I looked like a strung-out junkie by the time news finally came that gave me a glimmer of hope. I’d barely slept—only when my body just gave out and forced me to. I ate when Ella reminded me to, and I spent most of my time either at work at June’s organization to help keep it operational, or in my car on the hunt for information or someone with information. We’d all banded together, her people, my people, and some friends and family of both those sets of people to try and find her.

June didn’t have a lot of friends, I knew that about her, and knew that was because she was a reclusive person when I met her. So it was mainly friends of people she worked with and their families. But her employees seemed to really care about her and they were hardcore into the search, even this teenaged kid, Andrew, who said she’d been helping him out with some pre-college planning. They were all there for me, for her, and we worked hard to find her.

I was on the verge of another collapse when my phone rang.

“Tiago!?” June’s assistant, Elizabeth, blurted my name out. “Turn on the news!”

I grabbed for the remote and switched to the channel she gave me.

…And my whole body froze.

There, battered, bruised, banged up, and alive was June.

I dropped to my knees, my heart racing as I just stared at the image. I felt energy surge back into my body, my pulse exploding through me before I realized I’d stared in awe right through the informational message.

“Fuck! I didn’t catch the number! Elizabeth! Did—”

“I have it here.” She rattled off the number and hung up quickly, so I could call.

The phone was answered on the first ring and a woman’s voice came over the line to ask how she could help me.

“I’m Tiago Morrison, June Morrison’s husband. When can I see her?”

“Who? I’m sorry, I need a little more explanation than that, sir.” Her voice wasn’t snide, just a calm voice that needed more information.

“The woman on the news. The one the hospital had that story on? Her name is June, and I’m her husband, and we’ve been looking for her for days! We didn’t know what happened. When can I see her?”

“Oh, my! That was fast! We thought it would be days before anyone came forward!” The woman gushed over the phone. “If you come down to the hospital with some verification of who you are and who she is, then we can let you see her right away.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Sir! Please! Don’t speed. Take your time, get here safe. She’s got some injuries, but she’s fine, I promise. There’s no need to tempt fate, do you understand?”

I wanted to tell her I didn’t need a lecture, but she was right. “Thanks, I’ll see you soon.”

I ran through the house until I found some kind of identification for June, her passport that she’d forgotten in my safe, and some pictures we’d had printed from our wedding. I had my driver’s license and hoped that was all I’d need. I ran back to the safe for one more thing, our marriage certificate, in case they needed more proof than some pictures.

I drove carefully, as instructed. Elizabeth called, and I talked to her on my way.

“I’m on my way to the hospital now, Elizabeth. They said she’s safe, and not in any danger, so tell everybody to relax. It’s over, we can all rest now.”

I heard a deep sigh and a sob of relief come over the line and wasn’t surprised. June’s staff really did care about her, they’d proven that.

“Thank God! Let me know how she is! And thanks, Tiago. You’ve worked hard to bring home a really great lady.”

“It was your crew that found her, Elizabeth, I should be thanking you. I will, too, for the rest of my life.” I meant it, they’d been as tireless as me in the hunt for June.

“Go see our lost lamb, Tiago. Then get some rest. You deserve it.” She ended the call after that and I drove into the hospital parking lot with a sigh of relief.

I’d almost expected fate to be cruel to us again and stop me from my reunion with June. She might not want to see me, she might refuse to see me, but I didn’t care. As long as I knew she was alright and alive, I’d leave her in peace. That’s all I’d wanted since the moment we all realized she was missing.

I went into the reception area and found the desk I needed. “Hi, I’m Tiago Morrison. I need to speak to whoever is in charge of my wife’s case.”

The man with a bored expression on his face typed on his keyboard, looked at the screen as if it had told a really bad joke, rolled his eyes, then looked back at me with the same bored expression. “Wait here please, someone will come for you.”

I waited for five minutes before a woman came down on the elevator to collect me. “Hi, there, Tiago is it?”

I nodded my head and shook her hand. “I’m April Stone, I’m handling your wife’s case. If you can follow me, please?”

