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She remained in place, not fighting to free herself even as I eased my hold.
“Youaccidentallyhit me with a hammer?” I said. “How’s that possible?”
“Sure dumb luck,” she said.“Bad luck,I mean, if that wasn’t clear.”
Her eyes begged me to believe her, and deep down, as foolish as it may be, I was beginning to.
I released her wrists. “I apologize for startling you.”
“It’s okay. I mean, it’s not really cool to grab a woman you don’t know in the dark and pin her to the wall. I could have kneed you in the balls.” She crossed her arms over her chest.“I should have.”
I shouldn’t have grabbed her. I shouldn’t have assumed. I ran a hand over my face, and it hurt like hell. I hissed in pain and pulled my hand away.
She gave me a sad smile, like it pained her to see me hurting, which made no sense.
“I followed the ambulance here, and I’ve been waiting all night and day, and now night again, to talk to you, but they wouldn’t let me in,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because I’m not family,” she said. “Plus, I couldn’t tell them your name, since I don’t know it.”
Not only was she not trying to kill me, but she was claiming not to know me at all. I wanted to trust that she was telling me the truth, but I couldn’t wrap my head around her story.
“I’m not asking why you couldn’t come into my room,” I said. “I’m asking why you wasted your day waiting to speak with me.”
She furrowed her brows in confusion. “Because this is my fault. I had to see that you were all right.”
Her proclamation of caring prickled like thorns in my chest.
I said, “I am.”
“You’re clearly not. You should be in the hospital, getting brain scans and seeing brain doctors and whatnot.”
“I did that. It’s over.”
“Then why aren’t you in there resting? Why are you running away?”
“I’m not running.”
She gave me a look that said she could read my bullshit and she was still waiting for a real answer.
Honestly, I didn’t have one to give. My actions since waking in that hospital bed were entirely based on instinct. Even if my head injury was a mistake, I had an inkling I couldn’t shake that I was involved in some sort of dangerous undercover work. Even if this woman wasn’t a threat, someone had to be after me…didn’t they?
“I’m really sorry for bludgeoning you. If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat. When the hammer flew out of my fingers, I was scared. When I saw it slip through the window, I….” She shivered. “Then it hit you and you were on the ground. You weren’t moving and….”
Tears filled her eyes.
My fingers itched to pull her close and comfort her, which was utterly ridiculous. I shoved my hands in my pockets instead.
She took a long deep breath, wiped her tears away, and forced a smile.
“Let’s start over.” She offered me her hand. “I’m Morgan Montrose, nice to meet you.”
It was a benign gesture. People introduced themselves and shook hands every day. It was nothing.
Yet, to me it was everything.
The more I tried to probe my brain for an answer, the more my head hurt. I didn’t know who I was.
