Page 9 of Forever Mine
Liz licks grease off her fingers. “I was told about two months.”
Two months?Our faces collectively display our dismay.
She touches the back of her head. “They told me the swelling in my brain was what caused it. Daniel and Drew placed me in an excellent rehab facility. The staff was wonderful to me. I did all my outpatient with them, too, so I got to know many of the doctors and nurses on a personal level. One thing I don’t miss is all the poking and prodding and MRIs.”
“If you were in a medical rehab facility, why couldn’t our PI find you?” Jay asks.
Liz shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “Probably because of Daniel and Drew. They kept me in a private facility under a false name. Said it was for my protection. They’re wonderful. You and Julien remind me of them,” she says to Elijah.
Liz already told us about her distant cousin, Daniel, and his husband Drew. How they took emergency guardianship over her, flew her to Washington state, and have been caring for her over the past year.
We were surprised to hear that she had a distant cousin who we never knew existed. In the thirteen years Jay and I have known Liz, no other family members ever visited. Both sets of her grandparents were deceased. There were no aunts or uncles. As far as we knew, it was just her, Hailey, and their parents.
Liz peels a slice of pepperoni from her pizza and nibbles it. “They own some big tech company. D & D.”
“How bad is your amnesia?” Ryder asks, no longer ignoring the elephant in the room.
We haven’t asked her aboutthat night. We’re too afraid to bring it up. If there were ever an upside to amnesia, not remembering your entire family being murdered in front of you would be a blessing.
Liz mimics Elijah’s pizza burrito and takes a big bite off the end. “It’s basically like someone wiped my operating system clean, and I was rebooted. I recall things like math and science—school stuff. I can play the guitar and the piano, but I can’t remember how I learned to play. I remember songs and movies. It’s the people, places, and events from before that are missing.”
Ryder picks at the plastic wrapping off his water bottle. “You must remember some things. Why else would you pick a Hellcat like mine for your car?”
She chews as she considers his question. “I guess you’re right. Everything’s just locked away. The doctors are cautiously optimistic that things will come back to me, but they can’t make any guarantees. I do have flashes of memories. Like tiny little puzzle pieces I have to string together to make a complete picture, except there are a lot of missing pieces.” Her gaze goes to Ryder. “I had some flashes of you today.”
“You remembered me?”
“Kind of.”
Her cheeks pink when she becomes the rapt focus of four sets of eyes.
“What did you remember?”
“Um. I can only recall a little. Like us driving in a car with the windows down… and there’s this song playing on the radio.” She hums a few measures, and Ry busts out with the biggest smile.
“‘Alive’ by P.O.D.”
“How long have the two of you been dating?” she asks me.
Taking Elijah’s hand under the table, I reply, “A few years. We met in seventh grade at one of Jay’s swim meets.”
I’m pretty sure I hear Liz sigh when Elijah says, “I fell hard for Julien. Love at first sight.”
I bring our joined hands to my lips and kiss the backs of his knuckles. “I fell for him, too, but it took me a while to come to terms with my bisexuality. You were the first person I came out to.”
“I was?” She seems happy to hear that.
“You were our biggest cheerleader. I’ll never be able to repay you for everything you did for us.”
Her phone chimes, and she reads whatever text message arrived. “It’s Daniel. I think it’s time I call it a night. I’m tired.”
We don’t push our luck, not even Jay. Getting up from the table, I take her empty plate and glass and walk over to the sink to rinse them before placing them inside the dishwasher.
Ryder slides over to her side and playfully bumps her hip. “What’s your number?”
“Can I get in on that as well?” I ask, taking out my phone.
I hate the deer-in-headlights look that overtakes her.
