'You're the one who rescued me, Ellie. I never thought I'd be able to feel again, but I was wrong. You taught me to deal with my emotions. Do you remember that morning after we made love, you told me that I wasn't God? That I couldn't save every child?'
She held her breath, aware that he was finally talking about his feelings and understanding just how difficult that was for him.
'Well, I suddenly realised that you were right.' His expression was serious. 'For two years I'd blamed myself for Hannah's death, believing that I should have been able to save her, but you made me see the truth. That no one would have been able to save her. You were right, and I was wrong. In fact, you were right about a lot of things. Like the fact that talking sometimes helps.'
They were both silent for a long moment and then he inhaled deeply. 'Marry me, Ellie, then I can spend the rest of my life making sure that you breathe between sentences.'
She gave a watery smile. 'I'll drive you crazy.'
'Very probably.'
'I'll get into scrapes.'
His smile was confident. 'Without doubt.'
'So how do you know it will work?'
His dark eyes gleamed. 'I've got one of my feelings...'