“I’m going to hold you to that offer,” he winked. “Come home as soon as you can. I have plans for us tonight.”

“Okay,” I cheered, anticipating tonight.

“Bye, Lexy,” Elijah said out loud, never taking his eyes off me as he walked away.

“Remember what I told you?” Lexy reminded. “Elijah has a huge heart. But he’ll have a bigger one for the one he loves.”

“You’re right, Lexy. And to think I almost gave him up for Liam.”

“Well, you can’t help whom you fall in love with.”

And she was so right.

Chapter 35

Alexandria

Whiteboard:

Can’t wait to take you out.

-E

“Freckles, we’re not going anywhere fancy.” Elijah knocked on my bedroom door. “I told you it was causal, and don’t forget to bring a jacket.”

“I’m coming out right now. I promise.” Putting on my jeans, sweater, and jacket only took me a second. It was my hair and make-up that took longer than I had planned. I wanted to look my best for Elijah on our first real date.

When I swung my door open, Elijah was standing there, blocking my way. “Hey gorgeous. You don’t need to get all dolled up for me. I already love you the way you are, but I have to say….” He pulled me into his hold. “you look deliciously sexy.” He nibbled my neck.

“You don’t look bad yourself,” I smiled. Elijah wore jeans, a sweater, and his leather jacket. It didn’t matter what he wore, he always looked good.

“Thanks, Freckles, but I always look good.”

“Aren’t we a little arrogant?” I punched him lightly.

“But you like me that way.” Elijah chuckled aloud and gave me a long, tender kiss. “Now we need to go.” Taking my hand, we rushed out the door.

“We’re going to the hospital?” I panicked when he pulled into the parking lot. “Elijah, are you sick?”

“Relax. The hospital is on the way to where I plan on taking you. I want to show you something first. Remember when you were mad at me and thought I went to Heather’s place when I wasn’t home? Well I know I already told you I hadn’t gone there, but I’m sure you wondered where I actually was when I didn’t have class, because I wondered about you. Anyway, let me show you.”

Elijah took something from the trunk when we got out of the car.

“Is that a guitar case?” I asked excitedly.

“Yup.” Elijah swung it over his shoulder, grabbed my hand and strolled to the entrance.

“I didn’t know you played guitar. How come you never played before?”

“I like to hide my talents,” he muttered with a wink.

The glass doors slid opened. “Ms. Parker,” Elijah greeted the lady sitting behind the front desk. She was probably in her mid-fifties with curly light brown hair.

The lady peered up over her reading glass. “Mr. Cooper. It’s good to see you again. I see you’ve brought a friend.”

Elijah’s hand was still in mine. “This is Alexandria Weis. She’s going to sing with me.”

My blood pressure skyrocketed from the shock.

“That’s so sweet of you,” Ms. Parker said with a smile. Opening her drawer, she pulled out a couple of visitor stickers, wrote our names, and handed them to Elijah.

“Thank you,” Elijah said, leading us to the elevator. After he placed my sticker on me, he did the same with his own.

“Elijah, what are we doing here? And you didn’t ask me to sing,” I pointed out as we waited for the door to open.

Elijah let me enter first. “You don’t have to sing. I just said that so you could come with me. Sorry, I should have told you first.”

“Where are we going?” I nudged, since his mind seemed to drift somewhere else.

“Sorry. It’s just that my brother died at this hospital. It still gets to me coming here, but every time I do, it gets a little better. It’s not so bad. You never forget, but the pain becomes bearable.”

My heart softened and I squeezed his hand to let him know I felt his pain and that I understood. The door opened on the seventh floor. When we stepped out, the ladies at the front desk smiled.

“Elijah, welcome back. It’s been a while,” one of the nurses said.

“I’ve been busy, but I brought someone special with me. This is Alex.”

After the introductions were over, we entered. The first thing I realized as we walked down the squeaky white tiles was that all the patients were young. Then after putting two and two together, I soon realized we were on a special floor for kids with cancer. My heart was breaking. I tried to smile as I followed behind Elijah into a room, and I couldn’t help the memories of my dad that came crashing through.

“Hey, Marcus,” Elijah greeted cheerfully.

“Elijah.” The little boy suddenly looked alive. I guessed he was about ten years old, but it was difficult to tell, especially since he had no hair. Then he looked at me and gave me a huge smile.

“Hey, why does she get a bigger smile,” Elijah joked, giving Marcus a high five. “Marcus, this is Alex. Alex…Marcus.”

“Hi, Marcus.” I shook his hand.

“Elijah has a girlfriend,” he sang, and paused. “Well, for one thing, she’s prettier to look at,” he laughed shyly, making me laugh, too.

“That’s so true,” Elijah agreed. “So how was your week?”