“You’re welcome,” I replied simply.
“I didn’t think you’d come by until tonight,” she said, almost shy.
There was no way I could have gone the entire day without seeing her. “What happened? Why did the nurse try and keep me out? And why did you look that way when I walked in?”
“What way?” she asked, self-conscious.
“Terrified.”
Both her hands wrapped around the drink, as if she drew strength from the warm liquid. Once again, I noted the goose bumps racing along her bare arms and even over the exposed part of her shoulder.
I didn’t bother pointing out the obvious. She was cold. Me saying so wouldn’t change that. Instead, I rose out of the chair, unzipping the hoodie I’d thrown on this morning before I left the house.
“What are you doing?” Her voice was leery.
Moving slow, I wrapped the jacket around her back, tucking it beneath her chin. Her automatic reaction was to sigh perceptively and push her chin against the softness of the hood.
“Do you have anything to wear except that hospital gown?” I asked once I was back in the chair. My skin hummed, wanting to be closer to her.
“Not yet.” She glanced down, lightly fingering the edge of the forest-green fabric. It was just like the T-shirt she’d commented on when I saw her the day before, except in sweatshirt form. The back had the logo for Loch Gen.
“What happened?” I asked again.
Her eyes lifted, that wide-eyed, shocked expression she wore when I’d walked in accosted me. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, her body shrinking into the jacket.
“Someone tried to kill me.”
“You remembered?” Eddie’s voice was part awestruck, part wary as he gaped at the words I’d just dropped into our casual breakfast like a bomb.
“I think so.” I shook my head. “Actually, I-I’m not sure,” I answered, confused. I barely had time to sort out how I was feeling or what I knew. I was too busy being overwhelmed by it all. I was beginning to think an empty mind might be a better one. It was cleaner, a whole lot less messy.
What a reprieve Eddie was. The second he walked in, it became clear why my thoughts continued to drift to him since what happened just hours ago. He was a safe place for my over-exhausted, blank-yet-incredibly-full brain to rest.
“So you aren’t sure if someone tried to kill you?” Eddie said, sitting forward in the chair, nearly balancing his tall frame on the edge of the seat. His voice was patient, but his body language was anything but.
“Oh, someone definitely tried to kill me. They were here. In this hospital.”
“When?” he demanded, glancing around as if suddenly compelled to check every last crevice and corner in this room.
It made me feel better, but he forgot the most important place. A place I would likely fear for the rest of my life. I pointed down at the bed. “Under the bed.”
Eddie frowned. “What?”
“You didn’t check under the bed.”
Indulgently, without an ounce of disdain on his handsome face, Eddie crouched out of the chair, planted his hands on the floor, and actually searched under the bed.
Seconds later, he reappeared. “All clear.”
I sighed with relief. I knew no one was under there, but the lingering feeling of being spied on was very difficult to shake.
“Tell me what happened,” he urged softly.
I nodded, my eyes finding his and latching on. We didn’t touch at all, but I still felt him just through the blue focus of his gaze. He made me feel stronger. I didn’t know why.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping.” I began, still leaving my eyes trained on his. “Since I woke up from the coma. Lying in this bed just feels so overdone, you know? I lay here for months without moving or thinking… just being here. I’m tired of lying here. It’s just all so unsettling.”
“You’ve lost a lot of time.” He spoke emphatically, sorrow deep in his tone.
It was as if he truly understood. I didn’t know how he did, but it wasn’t an act or even just sympathy. Eddie genuinely sensed the loss I’d experienced. Not just of the time either, but the loss of my mind.
“Last night I had a nightmare.” I pushed on, wanting to spill it all. I wanted someone to believe me. “I dreamt of floating, sinking in the lake. The water was so dark it was like an entire universe all on its own. And I was there alone. At first, I remember feeling relieved, like a soul-crushing weight was finally being lifted.”
“But?”
“But then I realized I was drowning, and my body began to fight. There was a dark figure, a person, lurking at the surface of the water.” I shivered as I recalled the vision.
Eddie gently reached out and took the nearly empty hot chocolate from my hands. I surrendered it to him, then tucked both hands inside his sweatshirt.
It was the softest thing I could remember touching.
“When I broke the surface, he raised something above his head and brought it crashing down over me. He wanted me back beneath the water… He wanted me to drown.”
“It was a man?” Eddie asked, his eyes sharpening on my face. There was a slight tick in the width of his jaw as the back of his teeth ground together.
My stomach fluttered a little, watching that muscle work.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see them. It was too dark.”
“You said someone was here, in this room. Was that part of the dream?” He pressed.
Against the warm, plush fabric, my fingers flexed. I shook my head. “No. He was here.”
Eddie leaned forward, placing his hand on the bed between us. His palm lay open and exposed, inviting me in.
I stayed where I was, and he didn’t seem the least offended. He didn’t even pull away. Instead, he stayed there, offering his hand should I change my mind.
“I went into the bathroom to get a drink. I was upset from the dream. I couldn’t tell if it was just something my mind made up or if it was some kind of sick memory. I thought I heard someone out here in the room. But after a while, I figured I was just being paranoid. When I left the bathroom and climbed back into bed, someone grabbed my ankle from beneath the bed.”
Eddie’s open hand flexed. His chin lowered so I could only see the top of his dark head. “Then what?”
“We fought. I fell, and they climbed on top of me, covered my mouth and my nose—” I stopped talking, recalling how I felt in the exact moment I realized this person wanted me dead. Blindly, my hand found his, slipping against his inviting palm.
Instantly, his warm fingers folded around mine, clasping them in a reassuring hold. He was much warmer than me, as if he were the sun and I a glacier.
“I managed to get away and into the hall. The person ran away when I started to scream.” I finished.
The pad of his thumb brushed lightly over the back of my hand, just grazing over the thick bandage covering the spot where the IV had been.
“Is that why this is out?” he questioned, again lightly stroking the bandage.
I nodded. “It pulled out when I was fighting.”