All My Life -

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and it was created solely by me as the author. All characters are over the age of 18. Any similarities to characters, businesses, places, or things are all happenstance, though my appreciation to those who have

inspired

my works is immense.

Author's Note:

This is the fourth part of a series I believe you've been finding enjoyable. It's a nice buildup into the hot and heavy scenes, but, as usual, my stories are STORIES, so many details make for fun, exciting, and interesting plot lines. Please remain calm in awaiting the next installment, but I assure you, it'll be worth it.

Some clarifications: I would love to be able to decipher for you when Ana is writing or typing to Alex with different fonts, but as there is only one font available, you'll have to forgive my approach. I have tried to make it as clear as possible.

Also, while some of the story has been deemed repetitive, please note that different points of view make for better explanations. The first two parts were told from Alex's POV. In part 3, some repetition took place simply because it was from Ana's POV.

Questions and comments are welcome. Please take the time to rate this story, and don't forget to follow me! I hope everyone will be kind.

Recap:

Ana had one more thing to do before she shut down the app, but she needed to rest. She laid her head back and listened to Raj and Howard arguing over their bromance. A smile spread across her face as she heard the argument. The same episode had played once while she and Alex had been lying down to take a nap on the couch. She'd felt so warm and comfortable in his arms. Ana sighed. The day she felt that again could not come soon enough.

All My Life - pt. 04

Once her app was opened back up a final time, Ana went back to Friday's (January 22) entries and added her symptoms (if she had any that she could remember), events (unprotected sex on Monday, January 25, for instance), and emotions. She went on to do the same for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and then

that

day, Saturday, January 30

th

. Once she was finished, she closed her phone and plugged it in to charge, turned off the TV and the room's light, and went to sleep hugging her pillow as she would have hugged Alex if he were there. A single tear escaped, falling down her cheek, as she thought about how blessed she'd been and how far she'd come in just a week's time.

"Good morning!" Steven greeted Ana at around 8:30am as he entered, having knocked first, of course. She couldn't answer with her voice, but she knew her nurses were professional and would have managed had she been in the middle of dressing or whatever. To avoid this, she did most of her private things in the bathroom with the door closed.

Ana had been up, showered, and dressed in regular clothing since she found the gowns no longer necessary. She'd even watched Sunday Mass on TV. Steven set the food on her tray and pointed at it.

"Do you want it in bed, Ms. Lopez, or would you like for me to lower the tray so you can sit in a normal chair today?" Ana smiled and pointed to the bed as she climbed in. It had been rather cozy for her to be able to sit up or lie back with just the pushes of a few buttons, so she intended to make do as long as she could. Quickly though, she picked up her notepad and wrote a note to him.

"Steven, good morning - but please call me Ana. You all may have chosen to call him Mr. McLleyn, and that's fine, but Alex is paying you all to make this happen. I'm just the patient."

"Ha! You are not

just

a patient," Steven corrected and shook his head. "Anyway, how are you feeling today?" As Ana had already stuck some food in her mouth, she just nodded. "And are you ready to make a few more sounds today? Susan says she's ready for you whenever you're done with breakfast. You can just make your way there, or I can walk you down." Ana shook her head and waved her arms. She then pointed at herself and nodded. Steven shook his head and smiled. "You are one determined girl. I can see what Mr. M has come to love about you."

Ana wrote something on her notepad and slid it over for him to read.

"Do you know him?"

"Yes, the three of us nurses and Dr. Sallas all work with him at Xander McLleyn as staff. We consider him our boss, but our friend too. We'd have done this for him anyway, but he wouldn't ever allow us to work without making sure we were compensated."

"Susan & Dr. Mitchell?" Ana quickly wrote and turned the notepad to show him.

"No, they've come recommended. Alex did the research and made sure he had the top expert so that you had the best chance of a full recovery. You're in very good hands."

"Thank you for everything. All of you," she wrote. "I could never fully explain how much this means to me."

