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M atias remained silent, looking out the door and then facing me with an I’m sorry expression on his face. As if to make up for it, he held up the bouquet.

“Got you something,” he offered with his boyish smile.

I couldn’t help it…I smiled back. It was so good to see him. To see him alive, standing, walking—well, limping —but moving and just… alive . “I’m so happy you’re okay,” I said, my voice cracking.

Being the gentle soul that he always was, Matias caught it, and limped his way to the bed, taking a seat on the edge. He reached out and brushed away a stray tear as he rested the flowers on my lap. “Hey,” he cooed, “it’s okay. We all made it…including your brother.”

My eyes widened at the news, my heart skipping a joyful beat. “Jacob’s alive too?”

Something flickered in his expression, but he forced a smile. “Yeah, he’s alive too.”

“How—what happened?”

His brows furrowed as he grabbed a lock of my hair and twisted it gently between his fingers. “You don’t remember?”

I blinked, trying to recall it all, but the memories were choppy, lacking fluidity and order. “I remember most things, I think. But so much feels blurry.”

“Hmm,” he murmured incredulously.

“What? Why did you do that?” I didn’t like the way he made that sound.

“Nothing,” he said too quickly. “It’s fine.”

“Matias,” I said, drawing out the syllables of his name in warning.

He looked away, grabbing at the flowers again. “It’s fine, Mara. Nothing you should be worried about.”

“Ugh,” I grumbled. “I swear, Matias, if you don’t spill the beans—”

“Okay, okay,” he said with a chuckle, hands up in a defensive position. “Look, the doc says your memory might…might not be the most reliable for a while.”

“What?” The jerk laughed again. Apparently, my expression of total disbelief and horror was amusing to him. “It’s not funny, Matias.”

“I know,” he mustered between chuckles, “but your face totally is.” I reached behind me and grabbed my pillow to whack him, but then totally regretted it, wincing in pain as my arm throbbed.

Catching it, Matias reached out and pushed my hands down, holding them in my lap.

“Try not to make sudden movements. You’re beat up just as bad as I am. ”

I glared, causing him to snicker again. I swear, I was going to beat this boy in his sleep. “Matias,” I warned again.

“All right, all right…I’m sorry.” He sighed, but the smile lingered on his face for a moment before it finally dropped and the seriousness returned. “Look, when you fell off the cliff, you landed in the ocean. Remember that?”

My mind recalled the eternal darkness, the burn in my lungs, and instantly I felt my heart quicken. I shook my head, trying to get myself out of the memory. The last thing I needed was to be mentally back in that place again. “Yeah, I remember.”

He nodded and continued. “You were in that water for a while, Mara. And the entire time you were in there, I never once saw you come up for air.”

I swallowed, feeling my chest tighten. “Did I…did I die?”

Matias parted his lips but hesitated, his eyes flickering as he calculated his response.

“I—I don’t know. You were unconscious when he pulled you out of the water.

It took us a while to revive you too, but eventually the CPR worked and you came to.

But the doc said that since he doesn’t know how long you were unconscious underwater, there’s no way for him to know if there’s…

” He let the sentence drop, the word hanging right there.

“What, Matias? There’s what?”

He looked away from me, hesitating, not wanting to tell me.

This time, when I said his name, it came out as a plea. “Matias, please …”

He glanced at me as he sighed heavily. “Look, there’s a chance that there could be brain damage. But the doc said his test showed your brain looked good. Everything was registering normally, and he believes that there shouldn’t be any permanent damage.”

“No permanent damage?” I repeated.

He offered me a smile. “Yeah. He said there could be some short-term memory loss, but he really thinks that even that is slim. You’re going to be fine, Mara. Just fine…” He reached out and caressed my cheek again, and I closed my eyes to feel into it.

I was going to be fine. The doctor believed it, and I needed to believe it too. I took in a deep breath, feeling a twinging pain in my chest as I held it, and released it slowly. “So…what happened? I remember falling off the cliff and I remember falling into the water. But that’s it.”

He shifted in the bed, curling one knee up next to mine while his other leg hung off the edge.

“There’s not much else, really. Calista helped me with your brother since he was out.

He hit his head when he fell, but he’s fine now,” he added quickly.

“Between the two of us, we dragged him to the dinghy and then we drove it out past the breaking point and signaled the boat to come get us.”

“What about Wes?”

Matias licked his lips. “He had you. Once we got the boat to pick us up, we searched for you guys. It took us a minute, but we found you.”

“Wes was with me?” My brows knitted together in confusion. “But I don’t remember him falling.”

