The doctor shut the door behind him, leaving me alone in the room as he went to get Gabriel Scott. After watching him go, I glanced around the hospital room, looking at all the modern machines, listening to the beeping of my heart monitor, and feeling the heaviness that came from being under anesthesia. It was all too real and painful to experience just now. Covering my mouth, I let the tears stream down my face, muffling my sobs in the palm of my hand.

How had this happened?

Earlier this evening, I’d been in the year seventeen seventy-seven, agreeing to marry August and stay in the past forever. Now, I was waking up from surgery in my own time, finding out that I’d been restored to the exact moment I first traveled to the past from, and August was gone. He had saved my life, sending me here after Gabriel stabbed me, but now we were separated, and I had no idea how to return to him.

If I tried to travel back at the George Washington Monument Bridge, would it take me to August, or would I go further, to when I first arrived in the past? I had no idea. It was clear I didn’t understand much about time travel to begin with, but now? The number of things I didn’t know was astounding.

The only good thing I could think of was that Gabriel was in this year as well. I would be able to question him until I found the answers I wanted, but I wasn’t going to be able to do it right now.

To put it simply, it hurt too much.

I didn’t want to look at the man. Everything about him reminded me of what happened, how I’d accidentally followed him to the past, how he abandoned me there, how we became reluctant allies, and how we unwittingly became enemies. Most of all, it reminded me of August. Every single particle of my memories of the past was linked to him, and Gabriel had twisted it all together.

Even more frustrating and angering, he had stabbed me! He was going to get away with it and complete the ruining of my life. None of it was fair.

Shoulders shaking, I continued to cry into my hands, overwhelmed by what I’d lost and the anger I felt for Gabriel Scott Mercer. My eyes closed, the visions of my last moments with August playing through my mind.

The door to the room creaked open, and I squeezed my eyes shut harder, knowing Gabriel now stood in the entrance. “I won’t tell anyone what happened,” I stated, hiccupping. God, I couldn’t look at him. I was so angry and hurt, all I wanted was for him to leave. I’d figure out how to find and question him later. Or maybe I wouldn’t. Through my confusion, I found myself sharing the emotions I felt the most right then. “But I don’t want to see you anymore, Gabriel.”

“Olivia.”

The sound of the voice washed over me like a cool wave, soothing me the way it always had. At once, the sense of safety I’d been missing was back, the fear and anger over seeing Gabriel vanishing as I opened my eyes in shock and stared at the man in the doorway.

He wore all black, the clothes looking like something fresh off a runway. He was handsome enough to be a model, but the expression of confusion and relief on his face, paired with the waterlogged treads of blond hair hanging around his shoulders, made him appear more like a beautiful evacuee from a terrible tragedy.

I didn’t know who had taken pity on him and dressed him so nicely, or how he had ended up in my century, or at the hospital for that fact. It didn’t matter to me in the slightest. All I cared about was that he was here.

Suddenly, I had the horrible thought that it was all a dream, that I was in surgery, or just waking up from the anesthetic. As soon as I spoke to him, he would vanish, and I would wake up in a cold sweat, alone.

“August?” His name was nothing more than a whisper on my lips, the word trembling from me as I dared to hope what I was seeing was real.

His eyes teared up as he nodded, stepping in the room the rest of the way and letting the door fall shut behind him. “It’s me,” he answered quietly. Voice catching, he cleared his throat, taking another hesitant step toward me. “Are you well now? They have fixed your wound?”

I glanced down at my stomach, not really feeling anything then. I was still drugged, pumped full of painkillers and anesthesia that wouldn’t fully wear off for hours. However, when I put my hands on top of where the gash had been, there was a small sense of soreness. It increased as I tried to sit up better, causing me to wince and suck in a sharp breath.

August was by my side in an instant, his arms wrapping around my shoulders and beneath my knees, assisting me in the motion without any effort. The action brought our faces close, bodies entwined as I settled into the bed.

Staring into his blue eyes, the eyes that had captivated me from the moment I’d first seen them in an old painting—a portrait I had made of him that somehow withstood the test of time and wound up in my hands once more—I felt fresh tears slide down my cheeks.

“I thought you were gone,” I whispered, wrapping my fingers into the neck of his coat as I continued to hold onto him. “Left in the past, never to be in my arms again.”

He laughed slightly, the sound throaty. “I believed you dead or dying.”

“I’m alive,” I whispered, mouth trembling as tears continued to drip off my chin.

“And I am right here with you,” he muttered, releasing my knees to brush away the wetness on my face.

A relief filled chuckle broke from me, and I nodded, crying harder as I pulled his mouth to mine and kissed him like we’d been apart for lifetimes.

