Undeniably Enemies: EPILOGUE

About one year later

I twist my back until it makes a horrific cracking sound and moan at the pleasure of it. My back is freaking killing me today, but welcome to being an intern in the emergency department on Halloween. The other interns are jacked up, as are the doctors and nurses. It’s one of our biggest and busiest days.

“Is this the last kid?” Katy asks, popping her neck, and it seems I’m not the only one who’s had a long day.

“Yes,” I say with a heavy sigh. “I still can’t believe they thought it would ever be a good idea to bungee jump off their second-floor landing.”

“I have four words for you. Frat boys and alcohol.”

Truth. Of the three boys who came in following this incident, two had minor cuts and broken bones, but the kid Katy is about to wheel up was the last one, and the banister came with him when he jumped. He fell fast and hard and crashed to the floor and now has to go up for an exploratory laparotomy to stop the bleeding we found on his abdominal CT. He’s lucky he didn’t crack his back or skull.

“What’s Willow for Halloween this year?”

“She’s a fairy godmother to Rory’s Cinderella.”

I nearly choke. “Rory is Cinderella? How did I not know this? I thought she was going as a ladybug.”

Katy shakes her head. “She was, but she changed her mind at the last minute, and now she’s Cinderella.”

“Aw, that’ll be cute. I’ll have to remember to text Owen to take pictures for me.”

“Keep her fluids open. Dr. Fritz is standing by in the OR to do the C-section,” my mother tells the nurse as she leaves a patient room. When she spots me and Katy, she smirks. “You too?”

I shrug. “It’s Halloween.”

“Yes,” my mother agrees. “And one should never try to induce their own labor to have a Halloween baby. Now she’s getting the C-section she didn’t want but has to have.”

I wince. “I don’t want to know.”

Katy holds up a hand. “Me neither. This is why I did trauma and not OB.”

“Kind of same,” I throw in.

My mother smiles and kisses my forehead. “Yes, but the babies are so cute. At least until they grow up.” She winks at me and checks her watch. “Aren’t you off now?”

“I was off about thirty minutes ago. Life of an intern, but I’m done now that Katy has come to claim my last patient, so I’m going to take off.”

“Jack’s not working today?”

I shake my head at Katy. “Nope. He has the day off, which feels crazy considering it’s Halloween.”

“Do you have plans? Was he doing something special?” Katy asks, watching as the nurses and a second-year resident wheel her patient toward the elevator.

“Nah. Probably more fighting with Jack, maybe some dinner, and then makeup sex.”

Katy snorts. “Have fun with that.” She waves. “I gotta go. That’s my date for the next hour or so before Halloween fun.” Katy follows her patient to the elevator.

“Why are you and Jack still fighting?” my mother questions.

“Because we can’t decide on a living situation that works. I want to renovate so our places are one big place, and he’s giving me pushback.”

“Because he doesn’t have the money, Wren.”

I toss my hands up. “So? I do. If he talks like we’re forever, then he has to get used to the idea that I have Fritz money. It’s not emasculating that I have money and he doesn’t.”

“No, but men can be prideful.”

“I get that, but it’s hurting us since we want to live together, and neither of us wants to leave our building.”

“Well,” my mother says with a shoulder shrug. “At least you get the makeup sex. Speaking of that, I have to go and find your father. He’s supposed to be done for the day too, and we’re expected at Owen’s for trick-or-treating with Rory and Willow.”

“First, that’s gross about sex with my dad. Second, I thought you just said Dr. Fritz is in the OR waiting for the patient.”

My mother snickers. “First, I had to hear you talk about your sex, so gross on you. Second, your cousin Keegan is also known as Dr. Fritz.”

Oh. Right.

“Point made. Have a good night.” I hug her and head for the exit as she heads upstairs to find my dad.

I’ve only been an intern for three and a half months, but it’s been the best and most exhausting three months of my life. Jack is chief and has been doing a kickass job with it, even if it means he’s working longer hours than he was before. That doesn’t bother me much since I work just as many hours as he does. Harrison Marshall quit the same day Jack was announced as chief. Rumor has it, he and his wife moved out of state. I’d like to say that he hopefully learned from his mistakes, but I doubt that.

Vander did do a little tweaking, and now his arrest back in college shows up on a background check. It’s about the best we can do, but he’ll have trouble getting recommendations from other doctors or superiors, so hopefully that does something.

Other than that, things with me and Jack have been amazing. Owen obviously came around. In fact, by the time he met us out for Mexican with Octavia, Estlin, and Rory, he gave Jack a hug and a fist pound and a threat to take good care of his sister, and that was that. We sort of knew it would be. Men are weird with their pride.

Speaking of, I’m gearing up for another round of fighting with Jack.

Since we’ve been together, it’s either him sleeping at my place or me sleeping at his. But since we live next door, we don’t have things in each other’s place. We’ve talked about formally moving in with each other, but we also decided we’d like more space if we could have it.

I suggested breaking down the main wall that separates our dining areas and making it one big apartment. But we’d have two kitchens, and the layout would be funny. We’d have to renovate for sure, and after talking to the building owner and an architect, it’d be a lot of work. The trouble is, we love our building and our neighborhood, and there isn’t much on the market that fits what we want.

I could do the renovations. The money isn’t an issue for me, but it is for Jack, so that leads us perpetually back to square one. It’s not a big problem to have, and that’s pretty much been the extent of our fighting, believe it or not.