Matias smiled softly, placing his hand over my own. “He didn’t fall, Mara. When you fell, he jumped in after you.”

I inhaled sharply, chest tightening. Wes jumped in after me? “What?” The single word came out as a whisper.

“He did. He didn’t even hesitate. I watched you fall off the cliff, and then suddenly Wes was diving in after you.

None of us know how the hell you both made it past all those rocks, but you did.

And once he found you, he swam you out as far from the rocks as he could.

And then he did everything he could to keep you above water until we found you guys. ”

I closed my eyes, feeling the tears beginning to fall again. Wes saved me. He saved me like he always had. Always coming after me, no matter how bad the odds. Even after I screwed everything up between us, he came after me anyway.

“Once we got you on the boat, he started CPR and got you breathing again. But you were completely out of it. Nothing you said made sense, and you were shaking. We got you as warm as we could, and we got the hell out of there. Once we got back to shore, they medivacked you to the nearest medical unit to stabilize you.” He furrowed his brows.

“You really don’t remember any of that?”

I racked my brain, but the last thing I remember was being in the water. “No. I…I can’t remember anything.”

“Wow… Well, I’m sure it’ll come back eventually. The doc said any memory loss would be temporary,” he reminded me.

At least that was good news. But it didn’t matter, really. I was alive. We were all alive, except for poor Harper. And Wes…Wes saved me. My heart suddenly ached. “I screwed it all up, didn’t I?”

“What do you mean?”

“With Wes. I screwed it all up.” Matias stayed quiet, and I knew it was silent confirmation. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Matias cleared his throat softly. “Mara, I’ll be the first to admit that you and Wes being over totally fits into my fantasy of you and I getting back together.”

I rolled my eyes, “Matias…”

He lifted a hand. “Hear me out.” He cleared his throat again.

“I know this whole thing is screwed up. I don’t know all the details with President Calvernon, but if everything you told me is true, then I understand why you did what you did.

But it didn’t work. It didn’t work, and now we’re here, your brother included.

And I don’t see a way out of this mess without—” He hesitated, licking his lips.

“Without telling him. You’ve got to tell him the truth. You’ve got to tell him everything.”

I felt heat flash throughout my body as the thought of confronting Wes sent chills down my spine.

I knew Matias was right. I had to come clean.

Wes had to know the truth, but… “What if he never forgives me? What if lying to him is too big of a betrayal for him to ever love me again?” Each word felt like a stab to my heart.

Matias’s eyes shimmered, and I knew that the next words he shared came from the depths of his soul. “Mara, if Wes loves you half as much as I do, then there is nothing you could ever do or say that would take that love away.”

My lips parted, my hand coming to rest on my chest as love for this boy and sorrow for all that we had and lost filled my heart. I didn’t know what to say. How do you respond to someone who tells you that?

“Matias, I’m so sorry.” Because I was. I was sorry that things didn’t work for us. And even though that whole thing wasn’t my fault, I still felt bad.

Matias leaned in, blinking to clear the tears from his eyes, and I could smell the citrusy notes of him, reminding me of passionate moments in the dark.

He smiled, but hurt played on the lines of face.

“The only thing I regret is not being there for you when I should have been. Don’t apologize, okay?

This was my doing, and I’m a big enough guy to admit that.

” Sincerity filled his gaze for a moment before he blinked and grimaced.

“Don’t let him go, Mara. Don’t make the same mistake twice.

Tell Wes the truth and let him make his own decisions. ”

I nodded, feeling the tears welling up again.

“And,” he started with a devious smirk. “If he’s too much of a hot-head to take you back, then maybe you and I can work something out,” he finished with a wink.

I laughed, feeling the fear and tension easing out of my system. “You’re an opportunist, you know that?”

He leaned back with a shrug. “Since when is that a bad thing?”

I sighed. It felt good to be like this with him again. “So, how’s my brother? You said he was okay, right? Did they figure out what Raúl did to him?”

Matias swallowed hard, the smile wiped clean from his face. “Uh, yeah. He’s fine.”

I cocked a brow. “What? What’s wrong? What aren’t you telling me?”

Matias turned away from me, shaking his head. “He’s fine. He regained consciousness and all that.”

“And?” I pushed, dread pooling in my abdomen.

Matias closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in slow, deep breaths before facing me. “Mara, that procedure they did on him. It’s not good. And…”

“What?” I squeaked out. “And what , Matias?”

Matias sighed again. “The North detained him. Sasha’s trying everything she can to get him released, but they’re not budging. They’re going to make him stand trial.”