Trystan
Bleary eyed, I stumbled to the kitchen to fix some breakfast. I’d been unable to sleep most of the night. My emotions were all over the place. I’d never felt such an intense connection before. I didn’t even know they actually existed in real life. And now she didn’t even remember me.
It had taken everything in me to stay away from the hospital yesterday. I was dying to check on Willa. To just see her. So, to keep from showing up there, I spent the whole day beneath the hood of a ‘65 Ford Mustang. I worked on it my entire day off to prevent myself from doing something foolish.
♪ More than Friends by Jason Mraz
I’d known her for a single night, one single magical night. Yet she was all over my apartment. Her scent was on my sheets. Her laughter floated in the air currents. Her ghost was on my couch. Her lipstick stained the glass in my sink. Her locket lay on my nightstand. She must have forgotten it …
I needed to return it to her. After a shower.
I cracked a couple of eggs into a pan and scrambled them. Lyrics ran through my mind as I stood over the stove. Since I couldn’t sleep, I worked on the song I was writing for Willa. When I finished it, I started another. How had a beautiful but random stranger in a bar flipped the switch on my creativity so completely?
After grabbing a plate from the overhead cabinet, I plated up my eggs. Then I sat at the bar, eating my breakfast and letting Willa fill my mind. The need to see her increased. I scarfed down the last of my breakfast and headed to take a shower.
In the bathroom, I turned on the water, praying the water pressure would be halfway decent today. While I waited for the water to heat up, I stripped out of my sweatpants and T-shirt. Steam billowed from behind the opaque curtain. I stepped under the spray, wishing the water could wash my worries away as easily as it was washing the sleepiness away.
Anticipation kept me from lingering in the warmth. Hastily, I washed up. When I finished, I heard my phone ringing in the other room. Dripping, I hopped out of the shower and rushed to answer it, but I wasn’t fast enough. The blinking light indicated the unknown number had left me a voicemail.
“Trystan, this is Mack. I was calling to arrange for you and the guys to come into the studio. Give me a call back. I can’t wait to hear more of your creations.”
I’d call him back later. I needed to talk with the other guys first. But before I put my phone away, I shot off a text to Sydney.
Me: How’s Willa doing?
Sydney: Physically, she’s a little better. Emotionally, she’s trying to be tough. But she’s worried. I’m up here with her now.
Me: Just you?
Sydney: Yes.
Me: Good. I’m coming to see her. I need to see her.
Sydney: See you soon.
I threw on some clothes. Then I tucked Willa’s locket in my pocket. I grabbed my stuff on my way out the door.
After walking two blocks, I hopped on the subway and tried to will it to move faster.
Cautiously, I headed up to her room. Relief washed over me when I saw only Sydney sitting by Willa’s bedside. And then the sun shone on my soul in the form of Willa’s beautiful smile aimed in my direction.
“My hero,” she said as she continued to beam at me.
I blushed at her praise. Shrugging, I said, “I prefer Trystan. Besides, I just shouted and ran down to the sidewalk as fast as I could. Then I stayed with you until the paramedics arrived.” I left out the part about promising not to leave her.
Smirking at me, Sydney said, “Sounds like a hero to me.”
“Where are my manners? Trystan, this is my best friend, Syd.”
“I know. We met—”
“In my room yesterday,” Willa said, shaking her head.
“Actually, I met Trystan before,” Sydney said slowly.
Willa frowned, no doubt wracking her brain trying to remember. “Where?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters now is that because of Trystan, the a-holes who hurt you didn’t do worse than take your purse and knock you down,” Sydney said, diverting Willa’s attention from wondering where we’d originally met.
I wished we could just tell her. Tell her everything. She deserved to know the truth.
“I see the nurses gave you your phone. They asked for it when we got here in the ambulance to get your info,” I said, nodding at it on the table across her lap.
“Cade had it. The nurses must have given it to him when he arrived,” she said, running the tip of her finger along the crack on the screen.