She took me to a small office and there I found a doctor and a nurse waited for us. April made the introductions and we all sat down together.

“Mr. Morrison, can you tell us any identifying marks your wife might have?” April asked politely. “Photos can be deceptive, and we don’t want to raise the young woman’s hopes if we’re all wrong.”

“She has a brown birth mark on her stomach, just to the right of her navel. It’s a splotch and several dots of skin that’s darker than the rest. Not really brown, kind of peach more than brown.”

“That’s right, Mr. Morrison. She does have that mark, April.” The nurse spoke up, and I could have sworn she was so excited she was about to clap. “I’m so glad we’ve found you, at last. And she has a name now! June.” The nurse smiled. “That’s a really nice one too.”

“It is. When can I see her?”

“Could I see the documents please? Also, there’s no rush, but we will need her insurance information if there is any.” April took the documents I handed her and wrote some things down on a form. A full minute ticked by like an eternity, and I was about to go out of my goddamn mind when she smiled, put her pen down, and looked up at me.

“Would you like to see your wife now, Tiago?”

“Uh, a moment, first?” The doctor interrupted. Dr. Edwards April had called her.

“Sure, go ahead.” April sat back down.

“Tiago, your wife has been in a pretty serious accident. Now, before you see her, don’t worry, the baby is fine—”

“Baby?!” I interrupted with wide eyes and shock. “What baby?”

Dr. Edwards smiled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you weren’t aware. But yes, she’s pregnant, Tiago. Not that far along, but pregnant, and the baby is fine. June’s suffered through quite a lot. She’s got a very nasty fracture in her leg that requires traction, several cracked ribs, and a head wound. We have to assume she was in a car accident. There’s no other explanation for her injuries. Do you have any information on that?”

“No, but I’m sure the police can help us piece it together. Or June. Hasn’t she said anything?” I was still kind of stuck on the pregnant part but tried to keep up.

“She’s said quite a lot, Tiago, but as you saw on the news, she has amnesia. I expect it’s only temporary, but,” Dr. Edwards smiled thinly. “You should know that it may not be temporary. She has no idea who she is, you see, and no memory of anything about her past or what brought her to us.”

I sat back in my chair, stunned. What had happened to her? She was pregnant? Why hadn’t she said? Had she even known?

“I think, fuck, I think I need just a second. Shit, sorry,” I swore, while trying to apologize for swearing.

“Don’t apologize, Tiago. It’s a lot to take on board. Take your time.” Dr. Edwards smiled. “If you two can handle the rest, I need to get back to my rounds.”

“Of course, doctor, thank you.” April guided him out of the office and turned to the nurse. “Can you take him to see his wife, Veronica? I need to fill out a few more forms.”

“Sure, April. Do you want to follow me, Tiago? I can take you to see June.”

I stood up, numb as I nodded.

June was pregnant, and she had amnesia. Would she remember me? It was all a swirling mix in my head and I felt a little dizzy.

“It’s a lot to take in, I know.” Veronica led me down a hall, to an elevator, and up to the fifth floor. “We keep our surgical patients up here. She’s going to be with us until her leg has healed, but she’s fine otherwise.”

“How long do you think that will take?” I wanted to bring her home, where I could love her memory back into her.

“Around four to five more weeks, I expect. It’s going to take some time. It was a nasty break.”

I followed the nurse quietly after that. I felt nervous, would she remember me and tell me to fuck off? Or would she have no idea who I was and turn away? I looked down at my wedding band, plain gold but with a very tiny impression of two joined circles on the top. Hers matched mine. Would that help, if she saw how our rings matched?

“Here we are. If you’ll give me just a moment? I don’t want to shock her.” The nurse held a hand out to me before I shook my head. She walked through the open door and I heard her greet a very anxious June.

“Has someone found me?” I heard June’s voice. She was nervous, afraid, but excited.

“They have. Does the name June Morrison ring any bells?” I heard a pause and then the nurse spoke again. “No matter. It’ll all come. What about Tiago Morrison?”

“No, is he my husband?” I heard her quiet voice, always so husky and sensual, but now with a note of worry in it.

