Page 66 of Protective Love

She licks her lips and rips her eyes away from my body as a blush appears on her cheeks.

"Well, whenever we play our question game, you always somehow end up talking about food, and you spend a lot of time complaining about the food that you get given here, so, I thought I'd get you something from the cafeteria because it's better than what patients get."

My brows rise, and I know my eyes are probably wide and excited at the thought of food.

She moves her arms from behind her back, revealing a chicken, bacon, and mayo sandwich, and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

She laughs, bringing the food over to me.

"I don't think so," she says, placing a gentle kiss against my cheek as I rip open the packet of crisps.

"Well, you're the most amazing person I've ever met," I tell her before I start digging into the crisps and the sandwich, grateful to finally have some flavourful food.

"If I knew how happy food would make you, I would've bought you some earlier."

"Spending time with you has been making me just as happy as this food currently is, darling."

When I see her flustered reaction to my comment, I forget all about the food I'm devouring and instead focus on her, submitting the image of her into my brain to ensure I'll never forget every beautiful detail.

"While you finish that, I'm gonna start reading," she says.

I didn't even realise she had her Kindle with her until now.

Maybe I do have an unhealthy obsession with food.

"Before you get lost in your book, I wanted to talk to you about something."

She frowns at me, placing her kindle down on her lap.

"Don't look so worried, it's nothing bad," I tell her, reaching out to hold her hand in mine.

"Okay… What is it?"

"Are things going to change once I'm released from the hospital and we're not spending every day together?" I ask bluntly.

She stares at me in surprise, and a sweet smile spreads across her face as se squeezes my hand and shakes her head.

"No, of course not."

I breath a sigh of relief and lean forward, pecking her lips.

"Things will obviously change in the sense of spending a lot of time together because we'll be out of this place, and I assume I'll have a new work schedule where I hopefully have more than one patient, but I'll make sure I still have time to see you."

"So I'll be able to take you on dates?"

"If that's something you'd want to do."

"I definitely want to. I'd like for us to officially have a label on things."

"You realise we're technically already dating, right?"

"We are?" I ask, genuinely surprised by her statement.

She laughs, nodding her head.

"We haven't been on any dates. Not real ones any way. I know I've dreamt about a couple, but I know they aren't real."