"Alex? Are you ok? Do you need time to think about this?" Ty asked as his brow furrowed.
"No" she said.
"No?" Ty gulped down the lump in his throat. He'd asked about 3 questions and he prayed that this wasn't the answer to the big one. Alex saw the crushed look on his face and realized what she'd said and how it must have sounded.
"Yes, I mean no, I mean, I don't need time to think, no I'm not ok, I'm way better than ok and yes I will marry you!" she finally got out. Ty grabbed her in a hug and spun her around.
"I had you a little worried there didn't I?" she teased as he set her down.
"Nah, I wasn't worried." Ty half-heartedly defended himself and they smiled at each other.
"I really do have to get back to work though; and so do you." She reminded him.
"I know, but I do need a kiss goodbye" Ty requested. Alex was happy to oblige and softly kissed his lips.
"Damn!" Ty remarked and whistled as Alex walked to her bus. She turned and winked at him.
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Jimmy arrived in Kim's room out of breath.
"Holy cow Jimmy, you run around the whole hospital? And here I thought you were in pretty good shape!" she joked as she admired his muscled body.
"No, I just heard that the killer shot himself in the ER" Jimmy said.
"Wow. That must have made the cops' lives easier. Did Bosco go down there and try to help? He's so pig-headed sometimes!" Kim said, worry creeping into her voice.
"More like all the time." Jimmy commented.
"Hey, be nice. That stubbornness saved me, remember?" she reprimanded. Jimmy reluctantly filled her in on Bosco's heroics. A kernel of worry still inhabited the back of his mind.
'Bosco was close to taking her away from me, I couldn't live with him as the stepfather of my son, or sleeping with Kim!' Kim seemed to read his mind and said,
"So Jimmy…they are releasing me in a couple of days and I will need to recuperate and do P.T. and stuff." Jimmy attention quickly turned from thoughts of Bosco to Kim as he wondered where she was steering the conversation.
"Anyway, I won't be able to take care of Joey by myself for awhile and I'll need some help with the P.T." she continued.
"And…" Jimmy hopefully prompted.
"So I was wondering if maybe you might want to relocate. I don't want to rush into anything, we have a lot of history together, but I thought we could see how it goes. You know, live as a family for awhile and see what develops." Kim finished and looked hopefully at Jimmy. She didn't have to wait long for an answer.
"Yes Kim. Absolutely! I want to be with you and I am willing to do anything for you. If this is what you want, then it's what I want too. And I am the P.T. master!" Jimmy replied with a gleeful laugh. They both smiled contentedly.
"We're finally going to be a family" he said more quietly.
"Yeah, we took a long road, but maybe we've finally arrived." Kim agreed. Jimmy leaned down and gave Kim a long, soft kiss. When they finally parted, Jimmy sat down in the chair beside Kim's bed, laid his head next to hers and gently stroked her long hair.
"I can't wait until you come home" he whispered.
"I am home Jimmy. You're home for me." She whispered back, feeling totally safe and content for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. As darkness enveloped the world outside, they both closed their eyes and listened to each other breathe.
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That's all for this story, I hope you enjoyed it! Endings aren't my strong suit, so I hope this one didn't disappoint. Thanks for all the reviews, you guys rock!