+ William +

Dressed in a surgical garb meant for guests and wearing a face mask, I followed Bradley's rolling stretcher into OR 4. My eyes landed on Amelia before anything else in the room.

She wore her hair up in a bun that left her long neck exposed. The green surgical scrub she wore complimented her dark brown skin. The gold earrings she'd been wearing all week were gone and so was the ring on her finger.

The door shut behind me and she looked up from behind large protective glasses, her intelligent eyes serious. She too was wearing a face mask, concealing her beautiful mouth from me.

She acknowledged me with a small nod as the team transferred Bradley from the stretcher to the operating bed.

Tessa moved closer to the bed and that's when I remembered that she was here as well.

One of the operating assistants took a step back and accidentally bumped into Tessa, cursing under her breath when she made contact. She kindly told me and Tessa not to touch anything, assigning us to a spot close to the door away from all the surgical equipment laid out neatly on two high metal tables on wheels.

The team proceeded to put a clip on Bradley's finger and pads on various parts of his body to monitor his heartbeat. A cuff was placed on his arm to check his blood pressure.

"Good morning," Amelia said moving to stand at the end of Bradley's bed. The team of nurses and other personnel around her answered almost in unison.

"I'm doctor Amelia Miller. Today we have a spinal surgery planned for four hours. Dr. van Leeuwen will be assisting. What is the name of the patient?"

Dr. van Leeuwen was a tall, strappy guy. His almost black hair was gelled back at the top. I caught him staring at me quizzically with his light brown eyes and I wondered if he knew that Amelia was my woman. My wife.

When no one answered Amelia's question, I spoke up. "Bradley Martin de Vries."

"Date of birth?" she asked.

I recited his date of birth and next to me Tessa started to cry. Amelia barely acknowledged her dramatic display of emotion and I resisted the urge to comfort her.

"Anesthesia? Are we ready?" Amelia wanted to know.

A tall man looking like Jason Stratham nodded. "We are." He called out Bradley's weight, listed the medication that he was on and whether he had any allergies. "Anesthesia will be administered intravenously," he said finally.

During all of this Bradley remained sound asleep in his coma. A part of me prayed that he would wake up and tell us that he was fine and that the surgery wasn't needed.

Of course, that didn't happen.

A nurse anesthetist put an oxygen mask over Bradly's face and then told us to come forward to kiss Bradley if we wanted to. Tessa went first, her tears landing softly on Bradley's cheeks as his chest rose up and down shallowly.

"My sweet boy," she whispered. "See you soon. I love you."

I went up to the bed with a tight chest. My mind still couldn't believe that he was my brother. I was two decades older than him and I wondered how that was going to affect our relationship moving forward. I touched his forehead, my hand lingering on his cold skin for a moment.

"You're going to pull through this," I said. "And I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here whenever you decide to wake up, buddy."

We were asked to leave the room soon after. The wait felt like forever and being in the hospital like this brought me back to the days when Pieter used to practically live here, going through one chemo session after another.

I sat on the opposite side of the waiting room, a good distance away from Tessa. We hadn't said more than three words to each other and I preferred it that way.

I rubbed my aching jaw as the minutes ticked by slowly. How was Amelia holding up? Was she hungry? Exhausted? I should do something nice for her. Maybe she would enjoy a foot massage.

She deserved that and so much more. I'm glad she was in my life when I found out the truth about Bradley. She made the news somewhat bearable. And her patience with me was fucking phenomenal.

I had a bad habit of delaying the inevitable, especially when I had to talk about my feelings. My father's betrayal gutted me and I honestly didn't know what to do with all the anger I felt simmering inside of me.

If my mother hadn't gotten between Jan and me after he threw that first punch to my jaw, I would have fucked him up. That's how enraged I felt about his disloyalty.

Reaching in my pocket for my phone, I called the house and Xiomara picked up, her Spanish accent ringing in my ears. I told her I would like to arrange a mini spa evening for Amelia with a professional and to have Francois prepare something delicious.

Four and a half hours later, Amelia showed up in the waiting room, a small smile tugging the corners of her lips. My heart lurched forward, at first with fear, and then hope.

She looked confused for a moment as if she couldn't decide whether to talk to Tessa first or to me first. At the last moment, she went to Tessa first. Their conversation was brief and once more Tessa was in tears. Happy tears this time around it seemed.

Pieter, your son is okay.

The thought stopped me in my tracks.

Bradley wasn't Pieter's son. He never was. It felt strange to acknowledge the fact.

I tried again. Pieter, we have a younger brother. Your father fucked your wife and knocked her up. I'm so angry, bro. Noticed I said your father because he's no longer mine. But I guess he was never yours either.

Amelia approached me and I didn't wait to hear what she had to say before sweeping her up in my arms, burying my face in her neck as a sudden flow of tears rushed to my eyes.

Shit, I didn't mean to cry but for a moment I felt overwhelmed.

"Will?" she said gently. "Why are you crying? Bradley's out of surgery and he's doing well."

I nodded as she released me, her kind brown eyes searching my face. I loved it when she called me Will. The only other person I knew who used to call me Will was my brother. And I used to call him Piet instead of Pieter.

"Thank you," I said, my voice deep and distorted.

