Page 12 of No One But You
I grimaced, then flinched when that hurt too.“I tried to sit up.”
He sighed and rubbed his chest.“Just stay lying down for now.Your body needs rest.If you want to get up later, call for me, and I’ll help you.”
I was tempted to ask what I was supposed to do if I needed to pee, but considering I had a creeping feeling that I was missing more than a few minutes’ worth of memories, it was possible that problem had already cropped up and had to be addressed.
If that was the case, did I really want to know?Or would I prefer to continue believing that Max had no idea I possessed normal human bodily functions?
Yeah, definitely the second option.
“How do you feel?”he asked, pressing the backs of his fingers to my forehead so gently, my heart ka-thunked in a way it really shouldn’t.
“My head hurts.”I silently assessed the rest of me.“Actually, everything does.What happened?Why am I here?”
“You activated the emergency signal on your personal locator beacon.We found you unconscious near the East Ridge Trail.You had injuries consistent with either a fall or…”
“Or what?”My mind was too fuzzy to recall much of anything.
“Or a physical assault.The doctor at Queenstown Hospital considers that the latter is more likely, and I agree with her.”
He looked sick at the thought.I probably should, too, but my thoughts were trickling like molasses, so it made sense that my emotions were probably delayed as well.
“Am I… okay?”
Because he was saying I’d been beaten, right?
His mouth turned down at the corners.“You have two cracked ribs, a broken finger—it’s been splinted—a few cuts, and a lot of bruising.Your nose was broken, and you probably have a concussion.”
I wanted to rub my temples or shake my head to clear my brain of fog, but that didn’t seem like the best idea.“Is that why thinking is so hard?”
“Probably.What do you remember?”
I racked my mind.I knew I’d intended to hike the East Ridge Track, but beyond that, I couldn’t lock on to anything concrete.In fact, the last thing I clearly recalled was Max walking me to my car after the Braddock brunch.“I don’t know.”
He dragged a chair over and sat beside me.“That’s understandable.Short-term memory loss isn’t uncommon with a concussion.Your memories will probably come back to you over the next few days or weeks.Don’t push yourself, but you should be aware that the police will want to know what you do remember.They’ll have to take a statement from you for the investigation.”
Investigation?
Well, yeah.I guess if someone had attacked me, then it was a criminal matter.Unfortunately, I’d be absolutely no help to the police at the moment.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to walk back through the day.I’d gotten up and made a salad, taken it to Heather and Eugene’s place, shared brunch, and managed to talk to Max without embarrassing myself.
I knew what I must have done after that: gone home, put on makeup, chosen my outfit, packed my bag, and left for the hike, but the images that danced through my mind were vague and could have been from any of more than a dozen outings.
An ache started behind my eye, and I gave up and huffed, irritated with myself.It shouldn’t be so hard to remember something that happened only… huh.
“What day is it?”I asked.
“Monday.”He rose from the chair.“I’ll get you a drink.Are you hungry?”
I tried to tune in to my stomach, but with everything throbbing and my head so achy, it was impossible to tell.If it had been a day, I’d need to keep my strength up, though.
“Maybe for something light.”
He smiled, and even now, when there wasn’t an inch of me that didn’t hurt, it melted me.“Mum brought vegetable soup.How about that?”
“Sounds good.”
It was typical of Heather to want to take care of me.Tears prickled in my eyes.I’d really love a mum-hug right now, but I couldn’t hug my own because she was halfway down the country.
