38 | ❝ LOVING CAN HEAL... ❞

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CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

❝ LOVING CAN HEAL... ❞

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[season 3, episode 3 + own storyline]

LISSIE POV

IT WAS NIGHT WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE FIELD HOSPITAL. She was not surprised to find the entire area in chaos. Medical personnel and injured people were everywhere. On one side, a black tent had been set up, under which a pile of dead bodies in bags already lay.

A nurse added them to the list of survivors and then directed them to a room where they received a bottle of clean water and a food ration. Lissie was exhausted, hungry and thirsty, but now it all seemed so down-to-earth that all she could think about was finally lying down and resting. She wanted this nightmare to end, but it continued because she still couldn't find Buck.

"You're injured," one of the nurses remarked, pointing to her bandaged arm. "We need to bandage that up."

Lissie shook her head.

"I'm fine, it's just a scratch," she assured Nash. "There are others who need help."

Marrie took a sip of water and coughed briefly. Lissie looked at her with fear, now completely hypersensitive on this point.

"The wound could get infected, and then you'll need hospitalisation. Do you really want to traumatise your daughter?"

Lissie didn't have the strength to argue with the nurse or even correct her. She gave up and let herself be led to a free bed. Marrie was still by her side, just as tired — if not more so — than she was. The young girl could barely stand on her feet and her eyes were closing of their own accord.

"Hang in there a little longer," she said, touching her arm with her good hand.

In the meantime, the nurse had removed the makeshift bandage from Buck's shirt and set it aside, and Lissie felt a twinge in her heart.

Ever since they had been separated again, she had been trying to find him. To no avail.

"What if something happened to uncle?"

Marrie asked, and Lissie glanced at the nurse, who was focused on dressing her hand. She was skilled at it, because she felt practically nothing, but she also knew that the wound was not dangerous.

"Buck is fine," she assured her, even though she was trembling inside. She was already tired of trying to be strong in front of Marrie and didn't know how long she could keep pretending.

"But we haven't found him..."

Marrie coughed again, and then again, until it turned into a full-blown attack. The girl fell to her knees, and Lissie immediately began to piece things together. She had seen this before — once in Chicago, when they were called to an accident on the river, when the protective embankments failed and nearby residents were at risk of flooding.

"She's drowning!"

Lissie cried out quickly, breaking free from the nurse's grasp.

She leaned over her niece, and it was as if someone had flipped a switch inside her, reminding her exactly how to be a lifeguard, telling her exactly what to do. She didn't think about what was appropriate — she just knew and did it. So she put Marrie in a safe position and then reached into the nurse's pocket, where she had a medical torch attached.

"Everything will be fine," she assured her as she watched Marrie choke more and more with each passing moment until her eyes filled with tears.

Lissie grabbed her cheeks with her fingers so she could look inside her mouth and shone the light. That's when she saw a piece of plant that was blocking Marrie's breathing and slowly pulled it out of her mouth. The young girl began to breathe loudly, but in order for her to breathe properly and stabilise her condition, Lissie reached for the oxygen bottle standing next to the bed.

"It's okay, breathe calmly, sweetheart," Lissie stroked her hair soothingly.

She was trembling all over, but she tried to stay calm. It was as if she was made for this — to save others.

A moment later, the doctor arrived, apparently alerted by the nurse and the commotion. He helped lay Marrie on the bed, and then she went with them to get an X-ray to check if there was anything else wrong with the girl. She also heard the doctor instructing the rest of the staff to bring in a pulmonologist. Lissie knew this was standard procedure in such cases.

That didn't change the fact that she felt guilty. She felt completely hopeless and selfish for not noticing anything earlier. Secondary drowning had early symptoms, and she had simply ignored them. So what if she had kept her cool when Marrie started choking — if she had caught it earlier, none of this would have happened.

"Great job," praised the nurse as they waited for the lift to arrive on the ground floor to take them to the upper floors. "Not many people can react so quickly to secondary drowning. Are you a doctor?"