She smiled and touched my face, her fingers tracing my jaw where my father had punched me before wiping away my tears. Her light touch sent a current of warm feelings coursing through my blood.

"Thank you for believing in me," she said. "And thank you for ordering the equipment I needed. They will help to save many lives. The other doctors are eternally grateful."

"So the surgery went well? No complications?"

She lowered her hand, leaving my face alone to carry on healing without her warmth. "No complications, but like I've said, we won't know how extensive the damage to his spine is until he wakes. The swelling in his brain has gone down drastically. We're hoping he'll wake from the coma soon."

"It's been almost four weeks. What are the odds of him ever waking up?" I asked, not liking the lack of hope I heard in my voice.

"These things take time. He can wake up tomorrow or six months from now."

"Tomorrow would be great. I wanted you to meet him before you go back to Curaçao." I looked her in the eye waiting on her reaction.

"I'll be back," she said with certainty, and my heart hammered in my chest. I wanted her to choose me. To want me. Maybe even need me the way I couldn't seem to get enough of her. But first, I had to make sure she was taken care of. The rest would come later.

"Are you hungry?"

"Starving. I could eat a horse. Or an elephant." She grinned, her bright smile my undoing.

I smiled, liking the fact that she never shied away from food. "I have something nice prepared for you at the house. Meet me back here when you've changed?"

"If by nice you mean food and sex, then count me in."

My body stirred at her sultry words and I paused for a second. My gaze trailed down her curvy body and back up. She looked amazing in her scrubs. I'd seen the same scrubs on other women and they looked like pajamas. On Amelia though, they hugged her wide hips and thick thighs in a way that made me want to strip her naked.

The last time I'd made love to her was before the beach party five days ago and it felt like a lifetime ago. Did she long for me all those days? Craved me?

"I can help you with the latter," I said slowly. "Sex is on the table whenever you want it."

She leaned toward me, her voice a whisper. "Whenever?"

"Yeah, whenever. It's okay for you to make the first move. I would love that. So if you're up for it and you can't wait any longer we can find one of those on-call rooms like the ones in Grey's Anatomy." I winked playfully at her, wishing deep down inside that she would take me up on the offer of blatant hot sex in a hospital.

She swooned. "You watch Grey's Anatomy?"

"I do. Well, Filo does and I sometimes watch with her. The only two characters I know are Meredith Grey and doctor Bailey."

"You know enough." She smiled and kissed my cheek, her soft lips gliding like warm melted honey against my skin. "And the sex can wait for later after I've eaten and showered."

"I think that's because you don't know where the on-call room is, do you?"

She laughed. "I don't, but you know the way to our bedroom and I would very much like to keep my job."

I sure did. Without hesitation, I tipped her chin upward and claimed her lips. She sighed into my mouth and her body turned pliant in my arm when I pulled her closer.

She kissed me back fervently and I cherished the way she surrendered to me. Her father and my father were no longer in our lives; working behind the scenes to keep us apart.

And that was something worth celebrating.

Bradley was alive.

Amelia was still my wife.

Business was going well.

Even more reasons to celebrate.

I kissed her as if my life depended on it, stealing the air from her lungs. I released it back slowly, my tongue exploring her sweet mouth in the process.

I wanted her to dance to the pulse of my desire. To quake with need every time she missed me. I wanted to show her that she belonged by my side. In my life. Forever.

My obsession with her was real at this point and I had no intention of letting her walk out of my life without putting up a fight.

She pulled back from my lips with a shyness I hadn't seen before. She bit her bottom lip and looked warily in Tessa's direction.

I followed her gaze and saw that Tessa was looking at us, her blue eyes filled with devious jealousy.

Amelia turned to face me once more. "We probably shouldn't egg her on. She's been on her best behavior and I like it that way."

I laughed. "You're too kind and I don't give a fuck about how she feels. You're my wife and will kiss you whenever it suits me." I kissed her again and she pulled back giggling.

"You're shameless," she said.

I took in her beautiful smile. The woman didn't have to say or do much to get me riled up. I wanted to continue our session at home, away from this hospital that reminded me of cancer and death.

Before letting her go, I asked if I could see Bradley.

"Yes," she answered, "you'll both get ten minutes with him today. Tomorrow you can visit for longer."

It was quiet between us for a moment and I saw her clever eyes trying to analyze me. I knew we had to have a serious talk about our future but this wasn't the time nor the place.

I took her delicate fingers between my hand, my thumb gingerly caressing her thumb. "You ate and left no crumbs in that operating room. You're gifted, schatje. I'm thinking maybe we were separated all these years so you could be here, at this moment, saving Bradley's life."

"Maybe. I'm just glad we found each other again." She squeezed my hand.

"Do you mean that?"

"I do."

"Do I make you happy?"

"You do."

"Good, 'cause I plan on doing that for the rest of our lives if you let me."

My smile was wide and a little cheesy but I couldn't care less. Having Amelia in my life was good for me. I wanted her to see that. I wanted her to stay. And if she didn't want to stay here, I would move to Curaçao just to be with her.

😘

Sorry for the long wait, guys.

Life has been super hectic lately.

How are you doing? Any travel plans?

Don't forget to vote and comment.

Would love to hear from you.

Stay healthy.

💕