"You sound just like him when he asked us to do this for you," Steven shared and touched her hand. "Can I say something?" Ana nodded and smiled as she wiped her mouth. "I see what he sees in you, but I understand what you see in him also. You are a great match if you were to ask me. I can't wait to see the two of you together. Confirmation for sure, I can just imagine." Ana blushed, touched her heart, and nodded.

"Well, alright," he finalized with a flourishing wave. "I'm gonna head out. If you need anything, click the button. Stay out of trouble and go to therapy. Bye," he added as he waved and strode out the door.

Ana finished her food, cleaned up her little tray, and slipped on her comfy shoes to leave the room. She knew there was a cart just outside her room where she could put her dishes, so she carried them out the door and put them there before heading down the hall to see Susan.

"Well, good morning, sunshine!" Susan greeted her warmly. "How are we feeling today?' Ana nodded. "No more vocalizations yet, hm? Well, let's see if we can't get some more sounds out on command today, shall we?" Ana smiled and took her seat. Breathing first...

They worked on the exercises, and after a few more sounds came out, Ana sat excitedly waiting for Susan to finish entering the notes. She looked up and tilted her head.

"Ana, what is something you're working towards saying again? Maybe if we have a goal, you'll reach for that more than for just sounds. Does that make sense?" Ana nodded and thought about what she wanted to hear herself say again. But it wasn't a word she usually said, she'd realized quickly. It was a name she'd be saying for the rest of her life.

"Three things, more than anything." she wrote. "Alex. Thank you. I love you."

Susan smiled. "Now

that

we can work towards. I can't imagine anything being more motivating for you. Let's get you back to your room, and this afternoon, we'll begin with the sounds to get us working to achieve your goals. Great job today." Ana nodded and followed her out of the room.

"Knock, knock," came a male voice a little later. There was a short pause, and then a young man walked into the room carrying flowers. "Ana?" Ana nodded and watched as the man set the flowers on the windowsill, took off his coat, and stood before her. "My name's Brian. Brian Urbana." Ana's eyes lit up. "Oh, do you, I mean... Alex talked about me?" Ana nodded and pointed for him to sit.

"Um, before we go on, I just, um... Ana, I'm so sorry for any part I had in the situation last week," Brian told her and shook his head. "First, it would

never

have been like me to go along with a gift of an escort for anyone, especially for my best friend. I believe he went along with the idea, at least approaching you at the bar, because he trusts me so completely. I am so glad he met you, but I'm sorry I was part of the guise that made him think in any way that you were, or even could be, an escort."

Ana fired up the laptop and opened the Word document to be ready to type her responses to Brian. She was thrilled at the chance to meet another important person in Alex's life, but she felt bad that he was starting their little visit with an apology. Brian pointed to her after he saw that she was ready to write and waited patiently as she wrote to him.

"I know it seems odd, the facts that I was even in a bar, that Alex actually approached me, that he'd made the comment about no voice two months before meeting me, not to mention the convention that never happened. But I am so glad, no matter how crazy the plan was originally to have been, that no one got hurt, that no link could be traced back to you, Eric, or Pauley, and more than anything, that I got to meet and fall in love with your best friend.

"Brian, I hold no ill will towards you in any way, so while I need no apology, I will accept it if that allows me to get to spend some time getting to know another very important person in Alex's life. I know you would never jeopardize your friendship with him. Alex wouldn't have kept you around for this long if you weren't an amazing person. I hope I am all that you've always hoped for him."

Brian nodded and handed back the laptop. "Thank you. It's really nice to meet you. And yeah, I can't even imagine how the whole thing went down. He told me some stuff about how he took you shopping and out to dinner before he'd realized the convention had been cancelled, but by then? He was totally hooked. He wanted to get to know you. And that you asked that question about why he'd approached you? I know you didn't know what was up until Dan filled you in, but it was smart. And it paved the way for him to feel certain that this had to have just been God's plan. That's what he said. There's no other way to put it."

Ana extended her arms and waved for him to hug her. Brian got up, leaned over, and hugged her. "Thanks for that," Brian offered as he sat back down. "So, I guess you might have some questions for me. I'll probably come up with a few myself." Ana thought about it for a few seconds and then began writing on the notepad.

"Caroline?"

