Vertigo. It’s just vertigo. You’re safe. And tomorrow, you’re going home.
Have I ever been on a plane before? What if I’m afraid of flying? Or get air sick? I touch the scar around my left wrist. What if I get to Austin and still remember nothing? Or what if I remember everything? What if the past three years are worse than I’ve imagined?
I pull the quilt up to my chest as someone knocks on the door. It’s soft, tentative. Like whoever’s on the other side isn’t sure if I’m awake, or wants to give me time to pretend I’m not.
At first, I don’t—can’t—say anything. I’m curled up in the recliner, willing my heart rate to return to normal. The vertigo left me wrung out and shaky. I’m completely exhausted, but the idea of getting back into that bed makes my skin crawl.
The knock comes again. A little stronger this time.
“Grace?” Parker’s steady, calm voice filters through the door, followed by a gentle creak as it opens a few inches. “Can I come in?”
“Yes,” I say softly.
She steps inside, shoulders hunched, a soft smile curving her lips. Her tight braid is coming loose, though her flannel shirt is still just as crisp as ever. She looks less like a seasoned law enforcement officer and more like someone’s overprotective little sister—except for the sharp glint in her eyes. I think that’s all Ranger.
“I asked AJ why you were still sportin’ the latest in hospital chic when he’d brought your favorite pair of pajamas. The man cursed a blue streak for so long, he ran out of air.” She chuckles and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Men. Even the best of ‘em are as dense as mud sometimes.”
I blink. “He…packed my clothes?” I don’t know why this surprises me. AJ has been completely focused on me since he arrived this morning. The quilt. The perfume. It was already so much it never occurred to me there could be more in that duffel bag.
Parker sets the bag at the foot of the bed, pulls out a folded bundle of light blue material, and lays it next to me. She runs a gentle hand over the fabric then raises her eyes to mine. “He said these were your favorite. You can tell they’ve been well-loved.”
A small, stunned ache grows behind my ribs. “He knows what my favorites are?”
Parker’s delicate, feminine snort fits her. “He folded these like they were the most precious things in the world. I don’t think there’s a damn thing about you he doesn’t know.”
The words knock something loose in my chest. I look away, my eyes stinging, and let my fingers graze the edge of the silky material. They’re soft, with a fresh, clean scent that vaguely reminds me of AJ. But there’s no memory behind them.
All I have is Parker’s word. And the feeling of home I found in AJ’s arms.
As if she can sense the shift in my emotions, she clears her throat. “You want to change into them? I can help. Or…call the nurse.”
I hesitate. When I moved from the bed to the recliner, the floor pitched like a boat in a hurricane. But the idea of getting out of this gown…
The thin fabric isn’t much more than paper. Scratchy, sterile…anonymous. Like me, I suppose. I need something that’s mine.
“If I stand up, I’ll fall.” My voice isn’t much more than a whisper, and my cheeks flush hot. I hate feeling this…helpless.
“Then we’ll improvise,” she says with a shrug. “I promise not to make it weird.”
Parker moves with quiet confidence, pulling the visitor’s chair over, then sinking to her knees next to the recliner. She doesn’t rush. There’s no awkwardness. Like she does this every day.
“If you feel even a little dizzy, tell me, and we’ll take a break. Okay?” Her blue-gray eyes search mine until I nod.
I manage to get my right leg into the pants, but she has to help me with the left. Never once does she make me feel exposed. Not even when I sway and she braces me with a gentle, yet firm hand on my shoulder.
“Have you done this before?” I ask, trying to distract myself before she has to tug the pants up to my waist.
“Helped my boss’s wife into a pair of pajamas? Why, that’s just another day in Texas law enforcement.” She gives me a wink, and it startles a soft, choked laugh from somewhere deep inside me. Somewhere I wasn’t sure I’d ever find again.
“There you are,” she says quietly. “I knew you were in there somewhere.”
I reach for her arm, holding on for little more than a beat. “Thank you. For this. For earlier. With Jasper and Connor. For coming so far…”
Parker’s gentle smile falls away. “Grace, you don’t have to thank any of us for being here. Me, Connor, Jasper…? There wasn’t a damn thing AJ could’ve done to stop us from coming. We’ve got your back. Even if you don’t remember what that looks like.”
My throat tightens. I blink hard, trying not to give in to the tears pricking at my eyes.
Parker moves behind me, deftly undoing the ties on the scratchy hospital gown, and I clutch the thin material to my chest before it falls.
