Chapter 29
Nate
I miss her.
God, I miss her more than I’ve ever missed anything in my life.
Every breath I take without her feels like punishment.
It will take me a lifetime to thank Isabel for standing by me, for every moment she held my hand through hell when I deserved to be left in it.
Even when I tried to push her away—yelled at her, made her feel like she didn’t belong—she didn’t run. She stayed. Until the day she didn’t.
And I ruined it.
I destroyed the one thing that ever made sense in my messed-up world.
She told me she was pregnant…
Then she left.
Two weeks.
It’s been two fucking weeks, and I haven’t seen her, touched her, heard her voice except in my dreams.
I’ve called. Texted. Begged. Nothing.
It’s like she vanished, and with her, the only light I ever had.
Now I’m here—alone again. I’ve lived through war zones, painkillers, surgeries, physical therapy that breaks me down to the bones. But nothing hurts like living in a world where Izzy isn’t mine anymore.
She’s my heartbeat. My gravity.
Without her, nothing makes sense. I feel like a hollowed-out version of the man I used to be.
Sometimes, when I’m too tired to fight the darkness, I swear I smell her perfume. It curls around me, haunting and familiar, like it’s settled into my skin. I wake up reaching for her, whispering apologies into an empty room.
Tonight feels no different—until I hear the soft creak of the door.
My eyes snap open.
And I see her.
Curled in the armchair near my bed, her knees hugged to her chest, her cheek resting against the cushion. She’s fast asleep. My heart stops, then races so fast I feel it in my throat.
Izzy. She’s here. She came back.
I don’t move, afraid this is a dream I’ll shatter if I blink too hard.
The door opens and Alice walks in with a small bag. She sets it down beside Izzy with the quiet care of someone who knows how fragile everything is right now.
“I didn’t want to wake you, Nathan,” she whispers, brushing a hand down my cheek. “I brought Isabel her usual change of clothes.”
“Usual?” I echo, my voice scratchy, my gaze glued to the woman I thought I lost.
Alice smiles softly. “Isabel won’t come to the hotel. She stays here. Every night. She doesn’t want to leave you alone, not even for a few hours.”
I stare at her. Disbelief, guilt, and something dangerously close to hope clawing inside me.
“But… I haven’t seen her.”
Alice shrugs. “She hides when you’re awake. But she’s always been here, Nathan. Watching. Waiting. Loving you in the only way she thinks she still can.”
My throat burns. I turn my head into the pillow, fisting the sheets like a man trying to hold onto something solid while drowning. My voice comes out broken. “I thought she gave up on me.”
Alice’s expression hardens. “She should’ve. You made it damn easy to walk away. But she didn’t. Because that’s who she is.”
She pauses, her tone quiet but sharp as glass. “You don’t deserve her. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fight to become the man who does.”
The door clicks shut behind her, leaving me alone with the weight of her words and the silent figure of my wife only feet away.
I turn to her slowly, letting the pain crash into me like a wave I won’t dodge anymore. My chest rises with a silent sob as tears slip down my cheeks. God, she looks exhausted. Pale. Fragile.
She’s been here all along.
Even when I treated her like she was nothing.
And now—now I see the truth I’ve been too blind to admit:
Isabel is the strongest person I know. Stronger than me.
And I don’t want to spend another second pretending I’m okay without her.
I let the tears fall. No shame. No pride. Just raw, blistering regret.
I’m going to win her back.
Even if it takes the rest of my life.
Because she’s not just the mother of my child.
She’s my home.
My forever.
And I’ll do anything—anything—to make her believe in me again.
When Isabel wakes up and notices me staring at her, her eyes linger on mine for a heartbeat too long before she pushes up from the armchair and quietly walks toward the door.
“Izzy, wait.” My voice cracks, and I push myself upright on the edge of the bed, pain rippling through my body, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except her.
She stops, turns, and slowly walks back to me. There’s wariness in her eyes. Distance. But she still comes.
“Do you need something?” she asks, voice soft—barely more than a whisper, like she’s afraid to disturb the air between us.
“I need you,” I say, locking my gaze into hers. “I’m sorry, baby.”
I reach out and pull her into my arms. She doesn’t resist, but she doesn’t melt into me either. She’s stiff, still guarded. My heart threatens to tear apart at the silence stretching between us.
