He tried to think back to what he remembered last doing. And he was sure they’d all gone out to dinner. Somehow, sesame had gotten into Lacy’s meal, and she’d had a reaction. They called an ambulance for her and he talked Nash through using her EpiPen. And after that…
Darkness.
“Dinner at Davney’s…”
“Stone,” Mae gasped. “That was two months ago. You weren’t… you weren’t hit by a car. You were shot.”
He didn’t remember.
Mae knew that she should be more upset that Stone couldn’t identify the shooter, but honestly, and selfishly, that was the last thing that crossed her mind.
And now, as she walked down the long hallway towards the conference room that had become like a home base away from home for everyone, she couldn’t seem to wrap her head around what had just happened in Stone’s hospital room.
Was it a blessing he couldn’t remember? Was it the second chance she’d been praying for? Mae’s hands shook as she walked into the waiting room.
Forget being overwhelmed at what the doctor had said. Her friends standing up and rushing towards her with a million questions…thatwas overwhelming.
“How is he?”
“What did the doctor say?”
“Are you okay?”
“What’s his prognosis?”
“What did he say about the shooting?”
“Okay, okay.” Lacy’s voice rang out over everyone’s. “Let’s not bombard her. Mae,” Lacy hooked her arm around Mae’s waist. “You’re looking a little unsteady. Do you want to have a seat before you tell us what happened and how Stone is?”
She nodded, not able to muster the words. Nash jumped up from his seat, which thankfully was closest to where they were standing. Mae forced herself to take one single breath for fortification before she dove in.
“Stone is awake. Fully. Well, he was, before he fell backasleep a few minutes ago.” Her friends looked at her in horror, so she jumped to reassure them. “Dr. Anderson said that was completely normal. He’ll hopefully work up to being awake for longer stretches of time. Stone was able to talk to me, he knew who I was. Dr. Anderson believes his brain just needed time to recover from the concussion and surgeries. Unfortunately…” her voice hitched.
“Unfortunately what, sweetie?” Emma’s hand slid over hers, holding on tightly.
“When Stone woke up, he was confused about how he ended up in the hospital. The last thing he remembers is from Nash and Lacy’s wedding dinner. Being in the parking lot after her allergic reaction. He doesn’t remember anything in the last nine-ish weeks since then.”
“It’s temporary though, isn’t it? Just from hitting his head?” Gage asked.
Mae shrugged. “Dr. Anderson needs to run some tests, but I spoke to him after Stone fell back asleep. While it could just be his mind working its way out of the coma, it could also be something else. And if it’s that something else, there’s no guarantee that he will ever regain those memories.”
“Fuck.” Sebastian stood, pacing behind the row of chairs Mae was sitting in. “We’ve been relying on the hope that Stone would be able to identify who shot him. There has to be something we’re missing. Something that was captured on one of the cameras we’ve set up in town. Tracker?—”
“I’m already on it, Cap.” Gage responded. “I’ll comb back through all the feeds I have access to. I’ll ask the sheriff’s department if they’re willing to share their call log from that night. See if anything suspicious was reported.”
“No,” Sebastian rubbed his chin with his palm. “I’ll ask Hank myself. I should have been on top of it.”
Mae knew Sebastian and the sheriff were close. Emma and his wife, Daisy, were bestfriends.
“Mae, did Dr. Anderson say anything else?” Sloane asked.
“Um, he called Stone’s condition post-traumatic amnesia? He’s trying to determine if Stone will have trouble making new memories…” Mae’s eyes landed on Lily, who was brushing away a tear from her face. The only one in the group to know her secret, and the fear that had been growing in the back of Mae’s mind was so clearly reflected on her friend’s face too. If Mae told him about the baby, would he be able to remember?
“Or if it’s just retrograde.” Sloane finished Mae’s thought for her.
“Right.”
“How long until we know?” Sebastian asked. “How long until the doctor has an idea if his lost memories will come back?”