Brian laughed. "Yeah, I wanted to visit with you first. She's with her family today for lunch."

"Oh no! Did you skip it to come visit me? I'm so sorry!"

"No! No, I've met her family and all, but sometimes, something else comes up. Truth be told, I'm a little tired of wondering if I'm good enough for her. She always says I am, but her parents sometimes look at me like I'm after their daughter for her private parts and family's money only. What they don't know is that Care jumped

me

before I even knew for sure sex was on the table, and I have more money than they do."

Ana smiled at his comment about jumping him, but then covered her mouth as she laughed at the money thing.

"I think this break was needed, and my best friend's girl needed to meet me, hear from me, and know that I would never have been part of the drama which ensued. I hope you know I always only had Alex's best intentions at heart."

"It's weird," Ana typed into the Word document, "but if it hadn't been for that situation, I am well aware that Alex would never have approached me. Sometimes ya gotta make do with what you've got. Because I happened to have asked a question later that day before we even got to his place, he realized that I wasn't what he'd been told I was, though he'd figured it out shortly after we got to the store."

"Yeah, girls who are working solely for the money wouldn't be checking to find the cheapest dresses," Brian teased. "I hate that I was lumped in on the gift we had supposedly given him, but I'm glad it worked out way better than any of us could have hoped. We just hoped to find him a date. He found his match, his actual soulmate."

Brian and Ana communicated and laughed about things with Brian sometimes bringing up something Alex had said to him about her that he wanted clarified. When she asked again if he'd bring Caroline, he promised he would do so later that day if that was alright. Ana nodded excitedly.

"You know what? We haven't had Chinese food in a while. Would you like us to bring dinner? I think she's really going to like meeting you. Getting to know one another over a meal would be great."

Ana nodded and pointed to her phone. Brian opened it, made sure his number was in it (It was. Alex had been thorough when he'd made sure to update all that she would need while he was gone) and pointed to it.

"I'll text when we're on our way," Brian informed her as he stood up to get his coat. "Text me before then with your order. Alex made sure to give me your number through your phone, so you'll already see the text from me." Ana nodded again and reached for her phone. She set it in her lap to use once he was gone. She was tired from her therapy, so she was thinking of taking a nap before her next appointment later in the afternoon.

"Take care, Ana," Brian told her as he fixed his scarf. "I'll be back with Care around 6pm, I think. And it was really nice to meet you."

Ana patted her heart, smiled, and nodded at him. Brian smiled back and left her alone. She turned on the TV, found some

Friends

episodes this time, and laid her head back. It had been on a commercial when she'd turned the TV on. She never did see a scene from the show. She was out as soon as she'd closed her eyes.

Ana woke up around 2:30pm, yawned, stretched, and then got up to use the bathroom. When she returned to bed, she opened up a search for Chinese food options. It hadn't occurred to her to ask where they might be getting the food, so she just figured she'd look up options and ask for something as close to what she was craving. She hadn't had chop suey in a long time. She remembered Sara's mom had made it a few times when Ana had been over for dinner. Ana went ahead and texted Brian to request Chop Suey, white rice, and asked that he not forget the fortune cookies. She smiled as she hit the send button.

At 4pm, Ana headed for her second session with Susan. She sat down and began working on the breathing exercises before Susan had even instructed her to begin. They moved onto vowel sounds, and Ana became excited that the more she used her voice again, the "easier" it was to make sounds. It was like her voice box had been turned off, and it was Ana's job to wake it up and get it going again. That evening, she said four simple, one syllable words, and she felt like she'd touched the stars. Unfortunately, it exhausted her more than any other session.

"Knock, knock!" Brian called through the door, waking Ana up from her unexpected nap. She was momentarily discombobulated, so she hurried to get out of bed and walked quickly to the restroom. She quickly washed her face with cold water and evened her breathing until she had it under control. She was ready after a minute and resolved to face her new friends. If only she had a voice that worked so she could apologize instead of having to run to her tray to find her notepad to hurry to write it!

Ana took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. She covered her face and walked out slowly as she headed straight for her notepad.

"I'm so sorry! I fell asleep after my last therapy session. I'm so embarrassed."

