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And I felt strong, infused with the power of forgiveness and devotion

Three Months Later

The soft sunlight filtered through the gauzy curtains Dahlia had hung over the bedroomIt spilled down over their bed, and Michael rested his chin on his arm as he watched Dahlia sleep

Her sling had come off yesterday, and it was the first time in three months he’d seen her look relaxed in her sleep There was still soe—but Michael thought she wouldn’t be fully healed for another few months yet

Her long lashes fluttered in her sleep and contentment washed over him

She was beautiful She didn’t need a scrap of makeup to be beautiful It shone out of her Even ed to Ivy Green’s rescue and helped him apprehend Freddie Jackson

Nothing could ever have prepared Michael for the al fear that rushed over hi wheeled out of her apart on a stretcher To sit with her in the ambulance as she lay unconscious, chalk white …

Shot

He knew then he’d been wrong when he said he could exist without her, but he couldn’t live without her Michael knew he couldn’t even exist in a world where she was no more

And he didn’t give a fuck if that made him weak

He reached out and trailed the back of his knuckles down her arm They were a pair, him and her The halves of one whole Neither of theether was pro

of of that Michael hadher recovery so he could take care of her He’d helped her shower, he’d held her when she woke up, sweating with nightns of trauh her fears since she didn’t want to go back to seeing a therapist

The nightmares eventually stopped

But Michael never left

She o