Always Him (Always #1)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

                                                                                       Sadie

On the morning of my birthday, I woke to an empty bed. Reaching over to his side of the bed, my hand came up empty. And it was a shame, too; this was the first time I'd managed to move my left arm like that without feeling excruciating pain. Jasper's side of the bed was cold; he must've gotten an early start to the day.

Opening my eyes, I leaned towards the right, using that side of my body to propel me into a sitting position. I was getting better at this; each day was better than the last. I was proud of myself. A string caught my line of vision; I swatted it away before it came back. I swatted at a few of them before I realized there was more than one string. Pink and gray balloons lined the ceiling. They were beautiful.

Jasper had been a busy man while I slept. What would he think of next?

"Jasper?" I called out. I heard nothing in response. Not even from the kitchen. There went the hope that he'd been cooking breakfast.

With a sigh, I twisted, placing my right leg over the side of the bed; the blanket fell from my body. My right leg bumped into the prosthetic. Surprisingly, I wasn't looking at it with disgust this morning. Maybe it was because it was my birthday; I wouldn't look at it in disgust. Just for today.

It was then I heard the front door open and shut. Then I listened to the rushing footsteps and hushed curses come from Jasper's mouth. He was talking to himself. I heard the thud of things being placed onto the table.

"Jasper?" I called again.

"Sades!" he called back; the footsteps were closer. The door pushed open, and Jasper stood there.

A balloon string was in my hand, woven between my fingers. I meant to ask him what they were for when I froze at the sight of him. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It had to be an illusion.

My jaw dropped. It wasn't an illusion.

Jasper grinned.

Jasper no longer had honey gold hair.

No, Jasper now had dark chocolate hair.

He was gorgeous.

"You dyed your hair!" I brought both my hands to my mouth, in delighted shock at what Jasper had done for me. "You did it!"

He bowed. "Happy Birthday, my love."

My love.

If I didn't love him before, I certainly did now. I felt like I said that to myself often, but it was true. Jasper continued to find ways to outdo himself.

My cheeks must've flushed scarlet as Jasper laughed, a smile growing wide, dimples appearing. "I take it you like the hair?"

"And the calling me my love. Jasper, I-I don't know what to say right now." I had to put a hand over my heart then, calm it as I really didn't want to have a heart attack on my birthday. That wouldn't be a fun time for anyone. "Thank you, Jas, thank you!" I got a grip on myself and flung my arms out, begging for him to come to me.

He was more than happy to oblige. "You are so damn welcome, Sadie, so damn welcome." His hands trailed down my arms; his right was gentler on my left arm. His eyes went down to it, at the realization that I wasn't flinching from the touch. "It doesn't hurt?"

I shook my head. "It feels relatively normal, just like it used to. I think it's a birthday miracle."

"You deserve every miracle." His fingers held my wrist, softly stroking the flesh there, savoring that he had another place he could touch where I wouldn't be in pain. "My love." He added after a moment. He was going to be the death of me.