“Probably. When we arrived at the hospital, the admitting nurse called him because he’s your ICE contact in your phone,” I filled in the blank for her.
Her eyes lit up for a second. “That’s right. We put each other down months ago. Figured we’d be ahead of the game and have one less thing to take care of when we got married,” she said with a sad smile on her lips.
“Makes sense,” I mumbled.
Sydney stood from her station by Willa’s side. “I have to head to the boutique to sign for a delivery. I’ll be back later.” She leaned over and gave Willa a gentle hug and waved goodbye.
I sat in the seat she abandoned, happy just being in Willa’s presence. I took great efforts to not talk about anything from our time together. Which meant I couldn’t give in and tell her how she made me feel, how she inspired me. Everything needed to remain superficial when we were anything but.
“So … uh … how are you feeling?”
“Better. Except for the pesky memory loss,” she huffed, sending a swath of hair fluttering.
Nervously, I shoved my hands in my pockets, feeling her locket. “I almost forgot …” I pulled it out, the delicate chain wound among my fingers. “You left this. I mean, dropped it.”
She beamed at me as she reached for the pendant dangling from my fingers. “I was so sad when I realized it was gone. I thought it was gone forever. It must have fallen off on the sidewalk.” She threw her arms around me, startling me. “Thank you for finding it,” she whispered.
Self-consciously, she eased out of my embrace. Reluctantly, I let her go. She wouldn’t meet my eyes.
♪ Lead Me by Kip Moore
The ache of having her in my arms for that brief moment was so acute now that my arms were empty. An awkward silence descended around us. It was the silence of strangers. Which was what we were. What we should’ve been. But in an alternate reality, we were the exact opposite of strangers. And that was where my heart still resided.
I couldn’t take it. I had to get out of there.
The chair legs screeched as they scraped across the floor, making me wince. “I … I should go,” I stammered.
Willa grabbed my hand. “Please don’t go. Stay,” she whispered.
“Why would you want a stranger to sit with you?” I asked bewildered.
“You … don’t feel like a stranger. And I don’t want to be alone,” she confessed.
“All right,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Stranger who’s not a stranger, what’s your favorite color?”
Her eyes twinkled at my question. “Turquoise. How about you?”
“Orange. Favorite TV show?” I asked next.
“Vampire Diaries,” she said without hesitation.
“It figures you’d pick a show with a bunch of hot guys in it.” Laughter slipped from my lips.
“Hey, there’s a good plot in there too. And a lot of love stories,” she vehemently defended her choice. “Since you’re such a connoisseur of television, what’s your favorite show?”
“Game of Thrones, of course.”
Giggles rolled out of Willa like the sweetest song I’d ever heard. “Of course,” she said when she finally caught her breath. She leaned over, clutching her stomach.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
“Just a little sore. But laughter is supposed to be good medicine. What’s your favorite song?” she asked when she settled back on her pillow.
“I don’t have a favorite.”
“You have to have a favorite song. There has to be one that makes you smile every time you hear it,” she challenged.
“I don’t have one. At least not yet. Maybe one day.”
She shook her head at me in disbelief. “Mine is ‘Wonderful Tonight.’”
“Interesting choice. Now for the real test to determine if you and I can be friends. Who’s your favorite band?” I pretended I didn’t already know the answer.
“That’s such an unfair question. I like so many different groups. Like One Direction and Little Big Town. And you can’t go wrong with Journey or Queen or Led Zeppelin.” She ticked off iconic bands on her fingers while my brows shot up in surprise. She hadn’t mentioned any of them before. “But my favorite has to be Backstreet Boys.”
I pursed my lips tightly in contemplation.
“Do I pass your test?” she asked, hope tinging the tone.
“Your taste in music … is perfect,” I finally said with a chuckle.
Her laughter bubbled and overflowed. “Thank goodness. I was worried there for a minute. Now, what’s your favorite?”
“Aerosmith of course.”