"No," Lissie shook her head. "I'm..." She paused for a moment, not knowing what to say. She looked at Marrie, who was looking at her with half-closed eyes, and yet reached for her hand, which was right next to hers, and squeezed it gently. As if she herself was encouraging her to say what she should say next. "A paramedic," Lissie finished, not expecting to feel as if everything had fallen into place. "I'm a paramedic."

"Work never leaves us, does it? Even on holiday." The nurse smiled at her and then pointed to the unfinished dressing. "We'll take our little one for tests and then we'll take care of you."

"Just don't let her out of your sight, okay?" Lissie looked at the woman pleadingly. "She's been through enough today..."

"I'll make sure nothing happens to her," she assured her. "But with a guardian angel like you, she's in good hands."

TESTS SHOWED THAT MARRIE WAS NOT IN SERIOUS DANGER. She was scared, of course, and to be on the safe side, she was given oxygen through a mask, but other than that, she behaved as if nothing had happened. She had more courage than Lissie felt she had, because Lissie herself felt like she was about to have a heart attack.

Marrie collapsed from exhaustion almost as soon as they put her in the room with the other children. However, she didn't sleep for long, because she woke up immediately to check if Lissie was still with her.

"You won't leave me?" Marrie asked to be sure. She was sleepy and her eyes were closing on their own.

"I'll be here the whole time," Lissie assured her, squeezing her hand gently. Her own arm was finally bandaged properly — the nurse didn't let her off this time. "Try to get some sleep, okay? Sleep will do you good..."

"I don't think I can sleep without my parents. And Uncle Buck. Maybe he's here somewhere?"

"I have no idea, sweetheart..." Lissie wanted to check, but she couldn't leave her. On the one hand, she wanted to believe that Buck was fine and find him, hoping that he had also managed to get here. On the other hand, leaving Marrie alone was out of the question.

"Will anyone else know?"

"Maybe his name is on the list they put us on..."

"We should check it out." Marrie tried to get up, but Lissie quickly stopped her.

"You, my dear, are not going anywhere," she informed her firmly. "I almost had a heart attack because of you, and I don't want to go through that again."

"That's not true." The girl shook her head. "You saved me because you kept your cool, or something... Just like when you saved me and mum when I was born."

"What do you mean?"

"You're made for it." Marrie smiled briefly. "You love doing it, I know it. Why don't you take a chance and go back to it? Working with Aunt Maddie on the dispatch isn't for you."

Lissie shook her head amusedly.

"Now you're going to tell me where to work?"

Marrie blushed.

"It's just my observation... I didn't mean to..."

"Come on." Lissie waved her hand dismissively. "You're just being honest with me, which I admire."

The young girl nodded and for a moment turned her attention to the comic book she had borrowed from the boy in the neighbouring bed. She had no idea where he had got it from, but its torn cover and soggy pages suggested that it too must have had quite a journey to get here.

She didn't spend much time on it, because after a moment she looked back at her aunt.

"You should check if he's in the hospital," she said confidently. "I can manage on my own for a while, and I'll feel better once we find out if he made it here."

"What if he's not?" Lissie asked a question that until now she had only had to ask herself in silence, but she needed to share her fears with someone.

"It's uncle Buck," she said, as if that were explanation enough. "He'll be fine. Besides, knowing him, he's probably trying to find us right now."

"All right. I'll go look for him, but only if you promise me you'll try to sleep."

"I'll see what I can do."

Lissie shook her head and adjusted her oxygen mask, placing it correctly over her nose and mouth.

"At least don't take that off, all right?"

Marrie just nodded, and Lissie, although still worried that she shouldn't do it, left the hospital room. However, she couldn't immediately go downstairs, where the first selection of admissions was taking place. She was afraid that she wouldn't find what she so desperately needed to hear right now.

