I waited until the next day to go back to the hospital. His seventy-two hours were almost over, and I wanted to be able to take him home with me. If he’d come. I had to face the very real possibility that he wouldn’t. But I couldn’t give up on him now.

On the way over, I stopped at a florist and bought a single flower, a purple hyacinth. In the language of flowers, it had represented a plea for forgiveness. I wasn’t sure if he’d know what it meant, but it felt like the right thing to do. I’d spent too much time trying to follow my head, and that had gotten me into this mess. It was time I followed my heart. And my heart said to bring the flower.

I waited at the front desk for them to let me back, my stomach fluttering with nerves. Would he see me? Or would he tell them no?

Finally, a nurse came and led me back. I spotted William instantly, sitting alone at one of the tables, still dressed in a t-shirt and gray sweats.

He glanced up at me as I approached, then looked away. His blue eyes were dull and lifeless. It broke my heart all over again. I couldn’t imagine what his felt like.

I put the flower on the table. His eyes flicked to it, but he looked away again. And he still didn’t say a word.

“It’s a purple hyacinth,” I said. “It used to mean—”

“Please forgive me,” he said, his voice soft.

“Yes,” I said. “Can I please talk to you?”

He didn’t respond, just kept his eyes locked on the table, his head tilted to the side. But he didn’t say no, either.

I pulled out the chair next to him and sat. “William, I’m so sorry for doubting you. Everything inside me has been telling me to believe you. From the first time we met, I’ve trusted you. Even when I didn’t know you, and it didn’t make any sense. When I should have been afraid of you. Do you know why?”

He silently shook his head and absently touched the flower petals.

“Because you’re William.”

He looked at me then, and the flicker of hope in his eyes hit me like a lightning strike to the chest.

“You told me you’ve been sent to save me,” I said. “I’ll be completely honest. I don’t know if someone, or something, sent you. But you’ve been right all along. You did come into my life to save me. You already have.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Yes, you really have,” I said. “Do you know how lonely I was before we met? How disconnected? Most people have someone to turn to when they’re sad or alone. I had my friends, but it wasn’t the same. Jess and Peter have each other. They care about me, but I’ve always been their third wheel. But then I met you. And it was like these little threads started to stitch us together, connecting us.”

He nodded.

“And the remarkable thing isn’t that you know things from my past. It isn’t that you painted things that only exist in my memories. You don’t just know things about me. You know me. Who I am, deep down. That’s not because you had visions, or because of something you painted. You see me. You see every part of me, right down to the core of who I am.”

I reached out and took his hand, my heart soaring when he didn’t pull away.

“I went to the house with the tree yesterday,” I said. “The tree you painted. Do you know what I found?”

He shook his head.

“The tree is gone,” I said. “It’s just a stump. The people who bought the house from my dad had to cut it down fifteen years ago. You’ve never seen that tree with your own eyes, and I’ve seen the picture you painted. I can’t explain how that’s possible with any sort of logic. But when I saw that old, weathered stump, I realized what you’ve been trying to tell me this whole time. How it’s possible isn’t important.”

“Then what is?”

“Us,” I said. “Whatever brought us together, it was for a reason. Because I was meant to be yours, and you were meant to be mine. And maybe someday we’ll know more, and maybe we won’t. But that doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is that I love you, and I need you in my life.”

He looked deep into my eyes, as if he could see straight through me. My heart beat fast. Dread and hope warred for dominance, making my stomach clench and my mouth go dry.

Wrapping his fingers around my hand, he squeezed. “I love you too.”

“Please come home with me,” I said.

He nodded, and I sighed out a deep breath, my body trembling with relief. We stood, and I reached for him, pulling him close. He held me in his arms, burying his face in my neck.

Someone began to clap, and a few more people joined in. William either didn’t notice, or didn’t care. He squeezed me tighter, nearly picking me up off my feet.

* * *

We had to wait for them to return William’s personal belongings and have him sign the necessary paperwork before we could leave. The doctor came to speak with him before we left, urging him to seek treatment. With his usual confidence, William assured him that he was fine.

On the way to pick up Edgar from Jessica and Peter’s house, I told William about Eric Andrews from Homeland Security. How Blake had turned William in using a false story. I expected him to get angry, but he just shook his head.

“See? Desperate,” he said. “It won’t be long and Blake is going to dig himself into a hole he can’t get out of.”

“I just hope it’s a hole that’s far away from us,” I said. “So, Eric tried to find out more about who you are, but he couldn’t. He’d like to talk to you. I think he sees you as a challenge.”

William shrugged. “He’s welcome to look all he wants.”

“You don’t think he’ll find anything.”

“I know he won’t,” he said. “There isn’t anything to find.”

I took a deep breath. “Listen, I know you’re not lying to me. I never thought you were. And I don’t think you’re crazy either. But aren’t you curious? Don’t you wonder if anything came before, and you just can’t remember?”

“No.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to give voice to my thoughts, but there was something I could no longer ignore. “But could you understand that maybe I’d like to know? Let’s entertain the possibility that you do have a past, just for a second. What if you had a family? What if you had someone else in your life? Maybe even a wife.”

He looked at me, his expression serious. “No, Ivy, that’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not.”

I flicked on the blinker and turned a corner. “I appreciate your confidence, but I’d like to be sure.”

“Why?” he asked, and there was something in his tone. He wasn’t angry or frustrated that I was pushing this issue. He sounded… amused.

“Why do I want to know if you have a wife somewhere?” I asked. “I think that’s pretty obvious.”

He held out his left hand. “I don’t have a ring.”

“You don’t have a birth certificate.”

“Fair point,” he said.

“I’m just wondering if you would mind if I told Eric that it’s okay to do some more digging,” I said. “I know you don’t think he’ll find anything. And if he doesn’t, that’s fine. I just want to be sure there isn’t something we’re missing.”

“Like my wife and kids?”

“Stop,” I said, reaching over to smack him playfully on the arm.

He laughed. “All right. If it makes you feel better.”

We picked up Edgar, who was downright joyous at seeing William. His tail whipped back and forth so hard he knocked things off a shelf before we got him outside.

When we got back to my house, I wanted to crumple with relief. Everything felt right with him there, and I knew I was never letting go of William again.