Shrugging, I replied, “I don’t know. I just do.”
She smiled and jumped on the bed. Grabbing my hands in hers, she exclaimed, “I think you’re getting your memory back.”
“Honey, I hope so, because this hasn’t been any fun at all.”
When a worried look crossed her face, and she bit her bottom lip, my heart tugged a little. “What are you worried about?”
Waverleigh shook her head. “Nothing, honey. Nothing at all.”
“Do you think that I could honestly trust him?”
“Who? Deuce? Yeah. Like I said, I've seen him around the hospital in the past volunteering. I'm sure he's a great guy, and he's a cop.”
“You've always been naive, believing there's good in everyone.”
She shrugged. “I mean, I haven’t known him for long, but over the last month, I’ve gotten to know him. At least, whenever I am in town.”
“Where have you been?”
“Well, my mom has a lot of health issues. I know that you don’t recall that, but she does. I have been taking turns with my sister traveling to help Mom out.”
“Hadley and Jackie. Your sister and your mom, right?”
“Right. Aww, honey.” Waverleigh threw her arms around me and hugged me tight. “Anyway, he’s been here the entire time. He texts me and calls me to keep me updated on everything. He LiveTimed me to make sure that I could see you, and you could hear my voice. He’s so sweet with all the reading he does for you, massaging your arms and legs, exercising them, and he even brushes your hair the way that he’s seen me do. He really has been here for you all along.”
“His voice is so comforting, familiar, and soothing when he reads to me.”
“Well, he was doing that while you were in the coma, too, which is why it may have felt so familiar.”
“And you’re sure that I didn’t know him before the accident?”
“Listen, honey, unless you had him hidden in your pocket somewhere, I’m absolutely certain.”
“Why?”
She hesitated but then shook her head. “We shared everything with each other. We didn’t hold anything back from each other. You would have told me about him.”
I suspected that she was about to say something else, but she changed her mind. I wondered what she was about to say. Before I could press the issue, the door opened, and Deuce stepped back inside.
“What?” he asked, smiling as we both stared at him.
“Nothing,” I declared.
At the same time, Waverleigh smiled and replied, “We were just talking about you, Officer Fullwood.”
“I hope it was all good.”
“What else would it be?” Waverleigh asked.
“What were you saying?” he asked, handing Waverleigh a coffee and a juice to me. “Confiscated these from the breakroom.” He smiled a beautiful smile.
“I was just telling Sevyn what a great support system you’ve been, especially while I was out of town,” Waverleigh explained.
I took a moment to check him out while they chatted about what he had done while she was away. He was staring at me the entire time he talked, only glancing at Waverleigh once or twice.
He had an athletic build with very muscular arms, chest, and shoulders. Tattoos covered his arms and neck. He wore his curly hair in a low cut and faded on the sides. I shifted in the bed trying to find a comfortable position, and he immediately rushed to my side.
“Let me help you,” he offered. He reached behind me and repositioned my pillows behind my back. In that moment, I not only inhaled his cologne, which had a fresh, crisp, and clean scent, but I also could see a very light sprinkling of freckles on the cheekbones of his cashew-colored skin.
