Trepidation drenched her and wrapped around me, about to suffocate me. What had her spooked?
“Do you know your name?” Doc’s concerned tone cut through my gray matter as he wormed his way into my sister’s spot at the head of the bed. “Look at me.” He had his penlight in his hands.
I growled at him, not taking my attention off Layla. “What’s going on? What happened?”
My father cleared his throat. “Son, answer Dr. Vieira. What’s your name?”
I clutched onto the blanket. “Fuck… It’s Sam. Now tell me what’s going on.” The bed began to shake, my elemental powers on the brink of destruction if no one started talking. “Why does everyone look like they’re about to crap their pants?”
Layla gripped the footboard, her knuckles white as snow. “Do you know who I am?”
I reared back, my forehead wrinkling. “For fuck’s sake. You’re my baby mama. I love you, and I asked you to marry me. Please tell me you said yes.” That part I couldn’t remember, although if she didn’t agree to be my bride, I might crawl back into a hole or wherever the fuck I’d been and die.
Jo gasped. “What?” She jerked her head at Layla, her black ponytail swinging behind her. “You didn’t mention a proposal.”
“Focus,” Doc said in a tone that permitted no argument. “Is that the last thing you remember?”
“Yeah. Now can I talk to Layla alone?” I scowled.
Doc waved his penlight in my eyes, unfazed by my irritation. “Not yet.”
I swatted the air, hoping Doc would calm the fuck down. “I can see just fine. Someone start talking and tell me what is going on.”
Layla smiled for the first time, her shoulders lowering, the tension slowly waning. “You remember asking me to marry you?” She sounded surprised.
One side of my mouth quirked upward. “How could I forget something as big as that? Did you say yes?”
Layla’s face flushed a deep red. “We should talk about this later.”
My pulse screeched to a halt for a split second until Jo’s voice entered my head.Brother, Layla’s been through hell, and so have you. I think you need a better setting than this where you two can be alone.
She had a point, and come to think of it, I wanted to remember her answer.
“Son, do you know that you attacked Peter?” Dad asked, changing the subject, no doubt feeling Layla’s edginess.
“I’ve never seen this man before in my life,” I returned.
Peter touched the vein in his neck. “You bit me.”
Layla interlocked her fingers in front of her and rubbed one thumb over the other. “You’ve been asleep for over a month, Sam. Carly Aberdeen put a microchip in your head to control you, but the stupid thing malfunctioned, which is why you’ve been in a coma. Then Jo and Webb found Peter. He’s the scientist who originally designed the technology, although he invented it to help the handicapped. When he came in to analyze the program, the chip rebooted and you…” She shivered. “Then Jo stabbed you to distract you off Peter, and you attacked her.”
“We thought you were going to hurt Layla,” my father added. “You don’t recall any of that?”
I would never hurt Layla.Ever.My eyebrows creased as anger bubbled free. Not at them but at the situation. “Not at all.” I was also enraged that I’d lost a fucking month of my life. The bed shook again, as did the supply cabinet. My ferocity wasn’t meant for them but for Carly Aberdeen and the rest of her fuckwads.
That fear Layla harbored minutes before hurtled back as she lost the color in her cheeks.
“Is forgetting a normal reaction to the chip?” Doc asked, eyeing Peter.
“As I told you, when we’re dealing with the brain, anything can happen,” Peter said. “Sam, any headaches?”
“My head throbbed when I woke up, but the pain isn’t as sharp as it was.” I gritted my teeth. “I knew the bitch had fucked with my head. Did you take it out?”
Doc frowned. “You’ll need surgery to remove it.”
“Just rip the fucker out,” I said through a growl.
Peter yanked on his tie. “It’s not that simple. The microchip is slightly bigger than a grain of rice, and it will take a keen eye and steady hands along with the right equipment to remove it.”
