Tymber Dalton - Pinch Me

Winded, they collapsed onto the couch together.

His eyes snapped open at the sound of her voice. “Rob? It’s almost midnight.”

He looked around, disoriented, and realized where he was at. Not cuddled up with her on their couch.

In the hospital room.

She stared up at him. “I’m sorry,” she softly said. “I shouldn’t have let you sleep so long, but you looked so peaceful I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

He sat up carefully, not wanting to hurt her. “It’s okay, sweetie.”

He also hoped she couldn’t feel the erection pressing against the front of his pants. The dream had been a blissful diversion, a short trip into the past.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?”

Shocked, he stared down at her. “No. Why would I be mad?”

“For letting you sleep.”

He pulled her close, burying his face in her hair. “Sweetheart, I love you. I’ll never get mad at you for having a chance to sleep next to you.”

Saturday morning, Laura got the distinct impression that she must have been an early riser. This time she beat sunrise by about ten minutes.

As she started to get out of bed, a stray thought popped into her mind from out of nowhere.

That’s why Sunday morning dives are always so freaking painful.

She froze, struggling to pull more from the recesses of her brain.

It was an absolutely true statement. The very depths of her soul told her it was.

Unfortunately, she had no idea what the hell it meant.

After a few minutes, when she realized no more was forthcoming, she let out a disappointed sigh before she continued her journey out of bed and to the bathroom.

Last night, watching Rob sleep, she felt relief that the pain she’d read on his face seemed to vanish. He almost looked happy, at peace.

She hadn’t had the heart to wake him up, wanting to just lay there and stare at him. To have him to herself for a few minutes.

To see him free of the emotional pain this whole situation was obviously causing him.

After using the toilet and getting undressed so she could take a shower, she studied herself in the mirror. As it had so many times before, her hand went to her throat. It still felt like something important was missing, and not just a necklace, or a view of skin unblemished by bruises and stitches.

How could I be so attached to a necklace? But maybe she had been. Maybe it was very sentimental to her because Rob gave it to her.

Closing her eyes, she realized she had no trouble visualizing his face, hearing his voice in her mind. He had to work today but would stop by later that evening for an extended break, courtesy of his captain. Shayla was coming in that morning to stay with her, and Rob had arranged for Carol to stop by that evening until Rob arrived.

She felt a little nervous about Carol’s visit. Despite knowing her relationship with Carol went back decades, she felt closer to Shayla, and not just because Shayla had spent more time with her at the hospital.

In her heart, she felt closer to Shayla. And she suspected this was something that pre-dated the attack.

She was now completely free of tubes and Hep-Locks, meaning she could stand in the shower and enjoy the feel of the warm water sluicing over her without any assistance needed.

Freedom.

A feeling of restlessness settled over her. She wanted to be out. To be free. Despite the risks presented by not having a deputy guarding her all the time, recovering a few memories yesterday had buoyed her spirits. The cards and flowers and even a few stuffed animals that now threatened to crowd her out of her hospital room were heartfelt and appreciated, but they did zilch to jostle any stubborn memories loose.

Maybe being home would trigger even more. Being able to lie in her own bed. Shower in her own bathroom. Cook her own food.

I’d kill for a grilled cheese.

Her eyes popped open again as she laughed. Another random thought she knew to be true.

It wasn’t much, but she’d take the win.

Laura was dressed and back in bed by the time Shayla arrived a little after seven thirty, once again fully loaded with food containers. The containers holding the cookies and other goodies from yesterday were still stacked on the bedside table next to the phone. Laura had been offering them around to the nurses and aides who came in, not wanting them to go to waste.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Shayla brightly greeted her.

Laura was about to answer her when the room phone rang. When she answered it, a hysterical man’s voice yelled, making her pull the phone away from her ear.

“Laura? Laura, is that you? Are you okay? What happened?”

Fear hammered in her heart, freezing her. She was about to drop the phone when Shayla snagged it from her hand.

“Hello?” she demanded. “Who is this?”

