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“Let me check the notes.” She runs her fingers over the screen while she purses her lips. “No, sorry. You did have a Dizzy Sunshine check up on you. Does that help?”
“Could be a queen.” One I don’t remember. I add it to my growing list of things that don’t make sense.
She switches off the screen. “Listen, you’re going to leave here and you’re going to see your name mentioned a lot on social media. You might even hear things about yourself on the radio or the news that are disturbing.”
“I know how it works.” I glance out the window. It wouldn’t surprise me if there are reporters waiting outside for me right now. With Rogue Maddox sending me gifts and all. But even without this added confusion I’ve spent my life evading the media hoopla as much as possible. Growing up in a socialite family meant I had two choices. Embrace the fame or get really good at hiding from it.
“You might hear things about your… about Rogue Maddox,” she says. “Things that might scare you.”
“Like what?”
“That he hurt you.”
I narrow my attention to the woman. “Do you think he hurt me?”
Her expression stays neutral. “If I believed that he was a danger to you I would advise you not to leave the hospital with him.”
“And are you advising me?” I run my finger over the denim that is almost satiny to the touch.
The nurse who has helped me shower the last couple of days hurries into the room. Her smile is genuine. Her attitude is always upbeat to the point that it rubs off. “Do you need any help to get dressed?”
“I’ll finish the paperwork,” the doctor says. “You have people waiting for you.”
“Rogue Maddox?” I ask before she can leave the room. Why does my heart pitter-patter at the idea? And nausea grow in the pit of my stomach? Did he hurt me like I hear people say behind my back? Or were we in love? I can’t tell one way or the other.
I’m in the hospital and about to be discharged from a seventy-two. If we were in love and happy, why am I here?
“Your mother,” the doctor says.
My heart plummets. Of course my mother would be here. The doctor and I talked a lot about what I do remember prior to the events that landed me in here. There are whole months gone from my memory but my life before last summer is all there. It’s like a video recording that cut out at a certain point, but everything prior to that moment is still playable. My mother has plans for me. Business management. An engagement to Nathaniel Croft.
The doctor shuts the door as she leaves and the nurse helps me out of my hospital gown. I’ve never been so happy to shed a garment in my life. Then she helps me with my clothes when I can’t make my arms and hands work the way I want them too. There is no way I can manage a bra by myself and it takes some effort to latch the button on the jeans. The sweater is baggy though. It slips on over my bandages easily.
I’m tugging up the zipper when there’s a commotion outside of my room. Multiple voices speaking at once. Then the door opens and Rogue Maddox enters.
He fills the space. And even though there are other people behind him, I’m trapped by those sea blue orbs. “Ivy. Baby.”
I’m lost in the wide set of his shoulders and the way he prowls toward me. He’s gorgeous in real life. Up close. The tension in my chest ratchets up another notch as his fingers touch my face.
He peers at me this way and that. Frowns. “You really don’t remember me, do you?”
“I…” I blink and the spell is broken. I don’t know where I stand with this man. I don’t recall the details that led me to trying to take my own life. He was part of the life that I can’t remember.
“He’s not allowed in here.” My mother swans into the room. Nathaniel is behind her. She points Rogue out to security. “You need to have him arrested. There is a restraining order.”
“A restraining order?” I take a step back.
“It’s nothing,” he tells me and then turns to my mother. “Your attempt to control me was thrown out of court this morning. You can’t have me arrested for being here anymore than you can stop me from taking Ivy home.”
“She doesn’t remember you,” my mother screeches. “She clearly doesn’t feel safe with you. Ivy will come home with me.”
My shoulders climb toward my ears with each sentence my mother spits out. It’s only Rogue Maddox’s steel blues that ground me and keep the hummingbird heart in my chest from taking flight. Going home with my mother would be a nightmare.
“Over my dead body.” The man in front of me says as he squares his shoulders. His gaze tells me those words are a promise to me as much as they are a threat for my mother. One he plans on following to its conclusion as he turns his back to me.
He’s so tall. In gray cashmere that fits his wide shoulders and tapered torso like it was tailor made for him. I want to reach out and touch it to see if it’s as soft and warm as it looks. I catch a whiff of oatmeal and spice. His upper arms bulge as he crosses his forearms.
“You’re forgetting I can make your life hell,” Nicole tells him. “You hurt my daughter, and I won’t hesitate to destroy you and your whole family.”
