I stroked William’s hand while he slept. Held it and rubbed my thumb up and down. I turned it over and looked at his palm. Slid my fingers over the callouses at the base of each finger.

Please wake up.

The monitors beeped, and a nurse came in to check on him. She didn’t have much to say. I knew he’d come to after surgery, then they’d transferred him to a regular room. But since they’d brought me to him, he hadn’t opened his eyes.

I was terrified of what was going to happen when he woke up.

Logically, I knew he wasn’t in a coma. He was sleeping off the anesthesia from the surgery that had removed the bullet from his shoulder. He’d probably been given something for pain, which could make him sleep longer.

But logic wasn’t holding much sway with me. Not after watching him get shot. Taking the bullet meant for me.

“Ivy?”

I turned at the quiet voice.

Eric looked around the curtain. “Can I come in?”

I kept hold of William’s hand and nodded.

“You’ve been here all night, haven’t you?” he asked.

“What time is it?”

“A little after eight,” he said.

“In the morning?”

He nodded.

“Then yes, I have.”

“You should get some rest,” he said.

“Not until he wakes up.”

He nodded again. “How is he?”

“Surgery went fine,” I said. “What are you doing here? Did you hear about this already?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Perks of the job. I talked to the police a little while ago. Have they talked to you yet?”

“At the scene,” I said. “I told them what I could.”

“I wanted to let you know there won’t be any charges pressed,” he said.

“Is that your doing, or because it was obviously self-defense?”

“A little of my influence, but mostly because of the circumstances,” he said. “They’re already finding all sorts of damning evidence against Blake. That was attempted first-degree murder, clearly premeditated. The gun was stolen. There’s evidence he tried to hire someone to kill you, but it fell through. Might be why he took it upon himself. He was getting sloppy at the end.”

“William thought he owed a lot of money to loan sharks,” I said. “Gambling debts.”

“He was right,” Eric said. “Enough that Blake was probably afraid for his life. Justifiably so.”

“What was killing me going to accomplish?” I asked.

“It would have put control of your accounts into Blake’s department at Dorset Financial,” he said. “At least temporarily. Long enough for him to attempt to embezzle some of your funds. There are other ways he could have stolen money, but I suspect at this point, it was personal.”

“I can’t believe this happened.”

“It’s a good thing William was with you,” he said.

I nodded again.

“I’m glad to hear he’ll be okay. Make sure you get some rest.” Eric left, and the curtain swished closed behind him.

My body ached with fatigue, but I couldn’t sleep until William woke up. I certainly wasn’t going to leave him here alone.

The image of him collapsing to the ground was burned in my mind. Blood soaking his clothes. Blake’s lifeless form on the street next to us. I was glad Blake was dead. Maybe I should have felt guilty about that, but I didn’t. He’d tried to kill me, and he’d almost killed William. I was glad he was gone.

William’s hand twitched beneath mine. I watched his face, anxiety making my heart pound. His eyes cracked open, then closed again. He took a deep breath, his chest rising, and opened them again. Looking around, he blinked a few times, his movements slow and halting.

“William?”

His eyes came to rest on me and his brow furrowed, like he was confused. He licked his lips and blinked again.

Please know me. Please know who I am. “Hey.” I squeezed his hand. “Do you know where you are?”

He glanced around again, his eyelids heavy, and nodded. “Hospital.”

I swallowed hard, afraid to ask for fear of the answer. “Do you know who I am?”

His piercing blue eyes returned to mine, focused and clear. “Of course. You’re my Ivy.” He paused. “Did I save you?”

Tears stung my eyes and I smiled. “Yes, baby. You did.”

“Good.” His face relaxed and his eyes drifted closed. He squeezed my hand and I held his in both of mine.

He had saved me. In more ways than I could ever have imagined. He’d saved my life—literally and dramatically. But he’d also saved my heart, well before I’d had a gun pointed at me.

I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to explain the ivy-covered wall. How he’d seen it, before he’d even once heard my voice. Why it had shone so clearly in his mind that he’d been compelled to paint it, over and over. How it had not only been real, but the site of an attempt on my life. If we hadn’t stopped to look at it, we might not have seen Blake coming. He could have shot us both on that deserted street and walked away before anyone saw.

But he hadn’t. William had known. He’d known from the beginning that he would save me. And he’d been right.

Maybe he hadn’t appeared on this planet out of nowhere, a man with no past, his mind filled with images of a woman named Ivy—the woman he’d been created to protect. He was just a man who’d grown up in Alaska. Who’d followed his instincts and left his hometown.

I suspected very few people would believe me if I told them the series of events that had brought us together. But I looked at him—at this man who had captured me, body and soul—and I knew it was meant to be. I didn’t need to know how or why. I was his, and he was mine. He would forever be my protector, and I would forever be his love.

I leaned forward and laid my head on the edge of the bed. Exhaustion swept over me like a wave, leaching out every last bit of energy I had left. My eyes closed, and just before I fell asleep, I felt William’s fingers sliding through my hair.

His voice, low and soft. “Sleep now, my sweet Ivy. I’ll be here when you wake up. I’ll always be here.”