"I know."
"You broke my heart."
"I know." Marianne felt tears pricking at her eyes. "And I can't undo that. Can't take back the words I said or the choices I made. All I can do is tell you the truth now and hope it's not too late."
"The truth." Isla laughed, the sound bitter. "Which truth? That you love me? That you're sorry? That you want another chance?"
"All of it." Marianne closed the remaining distance between them, stopping just out of reach. "I love you. I'm sorry. I want another chance, even though I know I don't deserve one."
"You're right. You don't deserve one."
The words hit like a physical blow, but Marianne didn't flinch. "I know."
"You left me when I needed you most. Recommended my suspension. Watched while the institution we both served tried to destroy me."
"I know."
"And now you want me to forgive you because you finally did the right thing? Because you quit a job that was already compromised?"
"No." Marianne shook her head. "I don't expect forgiveness. I don't expect anything. I just needed you to know that I'm sorry.That I was wrong. That the fear that controlled me for so long isn't in charge anymore."
Isla stared at her, expression unreadable. The quiet held, thick with everything that had been said and unsaid over the past weeks.
"I've been so angry," Isla said finally. Her voice was rough. "Angry at the hospital. Angry at Shaw. Angry at the whole system that decided I was a liability instead of an asset. But mostly I've been angry at you."
"I deserved it."
"You did." Isla's hands clenched at her sides. "You were the one person I let myself trust. The one person I let see behind the walls. And you used that vulnerability against me."
"I didn't?—"
"You walked away." Isla's voice rose. "When things got hard, when you had to choose between your safety and our relationship, you walked away. You told me we were a mistake. You made me feel like an idiot for believing we had a future."
"I'm sorry." The words felt inadequate, but they were all Marianne had.
"Sorry doesn't fix it." Isla turned away, her shoulders tight with tension. "Sorry doesn't undo the weeks I spent questioning everything. Wondering if you ever really loved me or if I was just convenient. Trying to figure out how I could have been so wrong about someone."
"You weren't wrong." Marianne reached out, then dropped her hand before it could touch Isla's shoulder. "Everything I said when we were together was true. I love you. I loved you then, and I love you now. The only lie was when I ended it. When I told you we were a mistake."
"Then why did you say it?"
"Because I was terrified." The admission came out raw, stripped of all the professional polish Marianne usuallymaintained. "Because I've spent my whole life protecting myself from exactly this kind of vulnerability. Because loving you meant risking everything, and when the pressure got too intense, I chose the coward's way out."
Isla finally turned to face her. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her jaw tight with contained emotion. "What's different now?"
"I am." Marianne held her gaze. "I stood up in front of the board today and told them they were wrong. I risked my career, my reputation, my professional future. I did the thing I was most afraid of, and I survived."
"So you're brave now? Just like that?"
"No. I'm terrified now. But I'm not letting the fear make my choices anymore." Marianne took a breath. "I came here because I needed you to know the truth. That I love you. That I was wrong. That I'm willing to fight for us if you'll give me the chance."
"And if I won't?"
"Then I'll accept that. I'll understand." Marianne's voice was steady despite the tears falling down her cheeks. "But I needed to try. I needed to do this one thing right, even if it doesn't change anything."
The silence stretched between them. Marianne could hear her own heartbeat, could feel the weight of everything riding on this moment.
Then Isla moved.
