She grabbed Jax’s hand as she reached out to steady her. “You promised to always love me the way you did when we got married.”

Jax pulled her hand away. “Things changed.”

“We changed, both of us,” she said, waving her hand between them, “and I lost my mind when I lost you. I have no explanation for what I did, but I am sorry.”

Jax bunched her jacket in her hands and still wouldn’t look at her. “I don’t think I can forgive you.”

“Then hate me until I prove to you I would never do anything like that again. I didn’t try to stop you from leaving the first time, and I refuse to make that mistake again.”

“Just let me go.”

Gretchen flinched at Jax’s loud voice. “I can’t.”

“Please,” Jax cried. She took a deep breath. “I do hate you. I hate you for destroying our marriage, and I hate you for making me believe we could fix it. I hate you for making me believe in you again.” Jax wiped her nose. “You know why you let me go before?” She didn’t wait for Gretchen to answer. “Because you knew I was going to leave you anyway. How fucked-up is that? You knew I was going to go, so instead of talking to me, you said see ya later and kicked me on my way out.”

Tears made Gretchen’s eyes hurt, but she was powerless to stop them. “Well, I don’t hate you—I never could. And you can chalk that up to me not remembering all the bullshit built up between us, but I refuse to believe that.” She squared her shoulders. “Because when I look at you, I see the same woman from that first day in the library. I see the person who vowed forever, and I see the woman who held our newborn son like he was the most precious thing on earth.”

“Gretchen—”

“Who I don’t see is the woman who left or the woman who moved on with the nanny. So no, I don’t hate you. And even if you leave this hospital room, I will not stop fighting for us.” Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with an odd calm from either knowing how strong emotion could hurt her, or from believing so deeply in the love she felt. She didn’t know which, and she didn’t care.

Jax looked contemplative, but she only let out a long breath. Turning, she bumped into Dr. Melendez.

“Gretchen, what are you doing out of bed?” Dr. Melendez pushed Jax aside gently to get to her. She held her elbow gently and looked at her in concern. “You should know better by now.”