The streets are lined with Halloween décor, multicolored fallen leaves, and kids in costumes giggling as they hold tightly to their candy bags. What I didn’t tell my mom and Katy is that Jack decided to take the day off almost at the last minute and without explanation. He called one of the other attending physicians last night and asked if they could switch shifts. Then he all but went to bed, so I couldn’t ask him anything about it.

It was weird. At least for Jack, since he never misses a day or swaps out his shift.

Jogging up the front steps of our building, I unlock the door and climb up to my place. I’m not sure where Jack is at the moment since he didn’t return my text, but I’m dying for a shower. Only when I get to my door, there’s a note stuck to it.

Meet me on the 4th floor.

-Jack

Huh. That’s weird. The fourth floor? I pull out my phone and go to text him, but since he already didn’t respond to my first text, I decide to just go and see what this is all about. I’ve never been to the fourth floor before. I always assumed it was more apartments, similar to mine, Jack’s, and Tyson’s. But as I reach the landing, there’s only one door up here.

Glancing around and feeling more than a little strange about it, I tap lightly on the door, except it wasn’t fully closed, and with my tap, it slowly swings open.

“Jack?” I whisper hiss because this totally feels like I’m breaking into someone’s apartment. Which I am because there’s furniture and things everywhere.

“In here,” he says.

In here? Is he kidding? My teeth sink into my lip, and I creep along, taking in the sprawling space.

“Jack?” I question again nervously, and hear him chuckle. That’s it. That’s his only response, but I follow the sound until I reach the kitchen and find him standing in the center of it. “What on earth are you doing in here? Did you break in?”

“So, funny story.” He takes a step toward me and reaches for my hand. He starts to play with my fingers as he talks. “I got a call from Carl last night. Apparently, the owners of this unit are looking to sell so they can move to be closer to their grandchildren. Plus, the four flights are starting to get to them.”

I scrunch my nose. “I imagine they would.”

“Yes, but I put down a deposit.”

My eyes bulge. “You what?”

“It’s three bedrooms, two and a half baths, with a family room, an office, a dining room, and a large kitchen.”

I glance around the place, taking it in with new eyes. “It needs⁠—”

“Updating, yes. So here’s what I’m thinking. The deposit wasn’t much, and I can still get it back, but if we both sell our places, we can afford this one since it needs so much work. But I’ll let you spend your Fritz dollars to do that, and you can make the space whatever you want. I just want it to be ours, and if we tear down a wall between our places, it won’t feel like that, Wren. It’ll still feel like your place and my place with a lot of money thrown at it.”

“Hmm.” I think about that. He has a point. One I hadn’t really thought of before. I turn back to him. “You’re really okay with me renovating the place as I’d want to?”

“Yes. Of course. I mean, I wish I could do that for you, but I can’t.” He shrugs. “Does it bother me? A little but being with you means I have to get used to you being a Fritz and all that comes with you. I’ll contribute what I can whenever I can, but I want you to have the home of your dreams, and I think we could make this work.”

Wow. This is… a lot.

“There’s also a rooftop garden and space that seems a bit neglected, but I have no doubt you’ll whip it into shape.”

My eyes light up. “How did I never know about this?”

“The owners didn’t go out much, and other than Tyson, we don’t run into our neighbors often.”

He’s right. I’ve been living the life of a med student and now intern, which means I come and go at weird hours, so I don’t see people a lot. Other than Tyson, who makes sure I see him.

“Can I look around?”

He smiles. “Of course. I expected you to.” Except he doesn’t let me do that. Instead, he comes closer and cups my jaw. “Happy anniversary.”

My eyes bulge. “What?”

“Once upon a time, six years ago to the day, in fact, in a land far away, I met a girl dressed like a princess at a party. We shared a drink that turned out to be a love potion, and I fell in love like a fool lost to fate. Since that moment, we’ve been linked, and in the years that have passed, my love for her has only grown.”

“Uh… That’s not exactly the anniversary I’d like to remember.”

He smirks. “I thought not. So let’s change how we see it.”

He releases me and picks up something off the counter. Something I hadn’t noticed before with everything else he was throwing at me. It’s a heart-shaped glass, and in it is a red drink that looks and smells identical to the one we shared that night.

“I’ve been told that one sip and you’ll have a torrid affair with the person you share it with. Drink half, and you’ll fall in love with them. Finish it, and you’ll be together forever. ’Til death do you part.”

He leans in and takes a sip, his eyes on mine, and I can’t help the incredulous bubble of a laugh that flees my lungs.

“Your turn,” he prompts. “If you’re willing to risk it.”

Fuck it.

I take a sip, and we go back and forth until we’ve finished it. He goes to set it down, but first, he tips it into his hand, and a ring drops onto his palm. I gasp, and my hand covers my lips.

“Jack?”

“You drank it with me.” He lowers onto one knee and takes my trembling hand in his, his eyes burning up into mine. “I’m hoping that means you’ll give me forever. I want to marry you and have children with you and, not to be cliché, live happily ever after with my Cinderella. Wren Fritz, you are the most perfect, stubborn, tenacious, brilliant, gorgeous pain-in-the-ass woman on the planet, and I love you like nothing else. Will you marry me?”

Holy crap.

“Yes! Oh god!” I smack his shoulder, making him laugh. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Even though you called me a pain in the ass.”

“I wasn’t wrong.” He kisses my knuckles and slides the wet ring on my finger. Standing, his lips land on mine, and he scoops me up into his arms, holding me impossibly close, unwilling to let me go or have so much as an inch between us.

Because that’s how it’ll always be for us. ’Til death do us part.

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