She leaned her back against the wall next to the room when all her emotions finally came to the surface and she no longer had to hold them back. It was a moment when tears began to flow down her cheeks and she pulled her hands to her face.

Many things were weighing on her.

The adrenaline and constant survival mode were slowly subsiding, and she was becoming fully aware of what had happened.

The tsunami had hit them with all its force, causing yet another trauma, and with it, the sight of dead bodies. Lissie could no longer be frightened by such a sight, but Marrie was still a child, and although she tried to protect her, she couldn't be sure that she hadn't seen anything. She also couldn't forgive herself for not noticing anything that was happening to her earlier. She saved her, but she didn't feel proud of it because she should have noticed it sooner.

Finally, Buck, who had disappeared and whose whereabouts were unknown.

At the very thought that she might never see him again, she felt a sharp pain in her heart, just like when she found out about her family's death. She couldn't lose him, especially now that she understood that...

Everyone else was right. Suzanna, who said he made cute eyes, and Ian with his theory about curly hair, and even Rosie herself, who told her she wouldn't mind if she and Buck were together. They all knew something she had realised long ago, but she was too afraid to let herself think about it seriously.

She closed her eyes for a moment, but it didn't help, because all she could see was his face. Not the one scarred by the tsunami, but the smiling, cheerful one she saw almost every day — whether they were meeting in person or just talking on camera.

Somewhere between laughter and fun on the pier and the struggle for survival, something had changed in her. Although it had been there before, she pushed it away every time the slightest thought of her and Buck...

No one wanted a broken and damaged girl.

And yet she wanted him to look for her in the crowd — which he always did. She wanted him to make Marrie laugh, knowing that it would amuse her too, perhaps even more than his niece. She wanted him to look at her with that constant sparkle in his eyes and sweep her off her feet again, even if no one else was dancing. She felt safe with him, and above all, she didn't feel lonely...

Since the death of her family, she felt that her life had been in complete chaos. The same was true of her head, which was driven by many thoughts — she analysed everything twice, wondering if anything made any sense.

But with Buck... Just spending time with him was enough to silence all the bad voices, as if they had never been there.

A sob shook her body, and she knew she couldn't pretend anymore.

She had fallen in love with him.

Somewhere between arriving in Los Angeles and everything that had happened along the way, against all odds, she had simply opened her heart — something she had promised herself she would never do after her family's death.

And Evan Buckley had stolen it completely.

BUCK POV

HE TRIED TO FIND THEM. As soon as he realized what had happened — that they had both fallen out of the truck — he immediately jumped into the water, groping around for them. He had no idea how long he did this, but at some point the water began to recede. First, he felt the ground beneath his feet, then the water reached his waist, and finally he was only ankle-deep in it.

The effects of the tsunami were enormous and terrifying. It was certain that the people and the entire city would not recover so quickly after such a great tragedy. However, that was his last concern — buildings could be repaired, cities rebuilt, new equipment purchased — but lost people could not be recovered. Buck hoped that neither Lissie nor Marrie would be among them. He would never forgive himself if something happened to either of them, or worse, if...

No. He couldn't think like that.

Lissie hadn't gone through hell — including a suicide attempt — only to die now.

The same went for Marrie, who had her whole life ahead of her.

"Excuse me, have you seen a woman with a child?" He desperately asked a group of survivors who were looking for support. Maybe they were even a family, but if so, he didn't want to know, because it would only remind him that he and his family were not together. "The woman has shoulder-length blonde hair and is wearing a floral jumpsuit, and the girl has long brown hair, shorts and a purple T-shirt."

An older woman, who could have been his mother, shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but we haven't seen anyone like that."

It was like a sharp blow straight to his heart. Surely two people couldn't just disappear like that...

However, he blamed himself. Instead of focusing on what was most important — keeping them safe — he started saving the rest, because that was something he knew. And maybe all the people he helped would be grateful to him, but that didn't change the fact that he had a completely different job to do. He was a man, a firefighter — on leave, it's true, but still — and above all, Marrie and Lissie were damn important to him. He should have taken care of them.

