Reunited with His Long-Lost Nurse

‘I want you to understand.’

‘Understand what, exactly?’ Again, that gentle voice that threatened to creep under his skin.

He fought against it.

‘That this is who I am. This is why I can’t be the man you want me to be. I was never him.’

‘I don’t believe that,’ she disagreed, shaking her curls furiously. ‘You’re more than just an extension of someone else, here to make amends for an event that happened at your birth, and over which you had absolutely no control. You deserve more than that, Liam. You always have.’

And Liam couldn’t say what it was about her reaction that made him feel less...broken. As though he wasn’t as culpable as he’d somehow believed.

‘He blamed me for a reason, Talia.’

‘No, he took his grief out on you,’ she countered. ‘A baby. And it was the cruellest, saddest thing he could have done. But that doesn’t make you all those horrible things he’s always told you that you are. And you’re not the only one with regrets, Liam.’

‘The only regret you should have is ever meeting me,’ he told her vehemently.

‘I don’t believe that. And if you really believe it then it’s a problem we’re going to have to work on. Together.’

She sounded so positive, so hopeful it scraped at him. He braced himself against the unwelcome sentiment. That wasn’t the point of this conversation.

What was the point of it, then? a snide voice echoed in his mind, but he shoved it aside.

Talia needed to believe there was more to him than there was. She wanted to understand why he didn’t love her the way he suspected she had once loved him. She didn’t understand why he wasn’t capable of doing so, and he’d never been able to tell her.

But perhaps now he could.

Maybe this was his chance to finally show himself to her for who he really was. Prove to her, once and for all, that he wasn’t worth her attention or kindness. This could be his final gift to her before he left the island.

‘No, you’re not listening to me,’ he bit out. ‘There is no we.’

His voice was harsher than he’d intended but that couldn’t be helped. He felt more broken now, opening up to Talia, than he ever had before.

And yet, somehow, something inside him felt more...whole than it had in a long time. Perhaps ever.

‘Was there no one else?’ Her voice cut across his thoughts, shocking him.

There was no hurt in her tone, it was simply brimming with compassion. He hated that he didn’t deserve it.

‘Tell me more about your grandmother.’

‘I told you, I don’t remember much.’ He tried to dismiss the question but that felt too much like dismissing Talia, and suddenly he found he couldn’t bring himself to do that.

‘I have a few vague memories of her. She made life more...bearable. I think I remember her arguing with my father, and then she was never around again. Whether she’d cared for me or not, the long and short of it was that it wasn’t enough to stick around. I wasn’t enough to stick around for.’

‘You don’t know that, Liam.’ Talia shook her head vehemently. ‘You’ve never told me about your father before, but he seems...awful. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Maybe your grandmother had no choice.’

‘Maybe,’ was all he replied.

Because he’d told himself that same thing for years to make himself feel better. But when it came down to it, it didn’t matter if it was true or a lie, it still meant she’d walked away and he’d been left alone with a man who resented his very existence.

‘And there was no one else at all?’ she hedged, after a few moments.

‘I don’t need anyone else.’

It occurred to him that his choice of tense was all too telling.

‘We all need someone, Liam. Someone to fight for us. To be on our side.’