Your Knife, My Heart

Chapter 35 Emery

EMERY

Soft sheets that smell of birchwood stir me awake.

I slowly open my eyes and realize I’m in a medical ward of some kind.

A man sits beside me—his hair the palest blond I’ve ever seen.

His eyes are weary and red with spent tears and sorrow.

He’s beautiful, like an iced-over lake filled with sage eucalyptus and blush-hued roses.

He stares at me like I am the entire weight of his existence.

Hope and relief bloom in those longing eyes.

What is it you yearn for? I wonder.

I study his features but don’t say anything.

“Em?” he says softly, concern pulling his brows low.

I shake my head slowly, guilt making my heart heavy as I whisper, “I’m sorry… I… I don’t know who you are.”