And what did he do?

He lost sight of them.

"Help!" someone cried in terror. "There's a child here!"

His heart beat faster at the thought that it could be Marrie. But if it was her, where was Lissie? He couldn't think about it and stand idly by, so he immediately rushed to help. Together with another man, he managed to move the beam that was pinning the child to the ground, and then he looked at the rescued person.

A girl. A teenager. Red hair, which was nothing like the dark colour of Marrie's hair that he knew.

However, that wasn't the worst part, but the rucksack he saw where the teenager had been lying a moment earlier.

He knew it well and remembered it because he had been walking around the pier with it all day.

The backpack belonged to Marrie.

THE FIELD HOSPITAL WAS OVERFLOWING. The nurse put him on the list of survivors, but when he asked about Lissie and Marrie, they were not on the list.

"Please check the tent next door," she informed him diplomatically, with virtually no emotion. Buck looked at the black tent and bad thoughts immediately came to mind.

"Is that...?"

"The morgue?" the woman finished for him. "Yes."

The nurse walked away, and he felt the ground slip from under his feet. If it hadn't been for the help of a nearby doctor, he was sure he would have simply collapsed to the floor. The very fact that someone had told him to look for Lissie and Marrie in the morgue...

His heart couldn't take it if he found them there.

He felt tears welling up in his eyes, and all he could do was hide his face in his hands. He couldn't look at the black tent, because nothing could convince him to go there and check if...

He won't find the body of one of the girls there.

No. The last time he saw them, they were both alive. And he had to stick to that.

He straightened up and looked around at the crowd, but he didn't see a single familiar face, and he felt that if he didn't talk to someone soon, he would go completely mad. He had no idea what to do. He needed someone to tell him what else he could do to find them.

After a few minutes, he managed to find someone who had a working phone and let him use it. At that moment, he was grateful that he always had a good memory for phone numbers, because he could easily dial Maddie's number. His older sister answered after two rings.

"Hello?"

"Hi," he said in a trembling voice. "It's me."

"Buck?" Maddie was clearly surprised. "Where are you? And what's this phone number?"

"I borrowed it from someone," he explained, putting his free hand in his pocket. "I need your help."

"What happened? Are you all right?"

"I was spending the day with Lissie and Marrie today," he paused for a moment, trying not to break down completely while talking to his sister. "At the pier."

"Oh my God... You were there when the tsunami hit, weren't you?"

"Yes," he admitted, his voice beginning to break despite himself. "With the girls. I was supposed to watch them, both of them... And I really did, Mads, but... We were standing on the fire truck, and then the wave started to recede and... they disappeared."

"Are you hurt?" she asked, and Buck felt as if she had ignored everything he had just told her.

"Maddie! It doesn't matter... Lissie and Marrie are gone. I've checked every rescue camp and there's no sign of them. The field hospital is the last place I should find them, but they're not here..."

Buck turned around and his heart almost stopped when he saw Rosie and Chima in the distance, talking to the doctors and handing over their patients for further treatment. He couldn't let them see him before he found his daughters, so he quickly started looking for a place to hide.

"God... They're here."

"Who?"

"Rosie and Chim..."

"Okay, do they know what happened?" Buck didn't answer, and that was enough for his sister. "Evan, you have to tell them. Marrie is their daughter, and they need to know. Bobby too..."

"How? I can't tell them I lost them both..."

"Buck," Maddie said firmly. "You have to tell them they're missing."

"No," he shook his head. "What I have to do is find them."

"You can't find them on your own..."

"Buck?" Another voice called out, this time in person. When he turned to see who was calling him, he immediately recognized his friend. Eddie looked at him in shock, but also with fear. "God, what happened?"

Buckley quickly said goodbye to his sister and looked at Diaz, who immediately began checking his wounds.

