Page 107 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“Do you believe in fate?” I finally ask.

“I’m not sure,” she says hesitantly.

“I do. I believe fate brought us together, Willow. I feel a connection with you that I've never felt with anyone before. You're constantly on my mind.”

Which isn't a lie. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven't thought about my little rabbit. Every drop of blood spilled, every terrible life ended, it’s all been for her. I swore I’d move heaven and earth to find her, and now that I have, she'll never leave me again.

“I feel the same about you, Noah. I don't know how to explain it. It’s like ever since that first kiss, I felt like we’re connected. You're always on my mind. Is that crazy?”

“Is it crazy that I've felt that way since the first time I saw you?” I ask as I tilt her face to look at me.

“Really? You felt it then?”

She doesn’t know that I’m not talking about that day in the elevator. I’m talking about the moment eighteen years ago when we were just kids. I was sitting on a swing at the playground. A girl with bright green eyes and strawberry blonde hair in pigtails walked up to me. Without a word she pulled herself up into the swing next to mine and began kicking her feet back and forth, but she was too short to reach the ground.

I stood up and started pushing her on the swing. Her smile glowed, and her laugh made me smile as she let me push her higher and higher until the bell rang for us to go back into the school. She hopped off the swing and started to run, but stopped and turned back to me holding out her hand. I took her hand, and I remember her smiling up at me when I asked her for her name.

“My name’s Willow Rae Parker.”

That was the day I think my heart knew it would always belong to her.

I nod to her question. I knew back then, just as I knew the day she stepped back into my life, Willow Parker is my forever.

Her eyes have a slight sheen to them as she stares up at me, smiling. I have a feeling she's never allowed herself to fall for another person. She's never trusted anyone enough because of what she went through, and who could blame her? The man who was supposed to love and protect her and her mother ended up ruining her life. She deserves to know it’s okay to love. It’s okay to let someone in, as long as that someone is me.

“I’ve always felt it, Willow. You’re my little rabbit and always will be.”

I pull her up closer and gently kiss her. Showing her how much I care for her with a single kiss. I know she can feel it. The way her lips open for me, her fingers tangling in the fabric of my hospital gown as if she’s worried that if she lets me go, I'll disappear.

“Excuse me, Mr. Anderson?”

The younger nurse from earlier comes around the curtain and is slightly shocked to see Willow on the bed with me, but I don't care.

“Yes?”

“Visitation hours are ending soon. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave when they’re over,” she tells Willow with a bit of irritation in her tone.

“If I pay for a private room, can she stay?” I ask.

“I…well, yes. But I don't know if there are any more private rooms right…” she starts, but I quickly cut her off.

“Then please go find out. And if there is one, I’d like to be moved there immediately because she's not leaving my side.”

I watch the nurse eye me curiously, then look over at Willow. Her eyes narrow in a slight glare before her professional face is bright and shining again.

“Yes, sir. I'll be back in a few minutes.”

She leaves, and only then do I feel Willow relax.

“You didn't have to do that, Noah. I could have just come back tomorrow.”

I wrap my arms tighter around her tucking her head under my chin.

“Willow, I just got you back. There's no way I'm letting you go.”

CHAPTER 49

WILLOW