Page 61 of Amnesty

“I’m not Sadie,” I whimpered. Why did it always come back to that? Even after the mind-blowing (and I meanmind-blowing) lovemaking, I still just had to say that.

“I don’t care.”

I blinked. Blinked again.

He smiled slowly.

I started to cry again.

Oh my God, I was a mess. The emotions were too real. Too raw. To overwhelming.

Eddie’s eyes darkened, and he pulled me close. When my cries softened into sniffles, he sat me down.

He washed me, his hands like heaven. Far gentler than mine had been. When he was done and I was squeaky clean, I did the same for him.

By the time we were both washed, the water was cold and I was shivering. Eddie used the towel to dry me off, then quickly dried himself. After swiping the fog off the mirror, I stared at myself again.

“You’re still the same as you were this morning,” he said gently, appearing in the mirror behind me.

I tilted my head. “Are you?”

His eyes flickered. “Maybe not.”

I turned my back on my reflection. His arms came around my waist.

Tipping my chin up, I studied him. “But you still love me?”

A definitive answer bloomed in his eyes. My heart sang.

“There is one thing you will always be able to count on. One thing that willneverchange,” he told me.

I tilted my head to the side. “That the sun will always rise?”

He shook his head. “More surer than that.”

“More surer?” I echoed.

“The surest.”

My fingers played in the wet curls at the base of his neck. The blue of his eyes was so bright everything else looked black and white.

“How much I love you,” he whispered, resting his forehead against mine. “That will never change.Ever.”

For the first time in quite a while, I remembered why it didn’t really matter who I actually was… because he loved me.

I never wanted to hear her cry like that ever again.

Ever.

I knew today was hard on her, but I didn’t think it resonated with me until the sound of her gut-wrenching sobs echoed through the laundry room, reaching into her bedroom, and effectively bottomed out my guts.

I was so horrified; I wanted to hold her instantly. The urge to rush to her was immediate. But the sound, it was so painful, so hollow I sank onto the end of her bed for long moments, just letting it beat me up until I was bleeding inside.

When I realized she’d left the hospital, my first thought was to find her and make sure she was okay. I knew she was tired. Her haggard appearance made that perfectly clear.

I didn’t know, though.

I didn’t understand until I heard that cry.

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