Bella has just awoken from a coma that leaves her with no memory. Edward is the bitter patient whose promising future as a pianist is ruined by an irreversible hand injury. What do you do when life as you knew it is over?

His fingers moved so unevenly against his left leg that I realized it was probably involuntary, his fingers begging to join in on the music. I wiped my slightly sweaty palm against my cotton robe, then stretched out my fingers and placed my hand hesitantly over his, stalling his movements.

The moment my skin touched his, Edward broke down. His head fell heavy against his knees as sobs overtook his body, agonized but quiet moans burning my ears and filling me with pain. The seemingly irreconcilable details came together in my head, leaving me with a completely new understanding.

Edward wasn’t an enigma. He was just broken and clinging to the one thing that gave him distraction from his agony. Me. He hadn’t meant for his two sides to collide.

I didn’t realize how long I’d been silent until he spoke again, brushing his hand along my neck. “Bella, you are very important to me.” His warm voice echoed my own feelings for him, and it was surprisingly nice to hear. I felt myself subconsciously turning toward him only to be stopped by my clunky knee. “Please let me do this for you.”

I saw it then. Waking up every morning in a bed with actual sheets and blankets, walking into a kitchen to eat breakfast with Edward. Taking the time I needed to figure out my life, to find out what I wanted to do. Getting a chance to find a new start like the one we’d talked about. It would be… well, wonderful. But I couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t fair to him.

“I have nothing to offer in return.”

“Having you around would be sufficient.”

My nerves fluttered and my mouth felt dry, and though the physical sensations were uncomfortable it felt like a good thing. I swallowed once then cupped his cheek, tracing my thumb along his cheekbone and leaning forward to press a quick kiss beside my fingers. “Thank you, Edward.”

We sat like that for a long moment, smiling at each other until a knock broke us away from our stare. Angela stood in the doorway, slightly embarrassed but fidgeting with obvious excitement.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but…” Disbelief made her eyes wide and her mouth open loosely as she shook her head. Her eyes moved between Edward and me before landing strongly on mine again. “You have a visitor.”