"Were you on the coast when the wave hit?" Diaz asked, and Buck just nodded.

"With Lissie and Marrie," he confessed heavily. "I lost them, Eddie. I tried my best... I looked everywhere for them, but they're gone. They're not in any of the camps, and the nurse told me to check the black tent, but I can't do it because if..."

Buck felt as if he was about to fly away again. If it weren't for Eddie holding him by the shoulders to keep him from falling, he would surely be lying on the ground.

"Hey, hey," Eddie said, trying to calm him down. "They're definitely here somewhere. The black tent is a last resort, you hear? They're both strong, you know that. I'll help you look for them, but first I'm going to check on you, okay? You're exhausted and you're about to pass out..."

"No," Buck shook his head. "I have to find them."

He broke free from Diaz's grip and was about to continue his search when the sight of his sister staring straight at him completely froze him.

Rosie moved towards him, and he knew she was completely shaken.

He was no longer able to escape confrontation with her.

ROSIE POV

THE ONLY THING SHE DREAMED OF WAS TO FINALLY BE ABLE TO REST AND, EVEN MORE SO, TO SEE HER LOVED ONES. However, there was no let-up in the work; quite the contrary. The climax came when they were called to the Ocean Plaza apartment building, where there had been a mass carbon monoxide poisoning. However, that was only the beginning of their troubles — while waiting for the ambulances, it turned out that they were standing on a ticking time bomb. A sparking street lamp hung dangerously low, and nearby was a leaking fuel tanker. It was a veritable explosive mixture.

They managed to escape at the last minute, thanks to the cars found by Ian and Chim. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Although she felt she could use one more — information that Buck, Lissie and Marrie were safe and sound, and not among...

No... She couldn't think that way. She knew what the three of them were capable of. They wouldn't disappear from their lives in literally a second.

They finally arrived at the veterans' hospital — Rosie was proud of Maddie for managing to organise everything so quickly.

"Your sister is amazing for convincing Sue," Chim said as they carried more injured people into the building. "Even under these conditions, the organisation of this...

'Maddie always had a knack for these things,' Rosie confessed, handing the patient over to one of the nurses. 'As you can see, her drive hasn't diminished, quite the contrary."

He smiled at her, and Buckley turned towards the exit of the building to continue helping. As they left, she felt as if the world had stopped for her, which, in fact, it had.

"Rosey?" she heard Chim say. "Are you coming? What's wrong...?"

She did not respond to any attempts at conversation from her beloved because, not far from the hospital building, next to one of the tents, she noticed Buck talking to Eddie. She saw no one else she knew. This triggered an avalanche of fear and uncertainty in her.

Finally, she moved towards him, despite Chim's calls. She knew she couldn't calm down until she heard from him that Lissie and Marrie were somewhere nearby.

"Buck?" she asked, approaching her brother and Diaz. She noticed her daughter's backpack in the youngest Buckley's hand. The same one she had adjusted on the girl's shoulders that very morning before Lissie left their flat. "Why do you have Marigold's backpack? Where are the girls?"

Evan's silence did nothing to calm her, especially when she saw the look of despair on his face and the tears in his eyes.

"I'm asking you," she said sharply, even though her voice was beginning to break. "Where are Lissie and Marrie? WHERE ARE MY BEST FRIEND AND MY DAUGHTER?! TALK TO ME!"

For a moment, she felt like she had six months earlier in the hospital, waiting for Bobby and Athena to tell her why Lissie hadn't come with them from the dispatch centre. This time, however, the pain and helplessness were twice as strong.

"I'm sorry..." he finally said. You could even say he barely managed to stammer it out. "We were on the fire truck, then the wave came and the girls fell out... I'm looking for them, I swear. Rosie, believe me..."

She felt she was barely in control of herself, which she was trying very hard to do.

She couldn't listen to her brother's further attempts at explanation, so she just ran ahead without saying a word. She couldn't stand idly by.