But then—finally—her arms wrap around me. I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, and for the first time in weeks, I feel alive.
“How do you feel today?” she asks, cupping my face. Her fingertips graze over the unshaven scruff on my jaw. That simple touch brings tears to my eyes.
I take her hands and kiss them both. “Much better. Still can’t walk for long, but I’m not giving up. I swear I’m not.”
“I’m so proud of you,” she whispers, tears shimmering in her eyes.
I gently brush them away with my thumbs. “I thought you’d gone home.”
She shakes her head. “Not without you. I couldn’t. I needed to be here, in case you needed anything... or me.”
“You’ve always been here,” I say, my voice trembling. “Even when I didn’t deserve it.”
She nods, eyes full of unshed emotion. “I don’t deserve you,” I confess, the weight of my guilt nearly unbearable. “I’ve been such an idiot.”
She smiles through the sadness and hugs me. “I love you, Nate.”
“You’re my life, baby.” I pull her tight against me, burying my face in her neck, inhaling the scent that always meant home. Her scent. My anchor.
“Izzy… are you—” My voice falters, breaking on the one question that’s haunted me since that day. “Are you pregnant?”
She sighs, her hand brushing over my chest. “No, Nate. I’m not. I’m sorry.”
I look at her, stunned. “But... why would you—?”
“I needed to shake you. To wake you up. You were slipping, Nate. Giving up. I knew that news would make you fight. And it did.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe both. “You shattered me, Izzy. Then you left and ghosted me. I thought I lost you—and the baby. I imagined you walking around with our child, and I wasn’t there. I wanted that baby, Izzy. I want a future with you. A home. A family.”
She presses her forehead to mine. “Then we’ll build that future. One step at a time.”
“Come here,” I whisper, tugging her gently beside me on the bed. She curls into me without hesitation, her body molding to mine like we were always meant to fit this way.
“Alice said you never left the hospital. That you slept in that armchair every night.” I run my fingers through her hair, guilt clawing at my chest.
She nods, tears glimmering. “I couldn’t leave you. Not even for a night.”
I kiss her. A slow, aching kiss full of all the words I haven’t said, all the apologies, all the love. “I love you, baby. I love you more than life.”
We stay like that, tangled together, until her phone lights up on the side table.
“It’s Sebastian,” she murmurs. “Everyone’s asking about you—when we’re coming back. They think you’re reckless, stupid, and brave as hell.” Her arms tighten around me.
I stroke her back gently. “It was you who saved us.”
She lets out a soft laugh. “You owe me a hair tie, you know.”
I tilt her chin to face me. “No, baby. I owe you my life.”
Her smile—God, that smile—is all I want to see for the rest of my days.
“Oh, and a honeymoon,” she adds with a teasing glint.
“Anything you want, love. Name it. I’ll give you the world.”
She leans back, eyeing me playfully. “When will you resume service, Captain Weister?”
I shake my head, pulling her close. “Never, ma’am. I want to be with my family.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod.
“I missed your kisses,” she whispers, her lips brushing mine. “I missed you.”
Then she looks at me with quiet intensity. “Why, Nate? Why did you push me away?”
“Jealousy,” I admit, shame rising in my throat. “I saw pictures. You and Landlon. It ate me alive.”
She pulls back, shocked. “Pictures?”
“I’m going to have a talk with Kennet,” I mutter, cursing under my breath.
“Why? I want to see them.”
“Babe…”
“No. Morris argued with him, then reassigned him. I asked about it, but he said it was just work. I want to know the truth.”
“I’m sorry for this mess. I really am.”
Tears pool in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. None of it would’ve changed anything. Christian told me the surgery might disable you, but not doing it meant risking your life. I didn’t care about the risks. I just wanted you. Alive.”
I take her hand, noticing our wedding rings still shining on her finger. The lump in my throat rises again. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For staying. For fighting. For loving me even when I gave you every reason not to.”
She squeezes my hand and lifts her finger between us. “We’re a team, Nate. But from now on, we decide things together. Because, my love, you truly suck at making decisions.”
I laugh. I laugh like I haven’t in weeks. She’s right, as always. She’s the better half of me. The reason my world spins.
She’s my home.
And I’m never letting her go again.