“Well, well, well. I hope I’m not interrupting,” Cade said as he strolled through the door.
The joviality flowed out of the room like a drain being opened. Cade frowned at me sitting next to Willa, but he quickly shook the expression off. He held out his hand to me. “Thanks for checking on my girl.” He beamed over at Willa.
It made me nauseous to choke on the truth I knew about what Cade had done to his girl. I couldn’t stomach staying in the same room with him.
11
Willa
To my odd dismay, Trystan got to his feet.
He gripped the back of his neck awkwardly as he said, “I’m going to head out. Take care of yourself, Willa.”
“Don’t be a stranger. Since you saved me, you’re responsible for me now so you can’t stay away,” I teased in a hopeful tone.
Cade chuckled stiffly.
Throwing his hand up, Trystan sauntered out the door without another word.
“Got your charger.” Cade scooped my dead phone up from the table to plug it in. “I also brought you some clothes, your favorite fuzzy socks, some pajamas, your Kindle, and anything else I could think of you might want while you’re stuck in here.” He held up a bag. With a grin, he set it on the foot of the bed and dug inside for a moment. Victoriously, he held up my warm, purple socks. He eased the blankets off the end of the bed, uncovering my feet. Gently, he slipped a soft sock on each cold foot. My heart stuttered at his thoughtfulness.
“Can’t have my wife-to-be getting cold feet.” He winked and tucked my legs back beneath the covers.
I sat up straighter and reached for his hand. “Bring me up to speed on the wedding plans while we wait for my phone to charge some.”
He laced his fingers with mine and sat in the chair. “Let’s see … the floral arrangements have been ordered. I’m not a flower guy, so I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the specifics. But I know they ordered those yellow orchids and orange lilies you wanted. I can’t remember the other ones, but they’ll all be here in time. The photographer and videographer have been paid their deposits. Your bridal portraits were taken a couple of weeks ago. I think you’re supposed to pick the ones you liked best soon. Our wedding bands have arrived at the jeweler’s.”
I stared at my naked finger, tears gathering in my eyes and spilling over.
“Willa, babe, what’s wrong?” he asked, concern lacing his voice. He’d always hated my tears—he said they made him uncomfortable.
“I just can’t believe they stole my engagement ring. It feels like a bad omen. The symbol of our love and forever commitment just swiped away.”
Cade unlinked our hands so he could wipe my tears. “Don’t cry.” He dug into his pocket. When he unfurled his fingers, my ring was nestled in the palm of his hand.
I grabbed it eagerly. “Did the police find it already?” I held the delicate circle between two fingers.
“No. It wasn’t stolen during your attack,” Cade admitted quietly, not meeting my eyes.
“Why did you have it?” Once he put it on my finger a year ago, I’d never taken it off, not even to shower.
Sadness swirled in his eyes when he finally lifted his head. “I’m not supposed to tell you what you don’t remember.”
“That’s ridiculous.” My brow furrowed as I concentrated on trying to recall what had happened. But the months that I’d recently lived were a blank, like they hadn’t even existed. Defeated, I shook my head. “I can’t remember. But I know I’d never carelessly leave the token of your love somewhere. There’s no reason for you to have my ring.” Tears welled again, making him nothing more than a blur.
“You gave it back to me,” he finally admitted quietly.
I leaned back. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. “Why on Earth would I do that?”
“I’m not sure I should tell you more than that.” Cade’s face was filled with regret. “The doctor warned that we should protect you from anything major or tragic.”
“You’re scaring me. I can’t imagine a world where I wouldn’t want to marry you anymore. It doesn’t make any sense.” My hands trembled. The dull throbbing in my skull increased.
“So, you’re saying … in your heart right now that you still want to marry me?” he asked hopefully.
My eyes narrowed, bringing him into focus through the unshed tears. “Yes. Of course. We’ve been together for years. I love you.” The words were true as far as I knew, but there was a tiny something that felt … off.