Ana handed them the notepad and sat down on the bed. Caroline gasped and knelt in front of her. "Ana, no! Oh, my gosh! You're going through so much right now! Of course, you're tired! Please don't be embarrassed." Ana uncovered her face and let Caroline take her hands. "There. Now we can always have the first time we ever met as something to laugh about." Ana squeezed her eyes shut momentarily and then looked back at Caroline while she shook her head and smiled.

"Hi, Ana," Brian offered and set her food on the tray so that she could sit with her legs crossed and eat sitting up comfortably while facing her new friends. Ana smiled at him and motioned for them to sit.

"Oh, Ana! I'm so excited that we're finally meeting," Caroline gushed as she opened her container of food and began stirring it up with her fork. Ana hadn't intended to use chopsticks either. Ana opened her laptop to have herself ready to type any answers for them. While one-syllable words were now her specialty, she was certain what she'd want to say wouldn't fit in that category. She could only guess how quickly she'd tire out.

"Me too!" Ana quickly typed. "I feel like I have questions, but I'm not sure what they are, ya know? How about, oh! Why don't you tell me about yourselves and how you met, where you live, what you see for your future? If that's not too much to share."

Brian and Caroline had met in October at a charity event. Both grew up in Chicago. Brian, as Ana already knew, is a lawyer. Caroline is 24 years old and had gone into her family's interior design business. She still lives in her parents' rather large house. Brian has his own place. As of the last month, she spends most of the time staying at his place for privacy.

"We're already talking about moving in together," Brian admitted and reached to hold Caroline's hand. Ana nodded and smiled at Caroline who was beaming. "I think our only hold up is time because we've only been together for three months."

"Well, that and my parents," Caroline added. "They think he has ill intentions for being with me. I've tried to assure them that he's a good man and only has a desire to get to know me more and to love me, but they're so driven by money that they think he's after their empire. He's even offered to sign a prenup, but I don't want that, you know, should it come to that."

Since Ana had been able to eat while they had been talking, she began typing and allowed them to take some bites of their food. She knew she didn't have any real experience to advise them, but her gut feeling was to share what she felt in her heart. Caroline went ahead and read it aloud.

"First, please know that I don't know much of anything about having money or having relationships with anyone other than Alex, and that's a whole week old, so, you know... Um, first,

time

shouldn't deter you from anything. I have always believed that when you know, you know. I knew with Alex within a weekend's time. We were just drawn to each other. I knew I felt the same as he did when he told me he loved me."

"He told you he loved you!" Brian repeated. "Did you..."

"Brian!" Caroline warned and turned to Ana. "Sorry, I'm thinking you, we... I mean you and I, were thinking maybe the boys talked more than they did."

"But he's never told anyone he loved them!" Brian justified. "I have to ask."

"Brian!" Caroline hissed again.

Brian looked over and shrugged. "Come on!" Caroline shook her head and then looked at Ana.

"I'm sorry. I'll continue reading now."

"Alex has already asked me to move in with him. As of last Monday night, well, I guess Tuesday morning, he asked if his bed could be referred to as

our

bed, his home would be mine, and that we wouldn't spend another night apart. Naturally, neither of us thought to consider that there was a kidnapping plan in action, so... Anyway, time shouldn't be the reason you don't move forward in your plans to be together. What does your heart say?"

"I've been ready since Christmas," Brian admitted.

"Me too," Caroline admitted quietly and reached out to touch Brian's hand again. "And I'm 24 years old. I don't have to live at home, and they get that, but it's that I'd be living with a guy that upsets them. I think they really think I'm still a virgin. They're not exactly realistic at times." Caroline pulled her hand from Brian's and covered her own face.

"Anyway, let's see what else you've shared," Caroline continued.

"If I've ever learned anything about relationships from movies and books, I've seen that the parents, while they have the best intentions at heart (at least they believe they do), they often have the capability to destroy what could have been a beautiful thing. A prenup seems untrustworthy at first, but I've seen too many stories about couples you never would have guessed could have turned so cold toward one another getting divorced and trying to hurt each other in every way possible.