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“Yes, Vic!” Aubrey laughed, thrilled to have uncovered a recent memory. “Then we...”
One look around the room reminded her she shouldn’t share what happened after. The moment he’d taken her hand and led her from the Silver Saddle. They’d driven separately, for reasons she couldn’t recall, so he’d followed her to her apartment. He’d kissed her the second she let them inside, his hands sliding around her waist. He’d tasted like vanilla whipped cream and heaven. She remembered the rest of the night in vivid Technicolor. The way he’d taken off her clothes slowly, kissing every revealed patch of skin. How he’d murmured compliments and encouragement into her ear while he made love to her in her bed. He’d stayed over but left early the next morning, kissing her goodbye and leaving a mug of coffee on the nightstand as she lay blissfully sated and hugging her pillow.
“We...hung out,” she finished lamely. “Anyway, I need to see him.”
“I think that would be a splendid idea.” The doctor’s eyes twinkled before she turned to Aubrey’s parents. “Can you give Vic a call? Tell him to swing by, that Aubrey is well enough to see him and is asking for him.”
“He’s probably worried sick.” Aubrey figured that must be true. After the night they’d shared, how could he not be here? “I don’t understand why he’s not by my side. That’s not like him.”
She shook her head, trying to will forth more memories, but there was a significant gap where Vic was concerned. While she recalled the sensual night they spent together with pulse-racing clarity, the last memory of him before that one was when they’d been in high school together. Although, that sort of made sense. They’d fallen in love during those tender early years, so those memories were embedded in her brain deeper than most. But she couldn’t shake the idea that there should be more mundane memories. Of dinners out and coffees at his ranch. Of I-love-you phone calls or text messages while she was at school.
“I’m scared,” she said to her shaking hands. “I can’t seem to remember much at all. What if my memory never comes back? What kind of life can I lead living in the dark?”
“Try not to worry.” The doctor placed a hand over both of Aubrey’s. “Remember what I said. Don’t try too hard and they will come. I’ve worked with many patients who have suffered head trauma. This isn’t as uncommon as you might think.”
“It’s not?”
“Nope. Your brilliant brain knows what it’s doing. In the meantime, we’re going to call Vic. Get him right over here.”
Aubrey nodded. Panic wasn’t going to help her heal any sooner, but she couldn’t stop the anxiety from descending. Her parents exchanged concerned glances, and she shook her head, not understanding why they were trying to keep Vic away from her.
“He probably had an emergency at the ranch. He’s got a lot on his plate.” She had no specific recollection as evidence that was true, but it felt true. She was going to have to trust the rest of her senses in the absence of memories.
“I’ll prescribe meds for the headache,” the doctor told her as she tapped her iPad. Then she turned to Aubrey’s parents. “If you have a moment, I can explain Aubrey’s medicine and a few guidelines she needs to follow.”
“Sure,” Mary answered, Eddie by her side.
“Mind if I borrow your parents and send in a nurse to treat your headache, Aubrey?”
“That’s fine. As long as you come right back with Vic.” She aimed that command at her father, who gave her a solemn nod.
“All right, gingerbread.”
Vic had given up pacing in the waiting room an hour ago. Now he sat on the uncomfortable chair and bobbed one knee up and down while he checked his email on his phone. Trying to work remotely was a waste of time, but he needed to occupy his mind while he waited to see Aubrey. Without the distraction of social media or work, all he’d done was worry himself sick. He wasn’t leaving this hospital until he saw she was okay with his own two eyes.
At the chili cook-off, she had taken the stage, looking more gorgeous than the night before, when he’d slipped into bed with her at her apartment. He’d promised they’d never speak of it again, but the moment her bright green eyes landed on his, he’d decided to hell with his promise. He’d planned on waiting until she announced the winners and scooping her into his arms. He didn’t give a shit who saw—his best friend, Jayden, his sisters or Aubrey’s parents. But his plans hadn’t worked out.
Just as she’d begun her speech, the stage crashed down on one side, sending Aubrey flying off it. Vic had pushed his way through the crowd that had been closing in collectively to help. By the time he reached Aubrey, her mother was on the phone with 911 and Eddie Collins was telling him to “stay the hell away from my daughter.”
Vic had been on the brink of telling her father that his daughter had been sleeping in his arms not twenty-four hours ago, but Jayden had rushed in and restrained him. Good thing, too, or who knew what sort of scene Vic would have made.
Instead, he’d fallen back, waiting as Aubrey was checked by paramedics and then following the ambulance to the hospital. Jayden had insisted on going with him, but Vic refused. The accident had shifted the vibe of the evening from best friends each looking for a woman to share the night with to one of concern and worry.
What Vic hadn’t told his best bud was that he hadn’t been looking for a woman to share the night with. Not after spending the previous night with Aubrey. Feeling her beneath him for the first time in ten years had been nothing short of a miracle, and miracles didn’t occur often in his life. Holding her in his arms, her breaths tickling his neck as she slept soundly, he’d decided his life had been shitty for far too long. As grateful as he was for his wealth, his community status and his family, a piece was missing. Could Aubrey be that piece?
When Vic had rushed to the hospital behind the ambulance, he’d been told to sit in the waiting room. He’d pushed his luck, approaching anyone wearing scrubs, telling everyone who would listen that he needed to see his fiancée. A white lie, but one he’d hoped would gain him access faster.
Finally a thin, angular blonde nurse had come out to assure him that Aubrey was fine, but her doctor was limiting her visitors. Vic hit the roof. He’d used plenty of swear words to communicate how dissatisfied he was with that answer. That’s when Eddie had emerged from a long hallway and threatened to call the cops.
Vic had laughed as he’d explained to Eddie that the cops in Royal wouldn’t touch him. Everyone knew Victor Jr. would have their asses if they laid a hand on his only son. If pressed, Vic could make one phone call and have complete access to Aubrey’s room—hell, this entire hospital. Then Aubrey’s mother, Mary, had stationed herself between them. In a calm, motherly tone, she’d explained that the doctor’s advice was designed to protect Aubrey. Mary had placed a hand on his arm and had said, “If you care about her, you’ll cooperate.”
It was a low blow, but she’d forced his hand. Vic promised to behave, adding the caveat that he wouldn’t leave the waiting room until he was allowed to see her.
Now, after having spent several restless hours alternating between sitting on an uncomfortable chair or wearing the carpet to threads with his frantic pacing, Vic wasn’t sure if he could keep the first half of his promise. He couldn’t sit here another second without an update.
When he was halfway to the nurses’ station, the nurse readied her frown for him as Mary and Eddie materialized from the corridor. He rerouted and raced to them, trying to read their expressions and failing. Was it worry he saw on Mary’s face, or fatigue? Was Eddie angry simply because he’d been angry at Vic for the last decade, or had something awful—more awful—happened to Aubrey?
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Acid hit the back of Vic’s throat thanks to too many cups of stale hospital coffee.
