Her mouth dropped open. That was the last thing she expected him to say. “Really?”
“Unless you have plans,” he teased.
She laughed again. “You know I don’t. My grand plans at the moment consist of hanging out in my hospital room, and if I'm really lucky, taking a walk to the cafeteria.”
“Then how about breakfast outside?”
Now her eyes lit up. She would love to go outside. In the five and a half years since she had been kidnapped, she hadn't once stepped outside. Sometimes Emmanuel allowed her to walk around the house, but all the windows were bolted shut, the doors locks, everything soundproofed and isolated. It was like being locked in another Universe, so close to the real world and yet so far removed.
As much as she would love to go outside, feel the fresh air and sunshine on her skin, she wondered what Matthew got out of it. She had definitely gotten a whole lot more cynical over the last few years.
“Why do you want to have breakfast with me? Do you have more questions?” Maybe the food was just a bribe. If it was it was completely unnecessary, she was prepared to do anything the cops asked her if it would help them find Emmanuel.
He looked surprised by her question, but there was no guilt in his eyes. There wassomethingthere though, and she realized he wasn’t surprised at her question, he was surprised by his own desire to spend time with her.
Grace warmed a little more inside.
“No, I don’t have any questions, I just thought it would be … nice.”
She tried to hide her smile a little. Grace didn't think he would appreciate her being able to read him so easily. For some reason, she suspected that Matthew kept a lot of himself locked down tight, only allowing people to see the projection he wanted them to. What was he hiding beneath the charming exterior?
“I would love to have breakfast outside, and I guess you can join me,” she teased.
This time he rolled his eyes at her. “Come on,” he said, grabbing the bag and indicating a wheelchair he’d brought with him.
She curled her nose up at it. “I don’t need that.”
“Hospital orders. Come on, I’ll push it really fast.”
That made her chuckle. “I’m not five you know.”
“Oh, I know.” The heat that warmed her this time had everything to do with her lady parts. As shocking as it was to her, her body was actually responding to Matthew’s. How was that even possible? Yeah, she’d had boyfriends, and her body always responded to them, but after everything she had been through she hadn't thought it was possible for her to feel anything for a man. She hadn't lied when she’d told him Emmanuel hadn't touched her sexually, he hadn't, but … there was what had happened before her abduction.
A little dazed, Grace dropped down into the wheelchair and waved at her brothers as Matthew pushed her past them. They waved back, but didn't look pleased she was going somewhere with Matthew, still they didn't interfere and she appreciated that. Maybe they were finally catching on to how important it was to her to make all her own decisions.
Her confusion over what she felt whenever she was around Matthew dissipated when he pushed her outside and she was hit with a barrage of feelings and sounds. Car engines, birds chirping, people talking, someone somewhere was drilling, and she heard the toot of a train. The sun was warm on her skin, and there was a gentle breeze that caressed her and ruffled through her curls.
They were in a small courtyard where there was grass, flowers, and trees.
She needed to touch them, smell them.
Pushing up out of the chair, she kicked off the slipper boots her brothers had brought for her to wear, left them where they fell, and walked over to the grass. When her bare feet touched the soft blades she curled her toes into them, trying to absorb the sensations as though they could be stolen away from her again.
Unfortunately, Grace knew that they could be.
All of this could be snatched away in a second. She could be right back in that room, no fresh air, no freedom, no anything.
She walked across the grassy area to the tree and ran her fingertips along the bark. It was rough beneath her touch, but she enjoyed it, it was so real, so alive. She reached for a leaf next, the different texture brought with it an excitement like she was a baby experiencing the world for the first time, and in a way she was.
Grace felt like she was being reborn. The old Grace was gone forever, she was a different person now. That didn't have to be a completely bad thing. This new Grace could take the best parts of both who she had been before and who she had learned to be and become a better version of herself.
There were flowers planted around the base of the tree, and she sunk to her knees in the grass and leaned over to press her nose into the sweet-smelling gardenias. The white petals were soft and beautiful, and she made up her mind now that as soon as she got her own place again, she was going to plant flowers everywhere, ones that bloomed all year round so she would never be without beauty in her world.
A butterfly fluttered past, all bright blues and purples, and she watched it in wonder as it flittered through the air and landed on the flower closest to her. Buzzing captured her attention, and she watched as a fuzzy little yellow bee collected pollen from first one flower and then another.
How had she managed to survive so long without access to nature?
Grace would watch from her window, see people go about their lives, watch the sun climb across the sky, the rain drum down, but she’d felt so detached from everything to do with the real world. Now she was back, and it just felt so wonderful she was almost surprised she didn't sprout wings and go flying through the sky herself.