Alter Ego: His Sultry Lover

She looked at the saline channel and frowned. "How high are you right now?"

"Not enough to lie." He took her hand in his. "When I thought I was dead, I regretted only one thing."

Katherine's expression twisted into one of pain. He shook his head, squeezing her hand. "I regretted that I hadn't done enough for you. But then I realized that nothing I did would be enough. A hundred years won't be enough." He sucked in a breath. "So, I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Making sure I am doing enough. So, marry me."

For a long twenty seconds, Katherine stared. Then she burst out into laughter. "You're a jerk. How can I possibly say no?"

"Do you want to say no?" he asked, wrinkling his nose in displeasure.

"No!" Her eyes brimmed over with tears and she giggled. "We already talked about how our wedding will look. Of course, I'll marry you. I'd have it no other way." f𝑟𝑒ewe𝚋𝚗૦𝐯e𝘭.c𝗼𝓂

She leaned in and then kissed him. She peppered his face with kisses, cradling his face in her hands.

And that was all he needed. Her glowing, happy face was enough for him.

He was going to stand beside her on their wedding day, surrounded by their family and friends, and let everyone know.

- - -

There were a lot of talk shows asking for their interview. Stephen always jumped at the opportunity.

"Just a few more days," he kept saying. Both Cage and Katherine conceded.

The talkshows were fun. They played games, traded jokes. The hosts were nerds and went head-on-head in gaming trivia. Katherine even let them tie with her. They seemed to be okay with that.

Primetime news was different. It was serious. The questions, this time, was dedicated to Cage alone. Katherine didn't even go to the interview.

They started out easy. 𝗳𝘳𝒆𝘦𝑤𝐞𝚋𝗻𝚘𝘷𝘦𝙡.𝑐𝐨𝘮

"You received a lot of gifts when you were in the hospital," the anchor prompted.

"I did. I gained a lot of 'followers' as Katherine would call it. We got visited by a lot of celebrities, too." No issue with that.

The anchor smiled at him, albeit patronizingly. "Who was your favorite visitor?"

Cage thought about this. He could answer it casually or make a statement about it.

"Giselle," he said confidently. A flicker of surprise flashed through the reporter's face and Cage explained. "She was hurt. It was a relief to see her awake and smiling. I wasn't allowed out of my ward at that point because of my overprotective manager but Giselle actually visited."

"She came to visit you?" the anchor asked.

'No shit sherlock,' Cage thought.

Most of the other questions weren't easy.

"Has there been any lasting effect of the incident on you? Post-traumatic stress? Nightmares?"

Cage was quiet for a long moment. He had no idea why he did it, but he ended up answering honestly. "Nightmares," he admitted.

The anchor's eyes turned soft. "About the explosion?"

He pressed his lips together. "About Katherine, actually."

"But she wasn't at the scene," the reporter said, surprised and confused. Behind the cameraman, Cage could see Katherine staring at him in shock.

"I dreamt that it was Katherine there in place of Giselle. That it was her that I couldn't save and they kept holding me back."

He almost choked.

"Oh, Cage," Katherine whispered so low that no one else heard.

"But she wasn't there. You were. Giselle was." Of course, his nightmare wasn't very rational.

"I believe it's because my greatest fear is to lose her." His throat tightened and he cleared it to appear calm.

Damn reporters.

Katherine had suffered from major anxiety since the incident. At random times during the day, she would call him or wake up to look at his face to ensure that he was okay. She had to see him with her own eyes.

Later that evening, they were resting in bed and she had placed her head on his chest. She had ended up addicted to the sound of his heartbeat.

"You're very quiet," Cage whispered, unwilling to break the peace in the room.

"I'm thinking..."

"That's a surprise," Cage teased as he caressed her air. She smacked his arm and chuckled. "What about?" he asked finally.

"About everything. About how your life has turned upside down since I came."

Cage thought he had misheard.

"None of this is your fault, Katherine." He was shocked that she would think that way.

"No, you were fine until I appeared. I might just be a jinx. You got in trouble with Keira. Then you got into scandal after scandal, and the accidents!" she whisper-yelled.

"None of those had to do with you. You were the best thing that happened. Your presence was the only thing that kept me sane."

"Mark wouldn't have..." Cage interjected her.

"Mark would have found some excuse or the other to do what he did. If not now, later." He paused. "I don't want to think about my life without you. Living in a hole, just doing my job, and never making real connections with people because it scared me that they would use me. What would happen if I died a lonely death?"

"After living a very long life!" Katherine debated.

"I am going to live a long life, Katherine. A very long and happy life with you." That appeased her a little. "Without you, I would be sixty, playing the role of someone's grandfather."

He hated to imagine. What would his life look like then? He would never fall in love, but she might have found someone. Maybe Nathaniel or Barry would wriggle their way into her life. Or worse, maybe she would remain alone all her life.

Wouldn't that be a waste?

"I'm happy with my life. I wouldn't want it any other way." He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arm around her tighter.

"Don't you dare think about such things!" Especially when he was almost done with planning their wedding.

He hadn't told her yet, though. It was supposed to be a surprise. Well, as surprising as it could be when he was sneaking into the bathroom and calling everyone to RSVP.

She must have overheard. She just didn't let him know that she did.

Which reminded him. He needed to get her size right for the wedding ring.