She knew that the pier was a bad idea... She was furious with herself for agreeing to it despite her doubts.

"I'm sure they're fine," she heard Chim's voice behind her. "Stop. You need to catch your breath."

"How can I be calm when they...?" she interrupted, terrified. "How can you be so calm when this is about our only child and a girl who is like a sister to both of us?!"

"I feel exactly the same as you, but one of us has to keep a clear head and not fall into pure madness," Han said. "When you went to get Lissie that day... I was literally falling apart. Do you know what Bobby said to me when he found me in your old bedroom?"

"What did he say?" she asked, wiping her tears.

"He said that if he allowed himself to break down, it would be a sign that he would have to write you both off. And as you can see, you made it... And I know that Lissie and Marrie will make it too, and we'll find them," he said, then looked towards the other entrance to the building. "I can already see one of them."

When Rosie looked where Chim was staring, she saw a broken Lissie.

And most importantly — alive.

"Starfire!" she cried, running towards her as fast as she could. "Liss!"

The girl looked up, but in that same second Rosie was already hugging her, checking her over from every angle to make sure she was all right.

"Starfire?" Nash asked in surprise. "You always called me Star."

"Now you'll be my Starfire," Buckley said, her face showing half relief.

A moment later, Chim reached them, out of breath.

"Really... You and Marrie must be running on batteries with all this running around..." he sighed, then hugged Lissie too.

Rosie looked at her friend, who began to cry, which chilled both paramedics.

"Lissie?" stammered the nine-year-old's terrified mother. "Is Marrie...?"

"She's alive," replied her best friend. "She suffered secondary drowning. I saved her, but... I feel guilty that I didn't notice anything earlier. You entrusted her to my care, and I failed..."

The news that their daughter had survived made the couple breathe a visible sigh of relief. The girl was safe and alive...

"What matters to us is that you saved her," Chimney said. "You're only human, little captain. And humans were not, are not, and never will be infallible. Even the best specialists overlook things..."

"Exactly," Rosie agreed, cupping her friend's face in her hands so that she would look at her. She wiped away her tears. "And yet our little girl has the best Guardian Angel in all of Los Angeles... And I won't change my mind on that. Neither will Chim."

The Asian man simply nodded in agreement with the previous speaker.

Finally, Lissie managed to calm down. They understood her completely — they had their hands full, let alone how they must have felt here...

Nash led them to the room where Marrie was lying, reading a comic book.

"Look who I found," Liss announced. "Or rather, who found me."

The girl looked in their direction, and when she saw her parents, she couldn't stop smiling.

"Mummy! Daddy!" she cried, trying to jump out of bed in a burst of joy, but they both stopped her, hugging her close. "Have you seen Uncle Buck? Auntie is worried about him. So am I, for that matter..."

"Buck is fine," said Chim, sitting down on the edge of his daughter's bed. "He's downstairs..."

"Downstairs?!" Lissie exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I'll be right back..."

Before anyone could say anything, Nash was already gone.

"I'm surrounded by ostriches," Han sighed.

Marrie just giggled, which made her parents feel much better after everything they had been through that day.

LISSIE POV

[ A/N We recommend using Ed Sheeran's Photograph as a background with jorzay ]

SHE WAS RUNNING AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. When Rosie and Chim told her that Buck was downstairs with the rest of the 118th, that was enough for her to move forward. She no longer had to worry about leaving Marrie behind, because her neice was supposed to have the best care — her parents.

And Lissie needed to see Buck for herself and be sure that no one was lying to her. That he was alive and okay.

That he was alive and she still had the opportunity to tell him that he was more than just a friend to her.

She made her way through the corridors, but it still felt like it was taking her an exceptionally long time. The medical staff were helping injured people, which didn't make it any easier for her to reach the outer part of the hospital.

The earlier tiredness vanished. Adrenaline surged through her again and she was certain it was the only thing keeping her fully conscious. That, and the fact that Buck was unharmed and she had to get to him as quickly as possible.

