring was blue and she knows exactly what the color represents.
“We will always have our seaside adventure, it was easily one of the happiest days of my life.” He cleared his throat as if the words suddenly held more meanings than what he had thought about before.
“Thank you,” Bree leaned down and kissed him again.
“No, my love… thank you for loving me.” He said it with a smile and Bree took a deep breath before she blinked her eyes but couldn’t help it when happy tears rolled down her cheek.
Their intimate moment was interrupted when his parents arrived with cups of coffee in their hands. “Bree, you didn’t go home last night?” Edith asked looking at the overnight bag under her chair and the wrinkle on her blouse though it was a different color from yesterday her jeans looked the same.
“I stayed, I’ll be going back in a few hours..” Bree was trying not to draw attention to her new ring but his mom noticed her son’s thumb that kept on rubbing her ring finger mindlessly.
“Oh… my… God…” she put her cup on the side table and pulled Bree into a hug, tighter than she intended to but it made Gage chuckle while his dad was still not sure about what was going on in front of him. “Congratulations Bree, Gage, I’m so happy for you, son. Graham, come here congratulate these two, they just got engaged…” then his dad looked at Bree’s ring finger and he smiled wide and pulled her in for his fatherly hug, then he leaned to gage to kiss his forehead lovingly.
The room was full of joy, they forced Bree to eat her bagels and drink her coffee as they all talked about the how and the when. Bree was mostly quiet, but she chipped in on the conversation whenever she thought Gage expected her to. But Edith was not the kind of pushy parent that wanted to know every little detail, she was satisfied with their explanation and Bree was glad that they did not ask about her past or her ex.
Their laughter was silenced when Gage’s team of doctors came into his room, Bree was about to excuse herself when Gage put his hand on hers and introduced her as his fiancee. More congratulations were expressed before the talk changed quickly into a serious discussion about Gage’s biopsy.
After taking care of the administration and release forms, his parents left them for an early lunch. Gage was scheduled for surgery preparation in two more hours and he wanted to spend more time with Bree.
“When I get out of here, I want you to move back in. We’ll take in Mrs. Mancini if you want or hire a nanny so you can work from home…”
“Hmm, slow down Gage,” she smiled sweetly and kissed his forehead softly, “I want nothing more than to be with you. We’re engaged, we will live together. Until your health is taken care of, I don’t want Hazel to be aware of your illness. I know you missed her, but…”
Gage looked at her, and he saw nothing but sadness. He knew she lost her aunt to cancer and the treatment had exhausted her entire family. He completely understood why she didn’t want Hazel to see Gage in his weak state. He knew she was still too young to understand and should anything goes wrong… Gage cursed on the inside, he had been selfish. The man just realized that he had put Bree on the edge of the cliff, vulnerable should anything happens to him.
“Bree, I’m so sorry. God, I just realized, I fucking want you so bad that I didn’t think this through…”
Bree shook her head and put her finger on his lips. “Ssh… I’m here for you, whatever you need me to do. I love you and I know I’d regret not taking the leap and falling in love with you.” Bree kissed him again, this time Gage put his healthy hand on the nape of her neck, keeping her still while he slipped his tongue and seduced her until she moaned in their kiss.
Take what he offered, Bree, anything could happen in the next couple of hours.
Bree said to herself and let out a little moan. Her hand cupped his warm face and she break their kiss with a blush on her face.
“Your parents can come in at any moment.” She whispered, kissing his lips one more time before she rest her forehead on his.
“I love you, Bree.”
“I love you too, tell me you’ll come back to me.” Bree knows it was wrong to ask for his promise, anything and everything could go wrong in the next couple of hours that’s why she needed to come home and be with Hazel. She didn’t know how to cope with hours of waiting for Gage while he was going through his biopsy.
“I will try my best, I won’t let you down.”
Bree smiled at him, it was all that she could offer as she leaned down and hugged him. She was proud of herself for not sobbing on top of him, though it pained her, she managed to keep all her feelings inside up until it was time for him to be wheeled out for his procedure.
Bree was going to leave the hospital, politely telling his parents that she needed to check on Hazel. His siblings had just arrived, Sally and Marvin were still talking to Gage when Bree silently slipped out of the room. It is not until she reached her car that she put her head on the steering wheel and cry. She poured out all her feelings before she straightened herself back up and drove out of the hospital parking lot.
He’s going to be fine. Just fine. And we’re going to be alright. Just alright.
Bree chanted her words all the way back to her apartment.