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There was light, then darkness again, a never-ending cycle as I struggled to open my eyes but couldn’t. The pain—oh, God, the pain. It felt like my whole body was broken in half. A blurry version of Ryzen was all I could see, fear roaring in my ears at how close he was.
“Give her more. No, I don’t pay you to fucking think. Now give her more or you’re fucking done.”
*****
Oh, my God, my head was killing me. I reached up to rub my temples and gasped at the cast around my arm. My gaze traveled over my body, my eyes widening. I was covered in scrapes and bruises, a bandage wrapped around my thigh and one around my foot. A steady beeping noise came from the right of me, and I squinted in that direction. A man stood there in a white coat and a clipboard. A doctor, but I was definitely not in the hospital. It was a bedroom in a house from the looks of it.
“Where am I?” I croaked out and moistened my lips with my tongue.
He handed me a cup of water. “Here, drink this, Miss La Roux.”
I chugged the water and held the cup out for more. Two more cups later, I was finally able to speak without my throat hurting. “Where am I?”
“You’re home, Miss La Roux.”
Home? This didn’t look like my home. I furrowed my brows and looked around the room. Nothing looked familiar.
“I got it, Doc.” A man stepped from behind the doctor and peered down at me. He brushed my hair out of my face and stroked my bottom lip.
“What’s happening? Who are you?” I whispered as his eyes drilled into me. I could have sworn a smile flashed across his face before his mouth set in a thin line.
“Oh, Nova, it’s me.” He cupped my cheek in his hand. “Ryzen. Your fiancé.”
My mouth fell open at his words.
My fiancé?
That didn’t make any sense.
I had never seen this man before in my whole life.
Chapter Sixteen
Day 50
Retrograde amnesia. That was what the doctor called it.
I sagged into the bed and squeezed my eyes shut. The more he talked about amnesia, and trauma, and dissociation, the faster my heart beat until my whole body began to shake in a way that I knew wasn’t right.
“Nova. You were in an accident and sustained some head injuries.” Ryzen leaned in closer to me and I tried to push him away, a shot of pain running through my arm that was wrapped in a cast.
“Get away from me.” My eyes darted around the room. “This can’t be happening.”
“Doctor, help her.” Ryzen nodded and the doctor pulled out a needle.
“What is that? I don’t want that.” I shook my head and tried to back away, but there was nowhere to go. My legs were tangled in the blankets and when he tried to put the needle in my arm, I smacked him away. “Get away from me. I don’t know you people!” My voice rose to a high pitch, and I sounded hysterical, even to myself.
“Hold her.” The doctor grabbed the needle and Ryzen held my shoulders down.
I flailed my arms and legs, trying to do anything to get them away from me. But it didn’t work, I was too weak and every movement I made felt like someone was poking me with a cattle prod. “Stop, let me go!” My arm stung, and I realized the doctor had injected me with whatever was in the needle. Within moments I stopped trying to fight Ryzen off, my head rolling from side to side. And then the sweet embrace of darkness came again.
Day 52
I woke up with a gasp, my head throbbing like I had been hit with a bat. Ryzen sat in the chair next to my bed, his head in his hands.
“Nova, you’re awake. Thank God.” His lips set in a flat line, and I gripped the blanket to my chest. My movements felt slow, like I was moving through water.
I didn’t know how long I had been out for. Was it hours? Days? “What’s… what’s going on?” My speech was slightly slurred, and I realized that they must have been giving me some sort of painkiller or relaxant.
