“It’s better that you don’t remember it. Trust me on that.”

“I do trust you. I wish you would trust me enough to talk to me about how it was for you.”

“Don’t make this about trust, Janey. That’s not fair. I trust you more than I trust anyone.”

“I know you do, so trust me to help you get past this by talking to me about it.”

He raised both his hands to his head, running his fingers through his hair repeatedly until the short strands stood straight up. “You’re really going to make me do this?”

“Afraid so.”

“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I won’t.”

He was quiet for a long time, so long she wondered if he’d changed his mind, and then he began to speak in a dull, flat tone that was nothing like his usual animated speech. “The one image I’ll never get out of my head was how much blood there was. I went up to wake you because Blaine and Tiffany were on their way over after their wedding at the lighthouse, and I thought you’d want to be there when they arrived. I couldn’t get you to wake up. I thought you were just really asleep, but then I touched you… You were really cold, and for a minute, I thought…” His voice caught and his eyes filled. He covered them with his hands as if to hide his anguish from her.

With her heart breaking for him, Janey wanted so badly to hold him, but she didn’t dare touch him.

“I pulled back the covers, and there was just so much blood. I almost passed out at the sight of it, but I forced myself to move, to scream, to call for David. Thank God he was there. I’d spent so much time—years—hating him for what he’d put you through and then to have him right there when this happened... There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him after what he did for you, for me, for P.J. He was… He was incredible.” Speaking in a whisper, he added, “I’ve never been so scared in my entire life, Janey.” Tears rolled down his face, but he made no move to deal with them as he stared up at the ceiling. “Not even when my father died.”

She went to him then, putting her arm around him and laying her face on his chest.