His eyes said everything his voice couldn’t.
You. Not temporary. Not just the nurse. You.
“I want to believe that.” My voice broke. “But I trusted my judgment with Emma. Thought I knew what she needed, how much time I had. I was wrong. She died because I was wrong.” Tears burned behind my eyes. “How can I trust myself with you when my judgment killed my sister?”
Xavier’s jaw clenched. He released me. Grabbed the notepad again. Wrote three words. Turned it toward me.
You’re wrong again.
“What?”
He wrote more, fast and furious.
Your judgment didn’t kill Emma. Depression killed Emma. Her choice killed Emma. You were 25, working yourself to death, trying to survive. You couldn’t have known. You couldn’t have saved her even if you’d dropped everything and gone to her that night. Sometimes people are too far gone and all the love in the world can’t pull them back.
The words blurred through tears.
You didn’t fail her. You failed to be psychic. There’s a difference.
“It doesn’t feel different.”
“Know.” Just one word, rough and broken.
He wrote more.
But I’m not Emma. I’m not hiding how bad it is. You can see my symptoms. Track my decline. You’ll know if I’m running out of time. You won’t have to guess.
“What if I miss something? What if the seizures get worse and I don’t react fast enough? What if...”
Xavier grabbed my wrist. Gentle but firm. Made me look at him.
His eyes held mine. Steady. Sure.
He took a breath. Forced out three words, each one costing him. “I... trust... you.”
My throat closed completely.
“I don’t know if I trust myself.”
He wrote: Then trust me trusting you.
The logic was circular. Ridiculous.
It also made a terrible kind of sense.
Xavier set down the notepad. Pulled me into his arms. His chin rested on top of my head. His heartbeat steady against my ear.
We stood like that. Silent. Connected.
“I’m still scared,” I whispered against his chest.
He squeezed me tighter. I felt him nod.
“I don’t know who Maeve is. Don’t know what she meant to you. If your memories come back and everything changes...”
His hand slid up. Threaded through my hair. Tilted my face up.
His eyes were fierce. Absolute.
