Tiona
It was really happening. I was having my first discharge meeting! If everything went as planned I would be released back home. My mom, grandma and I sat in Dr. G's office waiting to hear the latest news on my progress. My ANC had consistently stayed above 2500 and all of my other levels were pretty consistent. I was completely on oral medications and the doc believed that I could have my second port removed within the month. If my healing continued I would be released on Friday. I would still be in isolation and on a strict diet, but I would be home! Everyone that I loved had been around me during this whole process so they could still continue to visit, life was definitely looking up. 6 months ago, I thought I was going to die, now I literally had a new life. Back in my now stuffy hospital room (it seemed so small now that I knew I was on the verge of breaking out of the joint), I began to make plans for the coming week. I would need food and supplies for the house and I would have to enlist the help of Ryan for a surprise I had brewing for B.
Bruno
The Super Bowl went even better than expected. I wasn't off the stage for more than a minute when the offers, interviews and endorsement deals began to roll in. Brandon was ecstatic and quite smug, stating that now no one could deny my star power. My band had things lined up for themselves and I finally felt comfortable calling myself a star. On the way to the airport, I set up an interview with Ellen Degeneres. She had always been true and I felt good about that being my first appearance after the Bowl. The paparazzi were everywhere. I noticed them before, but now I knew just popping into a store would be completely different. My fans were going to soon see how painfully shy I actually was. When I got on stage my timidity vanished and I channeled something deeper, one on one was different. This type of attention was going to be very unnerving. I dealt with it in stride for the first few days, I had too much to do anyway, so it was easy to forget about it. Once back in LA, I listened to my assistant drone on and on about the next two weeks; Ellen, Vegas, The Brit Awards and finally MJWT part 2. All I could think about was spending more time with Tiona. It just didn't seem as if it would be possible though.
Tiona
Ryan and Tahiti were amazing, they helped me plan every detail of the surprise for B on Friday night. I was overly excited to do something nice for my love, since he had gone above and beyond for me over these past few months. It felt good to do something nice for him. Ryan even helped my mom shop for the house, so it was ready when I returned home. Late Tuesday evening, Bruno finally walked into my room. I told him everything that had happened over the past few days and he was overjoyed that I would be home, away from the confines of the hospital. He then laid into me about not telling him while he was away. I let him rant and then I looked him right in his eye and told him that I knew how stressed he had been about everything being perfect during the Super Bowl performance. I let him know that I knew that he felt he wasn't good enough and I needed him to see what I already saw, an amazing singer, artist and all around person, that all I was worried about was making him feel good. I knew that my little bit of news could wait until all the craziness calmed down a bit. He then grabbed my face with both hands caressing my cheeks, leaned in close and simply stated, "You are all that matters now, please don't leave me out again." While still holding my face he closed his eyes and dropped his head, as tears fell from his eyes. Softly, I wiped the tears from his eyes as he whispered about all the voices in his head. He told me how he didn't think he was going to be successful during halftime and how happy that he was that it turned out even better than he hoped. We spoke about his fears of not having any privacy and not letting his fans down because of his self consciousness. He ended by telling me how happy he was that he followed his heart and stayed that day in early December and talked to me and how he couldn't wait to begin our lives outside of the hospital. At some point during his soliloquy, we had laid down in the bed facing each other, Bru's eyes downcast and I still caressing his soft cheek. When he finished, I told him how amazing he truly was and that as long as he stayed true to himself, he would let no one down. We then fell asleep.
We did not spend much time together the next two days as he got his affairs in order and prepared to be out of the country for the better part of two months. I spent time with my family and prepared for discharge. My mom and I spoke about Bruno at length. She had many conversations with him and was amazed at how in love he was with me in such a short time. We talked about how I felt and what being in a relationship, with him would mean. We went over the pros and cons of dating a public figure who traveled and what that meant about my health and private life. I assured my mom, that as long as we were together we could handle anything that was thrown our way. We ended the conversation with my mom telling me how much she loved me and wished us all the happiness in the world. Then it was Friday, time to go home. My family grabbed the last of my things, I placed on my mask and I walked through the halls telling all of the doctors, nurses and other patients goodbye, thank you and good luck. I was then strapping on my seatbelt and watched as the hospital disappeared from view. It was at this point that it finally hit me, I was definitely on the path to recovery and I couldn't have been any happier.
Bruno
I was pissed as I sat in the record label's office as I watched the clock tick closer and closer to 1 o'clock, Tiona's discharge time. I couldn't understand why we had to have this meeting today and why it was taking so fucking long. At 12:15, I excused myself, swallowed hard and called T to let her know that I would not be there. She took the news surprisingly well and told me she would just see me tonight. I was happy that she was alright with it but I still felt like a huge ass. I went back in and finished laying out the timeline for my next album and subsequent record deal. 4 o'clock and I ran in the house, fed G, showered and shaved. I stopped at the bakery to pick up the cake flowers I had ordered and was finally off to spend the weekend with my bae. As I pulled into the garage, I realized this would be the first time that I had been to her townhouse. I walked through the door that led into the house from the garage directly into the kitchen, turned left and immediately began looking for my girl. She was leaning over the dining room table lighting a candle. It took me a second to realize how great the house smelled and that there was a beautiful spread of food on the table because of how alluring she looked. I walked up and grabbed her from behind and kissed her on the back of her neck. She reached back and caressed my neck with her hand. "You cooked for me?" She shrugged, and turned around with a smirk on her face. "Have a seat Mr. Mars." This woman never ceased to amaze me, she had my favorite meal on the table, was dressed in an amazing emerald green mid calf shirt dress, that was driving me insane, was prepared to serve me and had just been released from the hospital hours before. Man, what did I do to be so blessed? I ignored her request and pulled out her chair, waited for her to sit and then sat down. We blessed the food and ate. She let me know that with the help of Ryan she was able to detain me at the record label this afternoon so that she could get this all done. I stared at her in amazement, I hadn't been able to be surprised by anyone in such a long time. She then stood to clear the dishes, I jumped up to help. We loaded the dishwasher and I grabbed the cake pops and we went and lounged on the couch, with her feet in my lap. She laughed at the color of the "flowers", they matched her dress (her favorite color). One day when she was better, I would be able to get her real flowers, but these pops were a pretty good substitute. She fed one to me and as I took the last bite I pulled her fingers into my mouth, softly sucking on them while looking deeply into her eyes. She now knew what I wanted, what I had wanted since I saw her sexy ass in that dress and tasted the Chicken Adobo on my lips.
