Everything changed after that. Katie moved into a small apartment the foundation used for staff and started working as a program coordinator. She went to school for psychology to better help the families she worked with.
Ethan and Katie became inseparable. They worked together, discussed cases, and spent their evenings talking. There was a bond between them—the kind that only exists between people who have saved each other. Katie hadn’t just given Ethan his sight; she’d given him a sense of purpose and a belief in the goodness of people. And Ethan gave Katie what she’d never had: a family and a home.
Two years later, Katie finished her degree. She was an essential part of the foundation. Kids loved her because they could feel her sincerity. Ethan graduated and started his residency. They spent more and more time together, and Ethan realized his heart beat faster every time she walked into a room. Her smile was the best part of his day.
One evening, they were walking along the riverfront. It was a warm summer night, the sun dipping below the horizon in shades of gold and pink.
“You know,” Ethan said, stopping to look at her, “I remembered your eyes for ten years. I remembered your voice. I remembered you saying, ‘Trust me.’ And I did. And you were right.”
Katie turned to him. “I just did what I had to do.”
“No,” he shook his head. “You did more. You changed my life. Not just back then, but every day since.”
He took her hands. “Katie, I… I don’t know the perfect way to say this. But over the last two years, I’ve realized you’re the most important person in my life. You didn’t just give me my sight. You taught me how to see. To see the beauty in the world. To see people for who they are. To see you.”
Katie’s eyes widened. “Ethan…”
“I’m in love with you,” he said softly. “I think I have been since that day on the bench. I just didn’t know it then. But I do now. And I can’t keep it inside.”
Katie was silent, tears shimmering in her eyes. “You know we come from different worlds,” she whispered. “You’re the son of a millionaire, a doctor with a huge future. And I’m just a girl from the system who…”
“Who performed a miracle,” Ethan finished. “Who became the kindest, strongest person I know. Who makes the world better every single day.”
He pulled her closer. “I don’t care about ‘worlds.’ I want you in mine. Always.”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Just tell me one thing: do I have a chance? Do you feel anything for me?”
Katie closed her eyes, tears falling. “I thought about you every day for ten years. When I left, I remembered that boy on the bench. It kept me going when I was lonely.”
She looked up at him. “And since we met again, I realized it wasn’t just a memory. I love you, Ethan. Maybe I always have.”
Ethan pulled her into a kiss—a gentle, meaningful kiss between two people brought together by a miracle. When they pulled apart, Ethan whispered, “I’ve waited a long time for that.”
“Me too,” she replied, hugging him tight.
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