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“Miss?”
I glanced over my shoulder at where the doctor stood just inside the room, my shoulders sagging at his discernable expression.
“Mr. Grayson needs to rest.”
Hesitation wove through me, but I still stood. Stepping in that direction as my attention pulled back to Chase.
To where my heart had lain for the past three days.
But he was staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused, expression full of doubt and frustration.
I wanted to tell him I loved him. I wanted to tell him I’d be back. But the pain lancing my body prevented me from saying anything else as I unsteadily walked from the room. Hands gripping my chest and stomach, vainly trying to hold myself together when it felt like I was falling apart.
“Scarlet...”
I looked up and then around at the sound of my name, my chest heaving when I saw the Graysons watching me with varying looks of worry.
But my feet continued carrying me away from them. Away from the room I’d spent hours and days waiting and praying for him to come back to me. Stumbling down the halls and breaking into a run until I was outside.
Shaking.
Desperately trying to breathe.
Falling to a crouch with my head in my hands.
My sobs finally breaking free when arms wrapped around me and pulled me close.
“It’ll be okay,” Bree whispered as she held me. “It’s going to be okay.”
“He doesn’t know me,” I said through the tears straining my throat.
“He will,” she said after a delay. “The doctor said the pieces of our memory we lose in these kinds of traumatic events often come back—andsoon.”
“He thinks he’s with Harper,” I choked out, then twisted so I could look at the girl who had come to mean so much to me. “He thinks he’sproposingto Harper. He told me to take my engagement ring off.”
Bree’s expression fell.
“He was horrified when he saw it on my hand.”
Her head shook for a moment before she unevenly said, “He’s confused.”
“But why would he think he has an entire life with her? Has there ever been anything—”
“No,” Bree hurried to assure me. “Trust me, Harper was just as confused when we told her what Chase said.”
I considered her words, but the damaging thought that had been plaguing me spilled past my lips. “But has something been lingering on his end? Something that manifested into a reality because of whatever memories the doctor was talking about?”
Bree pressed her lips firmly together. Her expression clearly shouted that she wanted to deny it, but there was no real way toknow. “He loves you,” she finally said. “You’re his world.”
I pushed to standing and wiped at the tears clinging to my cheeks before wrapping my arms around my waist.
Trying to hold in the pain.
Trying to ward off the bone-deep chill slowly crawling through me.
“I’d thought the phone call about his accident was the worst thing I would ever experience,” I said, tone dulling as I stared out at the busy parking lot in front of us. That morning and that call replaying like a nightmare I hadn’t been able to shake off for the past three days. “Then having them tell us that he kept coding...”
My jaw trembled and my head moved in jerky shakes as I turned to look at the girl whose blonde hair and blue eyes so closely matched her brother’s. “He pulled through, he’s awake, he’shere...so why does it feel worse?” I asked through the newly building tears. “How can I be so relieved and thankful andbroken?”
