Just Me, Him, and Ten Others - (Ruth Harris Series)

Chapter 18

Running up the corridor to Hunter's room, I could hear my heart thumping harder and harder in my ears.
               'He doesn't know I'm coming. He doesn't know I'm coming.' I kept chanting to myself, until I could envision Hunter's surprised expression, right in front of my eyes. Whenever something pleasantly stuns him his eyes widen, his nose wrinkles a tiny bit and his mouth gapes long and wide. His upper lip pulls back just a little, half-exposing his teeth, and both lips twitch slightly as if they can't decide whether to continue gaping or say something. His forehead wrinkles with the effort of keeping his eyebrows so high on his face. His cheeks dimple too, just slightly.
               'He's going to be so shocked!' I whispered to Andy when we reached Hunter's room. Andy was smiling nearly as much as me, both of us almost shaking with the effort of keeping quiet.
               I pushed the door open, but before I could take a breath, suddenly there were dozens of voices and the room was illuminating, and it took me a split second to realise that this was all outside of my internal planet.
'SURPRISE!'
               My eyes adjusted to all the bodies and banners that adorned the drabness of the hospital room. I didn't manage to read what the biggest banner said before I was recognising faces: Mama's, Grandma's, Hunter's, Susie's, Jonathan's and Sarah's. Andy put his hand on my shoulder.
'Surprise.'
               I turned and threw my arms around him.
'You did this!?' I exclaimed, warmth flooding the chambers of my heart. 'All this...for me!?'
'Of course!' Andy laughed. 'Now stop talking to me and go hug them all! They've been waiting around for you all day.'
               Mama was in my arms first, clutching my 'bella' face in her hands and welcoming me home. That was what the banner said. 'Welcome home Ruth!' I felt like I was there when I walked around and hugged my friends and family, but when the time came for us to leave, I had no idea where my home was. But I also felt like it was out there, somewhere, just waiting for me to arrive and unpack my bags. It was as if my heart knew where 'home' was, but my brain hadn't decided yet.

I greeted Hunter last. We had been intermittently locking eyes every now and then as I made the round, letting the anticipation grow until I finally, carefully, slid onto his bed. He was sitting up with one leg still in a cast, although his arm was just in a splint now.
               'Hey, amore mio.' he said with a twinkling smile.
'Hi.' I giggled into his neck as he pulled me in tight with one arm, and then held me back again so he could soak in my face. 'You know it's only been a little over a week, right?'
'I know,' Hunter said, 'but everything's different now. You're a free woman! Tonight we can actually go home together and -'
'Ahem.' Andy hinted, rolling his eyes over towards an unimpressed looking Grandma.
'- play Scrabble.' Hunter finished. I laughed. He smiled. 'This is great. We don't have to say goodbye anymore.'
               As Hunter spoke I got closer and closer to him, and then, when we connected smiles, every loose end in my life suddenly tied together. Everything was in place. Good. For now. I had my family around me, my goofily grinning boyfriend by my side, and most importantly, a table full of Mama's cooking.
               'You're wearing it.' Hunter nodded his head towards my necklace. 'You got it back.'
'Yeah!' I stroked it with my thumb and forefinger, and then clasped my hand around it. 'I love it so much, Hunter. I'm sorry they took it -'
'Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. And you have it back now, so everything's -'
'Perfect?' I teased.
'Yeah. Perfect.' Hunter reached forward and kissed me again. Jonathan 'awwed' from across the room and we all laughed.
               A few people were milling around the table on the far side of the room and complimenting Mama on her cooking. I stayed by Hunter's side, although every now and then he would urge me to go and mingle with the others: not that I didn't want to, but Hunter made me feel so special and warm and it's hard to move away from an aura like that. Jonathan and Sarah, Andy and Mama, Susie, Grandma...I had known them all for years and nothing had changed since I met them, but Hunter was something new. Exciting. He used to be just a friend - the slightly-awkward-but-friendly-older-brother's-best-mate - but now he was my kind-confident-and-irresistibly-sexy-boyfriend.
'And when you have a person in your life who means that much, does it really matter where you live, or work, or make a future for yourselves?'