“Do you mean that?” Ellis asked, his eyes widening.

I took his hand and nodded. “You protected me, got hurt for me, and seeing you like this…” I trailed off as hot tears sprang to my eyes.

Sniffling, I squeezed Ellis’ hand. He tried to sit up and I propped up some pillows behind him so he wasn’t lying flat.

“Olivia, I never should have let you walk away that day. There is so much I want to tell you and I will explain everything,” he said, ...