“Twenty minutes. That’s all you get. He might seem okay, but he’s just woken up in a strange bed, in hospital, and the last memory he has is of having lunch on his yacht the night of the accident. The rest is a blur. All that aside, he’ll make a full recovery.”
This is a good sign. A really good sign. A freaking miracle, just like Valerie said it was.
Bouncing up and down on my tiptoes, I ask, “Can we?” I motion toward the door, excitement getting the better of me like a kid on Christmas Day who’s ready to see if Santa’s been.
“Yes. Twenty minutes. Okay?” Dr. Gilbert reiterates.
“Twenty minutes.” I turn to Valerie and Jack to give them their rightful place. “You should go first.”
Without argument, Leon’s parents rush through the door and shower Leon with words of love, tentatively making their way to him and hugging him gently as if he’s a fine piece of china.
Nervous to go next, I urge Ash and Lily, then Buster to go next, following in behind them.
There are fist bumps and jeering, gentle teasing between Buster, Leon, and my brother, his lifelong friends, who are more like brothers.
“I have better war wounds than both of you now.” Leon points to the side of his head, his voice dry and croaky from not using his vocal cords for the last four weeks, making Buster and Ash laugh as Lily places her hand over Leon’s.
“Hey, little one.” Leon greets her.
“Don’t ever scare us like that again.”
Sheepishly, he looks slightly embarrassed. “I’ll try not to.”
My palms feel damp, every second stretching too long; my knees are weak, and if someone were to give me a gentle prod, I might topple over. Still, I stand firm, wanting to show him I am here for him. Night and day, I’ve sat by his bed, read him stories, the sports news, and relived our honeymoon, retelling how beautiful it all was. I hope he heard me.
“Hey.” I’m the last to speak, and I try not to wince at how thin his frame has become while being in a coma.
He turns toward my voice, slow and cautious, his focus settling on me. Blinking. There’s recognition there, but only for a fleeting second, but it’s the kind of attention you would give a stranger. I think. Leon’s brows pull together, uncertain before he cracks a heartbreaking smile. “Have you come to check my heart rate?” He drops his attention down and up my body.
“No.” I shake my head, then laugh at his sense of humor I’ve always loved. “This isn’t my department.”
“Well, whatever department you work in, I’d like to be transferred to it. None of the nurses on this floor that I have seen are as pretty as you.” There’s a playful note in his tone.“Don’t tell them I said that.”
“I’m a doctor, not a nurse.” He knows that, or is his head still fuzzy?
“Wow, well, you’re the most beautiful doctor I’ve ever seen, but why are you here if this isn’t your department?”
A peculiar surge of panicked tension sweeps through me, my mind momentarily jumping about in my skull. Something isn’t right.
I reply slowly, “Because I’m here to see you. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
“Sorry, do I know you?” Leon asks. He glances at Ash and Buster as if to ask,who I am.
His question stabs me right through my shattered heart, although I am sure that would hurt less than how I am feeling right now. Icy fear twists low in my gut, the room tilting slightly, unsettling me.
He doesn’t know who I am.
“It’s Erika,” Ash points to me. “My sister.”
Leon scoffs, then blurts out words that drive a dagger through my already battered heart. “You don’t have a sister.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Erika
The room falls silent as I step closer to the bed and grip the end of it to stop my knees from buckling, pressure building behind my eyes.
I’ve imagined him waking up in my head over a million times, but not one of them went like this.
