“Yes,” she replied in a softer tone.
When we were back in her hospital room, I looked around. “Well, are you ready to say goodbye to this place? It’s been your temporary home for three months.”
Her bags were packed, and Waverleigh had taken all Sevyn’s flowers she had received during her hospital stay to Sevyn’s house the day before. We were simply waiting for the nurse to come around with the discharge papers.
“Not really.”
I reached out and grabbed her hand. She looked at me with those light chestnut-brown eyes and smiled. “Why not?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Deuce. I don’t know what’s waiting for me there, but I don’t want to be alone. I think that I’ve been alone all my life, and I don’t look forward to that. It’s sad.”
“Were you lonely with your husband?”
Over the last two months, she had recalled a lot of memories, including losing her husband and grandmother. It had been difficult watching her deal with that grief all over again. She still didn’t recall the details surrounding her husband’s death, and her doctors encouraged us to continue allowing her to recover her memories on her own.
“A lot of the time, yes, I was. I mean, there were good times, but a significant part of our marriage was unhappy.”
“Why?”
She looked away in frustration and tugged at the edge of the bed cover. “I-I d-don’t really know.”
“Could it be that you’re afraid of discovering a truth about your marriage that you’re not ready to face?”
“Maybe.”
“Did you talk about it in therapy with your psychologist?”
I hadn’t been to all her appointments, because some of them were held while I was on duty, and others were deemed confidential. I pretty much had been at all her physical therapy appointments though.
“We talked about some things, but I honestly don’t recall why I was unhappy in my marriage.”
“I’m sure that whatever it was, your brain is blocking it and making it bigger than it actually is.”
“That’s just it. The psychologist said it had to be very traumatic, which is why my brain is blocking it.”
I thought about Lena and all she had gone through in her marriage. It left me wondering just how unhappy Sevyn’s marriage was and if she had been abused in any form. Maybe she hadn’t told Waverleigh everything. Or maybe it was just a loveless marriage.
“Listen, I don’t know what you went through or what you’ll have to face when you go home. But there’s something good about it at the end of the day—two things, actually.”
“What’s that?” she asked softly, meeting my gaze.
“The hurt and pain that you may have gone through can’t continue. The other thing is that I’ll be there to protect you. You won’t have to face your demons alone, and no matter what, we can always turn around, walk out that door, and close it behind us.”
“I would love to believe that, but where will I go? My grandmother has passed, Waverleigh’s out of town, and I may still have a job because of short-term disability, but I don’t know anyone there well enough to crash with them. I have no idea how long my savings account and disability will sustain me in an extended stay hotel.”
“Don’t worry about all that, okay? Whatever you need, I’ve got you. We’ll figure things out when Waverleigh returns. I’m sure that she knows quite a bit or at least can point you in the direction to figure out what you need to know.”
“Sure.”
“Why do I get the feeling that trust is a difficult thing for you? Aside from the amnesia, I mean.”
Shrugging, she replied, “Maybe.”
“Sevyn, who let you down so much that you have a hard time having simple faith in people?”
She looked away from me again as Nurse Hannah stepped into the room.
“Well, Ms. Sevyn, we’ve got all your paperwork together, girl. Dr. Cruz has signed off on your discharge paperwork, and you’re ready to go.”
