There's no way I'm going to sleep. I spent half my day in bed and it's not even 2am yet. I leave him in the bed and step out onto the balcony, pulling a blanket around my shoulders to fight off the chill. I have such a love/hate relationship with this place.
In a lot of ways, it's a second home. We've spent so much time here. Some of my best friends are here. I came for work, but I needed to stay. I needed some time with Christine, then I needed some time alone. My favorite hotel in this city seemed like as good a place as any.
"Stevie?" His voice sounds low and sleep-filled. I turn around and smile at his disheveled appearance. His unruly curls might be gray now, but they still make me weak. "It's freezing out here." He steps onto the balcony, and I shrug and turn back, leaning my elbows on the railing, propping up my chin with my hands. "There's your diamond snake." I smile a little. "I bribed Karen for your whereabouts," he finally admits.
"Oh yeah? You must have missed me a lot," I say, raising an eyebrow skeptically. My tone is dangerously close to flirting now, and I smirk a little.
"Well, yeah. We spent a year and a half together and then you went AWOL for four months." He sounds hurt. This is way more serious than I'd like it to be right now. Normally there'd be banter. He'd give me shit for disappearing. I'd play hard to get until I got bored and then give up and kiss him. He'd tell me he shouldn't and then tear my clothes off. Somehow, I know that's now how this night is going to go.
"Th- That's what I do after tours." I stumble stupidly, suddenly scrambling to make sense of this situation.
"Unless you go back to work."
"Unless I go back to work," I affirm.
"I wasn't ready for you to go AWOL this time," he says, and now he just sounds broken.
"Lindsey..." I open my arms and he walks into them. We hold onto each other for a minute, and I plant a soft kiss on his neck. I lead him back inside and gesture for him to sit on the couch while I open a bottle of bourbon. I serve it to him neat, like he likes it, and he watches me carefully. He hasn't said a word, but I can see his brain spinning. He sips his drink while I pour myself a glass of wine.
"Thank you," he says, and I take a seat next to him.
"Whatever it is you want to tell me, you better just do it."
"Now you're impatient?"
"I'm never very patient."
"No, you're not," he says, letting out a deep breath. I stare him down, waiting. "You know my heart is bad."
Fuck. He's sick. "Lindsey..."
"I'm having surgery next week. They say it's a pretty big deal."
"AND YOU FLEW TO LONDON?!" I don't mean to yell, but the words fly out before I can filter myself.
"Well, this wasn't exactly something I wanted to do through Karen, and I couldn't get you on the phone."
I'm on my feet now, pacing angrily, trying to process. "If I knew it was serious I would have been there! What the fuck are you doing flying 12 hours to London? Jesus Christ, Lindsey!"
"Will you shut up for a minute? I'm here because I need you." His words silence me and I kneel at his feet, burying my face in his thigh. I feel his hand tangle in my hair, and I breathe deeply, trying to fight tears back. "I just want you to come back to Los Angeles with me."
"Of course I'm coming," I blurt out. "We'll leave now. You have to get back."
"We can leave in the morning. I need to sleep first."
"You're an absolute lunatic, Lindsey."
"I'm going to be just fine. I asked my doctor if it would kill me and he said probably not." He smiles, hoping for a laugh. I roll my eyes at him and make my way onto the couch, cuddling up against his side. There are a lot of questions I have to ask, but I can't do that yet. "Why didn't you answer my calls?"
"I left my phone on the plane a couple days ago – I figured it would be fine since Karen was here. Not very many people call that phone."
"I do."
"Lindsey, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He hugs me and kisses my head.
"It's okay. I'm just glad I found you. And that your assistant is a sell out."
"I'll let her off the hook for this one."
"Can we sleep now?"
I nod and stand up, offering him a hand. We stand on opposite sides of the bed our eyes locking for a second. Climbing into bed together was something we were more cautious of in recent years. It's been years since we went to bed and... slept there. When I lay down, he quickly pulls me into his arms, his head resting on my chest. He wraps his legs around mine, clinging to me as he drifts off in my arms. I grab the phone from the night stand and call Karen.
"We need a plane for early tomorrow morning. We're going home."
