Love Her Wilde

Home Again: Asher

Dylan continued to improve by leaps and bounds over the next few days. She woke up on a Friday, and by the next Wednesday the only machine she was attached to was the heart rate monitor clipped to her finger. She was eating, she was drinking, she was smiling and laughing. My Dylan, by almost every standard, was quickly returning to herself. She'd even begun her speech therapy and could say a few words at a time. Her voice was a soft and scratchy, like she had a bad case of laryngitis or something, and she couldn't yet hold a real conversation, but she was getting there. And getting there much more quickly than I think everyone had anticipated. Well, everyone but me. I never had a doubt my girl was made of something stronger (and more stubborn) than steel.

Exactly a week after she awoke, the doctors gave us the news we had all (especially Dylan) been waiting for: she was being released. Shayne and I spent a brief moment battling over who was going to watch over her, but even with few words, Dylan quickly made it clear that the choice was hers and hers alone. Even Stefan, who still wasn't entirely Team Asher, scolded his son and I for trying to make the decision without her. Dylan also made it clear that she wasn't ready to return to her house, which I think everyone more than understood. She elected to stay at the penthouse with me, at least for the time being, and I couldn't have been happier. After almost five weeks, I would finally have my love back beside me. Even Christmas mornings as a kid weren't this good.

I planned to get off work early that Friday so I could get the penthouse in time for her arrival. Noodle was already staying there, and I had a cleaning lady, so I wasn't even sure what I thought I needed to organize, but my brain told me there was definitely something. Or maybe it was my heart. I couldn't really differentiate. All I knew was, that for some reason, I was nervous as fuck. Maybe it was because I knew at some point, we'd probably have to discuss our fight before her attack. Or maybe...

Maybe it was because that in all of this, the main thing I realized was that I was one hundred percent, totally and completely all-in on Dylan and I. There wasn't a question or concern left in my brain, despite the fact we'd only been together a handful of months. This girl... this incredible, stubborn, gorgeous, silly, maddening woman was my forever. We had never once discussed marriage, so whether that meant she would be my wife or my lifelong girlfriend, I had no idea, but I didn't really care. As long as it was her and I, we could use whatever title she felt comfortable with.

Ace had elected to move his investigation hub to a hotel instead of remaining at my house. He didn't want Dylan to have to see everything he was digging through, nor did he want to overwhelm her, which I appreciated. I knew at some point he was going to have to talk to her, but he wanted her to get settled in first. He had more human decency than the detectives did, that was for damn sure. I knew Ace was following down a couple different trails, but he hadn't even given me much information. He was always very vague and general when discussing his findings, no matter how much I badgered him. Which, I guess made sense. If he found the culprit, but I was too involved, it would likely just look like me trying to cover my own ass. I'd given him the information for my PI and I knew he'd called in a few favors with friends, so I just mostly let it go. I had way more important things to focus my attention on anyway.

Shayne and Stefan busted Dylan out of the hospital at ten that morning. She wanted to get some of her belongings from her place, but she didn't want to go alone. I, unfortunately, had a meeting about a huge contract I'd been working on since I started my job, so Shayne and her father took her to gather her belongings. I did my damnedest to force the meeting to end as quickly as possible, but it was after one by the time everything wrapped up. As soon as I had the contracts signed, I packed up a few things from my office (as I'd informed the staff I'd be working from home for the next week) and hightailed it out the building.

By three o'clock, Dylan and I were rearranging my bachelor bedroom into one more fit for a couple. I'd cleaned out a few dresser drawers and made room in my closet, but if this was going to be the long-term plan, we'd likely have to get rid of more. Or transform the guest room into a walk-closet for this woman's massive amount of stuff. Or move. That was an option... Whatever. We'd figure it out.