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Chapter 760:
Cole leaned forward, his voice dropping to barely a whisper.
“I’m here, June,” he said. “I’m right here. No one is going to hurt you p>
June’s eyes fluttered open. Just a crack.
Her vision was blurry, distorted by the fever. The dim lamplight cast shadows across Cole’s face.
And for a moment, she didn’t see Cole.
She saw Caleb.
The same face. The same eyes. The same man who had pulled her from that avalanche. The same man who had died saving her.
The fever burned away seven years of pain and betrayal. It burned away Cole. It burned away everything except that one perfect, redemptive moment.
A single tear rolled down June’s cheek and fell onto the white pillow.
“Don’t go,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and broken.
Cole’s heart skipped a beat. He leaned closer, his ear pressed near her lips.
R𝘦𝘢𝗱 𝘧𝗋𝗼𝗆 𝘺𝗈u𝘳 р𝗁𝗈𝗇е 𝗼𝘯
“What did you say, baby?” he breathed.
June’s lips trembled.
“Caleb p>
The name was barely audible—slurred by fever, muffled by the pillow.
And Cole, desperate. So desperate for any sign that she cared. So desperate for any scrap of love.
He heard Cole. He heard his own name.
June closed her eyes again, more tears streaming down her face. She pressed her cheek against his hand, like a wounded animal seeking shelter.
“I missed you so much,” she whispered. “Please don’t leave me alone again p>
Cole’s breath caught in his throat.
Tears filled his eyes.
He’d been right. All this time. All her coldness, all her hatred, all her rejection—it had just been a wall. A defense mechanism.
Deep down, she still loved him. Deep down, she still needed him.
He had been so afraid he’d lost her forever. But she was still there. She was still his.
Cole bent down and kissed the tear from her cheek—gently, reverently, as though she were the most precious thing in the world. He laced his fingers through hers and pressed her hand against his chest, right over his heart.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “I swear to you, June. I will never leave you again. I love you. So much p>
In the dimly lit hospital room, surrounded by beeping machines, Cole felt something inside him mend. He was whole again. He had his hope back.
And June, still lost in her dream, slept on.
Dreaming of another man.
The first rays of morning sunlight slipped through the blinds, casting striped shadows across the hospital room floor.
The heart monitor beeped steadily.
June’s long eyelashes fluttered.
And she opened her eyes.
The fever was gone. The fog had lifted. Her mind was sharp and clear again—the way it always was. The mind of a top scientist. The mind that calculated every move, every risk, every outcome.
She felt a warm hand wrapped around hers.
A man’s hand. Large. Rough. Familiar.
June turned her head slowly.