Hero {Brendan Gallagher}

14 - Honeymoon Phase

A smile creeped onto my face, and I looked up at him.

"See? I told you not to doubt me," he commented with a smirk.

"I believed you! It's a stupid girl thing, it makes me happy when you tell other people about me," I admitted with a shrug. It may have sounded stupid, but I firmly believed that most girls were the same way.

It didn't matter whether you completely trusted your boyfriend or not, it was a great feeling to be "shown off", if you will.

"It makes me happy when you smile," he responded, a soft smile on his lips.

"You make me happy," I commented, ignoring the text from Joelle.

"You make me happier," he shot back, raising his eyebrow. I giggled; everything about this boy made me feel like a little girl with a huge crush.

"Yeah? Well, you make me happiest," I quipped, folding my arms across my chest. Brendan just rolled his eyes and squeezed my hand, leaning his head back into the pillow. I could tell from his slight grin that he was content and at peace, and I felt the same.

"You know staring is considered rude to some people," he commented, popping one of his eyes open.

"Well I hope you're not one of those people," I responded as I lifted my feet onto the hospital bed. "Because I could stare at you alllll day."

"Back at ya," he winked, biting his lower lip. Dear god, this boy made me melt. I sighed happily before I noticed the doctor had come into the room.

"I can practically feel the love radiating off of you two," she said with a big smile. "Reminds me of my husband and I when we first started dating. Couldn't keep our hands off of each other."

I felt my cheeks turn hot, and Brendan squeezed my hand once again. The thought of marriage popped into my head. It had only been two months with Bren but already I was imagining walking down the aisle with him standing at the end of it. I immediately shook it away. Too soon for wedding talk.

"Now, I will say that the honeymoon phase will end. However, I still feel the same way about my husband now as I did back then. It's a choice. A choice you have to fight for," the doctor said, smiling towards us. "That's when you know."

"Thanks, doc," Brendan responded with a big grin.

"Alright, enough love talk. We're here for the hand. From the looks of the x-rays, you're going to need to undergo surgery on Monday to set the bones back into their original place. Healing time will be 6-8 weeks, and we'll come back later to give you more details and answer your questions. Sound good?"

"Sounds good enough for a guy who just shattered his hand," Brendan answered with a laugh. I could tell that he was devastated behind that charming smile of his. The doctor left the room after saying goodnight and I turned back to Brendan.

"Surgery," I said, taking a deep breath. Brendan offered a sad smile, running his hand up and down my arm.

"I'll be fine, Stels, I promise."

"But-"

"No but's," he said, placing his finger over my lips. "I'm going to be one hundred percent fine. They'll fix me up, and I'll be back out there in no time."

I think he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince me. We sat there in silence for a few moments until Brendan spoke up.

"Seriously, babe, go home," he told me. "You have work tomorrow."

As much as I didn't want to leave his side, I knew that I needed to go home and get some rest. I had a full day of clients ahead of me.

"Okay, but only because you told me to," I responded as I lifted myself from the uncomfortable hospital chair. I leaned down, and Brendan put his good hand on my face to pull me down into a kiss.

"Goodnight, belle," he whispered, pressing his lips against mine one more time. I pulled back slightly, pulling my eyebrows together in confusion. Belle? He chuckled to himself and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "It means beautiful in French."

My mouth involuntary pulled into a smile, and I kissed him one more time. "Goodnight, Bren."