He steps aside so she can pass and then moves closer to me, looking a little nervous, and I can feel my pulse rising. “Please don’t be nervous. I just . . . I’m so sorry, Jessica.”

“I am too.”

He moves to the side of my bed. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I was such an asshole. Everything I said to you, it wasn’t true. I don’t want you to leave. Ever. I want . . . well, I want it all with you, and I was angry and scared I’d lose you.”

As much as I want to be angry, I’m not. I love him, and I may hate what happened, but I also know what it’s like to live without him. I never want to do it again.

“I wasn’t going to leave,” I say the words that he wouldn’t hear before. “I was happy because I knew that staying with you was all I wanted. Not because of the baby but because of us. Because of you and Amelia. I wanted the future before us, and . . .”

“I love you,” he says matter-of-factly. “I love you, and I didn’t want to watch you walk away again. I thought that pushing you out would give you the life you really wanted.”

I shake my head. “You’re the life I want.”

“Then stay with me, Jess. Let me make it up to you.”

If he were any other man, I might not give in so easily, but it’s Grayson. The other half to my soul and the only man who has ever held my heart. We had a fight, and instead of giving up, I’m going to fight for him—for us.

“Grayson . . .” I say as tears fall. “The baby . . .”

He steps forward, his hands cupping my cheeks. “Did we lose her?”

My tears fall harder, and I wrap my fingers around his wrist. “No.” I look over at the monitor. “He or she is still in there, but they’ve warned me. I’m very early in the pregnancy, and this has been . . . traumatic. We need to be prepared.”

Listening to the doctor explain the risks and possibilities was incredibly hard. If we’re lucky, we will have a healthy baby. But it’ll be weeks of testing and monitoring to make sure that neither of us have residual issues.

Grayson’s forehead drops to mine. We breathe each other in. “No matter what, I’m right here. I won’t let you go.” And then he climbs in the bed with me, his arms wrapped tightly around me, holding me to his chest. “You will never lose me again, love, because there’s no one else in this world who ever had my heart. Rest, I’ll hold you and keep the nightmares away.”

I close my eyes, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, and sleep dreamlessly for the first time in months.