Argh. Just stop.
I reach my uninjured hand up to push my hair behind my ear, a tick I fall into whenever I’m anxious. But the pull of the IV stops me, and I let out an aggravated sound.
“Sofia?” His frown shifts to something softer. More worried. “Are you in pain? Do you need the doctor?”
I snort. “Yes. I’m in pain. I have a concussion, as you mentioned. And my shoulder—” I stop as his previous words sink in. “Wait. How did you know about my injuries? We’re not family. They wouldn’t have told you.”
Nico’s gaze skitters away, just like it always used to whenever he got busted doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Likeskipping school to spend the day on Coney Island or hacking into the school computers so he could find out how I did on the?—
“Did youhackinto the hospital records?” I ask.
“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dying,” he retorts.
Ouch.
“Oh. How lovely,” I reply in a droll tone. “So glad to hear you didn’t want me dead. Or were you hoping I was?”
“Sofia.”Anger flushes his cheeks. “How could you say that? I wouldnever. No matter what… I wouldn’t. Do you really think so little—” He glances over his shoulder at the door. “This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come.”
Guilt seeps through me.
No. I don’t think Nico would ever wish me dead. Just like I would never wish the same of him. I’m just feeling off-balance and snappish and I lashed out without thinking.
“I’m sorry,” I concede quietly. “I didn’t mean that. About wishing me dead. I know you wouldn’t.”
Nico’s shoulders sag. “I wouldn’t. But I should be nicer. Given—” He gestures around the room. “All this.”
“Given that I’m in the hospital with no idea how I got here?”
“What?” He blinks. “You don’t— What?”
“The doctor called it retrograde amnesia. It can happen with concussions. Especially ones that knock you unconscious.”
Nico crosses his arms across his chest again. “That wasn’t in your chart.”
“Well,” I reply testily. “In my chart or not, I don’t remember anything from the past week. Not what I ate for breakfast this morning, not what I did three days ago at work, and not what I was doing in the Upper West Side before I was attacked.”
“You came to see me. At my condo.”
“What?”
“My condo. According to Edwin?—”
“Edwin?”
“The doorman slash security guard. He talked to you not long before the attack. You told him you were there to see me. That you knew me from high school and wanted to surprise me.”
“Surpriseyou?” Nico could have told me he just learned how to fly, and I’m not sure I’d be more shocked. “I came to your condo tosurpriseyou?”
He smirks. “Well, it was certainly a surprise. But I’ll admit I’m curious why you decided to come see me now. After eighteenyears.”
As if you wanted to see me sooner,I almost fire back. But exhaustion is setting in after hours of being poked and prodded and X-rayed, and I don’t have the energy to argue with him. “I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “I don’t remember.”
“Maybe something in your bag—” he glances around. “Do you have a bag? A purse? Something?”
My hand twitches towards my hair. “The police found my bag at the… scene. But my phone and laptop were gone. My wallet was cleaned out except for my license and credit cards. Maybe there was something else, but I don’t know.”
Tears prick behind my eyes, and I swallow hard.
