Her legs start trembling the moment they touch the floor. With one hand on her shoulder and the other holding hers, I help her take a small step.
With small, slow steps, we reach the balcony. It's evening now, and the air is cool without being cold. The ocean glows with the orange light of the setting sun.
“I want to s-sit.”
“Let’s sit, then,” I say softly.
I lead her to the chair facing the ocean and help her settle into it. She has the view from here. I move the table aside and place my chair right in front of her, so I can see the most beautiful view too.
Her face no longer looks lifeless. It hasn’t regained all its color and shine, but at least she looks alive. Her eyes are still dull and tired, but none of this can reduce the beauty of my wife.
Technically, she isn’t my wife anymore. Now that I know I’m Salvario, and Hunter was that bastard who is now dead, our marriage holds no value on paper, but I’ve made a habit of calling her my wife. I’m still wearing the ring. She isn’t. I want to make her wear it again, but not when she can’t recognize it.
I’m afraid she never will. Her psychiatrist said the chances of her losing my memory permanently are very slim, but they are not zero.
I don’t want her to lose those memories, and it’s only because I’m selfish. I don’t have our memories, and I want her to share hers. There’s another reason too, and it’s very plain: I just don’t want her to forget me.
She looks at me, and a faint shade of pink covers her pale cheeks.
“Why are you watching m-me?”
“Because you’re beautiful.”
The pink deepens. She smiles shyly and looks away.
I lift my hand and bring it to her face. She flinches when I touch her cheek. She stares at me with parted lips as I tuck the strands away from her cheek and behind her ear, caressing the path as I go.
When her eyes don’t move and her mouth doesn’t close, I lean forward and give in to the temptation of kissing her lips.
She gasps when our mouths meet. I hold her chin gently and kiss her softly. She doesn’t respond, but she doesn’t push meaway either. I don’t go deeper into it, and I pull away a little too early for my liking, since the last thing I want is to freak her out.
She keeps staring at me, stunned, even after I move back. I don’t move too far away though, our faces stay inches apart.
And then she whispers, “Hunter.”
My heart stops. I hold my breath and wait for her to say something more.
Her eyes water as she looks into mine.
“Where were you?” she asks in a trembling voice. “I called for you.” Thick tears fall down her cheeks. “You d-didn’t come. I was alone among those m-monsters.”
I hold her face in my hands and wipe the tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ll never let that happen again. I’ll never leave you alone.”
She weakly hits my arm, trying to push my hands away from her face, but she doesn’t have the strength to move them. “You’re lying,” she chokes out the words, her anger tangled with sobs.
“I’m not lying. Please forgive me. I promise I’ll never let any monster near you again.”
She sobs, watching me with unconvinced, angry eyes. I get up from my chair, lift her from hers, and settle back down with her on my lap. I wipe away her constantly falling tears, but she keeps looking at me with hurt and pain in her eyes. It feels like a blade piercing straight through my heart, and I deserve it for leaving her alone with that monster.
I kiss her eyes, over her wet lashes. “I’m sorry, Princess.”
She blinks slowly, and her eyes slowly lose focus.
Chapter 43
Salvario
One month later
