His vision was horrifically blurry, the walls and furniture bled into each other like wet paint. Even the figure seated beside his bed was nothing more than a vague silhouette.

His face scrunched when a persistent, rhythmic beeping cut through the haze, sharp and annoyingly consistent somewhere to his right.

At least that meant his hearing wasn’t gone.

The blur slowly began to settle. The shapes in the room sharpened, the colors separated into their proper objects. The room comes into focus piece by piece.

Leon is in a hospital room.

That explained the beeping. It was a heart monitor.

And then…there was You.

Each blink brought you into clearer view, until Leon could finally make out your face.

And yep…he didn’t need perfect vision to know one thing.

You were ridiculously good-looking.

You were holding his hand, your expression laced with worry.

Leon furrowed his brows. Who were you?

Why are you holding his hand?

Matter of fact, why is he here?

He tried to push himself up—a mistake.

A sharp, searing pain shot through his side, forcing a strained groan out of him as he dropped back against the bed.

“Don’t move, idiot.”

Leon turned his head toward you, blinking slowly, choosing to ignore the little jab.

“Who…are you?” His voice came out rough, dry, and groggy—like he hadn’t used it in a while.

Your eyebrow arched.

“Oh…right.”You muttered, more to yourself than to him. “They said you might wake up disoriented.”

Leon swallowed, wincing faintly when he felt how rough his throat was. “What happened to me?”

You hesitated for a second before answering, shifting slightly in your seat, your hand still holding his.

“You got shot,” You said, matter-of-factly. “They said your mission went awry. Bullet lodged near your ribs—too close to anything important to leave in, so they had to operate.”

“They put you under.” You gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “You’ve been out for a bit and a half.”

Leon processed that slowly…Shot. Surgery. Anesthesia.

Great.

“First of all,” you continued, lifting your left hand into his line of sight, “I’m your spouse. Congratulations, by the way. Best decision you’ve ever made.”

Leon just…stared at you.

“I…” His mouth fell open slightly, his eyes widened a fraction. “Married you?”

The heart monitor to his right immediately picked up pace, beeping faster for a few moments.

You snorted softly, clearly amused by the situation at hand.

“Yep,”You said, popping the p. “You managed to bag a ten.”

Leon looked at you—really looked this time—and a slow, crooked smile spread across his face.

“Damn, “ he murmured. “I did.”

Your thumb brushed over his knuckles, and the monitor sped up again in response. You glanced at it, then back at him, a teasing grin smeared on your face.

“Well, that’s one way to measure my effect on you.”

Leon grimaced, eyes flicking toward the machine. “Can that thing shut up?”

You let out a quiet laugh, shaking your head.

“Afraid not. You’re being monitored for a reason, pretty boy.”

“Shit.”

You tried, really—really—tried, to hold it in, but a small snicker slipped out anyway. Leon narrowed his eyes at you, still half-lidded and unfocused.

“Glad my near-death experience is entertaining.” He rasped out.

That did it—the dam broke. You broke into laughter, spilling out before you quickly scrambled to rein it back in.

“Sorry, sorry,” You said, exhaling. “I’ve just been worried sick. That—” you gestured vaguely at him, “—that helped. A little.”

You took a moment, shaking off the lingering want to laugh, before your expression softened again, concern settling right back in.

“How are you feeling?” You asked gently. “What do you remember?”

Leon went quiet. Searching through his man for anything, but everything felt…foggy…slippery even. Like everything was just out of his reach.

He shook his head—another mistake.

The room tilted violently, he hissed under his breath.

“Hey, hey—easy.”You tightened your hold on his hand. “Doc said recovery might be a little rough. Memory gaps…dizziness, all that fun stuff.”

He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to stay still in hopes that everything stopped moving for once.

“Relax, we'll be right here.”

“Thanks.”

There was a pregnant pause.

What do you mean, we?

“We?”

Your eyebrows shot up for half a second before realization dawned on your face.

Ah…right, he really didn’t remember a lot.

“Oh, Leon…” You murmured. “I don’t know how to say this, but.”

You shifted to the side to reveal the couch behind you.

What’s more important than the couch was the little girl currently occupying it. The little bundle was snoozing away, all wrapped in her fluffy blanket.

“I’m pretty sure she’s not actually allowed in here,” You admitted quietly, “but she refused to leave. Said she wanted to be here when her daddy woke up, so…I snuck her in.”

Leon stared, completely, utterly stunned by what was in front of him.

First, a drop-dead gorgeous spouse.

Second, a cute daughter?

What had he done in his past and present life to merit such a combo?

“I…have a daughter?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper, like speaking too loudly might make her disappear.

You smiled, warmth bleeding into every inch of your expression as you watched your husband process the information.

“Our daughter, “You corrected softly.

His eyes widened, flicking between you and the sleeping little princess.

“We have a daughter, “ He repeated, as if testing the words.

The monitor sped up again, betraying the surge of emotion hitting him all at once.

“We do.” You smiled, amused by what was unfolding in front of you.

A slow, almost disbelieving grin tugged at his lips.

“That means I’m a father.”

“I mean…yeah,” You shrugged. “That’s usually how that works.”

He tried to roll his eyes, but his body was still confused; it didn’t pan out the way he had intended.

“That was… unbelievably sad.”

“Go away,” he grumbled.

“I would,” You said sweetly, raising your free hand and wiggling your fingers so the ring caught the hospital light, “but…no. Married, remember?”

Leon huffed, squinting at you.

“I’m starting to regret it.”

You gasped in mock offense, placing your hand over your chest for added flair.

“Wow. I leave you alone for one near-death experience, and this is the thanks I get?”

He lightly shook his head at the display.

You leaned closer, voice dropping into a playful sing-song.

“Too late, darling~. Papers signed, sealed, and filed years ago~."