The chilly night air outside immediately hit her in the face as she finally managed to escape the hospital. She thought it would be easier to locate Buckley or someone from the 118th in the open area, but all she could see were beds of wounded and doctors and nurses trying to manage the chaos.

She thought she must have looked insane as she paced from tent to tent, but she didn't care.

Until finally, she saw them.

Almost the entire 118th stood together by one of the tents, and Buck had his back to her. She knew it was him — not just from his dirty, worn-out clothes, but mostly because she would recognize him anywhere. She felt as if his silhouette and image were seared into her memory forever.

Now she was certain — without a shadow of a doubt — that she had completely lost not only her heart and mind, but also her soul, to him, because she knew that with no one else she would feel so... Peaceful. Safe.

As if she had found her place in the world.

"BUCK!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and she could see him pull his arm away from Ian, and slowly turn toward her.

She paused for a moment to truly understand that he was standing there, that he was still alive.

"LISSIE!"

She thought she heard a kind of relief in his voice, and then, as if some force had pushed them together, they ran toward each other. Lissie counted the steps that separated her from Buckley. Everything lost meaning, the whole world ceased to exist, and she had only one goal — to reach him. Tears blurred her path, but she kept running until she finally landed in his arms, and he caught her with all his might. Their bodies collided like never before, and he held her in his embrace, almost painful, but she couldn't stop. She clutched his neck, as if that single gesture would confirm to her that he was indeed there and they were both alive.

But Buck was alive. So was she. And Marrie was recovering with her parents.

They survived.

"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered, placing his hands on either side of her head. Lissie clutched his shirt and looked at him with tears in her eyes, still unable to believe they'd found each other. "What about Marrie? Is she okay?"

"Everything's okay now," she assured him with a brief smile. "I thought I'd never see you again... And... I was terrified... Because how could that happen before I told you that..." She didn't finish, because Buck leaned over her wordlessly, then connected their lips in the kiss they'd both been waiting for so long.

It wasn't a leisurely kiss, nor in any way planned or premeditated. It was utterly desperate — exactly the kind that could happen after such traumatic experiences, when just moments before they'd both been convinced they'd never see each other again. The gesture spoke volumes.

Buck held her tightly in his arms, and she pressed herself even closer to his warm body. She needed to feel him, and at the same time, she could almost feel their hearts beating at the same frantic pace. The whole world ceased to exist — it was just them, and Lissie needed him like air to breathe.

And Buck knew his life had no meaning anymore if Lissie wasn't in it. When they finally broke apart to catch their breath, Buck rested their foreheads together and linked his hands on her back, gently tracing the line of her spine.

"I didn't think—"

"Yeah, me too," she interrupted, knowing perfectly well what he was about to say. "I was afraid I wouldn't tell you—"

"What?" This time he interrupted, and she let out a short laugh. "You have no idea how much I love that sound. Your laugh."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Do you?"

Buck smiled at her in that charming way of his, but this time something was different. As she looked into his blue eyes, she could actually see what he was saying — what he felt for her.

"I love you," he repeated. "I love you, Lissie Nash."

For a moment, the world stopped again. Her eyes filled with tears again, but this time not from fear, nor terror, but from a happiness that tore through her entire chest.

Despite all this tragedy, she was so damn happy.

She reached up to place her hand on his cheek, and he almost immediately leaned into her gentle touch.

"I love you too, Buck," she replied. "God..." She chuckled briefly. "I'm so in love with you! I'm completely crazy, you know?"

"You fell in love with me, so we both know this is a particularly crazy thing," he joked, and Lissie laughed again. "You better be ready for it, because it could be quite a rollercoaster."

"We'll get through this," she assured him, and then they joined hands. "Together."

"Together. Fate brought you into my life and made me finally see some meaning in it. I have no intention of ever giving up on this, on you. I promise you that."

And he kissed her again. This time more calmly, sealing his words.