Laura could hear the man’s frantic tone but not make out his words. Shayla unloaded the food containers onto the bed tray table and walked around to the other side, the phone cord stretched to its limit at the end of the bed. “This is Laura’s friend, Shayla Daniels.”

As the man spoke some more, Shayla’s expression relaxed. “Hold on.” She pulled the phone from her ear. “It’s your brother, Bill,” she explained, before getting back on the phone to talk with him.

She spent a few minutes updating him about Laura’s condition even as her own phone began ringing in her purse, Shayla ignoring it as she talked.

After a few minutes, she said, “Hold on.” She turned to Laura. “He’d like to talk to you.”

Her pulse had finally slowed to something resembling normal. “Did he calm down?”

She smiled. “Yes, he’s calm.” She held out the phone.

Laura tentatively reached for it. “Hello?”

The man breathed a sigh of relief. “Hi, Laura.” He did sound calmer. “I’m sorry, sis. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t get back until late last night and I finally played my messages. I tried calling Rob’s cell, but it went to voice mail. He’d left the hospital information on one of his messages.”

She tried to absorb all of that and couldn’t. “Okay.”

“Shayla told me you still don’t have much of your memory.”

“No.” She tried to think back to the memories of the funeral and realized his voice did sound familiar. “Not much.” Laura was aware of Shayla tsking at her cell, which she’d dug out of her purse. She stepped into the bathroom to make a call.

“Do…” His voice choked and broke. “Do you remember me?”

“A little. Not much. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize, hon. I’m going to make some phone calls as soon as it’s a reasonable hour out here and shift some of my charters. Then I’ll get a flight there as soon as I can.”

She struggled to remember. “You’re from Montana.”

He sounded sad. “That’s right. A little town at the northern entrance to Yellowstone called Gardiner.”

She didn’t know what else to say to him. “You might want to call Rob and tell him all the flight stuff. I’m…” She nearly choked up at the thought. “I’m sort of useless right now.”

“I will. As soon as I have it.” There was a moment of silence that felt so uncomfortable to her she knew it had to feel twice that for him.

She felt badly she couldn’t console him, knowing it was her situation making him feel the way he did.

That she’d disrupted his life the way she’d disrupted the lives of everyone close to her.

Her fault or not, it didn’t take the emotions away.

She thought about the psychiatrist’s business card, which she’d tucked away in the drawer of the table next to her bed. “I’ll tell Rob you called.” That sounded lame to her ears, but she didn’t know what else to say.

Shayla emerged from the bathroom, giving Laura the perfect excuse. “I need to go. I have someone here.”

“Okay, sis. I love you.”

She knew she had to say it back to him. The former version of her no doubt had loved him. “Love you, too.”

She hung up and looked at Shayla, who wore a wry smile.

“Your other half was trying to call me to warn us your brother was going to call, and he might be upset when he did.” She tucked her phone back into her purse.

Laura smiled. “A little late for that, huh?”

“Well, he was finishing up on a call. Eh, a run. They were working an accident and Bill apparently tried to get in touch with him just a few minutes before Rob got back into the ambulance. Rob tried to call here first but got a busy signal.”

Laura’s stomach rumbled. “So, breakfast?”

Shayla’s smile widened. Laura could tell her friend took great pride and pleasure in bringing her the tasty food, so there was no way in hell she wouldn’t eat it.

Besides, she was a great cook.

Det. Thomas stopped by to talk with Laura after lunch. She didn’t miss the glance Shayla gave him before excusing herself to go down to the coffee kiosk in the lobby.

Unlike the first time Laura talked with him, she felt no nervousness, no fear. Not about him, at least.

He offered up a warm, kindly smile. “I hear you’ve gotten a few memories back.”

“Nothing helpful, unfortunately.” She picked at the sheet on the bed. “I don’t remember who did this to me.” She finally raised her gaze to meet his. “Have you come up with anything?”

“Lab said DNA results may be ready as soon as Monday.”

“That’s good, right?”

“I don’t know.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together. “I need to prepare you. I suspect whoever attacked you might be involved in other crimes.”