“We don’t know, honey. The police are working on it.”

“I just keep thinking I must have been some sort of horrible person for something like this to happen to me…”

That’s when Laura’s reserve melted and her tears flowed. Rob tentatively put an arm around her, and when she leaned against him, he slipped the other around her and gently held her.

“Laura, whoever did this was a monster. You’re not to blame.”

That proved no consolation. She cried long enough for him to consider ringing the nurse for a sedative. When she finally calmed down he handed her a tissue and Carol brought her a cup of water.

He snuck a glance at the time. It was later than he’d realized, after five thirty already. “Carol, they’ll be bringing her dinner soon and she needs to rest. Why don’t you let me walk you out?”

Carol nodded, leaning in to give Laura one last hug. “I’ll come see you tomorrow.”

He waited until he got Carol out the door and down the hall toward the elevator. “I think you’d better wait to hear from me before you visit again.”

“What? Why?”

He tried to soften the blow as much as possible. “Because she’s overwhelmed. You saw her. And right now, frankly, I need some alone time with her, okay?” That was partly the truth. “Please?”

She looked sad, but nodded. “How long until we can see her again?”

“Soon.” He hugged her. “You know how she was…is. If she had her memories she’d be holed up at home refusing to see anyone looking like that.” His Laura wasn’t vain, but she hated being around other people when she didn’t feel good.

And she despised what she considered “pity.” There was no way in hell she would have allowed anyone but Rob and Shayla and Tony to see her that soon.

Which was another point. He also wanted to make sure he could get their closest lifestyle friends in to see her. They’d bared more than just their bodies in front of each other in the course of play, but their souls as well. He needed Laura to spend as much time around them as possible in hopes it would jog her memories.

Down in the parking lot, Carol lost her composure.

“Rob, will she get her memory back?”

“I don’t know. I sure hope so.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

He didn’t want to think about that. “We have to wait and see. It’s all we can do.”

By the time he’d returned to Laura’s room they’d brought her dinner tray. She stared at it, looking disgusted.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?”

He hoped that endearment, at least, would be all right.

Apparently it was because she didn’t flinch. She did, however, shake her head. “Blech.”

That was, he happily noted, directed at the food on her plate and not him.

He smiled. She wasn’t a picky eater, but she definitely had her preferences. “I have a little surprise for you. Some really close friends of ours are bringing dinner for us soon. Your favorite meal.”

A skeptical eyebrow arched. The familiar gesture nearly made him cry.

“Really?”

“Really.”

She replaced the cover over the plate. “Can’t be worse than this slop.”

“Tony and Shayla know your favorites. It’s an Italian restaurant several of us eat at every week.”

* * *

Laura’s stomach grumbled. “That actually sounds good. I couldn’t finish lunch. It was horrible. Bland.”

“Did they say you can eat a normal diet?”

She nodded. “I had oatmeal, and then eggs this morning, after I kept the broth down. It hurts to chew is all.”

Rob gave her another sad smile. She wondered if he always looked so sad or if it was due to the circumstances. “I didn’t even think to ask if they were keeping you on a restricted diet when I talked to Tony earlier.”

“Who are they?” she asked. “The people coming to visit.” The older woman, Carol, she jostled a few memories, but they felt like old ones. Very faded, disjointed, like she was a kid when they happened.

At least, she hoped they were true memories and not just wishful thinking on her part as they’d gone through photos together.

“Tony and Shayla Daniels.”

“How did I meet them?”

“You’ve known them for several years. They’re the friends who introduced us. You and Shayla are extremely close. Best friends.”

She felt like maybe he was holding something back but it didn’t feel bad, or like he was lying.

She wasn’t sure how she knew that, or if it was simply more mental gymnastics courtesy of her battered brain.

She opted to let it go for now.

“Why haven’t more people come to see me?” She feared the answer.

“Oh, sweetie. I’ve told people to stay away for now. You were in the ICU, and now…” He didn’t finish.

