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Gareth could not stop himself from appreciating her beauty. Her long, black hair was dishevelled, her clothes crumpled, her dirty jeans hugging her like a second skin, and still she was the most breathtaking sight Gareth had ever seen. God, he had missed just looking at her. He stood there like a cement pillar, soaking up the sight, committing the image of her to his memories.
    “Ahem, excuse me—Miss Mackenzie, is it? Sorry to disturb you, but I have a friend of the family who is keen to see you.”
    At first, Gareth could have killed the nurse for making their presence known. He had been so pleased to be able to see Emily in the flesh, forgetting his original purpose, the reason they were all here. Now, due to the nurse alerting Emily to his presence, he was afraid that she might refuse to speak with him, was faced with the only too real possibility that she might send him away again. The thought of it terrified him. If he could just feel her in his arms again, just once more… My God, I’m so fucking in love with her it’s beyond endurance. The thought was like a knife piecing his chest.
    Gareth stood still, holding his breath, unable to resume even the simple task of filling his lungs until he saw her reaction to him being at the hospital, to him being so close. Until she accepted him and the fact he was here with her, for her, and would always be there for her.

Chapter Four
     
     
     
    When Emily heard her name being called, she assumed it was someone coming to update her on her father’s condition. The last person she expected to see standing there was Gareth Andrews.
    Instinct took over and she found herself in his arms, his steel-strong embrace holding her, his arms wrapped around her, and Emily had never been so grateful, so incredibly thankful for his existence, for Gareth, for that comforting, familiar feel of him as he held her, for the smell of him as she buried her face into his chest. His hard, muscular chest.
    “Gareth!” She sobbed, unable to say more. She was so overcome with emotion, with relief at not being alone anymore.
    “I’m here, Em. Everything will be okay. I’m here.”
    His soothing voice repeated the same words in her ear. The feel of him stroking her back, her hair, did manage to calm her, even though she knew his words were just hopeful, soothing utterances voiced in an attempt to alleviate her fears, her pain. The chance her father would not survive and that everything would not be fine at all was very clear in her mind.
    Emily stood clinging to Gareth for an eternity, soaking up his warmth, letting him hold her to him. She remembered the sensation of safety that being in his embrace had always evoked in her in the past, before the fire. It was like a maelstrom of emotion churned throughout her body, mind and soul. All the memories, the horrific events of the day, the impending sense of doom and her guilt at not being able to do enough were all overshadowed by this new, powerful emotion that filled her—this all-consuming, overpowering jolt to her already fractured emotions.
    Gareth had come to her when she needed him the most. And Emily needed him—that was the understatement of the century. He, Gareth, had always been the one she turned to. He had saved her from the bullies at school, had soothed her bruises and tended to her grazes when as a small child she had fallen, had talked her through any concerns. He had always protected her, had been her first and only love. Gareth had even pretended not to see, pretended to ignore the ugly disfigurement the fire had delivered to her body and face. And he was here again, even though she had pushed him from her life, had told him she didn’t want him or love him anymore. Lied to him.
     
    * * * *
     
    “Em, baby, wake up. The doctor is here.”
    Groggily, Emily shook herself awake, felt the warmth surrounding her, blinked against the harsh florescent hospital lighting. She could not believe that she had fallen asleep on Gareth’s