The melody in our hearts (28 page)

Ryan was her soul mate, and she would never feel the way she was feeling now with anyone else in the world. They were meant for each other, their lips fit like two matching puzzle pieces, and she would never let anyone or anything between them, ever again.

Her grandfather had been right; he had always known that they would end up falling in love, in spite of all the times she had denied it, telling him they were just friends and she would never in a million years fall for Ryan. She was sure that if he could see them, from wherever he was now, he would be smiling and nodding approvingly.

At the very moment their lips touched, Ryan felt as if he could fly out of that bed and reach the moon, as if that missing piece in his heart, in his life, had finally gone back into place, as if all the roads he had traveled had finally brought him home, even if he was miles away from his real home in Ireland.

But home would always be where Valerie was, and home would always mean being at her side. He knew it now, for sure. No more traveling around, no more tours, interviews, photo shoots – no more of that crap. He would finally be with the love of his life, they would never part, and everything would be perfect. Everything would flow smoothly, just like his fingers flowed on a piano keyboard, creating a beautiful melody, the melody he had been longing to hear all of his life, the only melody he would want to hear until the end of his days.

The melody of true love.

~
Forty-eight
~

“Here’s my favorite doctor, at last!” Ryan said, as soon as Valerie walked into his room.

Valerie smiled and suddenly the room seemed brighter and his heart felt lighter: He was so in love that he could barely believe it himself, but it was all real. They had kissed the day before, and they had opened their hearts to each other, and now not only were they the best of friends, but a couple of sweethearts too.

It felt weird, he had to admit it, but it also felt right, as if there was no other place he should be but with her, and he finally understood what his grandfather had meant when he used to tell Ryan that he would eventually open his eyes and see his true love. Valerie was his true love, and his grandfather had always known, ever since they were two teenagers whose only interest was music.

“Good morning, Jazz Star! Did you sleep well?”

He nodded and held out his hand for her to take it. When she got closer to the bed and finally took it, he pulled her down toward him and kissed her slowly.

Although she knew it wasn’t professional, since she was on duty and he was still her patient after all, she didn’t object or pull back; she thought she would never get enough of kissing him, of tasting him on her lips, of feeling his fingers brush her cheeks gently or his hand stroking her neck. She was so in love she thought her heart was going to burst inside her chest, and she was dying to tell Karen about it. Karen had been on a night shift so they hadn’t seen each other yet, although she was confident that she would pop in later to check on Ryan. Karen had been coming and going, every time she was free, to bring Valerie food, clothes, and everything she needed. Once she told Karen and had listened to her rambling on about how she had always known it and told them, Valerie was sure Kevin would show up and do the same. Kevin and Karen had taken their relationship one step further now, and they had moved in together in Kevin’s apartment only a couple of weeks before, so if they had no secrets before, they wouldn’t have any now.

“I love you,” Ryan whispered, inches away from her lips, and then he kissed the tip of her nose and she smiled.

“I’m your doctor and this is definitely not professional!”

She pulled back and tried to turn serious, but he chuckled and took her hand, pulling her back down on his bed.

“I know, but you’re so sexy in that white coat….”

“Ryan!” she scolded, slapping his head lightly, and he chuckled even more, putting on a mischievous look. “Stop it now – you’ll have me fired!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell them it’s a new therapy, a sort of CPR for special VIP patients!” She laughed and he stroked her cheek, realizing how beautiful she was and wondering why he had never noticed it before. “Besides, I’m a star, so my wish is their command! Come here now,” he said, pulling her by the collar of her coat. “Give me one last kiss, and then I promise I’ll behave.”

“Will ya?” she asked, with a doubtful expression, and he nodded, putting on his best “good boy” expression. “All right then, only a quick one.”

“Maybe not so quick,” he said, before brushing her lips with a sweet kiss that reminded him of their first kiss, back in Dublin.

“Whoa, is that the kind of therapy patients get in here?”

Valerie flinched and stood up, recognizing too well the voice behind her and not wanting to turn back. They hadn’t had time to talk about how they would break the news to Kevin and Karen, and she hoped that, since she was supposed to be working now, she could simply leave the room with some excuse and leave Ryan to handle the thing.

She turned back to face Kevin, feeling ashamed and ready for one of his silly jokes, but when he saw it was her, Kevin went pale, and Valerie feared he’d pass out.

“
Valerie
? What the…wait, no, this can’t be…did I really see…I mean, were you two…
HOLY SHIT
, wait ‘til I tell Karen!”

“Kevin, Kevin, please calm down, will ya?”

Valerie moved toward him, trying to stop him from creating too much fuss about it. Ryan was her patient, after all, and doctors weren’t supposed to kiss patients, were they? The last thing she needed was for her chief to hear about it and give her a hard time.

“What’s going on, guys? What happened to the ‘brother-and-sister’ bullshit you kept on for all these years?”

“It wasn’t bullshit, Kev; it was how we felt. Things have changed –no big deal,” Ryan said, seeing Valerie had suddenly tensed and hoping he’d manage to cool things down with Kevin.

“No big deal? Are you kidding me? This deserves the six o’clock news!”

“NO!” they both said at the same time, and Kevin stared at them as if they had gone crazy.

“Aww, come on! I didn’t mean literally…I know you don’t want your private life to be splattered all over the newspapers, Ryan. Do you think I’d be so stupid?”

Hearing those words, they both relaxed, and Valerie felt it was the right time for her to leave the room if she wanted to avoid the Spanish Inquisition. As she took a step back and tried to leave the room, though, Kevin noticed and stared at her with a grin.