“He is and he’s here to see you. Do you want to see him, sweetie?”

“I suppose I do. He’s my husband, right?” She took a deep breath, one I heard all the way in the hallway. “I might remember him, maybe that’s all I need?”

“Don’t worry if you don’t, swee—I’m sorry, I’m so used to not knowing your name. If you don’t remember him, June, don’t stress and worry won’t help.

“Alright. Can you tell him to come in please?” She was so full of anxiety her voice shook.

“I’ll send him right in.” The nurse’s shoes squeaked on the floor as she left the room and came close to me. “Don’t force contact, unless she asks for it, okay? Just greet her and let her do whatever she needs to do. As I’ve just told her, stress won’t help anything. I’ll be at my desk if you need me.”

“I promise, I won’t do anything to upset her.” I just wanted to see my wife. That was all.

“Thank you” Veronica patted my shoulder, and then she walked away.

I stood there, gathered up my confidence, and then took a step into the room.

…It really was her. The voice was right, the swollen face was hers. It was all her.

“June.”

I breathed her name and stopped. She was so tiny in that bed, with that frame that held her leg up in the air. Her headwound had scabbed up, and her bruises had started to fade, but they were in that ugly stage of yellow and green with a few areas that were still a deep purple. It was all her, though. My beautiful wife.

“Hello. You must be Tiago.” She sat up as best she could, brushed her hair behind her ear in that familiar way, and smiled at me. It was the smile she had only for me, the one that lit up her whole face because it was full of love. Her brain might have locked away the memory of who I was, but her body knew me, her muscle memory did.

“I am. I’m your husband.” I’d started out as her fake husband, become a real husband, and lost her within the space of a year. This was a second chance to make her love me all over again, I thought, to make right all the things I’d got wrong. “How do you feel? May I sit?”

“Of course. I suppose they told you I don’t remember anything?” She looked regretful, but her eyes drank me in. That was a good sign. She still liked my looks, at least.

“They did. Listen, if you want me to hang around, I’ll be here as long as you want me here. And if you want me to leave you alone, I’ll do that too. Whatever you want, beautiful. Whatever you need. Anything at all, June, it’s yours.”

“I guess we’ll just have to take it day by day, won’t we?” She looked away for a moment, and I could see pain in her face.

“What’s hurting you?” I sat in the chair beside her bed, but I didn’t move to touch her. The nurse had warned against that.

“It’s just my leg. This is all so weird.”

I smiled wryly. “I bet. One minute you wake up with no idea who you are, and the next you have a husband, a name, and you still can’t remember any of it. That’s gotta be screwing with your head.”

“It’s completely blowing my mind, actually. No offense, but you could be anybody to me.” She tapped a fingernail against her teeth, an old habit, before she stopped and turned her head back to me. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know who you are. How long have we been married?”

“Just a little over a year.” I wasn’t sure what to tell her about our arrangement just now, so I didn’t volunteer anything.

“Wow, still newlyweds then. That explains a lot.” Her hand went to her stomach, but she didn’t say anything about the baby, so I let that go. “What about family? Do I have any?”

“Your father passed away when you were eighteen, I’m sorry to say. Your mother isn’t in your life now.” I didn’t elaborate. Learning her father was dead for the second time in her life was bad enough. She didn’t need to hear about the dirt-bags her parents had been.

“I wish I could remember him.” She said softly, but I couldn’t help but think maybe it was best she didn’t remember him, from the little she’d said about him.

“How old am I?”

I grinned at her, she was full of questions. “You’re twenty-five. Your birthday was in January.”

“Oh, still a spring chicken then. Good.” She grinned, blushing, and I couldn’t help but sigh. She was in there, my wife, my friend, the woman that made me whole.

I’d let her slip away the first time around. I’d let my own stupidity build a wall between us that should never have been there, but I wasn’t going to allow that to happen again.

I would do whatever it took to get her memory back, to get her healthy again, and to help her to remember that she’d loved me once upon a time. If I had to work at it until my last breath.

I’d been given a second chance with her. And this time, I knew what I had to lose.

This time, I’d show her what she meant to me.