puppy when we got home. Mom said sure. It was a long way, and my legs got tired, but she said we didn't have enough money to take a city bus. I held her hand all the way to the bus station."
Gabe stared blindly at the wall, seeing it all again, living it all again. "When we got to the bus station, she sat me on a tall wooden bench. My feet didn't touch the floor. The hard wood hurt my back. She looked down at me and said, 'Stay right here, Gabe. Don't move. No matter what happens, don't move from this spot. And don't talk to anyone. Anyone, you hear?'
"Then she stared at me for the longest time. She finally said, 'I have to do this, because I love you.' Her face looked blank. It made my stomach ache."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "When she turned away, I knew. Somehow I knew she was never coming back. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Inside, I screamed and screamed. But I watched my mother walk away and didn't say a word. I just sat there. I sat there all day on that hard bench, clutching my backpack, hungry, thirsty and so scared I wanted to die. I didn't move an inch. I didn't cry. But she didn't come back.
"And I didn't speak again for over a year."
His voice broke. "Maybe if I'd been able to call out to her. Maybe if I'd been different, been better, she would have stopped. Turned around. Stayed." He squeezed her hand. "I'm calling out to you, Tessie. Don't walk away from me. Don't leave me. Please."
His heart shattered inside of him, fear and hurt and betrayal that had been locked up hard and tight and safe for so many years. "If you come back, I promise I'll be with you, always. I'll spend the rest of my life making you happy." He clenched his teeth against the pain, but a helpless cry broke from the back of his throat. "Fight, Tessie. Find your way back to me. I need you."
Shaking, he buried his face in the blanket. He battled the white-hot torment, but he had no defenses left. Sharp claws shredded his insides, ripped him open. His body shuddered. The tears he'd refused to shed all those years ago leaked out and spilled onto the delicate, limp hand under his cheek.
He didn't know how much time passed before he finally realized someone was stroking his hair. "Mel?" he rasped. Ashamed she'd caught him crying, he jerked upright.
And met Tessa's amber gaze.
Clear and lucid, her gaze clung to his. His heart bucked into a wild gallop. "Tessie! Oh, God, you're awake!" He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her mouth. "Do you know who I am?"
Her lips wobbled in a crooked smile. "Bond," she whispered, her voice weak. "Gabe Bond."
His spirit soared. He grinned at her. "Hang on, honey." He turned toward the door. "Somebody get in here," he roared.
Gabe's bellow assaulted Tessa's tender eardrums and she flinched. Confused, she squinted at the jabbering crowd that swarmed over her, poking, prodding and peering. A blond woman flashed a bright light in her eyes, sending white-hot spears through Tessa's brain. Her head throbbed as though someone had slammed a sledgehammer into her skull. "Gabe," she cried.
"I'm right here, baby." He stayed by her side, adamantly refusing when one of the women tried to force him to leave.
"Where? What?"
"You're in the hospital. You're going to be fine."
She clung to his hand. "Make them stop."
He stroked her face. "I wish I could. But you've got to let them do their job."
"Get Mel. She'll stop it."
He gave a crack of laughter. "I'm afraid even Mel is outranked this time. The tests will be over soon."
Voices babbled, the bed shook and lights whirred by overhead. She focused on Gabe's face, her only security in a sea of confusion. Suddenly, her bed slid forward. She lost sight of him and found herself entombed in a tiny metal chamber. "Gabe?"
His voice answered. "I'm with you on headphones. They're doing a CAT scan. You'll be out in no time." His voice crooned into her ears.
"Are you singing?"
"Yeah."
"Thought they were scanning the cat. Not killing it."
His rich, warm chuckles filled her ears. "Hey, don't knock my rendition of 'Blue Suede Shoes.'"
Tessa closed her eyes.
"You still with me, Tessie?" Gabe's whisper was soft in her ear.
She forced up her heavy eyelids and saw his face hovering over