He could see the evidence of what his fake amnesia had cost her written clearly on her body in ways that went beyond the visible bandages on her arm.
There were new lines of tension around her eyes that had not been there before, a fragility in her features that suggested something fundamental had been damaged by the experience of thinking she had lost him in the cruelest way possible.
He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, a silent apology and promise combined, then allowed his own eyes to close as sleep finally claimed him as well.
His last conscious thought was gratitude that they had both survived to have this moment, that against all odds and despite all the forces that had tried to separate them, they were here together and would soon make that bond permanent and legally unbreakable.
