Chapter 57: Chapter 57

Blair

I knocked on the door to Dimitri's room before opening it to find my fiancé sitting on the bed, distracted by a cell phone. I walked in, dragging the two suitcases I was carrying behind me, attracting his attention.

" Blair, I thought you weren't coming anymore," he smiled, placing the phone on the bedside table next to the bed, where the box was.

It was after three in the afternoon, and I had decided to give his family some space to enjoy his company, and I also had a lot to do.

I left the bags in the corner and walked over to the bed, giving him a quick kiss before turning away.

" Sorry for the delay, I was cleaning up your apartment and trying to find a place to put my things," I explained.

" And by the suitcases I am to assume that you created a space by dumping me?”

I couldn't help smiling at the conclusion, if he is willing to make jokes, it means that he is better off than when I left him yesterday after telling him details of the accident.

" That would be a good solution, because frankly I don't see any other way to put my clothes in your closet. Tell me, why do you need fourteen white shirts?”

That question made him laugh, and he brought his hand to his abdomen, as if he was afraid of feeling pain.

" Did you count my shirts? " he stared at me with amusement as I settled down beside him on the bed.

" You have forty two shirts, and fourteen of them are plain white shirts, not counting the ones in your uniform. Why is that?”

" First of all, they are good shirts, why not? Secondly, you shouldn't talk about my clothes, I've never seen you repeat a Scarf, and you use them for everything!”

He challenged me, causing me to stare at him with raised eyebrows.

" Exactly, they are varied! It's not like I have fourteen white scarves!”

He smiled, giving up on my argument.

" Not to mention the other clothes, how do you expect me to live in your apartment like this?”

" Our apartment," he corrected me.

" What?”

" It's not my apartment anymore, it's our apartment," he explained, "And please, there's another closet in the guest room, so you don't have to throw my clothes away.”

I smiled, snuggling into his body.

" They called me earlier, and asked me to bring you some clothes, so it looks like you can get rid of this hospital gown," I explained.

" Really? " He seemed excited about the possibility.

" I can even help you change. I'm sure I'd enjoy seeing you naked, despite your fear," I sneered.

" What? " he gave me a confused look.

" You don't remember, do you?”

" Remember what?”

I couldn't help but laugh. That was typical, I get the embarrassing memories while he doesn't remember anything.

" It's better to keep it that way.”

" What about the other bag?”

" I managed to change my ticket for tomorrow, I'll sleep here tonight and go straight to the airport," I explained.

" Are you going to Newark? When will you be back? " He intertwined our fingers.

" In three days, I'll pack up my things, and hopefully get a tenant," I sighed, thinking about everything I had to do.

" I'll miss you," he sighed.

I turned my head to look at him, smiling as I met his gaze.

" I will too, but I plan to be back before you're discharged, and luckily you now have another cell phone, so we can talk.”

A small smile danced on his lips as he picked up the phone that had been put aside when he noticed me.

" My father thought this would be a good way to cheer me up. I feel like a teenager.”

I remembered how he was yesterday, his tears and all the pain he felt when I told him about his classmates.

" And how are you? " I gave him a sympathetic look.

" I'm fine," Dimitri assured me with a small smile on his face.

But I could still see the pain in his eyes.

" Dimitri.”

" I don't want to talk about it, Blair!”

" But you have to talk about it, you can't keep it to yourself," I sighed, looking into his eyes.

" I will, probably during the mandatory therapy for my rehabilitation, but until then, I'd rather focus on what's good for me," he pleaded.

I bit the inside of my cheeks; I couldn't deny him that. Dimitri deserved to get over what had happened.

" We can talk about anything else," he forced a smile.

" Like preparations for our wedding? " I scoffed.

" I need to get a ring, how do you want it? "His smile became more natural with the change of subject.

I laid my head on his shoulder, thinking about the answer to his question.

How do I want the ring? I never thought about getting one.

That's when I realized that I didn't care about the ring, but about the person who would give it to me.

" That's up to you, Commander," I got out of bed, walking over to where I had left my bags.

" But I want to give you something you'll like! " he complained.

" Let's put it this way, I'll like anything, as long as you choose," I glanced over my shoulder at him, carrying the suitcases to the closet.

He sighed, going back to his cell phone, and I sat down in the armchair next to him, silently enjoying his company while he finished setting up the new device.

" It's a pity I won't be able to propose to you as I imagined," he commented after a while, drawing my attention.

" How did you imagine? You were going to ask me to marry you? " an involuntary smile came to my face.

When I bought the ticket to St. Petersburg, I was thinking about resuming our relationship and moving in with him as soon as I learned the essentials of Russian and got a job. But I never thought about marriage.

" I didn't think it would be now, but since the new year I have been thinking about it. Before my brother's wedding, I mean," he began as I dragged the armchair close to his bed, "I thought about waiting until our first anniversary.”

My heart warmed at his words, I wanted to know more and more details, but to my frustration he began to fiddle with his cell phone.

" Have you noticed that many people have started to follow us? " he changed the subject.

" Can you stop pretending not to know that I want all the details? Tell me how you would propose. You know, if your sister hadn't done it for you.”

That remark made him laugh, and he plopped down on the bed before watching me.

" Well, I would do it on a flight where I was the commander through the passenger contact line," he explained, making me smile.

For a moment I imagined myself in that situation, how my reaction would be, how I would feel.

" Of course, my sister's proposal was just as good, so…”

He shrugged, going back to his cell phone.

" I guess I should marry your sister, then," I teased him.

" That may be, but I guarantee you she won't love you like I do," he winked, making me laugh.