a place we know| ✓

seventy five

"And find a place where every single thing you see tells you to stay."
S E E K E R
.
.
March 26th
2:00 PM
Los Angeles
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Gunner was released from the hospital two days later.

David could finally stop ogling his wife, he was able walk for over fifteen minutes without feeling like his legs were going to give out from underneath him, and ditched the hospital gown. The pain in his joints subsided, but he was still prescribed some painkillers to ease his injuries. Otherwise, he was healthy as a newborn.

Dressed in the pair of black jeans and pullover hoodie his wife had packed with her just incase (to put it in her own words when he asked why she had his clothes), he walked next to her as she led him towards the low-rise building he assumed was the motel.

She was such a mom sometimes, it made him smile.

The motel wasn't great, but it beat lazing around in a hospital bed all night and day. Los Angeles was warm in the spring whereas winter would still linger in the New York air. He didn't miss the cold, but he did long to walk down its familiar streets and take the subway, to marvel at gigantic skyscrapers as they shimmered in the night. LA didn't have the same charm. And Gunner wanted out. Fast.

He held Audrey's hand on one end and Leah's on the other. Out of the corner of his eye he watched his wife intently concentrate on the route they were following. Her beauty shone even in the most simple of moments, and he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"I love you," he said. "And I would show you how much but..." His eyes fell to their absentminded daughter before he diverted his gaze to Audrey. "We should get another room. I'm sure a night isn't that expensive."

Her mouth twitched like she was fighting back a smile. The script of their married life was being written, and from what he could see so far, implied more good years to come. "You almost died a few weeks ago and this is the first thing on your mind? Are you even healthy enough for it?"

"I feel fine, Audrey. David said we could start having sex again as long as we take it slow. Besides, I'm only on pain meds and I'm not helpless. Stop worrying so much about me."

"I worry because I care about you."

"I know, Rey. But I still wanna be close to you again."

Gunner turned his face away and drank in the scene as they stepped foot on the motel property. "We haven't spent time together since before I left for LA. I missed you."

She shook her head with a smile. "We can check later. Let's talk out some things first."

Where they were lodging reminded him of the shelter he spent his initial visit in New York many years ago. It also summoned painful memories of Audrey and Tucker two months prior. To think that the past had been so rough, and the present now bright, yet the future still unknown. With his wife and their children, he had better days to look forward to. Once their move out of NY was finalized too, then they could push the restart button on their relationship and it would be like the addiction, the homelessness, the court hearings never happened.

Three cars sat in the lot but there was no sign of any existing guests in the motel. They headed up to the second floor where Audrey dragged him to a door situated at the end of the hallway. 201, he read, and it felt like home.

Home was where Audrey was.

Unlocking the door with the key she pulled out of her pocket, it opened and he was hit with the familiar smell of his wife. Her flowery aura was floating above his head, familiar and inviting. The room itself wasn't stellar, however, it would suffice. The only bed in the room was neat and everything else was tidy. Gunner smiled; it was just like her to put things in order.