Chapter Twenty
Tommy
I’m living in purgatory.
Staying away from Maya is killing me. I’ve had to escape back to my home in the Cotswolds, to stop myself from forcing my way into her life. At what point do I give up and move on? I’ve been face to face with her twice since the accident, and she didn’t have a clue who I was.
The pain of seeing the person you love look at you as though you’re a stranger is like a dagger to the gut.
“Maya, would it be okay if some friends came to visit you? We’re hoping it might jog your memory by seeing them,” Dr Smyth asks her. He is stood at the open door, so we can hear her response.
“Please, don’t let them too close to me.” her voice sounds fragile, broken. My girl is suffering on her own and doesn’t know who to trust.
“Of course, I will be here the whole time.”
“Okay,” She agrees timidly.
It takes all the strength inside of me not to burst into the room and run to her. I would be jealous of Dr Smyth if he wasn’t such a good guy, but my girl should be needing me by her side, not him. I hang behind, letting the girls go in first, my parents and I standing at the back of the room. Giving her time to adjust.
She surveys all the newcomers for a moment, before bursting into tears. Big wet sobs.
She didn’t even look at me.
My own eyes water, knowing I’ve just lost my chance of her remembering me.
“Make them leave. Please!” She’s boarding on hysterical. I try to go to her, but my dad grabs onto me and drags me out the room.
“Son, now isn’t the time,” He whispers as we leave.
“But she needs me.”
That day was easily the worst experience I have ever been through. We tried again the next day, which resulted in the same outcome. After much deliberation, and continuous arguments, we agreed that the girls were her best bet right now. It took a few weeks, but she finally let them in.
Fallon texts me updates on her a few times a day. It’s almost as if she is so involved in Maya and me to take her mind off Harry. I don’t know how she hasn’t broken down yet. Having to go to his funeral without her best friend by herside must have been hard. She was depressed for weeks, only coming alive when she was working on making Maya trust her again.
When Fallon isn’t texting me, I turn into the world’s worst stalker. Walking past her work every lunch just to catch a glimpse of her. She caught me looking once, but I turned quickly to avoid eye contact.
I can’t have her thinking I’m the creeper from the window when we finally meet again.
Fallon actually text me yesterday to fill me in with the police update. Of all fucking people, it had to be him. He better get caught by the police before I get my hands on him, because I know which outcome will be worse.
Fucking Jake.
The good thing about having accumulated as much money as I have, is having the funds and friends in high places to look into this kind of shit. I have already arranged protection for Maya as they assumed it was a targeted attack, but since the update off Fallon, I have upgraded their presence.
“Bro, you can’t carry on like this forever. Maybe I should go and see her?” Max interrupts my brooding.
“I don’t think anything will help. She doesn’t even want to give me a chance.”
“Then don’t give her an option!” he demands. Max is never the one to think clearly in emotional situations.
“What’s got into you, Max?”
“Nothing. It’s just horrible to see you like this. Being kept away from the woman you love for absolutely no reason at all.” His posture is stiff, eyes red. This doesn’t seem to be aimed at me alone, what’s happening with him?
“Anything you want to talk about?” I ask, genuinely worried now. He never gets upset, over anything, not that I can recall anyway.
“Nope,” He huffs. Well, that’s a lie.