“Running away from the embarrassing questions, are you, Doctor? Karen will want to know all the gory details, don’t worry; I’ll take care of Ryan, and she’ll take care of you. You can’t run away from it forever.”

“I have to work, Kevin; I’m not running away from anything.”

“Indeed,” he said with a smirk, which caused her to blush hard. “Go back to your patients, Doctor Fogarty; I’ll take care of this one.”

Ryan brought a hand to his face and covered his eyes dramatically, as if he was expecting the worst of times, but Valerie could see that he was smiling.

“Just take it easy, will ya? He’s still weak, and he shouldn’t be allowed to see people who can upset him.”

“Me? Upset him? Come on, I’ve been his first American friend, and I’d never do anything that could upset him, would I, Ryan?”

Ryan smiled, in spite of himself. “I’ll press the emergency button if I need your help.”

Valerie nodded, giving one last look to Kevin, trying to look as tough as possible, but the only effect was to make him chuckle.

“Will you be back, later?” Ryan asked her with puppy eyes, and for a second she almost forgot Kevin was there: All she wanted to do was take his face in her hands and kiss him.

“I’ll check on you before my shift is over, yes.”

Then, before Kevin could say anything, she walked out, hoping that he wouldn’t be too hard on Ryan.

“So, wanna tell me what happened?” Kevin asked, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Ryan’s bed.

“Yeah, I almost died, but I’m fine now, Kev; thanks for asking!”

Kevin laughed, shaking his head.

“By the way you were kissing her it was obvious you were fine – that’s why I didn’t ask! Come on, now: Spill it!”

“What do you want me to say? It just happened! You fell for Karen, and I fell for Valerie. End of the story.”

“I wasn’t Karen’s best friend when we started dating, though, and I wasn’t dating a hot model. What happened to Jennifer?”

Ryan’s face darkened, and Kevin feared he might have touched a soft spot.

“It’s over.” He shrugged, and spoke as if he was telling him something that had happened to someone else. He didn’t care about Jennifer, and he could barely remember her. He had never really loved her, just like she had never loved him. “I caught her in bed with her manager; she came here just yesterday, we had a fight, and I told her it was over.”

“And you kissed Valerie,” Kevin said, understanding Ryan wanted to change the subject. “Or was it she who kissed you?”

“I did,” he smiled as he recalled the moment their lips had met. “Being close to death made me realize lots of things, you know, and my love for her was one of them.”

“Can I be your best man, then?” Kevin said with a smirk, and Ryan stared at him.

“My what? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Come on, you’re gonna end up marrying her, I know. She’s your soul mate, it’s written all over your face. And I want to be your best man; after all, I’ve always known it, ever since you first told me about her, and I’ve always tried to make you two get together. It’s the least you can do.”

Ryan laughed, but he didn’t want to contradict him: Kevin was right, and he probably would end up marrying Valerie. Spending the rest of his life with her was something he could easily imagine doing.

“You have my word,” he said, holding out a hand to Kevin. “But only if I’ll be yours.”

“Deal.” Kevin grinned, shaking his hand, and it suddenly all felt like the days when they shared the same room and talked about where they would be in twenty years.

~
Forty-nine
~

“Is there anything I need to know?” Karen asked with a smirk, as soon as Valerie walked through the staff room door.

“I see news spreads fast around these wards!”

Karen giggled and slumped down on a chair, pulling her feet up on the table.

“Kevin sent me a text. He said you had great news to share with me and that it was about you and Ryan. He didn’t say much more though.”

“Well, I guess there isn’t much more to know. He’s already told you everything!”

Karen snorted and Valerie turned her back to her to pour herself a cup of tea, although she knew she probably would’ve needed something stronger than that to endure Karen’s third-degree interrogation.

“Tea?” she asked and Karen waved her away.

“
Valerie
! I want the details, come on, what happened?”

Valerie shrugged and poured milk into her mug, then she slowly turned back and sat down next to Karen.

“Ryan and I…well…we’re in love.”

She didn’t know how else to say it, so she guessed saying it straight out would be the easiest way, although Karen was staring at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed, as if she had just seen a ghost.

“You’re
what
?” she yelled, her stare fixed on Valerie. “That Ryan? Your best-friend-slash-big-brother-slash-jazz-star Ryan?”

“How many Ryans do you know? Yes, that Ryan. And yes, we fell in love – is it such a terrible thing? Weren’t you the one always saying that friendship between a man and a woman doesn’t exist? Well, there you have it now. We kissed and we’re in love. No big deal.”

Valerie took a sip of tea from her cup, while Karen sat up straight and then stood up, going toward the coffee maker.

“I need a coffee, a strong one. This is better than any of the tabloids I always read. Oh my God, you and Ryan…I can’t believe it!” She filled her mug to the brim with black coffee and gulped down half of it before sitting back on her chair. “How did it happen? I want to know everything, down to the very last detail. How was it? Kissing him, I mean. Was it good? Or was it weird? Did he kiss you, or did you kiss him? Is he a good kisser? I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him….”

Valerie giggled and took a sip of tea before speaking. “Yeah, it figured. I always knew you had a crush on him!”

“Don’t change the subject now; answer my questions!”

“I won’t tell you about our kiss, it’s…private!”

Karen snorted and Valerie couldn’t help giggling again.

“Was it good? You can at least tell me that!”

Valerie blushed and thought back to the million different sensations she had experienced the moment his lips had connected with hers, the minute his tongue had met hers, and how everything else around them had suddenly disappeared.