Devante"Hey, I didn't mean to be gone so long.""It's okay." She smiles softly. "Stella didn't leave until you told her you were pulling into the parking lot, so don't get mad at her. She did more than what she had to, trust me."Her skin isn't bunched around her eyes anymore, so I hope the infection is starting to come down. "Are you feeling better?""Slightly. Stella helped me to use the bathroom and got me some clean underthings." Her face pinkens slightly at the mention. "I could've. You know you can ask me, right?" We've been dancing around each other for longer than anyone knows. She adjusts slightly in the bed. "Please, spare me the embarrassment.""No need to be embarrassed with me.""DevanteÉ""EdenÉ" I roll my eyes. "How many mornings have we spent in your coffee shop talking about life and anything else that comes to mind? I think we can consider each other friends, at the very least."Her tongue swipes across dry, cracked lips. The part of me that lon

DevanteMy chest clenches when I watch them take Eden back. As an EMT everyone I deal with is my responsibility and I take it personally - making sure they're okay. With her, I can't do that. Not when I've turned her care over to someone else. I want to be back in the operating room with her. To be sure the team attending to her is doing everything they can to make sure she's safe.Rolling her cell phone over in my palm, I decide to call her mom and get this over with. Thumbing through her contacts, I see Mama with hearts and flowers next to it. The picture shows a white woman, who looks so much like Eden it makes me grin.Putting my finger on the phone icon to connect, I cross my arm over my chest and wait for her to pick up. It happens on the second ring."Eden, are you okay? I got your text last night, but it didn't sound like you.""Ma'am." I do my best to slow her down. Even though she's talking quickly, I recognize the soft voice of her daughter. This must be who Ede

DevanteShe's asleep as we pull up to my apartment building. I hate to wake her, given that I know how rough the past few days have been for the both of us. Without her help though, I won't be able to get her up the stairs and into my unit."Eden," I whisper, as softly as possible, trying not to give her a start. She stirs, and I grab hold of her shoulder, shaking her a little bit. "Eden," I try again.That does it. She opens her eyes wide, and tenses, gasping painfully as I imagine her abused muscles protest. "Don't. Remember, you just had surgery. You're going to be very sore if you move like that."Recognition dawns in her eyes. "That wasn't some sort of fever dream, or the worst nightmare of my life?" "No," I laugh. "Unfortunately it wasn't. You'll be feeling it for a few days."She rolls her head back and forth. "I'm so tired.""It's the anesthesia. It'll take you some time to sleep it off. If you can help me get you upstairs, we'll settle you down and you can rest.

DevanteMy heart pounds as I head back to my bedroom. After the past few days, seeing her so vulnerable and with her guard down, I'm more attracted to her than I've been since I saw her for the first time at the coffee shop. Protective.It's something I almost didn't recognize any longer. An emotion I haven't let lodge itself in my chest since Trina. I'd given her every part of me, and we'd sparked fast. We'd burned, hot and heavy, until we'd erupted into a flame that smothered itself, and took everything in its wake right along with it. This isn't what I want with Eden, but I'm terrified.Afraid to put myself out there again, but at the same time, afraid that if I don't I'll lose what could be that once-in-a-lifetime thing all the men and women around me talk about. I've taken responsibility for her in this moment, and I know I'll have a responsibility to her in the future. She's buried herself deep beneath my skin, and I'm not going to be able to give her up easily; even if

Eden"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Devante asks as I sit on his bed, putting my hair up in a high ponytail.Excitement flows through me like the current of a river. "I haven't seen anything other than the hospital or your apartment in a little over a week, D. I'm ready."He laughs. "That's painful, the way you said it like you're sick of being with me."My eyes roll and a smirk curls the side of my lip. "I'm not sick of being with you," I make sure to clarify. "I'm sick of being stuck in one place where I can't go do all the things I've always done for myself.""So in other words, it's not you, it's me."Giggling, I shake my head at his ridiculousness. "Exactly.""Do you need help getting your pants on?""These aren't pants, they're leggings," I correct him. "These are things you should know.""Typically I'm cutting clothes off of people, I don't have time to know what to call what they're wearing."It hits me hard in the chest - what he's saying. I don't th