August’s lips pressed against mine, filled with a desperation I’d never felt from him before. His hands gripped the sides of my face, fingers pressed into my hair. Heavy breath mixed with my own, a shudder of fear moving through his trembling touch. It was as if he were dying to pick me up and hold me to him, but too afraid of hurting me at the same time.

Touching his neck, I allowed my free hand to fist in his shirt, struggling to pull myself closer to him and failing entirely as the surgery site let off a twinge in my middle. As I flinched, I let out a small gasp, eyes opening in a small amount of shock at the feeling.

He pulled away in an instant, gaze sweeping over me, the concern on his features increasing. “I apologize,” he stated hastily, letting go of me and moving back. “I allowed myself to be carried away, rather than remember your condition.”

I waved a hand, looking down as a warm blush covered my cheeks. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I was the one getting riled up.”

The assurance did little to appease him and the worry in his stare.

“Olivia . . .” He hesitated, his brow furrowing as he peered at the door, sliding his hands into his pockets. Then, staring at me, his shoulders fell, as did his expression. “I have to tell you something. I recognize you have just woken up and are going through a lot, but I do not think this can wait.”

My anxiety rose a few levels. The tone of voice he used was carefully guarded and clipped, revealing he didn’t quite think I was going to be thrilled with whatever it was he needed to say. All of the different possibilities of what it could be flashed through my mind. Was he leaving? Did he dislike it in this time so much that he already wanted to find a way home? Would he leave me behind? Maybe once he’d seen this century in person, he’d realized it was a mistake to come here with me. I couldn’t really blame him if that were the case.

The worries of losing him all over faded away as I realized he would never do that to me. If the man would give me his room and let himself be captured as a prisoner of war in a battle he never should have been at when we were complete strangers, he wouldn’t abandon me here to fend for myself after I’d been stabbed as his fiancée.

“Gabriel is here,” I muttered. “Isn’t he? Did you tell the police what he did?”

He held up a hand, stopping me. “I have not seen Gabriel once since arriving in this place. In fact, I know for certain he remained in the past.”

My eyebrow raised. “How?”

He sighed, brushing a strand of hair from his face. “I met with his sister, Charlotte, just now. It was she who clothed me and helped give whatever information this place required of me. She also gave me money, a place to stay, and a cell phone.” Pulling the last object from his pocket, he looked at it in confusion, passing it to my hands.

Staring at the dark screen, I let my mouth hang open in shock. “Why?” I finally managed to ask. “Why would she do all of that for you?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. She insisted her information is saved on that device and instructed me to call, should I desire anything further.”

August hedged then, and I knew we’d come to the real part he was worried about sharing.

“What else did she tell you?” I asked cautiously.

Biting his lip for a beat, he stared at me. When he did speak, he did so in such a quiet volume I had to strain to hear him. “I have already met Charlotte Mercer in another time,” he admitted. “She claims it was almost a decade ago and she has been waiting for our arrival tonight ever since.”

My ears rang as I stared at him. “What?” My throat went dry, my head spinning as a tower of exhaustion suddenly plopped on top of me. “That’s not possible. I’ve only traveled once. Well, twice, if you count coming back.”

“I know.” Rubbing his face, he sat down in the chair beside the bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at me.

I couldn’t understand how he was accepting this without any pause. “You’ve never traveled until tonight, right?” I asked, my voice rising in pitch as I stared at him.

“Never,” he confirmed quickly.

“So . . .” Blinking, I let my heavy head fall to the pillow, eyes trained on the lights above me. “That means—if she’s telling the truth—we’re going to do it again.”

“And to a different year and place in the past,” August continued, his own voice tired.

That information jerked me awake a little more. “When? Did she say what year and where we went to?”

His frown deepened as he nodded. “She did.”

A thread of fear wrapped around my heart. “When is it?”

“March,” he replied. “Seventeen forty-one. New York City.”

The date felt like an ice cube slipping into my stomach. “You’re sure?” I asked, licking my lips in an attempt to get some moisture in my mouth.

“I am. Do you know anything of the year? It is before I was born.”

“I don’t,” I whispered. “There’s nothing at all I can think of.”

Before I could fully process the information, the door to the room opened and two figures bustled in, their coats spotted with melting snow and concern in their eyes.

“Olivia!” The woman said, rushing in and wrapping her arms around me. “We have been so worried! Thank God we didn’t fly to Cousin Rachel’s house in California a day earlier like we considered.”

The man with her came over and hugged me as well, wrapping his arms around my shoulders tightly. “We were in the middle of our layover in Texas when we got the call and came on the first flight back.”

“I’m so sorry we weren’t here sooner, sweetie,” the woman continued, wiping a tear from her eye as she stared at me. “How are you feeling?”

Frozen, I stared at the two of them, the machine monitoring my heart rate beeping frantically. The alarm to warn the nurse started going off, jolting me out of my stupor.

“Mom?” I whispered. “Dad?”