“That’s all that matters.” He took the diamond ring from me and slipped it back onto my finger. “I still love you. And if you still love me, we’ll use this unfortunate incident as a do-over. We can move past what happened … past what you did.”
“What did I do?” I swallowed hard, worry making my stomach knot.
“It doesn’t matter. All is forgiven and forgotten. You’re what I want. Now, let’s talk about our wedding some more.” He gave me a confident smile.
“I can’t believe the wedding is just weeks away. There’s so much to do. So much I don’t remember if I’ve done. How the hell am I going to make sure all the big and small details are sorted out in time? Our moms have such big dreams about what our day is going to look like.” I was starting to panic.
Cade took my hand. “Breathe. Just breathe, Willa. Maybe we can push the wedding back a little? Or as much as our marriage license paperwork will allow and if the vendors can accommodate that.”
“That’ll cost a ton,” I started to protest.
“Don’t worry about the cost. All that matters is we’re married, and you’re not stressed about the details. Paying a few penalties to make that happen is a small price to pay.” His thumb rubbed the back of my hand in a soothing gesture.
“OK.” I took a deep breath. My eyelids were growing heavy. Beyond the window, the sky was turning dark. “You want me to call a nurse and ask for a pillow and blanket for you since it’s getting late?”
“I can’t stay. I’m sorry. There’s some paperwork I have to take care of at the office. But I’ll be back in the morning.” He got to his feet and leaned over. His soft lips landed on mine. The kiss was over before it began, but even in its short duration, something felt off about it. “Sleep well,” he said, then spun on his heel and walked out the door.
Emotions I couldn’t sort out rioted in my chest. It was probably the exhaustion making things more confusing. I grappled with the cord on the bed remote until I had the call button in my hand.
When I pushed it, a kind voice asked, “How can I help you?”
“I was … uh … wondering if I could change into my own pjs? My fiancé brought them for me.”
“Sure. I’ll be right there,” the chipper voice promised.
A few minutes later a woman a little older than me bustled into the room. Her scrubs were brightly chaotic and matche
d her hot pink hair. Despite my current circumstances, I couldn’t help but return her warm smile. “Hi, Willa. I’m Misha. Let’s get you up and into something more comfortable.”
With a press of a lever, she dropped the metal rail on the side of the bed. I tossed the covers aside and then slung my legs over the edge of the mattress, wincing at the ache in my abdomen.
“Take it easy, hun,” Misha said, wrapping an arm around my waist to help ease me to my feet. “You don’t want any unnecessary setbacks to keep you in here longer.”
“That’s for sure,” I agreed, my voice breathless.
She nodded at the duffel bag Cade had brought. “Your stuff in that bag?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t draw enough breath to say more.
Misha deftly picked it up then led me to the door across the room. She let go of me so she could open the bathroom and turn on the light. The upbeat nurse set my bag on the counter. “There’s a washcloth and towel in here if you want to wash your face and stuff. Though I wouldn’t recommend standing in the shower just yet. We don’t want you to fall and hit your head.”
“I might forget everything then,” I joked weakly.
Misha chuckled as she helped me into the room. “You got this part or do you need some help?”
“I’d like to try myself,” I panted.
“OK. I’ll be waiting right out here if you need me.” Misha stepped out and shut the door behind her.
I eased the drab hospital gown off and dropped it to the tile floor. Staring down at myself, I took note of the bandage around my abdomen. Unable to stop myself, I ran my fingers across the area, sending a wave of pain through me.
Goosebumps peppered my skin. Why did they keep hospitals so cold?
With a twist of the knob, I turned on the hot water in the sink. While I waited for it to warm up, I dug through my bag, locating my comfy pajamas and toiletries bag. I caught my reflection in the mirror, and I was appalled by the bruise on the side of my face.
Using the face wash Cade had packed for me, I gently scrubbed my face, being extra careful on my damaged cheek. Then I took the washcloth and dumped a hefty dose of my bodywash on it. Determinedly, I started swiping at my skin.
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