"Maximilian..."
Catherine couldn't stop herself anymore.
It was true. He was awake.
Her Maximilian was awake.
Every instinct urged her to throw herself into his arms, but she remembered the fractures in his ribs. Instead, she hurried to his bedside, sat beside him, and wrapped her arms around him as gently as she could.
"You smell like yourself again, my love," she whispered.
A shaky laugh escaped her.
God... She had missed this.
She had missed him so much.
"Quid?"
[What?]
Catherine pulled back just enough to look into his face.
Her heart skipped.
He truly didn't understand English.
She had expected the rehabilitation to be long. After such a severe brain injury, he would have to relearn almost everything—language, coordination, even the simplest daily tasks.
She had already accepted that. She would stay beside him through every lesson, every setback, every victory.
But... This wasn't what she expected.
