Page 5 of Forever Mine
That’s a huge understatement. I feel like we’ve walked into the Upside Down.
“I know things must be confusing. It’s the same for us. You act like you don’t know who we are. We’ve been searching for you for over a year,” Ry says.
Her frightened gaze locks onto me. “I don’t know who any of you are.I don’t remember.”
She doesn’t remember us? How is that possible?
Elijah releases my hand and pulls out his phone. He opens a folder and swipes to an old selfie of him and Liz sitting in the bleachers at one of my high school soccer games.
Pointing to himself in the picture, he asks, “Do you remember me?”
Liz shakes her head. “No. Should I?”
“I’m Elijah.”
A dark head of hair pokes out of the apartment two doors down. “Do you mind? I just got off the night shift, and I’m trying to go to sleep.” He slams his door closed.
“Maybe it’s best if we talk inside,” Ryder suggests, and Liz immediately tenses.
Her gaze bounces between the three of us before she reluctantly nods. “Okay.”
Liz stays near the door, warily watching us when we come inside. The apartment is spacious with an open-concept layout. A granite counter island separates the kitchen from the living room. There’s an attached breakfast nook and a short hallway that must lead to the bedroom. Furniture that appears brand new decorates the space, and a few moving boxes are scattered around, waiting to be unpacked.
“Liz. Baby.Please,” Jay pleads.
Liz visibly flinches again and backs up a step. Can he not read the room?
Taking his forearm, I drag him to the couch.
“Sit your ass down, shut up, and give her a damn minute. I can’t believe you broke down her fucking door,” I seethe in a harsh whisper.
He grapples against my firm hold when I none too gently force his obstinate ass down onto the couch.
Elijah takes a seat next to him. “Jay, you’re scaring her.”
Somehow, thankfully, what he says gets through.
Ryder eases down to the floor in front of us, and two long, awkward minutes pass as she stares at us and we stare at her, and no one says anything. I use that time to take her in, still not believing she’s actually here. She looks different, yet somehow the same. She’s more muscular, her arms more defined. The color of her eyes is the same, but the wariness and discomfort sheltered behind them are new. There isn’t a flicker of recognition. Nothing. What the fuck happened to her?
“Where have you been?” I ask.
Her head cants to the side with trepidation. With my heart trying to climb its way up my throat, I wait for her to say something.Anything.
When she doesn’t, I ask, “You don’t rememberanyof us?”
Her hands fidget at her sides, her fists clenching and unclenching. She looks like she wants to bolt but is forcefully willing her feet to remain glued to the floor.
“I don’t…” She takes a deep breath and taps the fingers of her right hand against her outer thigh like piano keys. “The only thing I remember is waking up in a hospital. I was… in a coma… that’s what I was told anyway. I don’t really know since…” Her chin dips to her sternum, and she shrugs.
Ryder loops his arms around his bent knees. “You were in the hospital in Fallen Brook. We visited you every day. We were told some guy showed up. A cousin or something. And then you just vanished. No one would tell us who the guy was or where he took you. Where have you been?”
Liz swallows, then clears her throat. She takes a small, tentative step forward. “Um… Seattle.”
“Seattle?” Jay practically shouts.
Liz doesn’t retreat this time. On the contrary, she looks pissed. Anger visibly vibrates through her body like a plucked string.
“Look, I don’t know you, and to be honest, I’m a hell of a lot freaked out right now. How can I believe anything you’re saying?”