He didn’t have to.

“Because I can’t remember them anyway,” she quietly said.

He let out a sigh as he nodded. “I didn’t want you to get overwhelmed. And…” She forced herself not to flinch away from him as he reached out and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I knew you wouldn’t want a lot of people seeing you like this.”

“You’re seeing me like this.” She felt an instinctive urge to tip her face toward his hand, to nuzzle against it.

Familiar.

She closed her eyes and hoped more came to her but it didn’t.

For now, she’d settle for that little beacon of goodness in the middle of the inky sea that still comprised most of her memories.

“That’s because I love you,” he said. “You’re my life. Good luck trying to keep me from your side.”

“What about the couple bringing dinner? Would I want them seeing me like this?”

“They’re like family to us. You wouldn’t care what condition they saw you in.”

The door opened again and the deputy popped his head in. “Rob, there’s a couple here to see Laura.”

“Send them in.” He stood to greet them. Laura clutched at the sheet and waited for them to get all the way in.

They did feel familiar.

More importantly, like Carol earlier, they felt safe.

Tony Daniels stood a little taller than Rob and had green eyes, dark brown hair, and a friendly smile surrounded by a neatly trimmed moustache and goatee. Even though he had his hands full of take-out bags, he accepted an awkward one-armed hug from Rob. His wife, Shayla, had hazel eyes and wore her brown hair down past her shoulders.

She also noticed Shayla wore a gold necklace with a heart-shaped charm on it. Something about the look of it pulled a wistful pang from deep in Laura’s heart. Her hand flew to her throat again, fingers helplessly fluttering against the empty real estate there.

I need to remember to ask Rob about that.

Tony put the bags down on the bed tray. “We come bearing food,” he joked.

“Thank you,” Laura said. “Rob told me you were bringing dinner.”

Shayla hesitantly walked around the bed to the other side. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. “May I hug you?” she softly asked Laura.

Laura pulled back the sheet and turned to sit on the edge of the bed. Shayla tentatively wrapped her arms around her as Laura did the same.

She heard Shayla sniffle. “I love you so much, sister,” she whispered in her ear. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you.”

A wave of emotion Laura couldn’t process swept through her. She let out a sob of her own as she tightly clutched Shayla and they cried together.

* * *

Alarmed, Rob started toward the women. Tony stepped in his path and gave a terse shake of his head. He motioned for Rob to follow him out into the hall.

When the door closed behind them, Rob whispered, “Why are we out here?”

“Give them a couple of minutes alone together,” he said, peeking through a crack in the blinds. “It’ll do them both some good. Even if it doesn’t jostle Laura’s memory, she’s obviously reacting to Shay.” He eyed Rob. “And Shayla was about to go crazy with grief, so she needs to let it out.”

Rob tried to look through the same space in the blinds as the women remained motionless, obviously still crying.

Shayla and Laura rarely went a day without talking on the phone. The reason Rob and Laura had an unlimited text plan was due to the tens of thousands of texts the women exchanged every month.

Laura was nearly as close to Leah, Tilly, Loren, and Clarisse, but Shayla and Laura were closer than sisters. When Laura first entered the lifestyle, Shayla had immediately scooped Laura under her wing, both her and Tony offering Laura mentorship and protection from douchetards.

On FetLife, they had each other listed as sisters on their profiles.

That did nothing to soothe the ugly jealously trying to ooze its way through Rob’s soul. Laura hadn’t had such a visceral reaction to him.

Then the ugly jealousy tried to spawn a whole lot of dark, nasty eggs of doubt.

Tony put his hand out and caught Rob’s arm. He waited until Rob finally looked at him. “Women relate differently than we do, okay?” he quietly said. “It’s not a personal statement against you. And she’s known Shayla a few months longer than she’s known you. Try not to read too much into it.”

Rob slumped against the wall. Tony was spooky like that in his ability to read and relate to people. It was one of the reasons people liked him so much, and why his classes in communication and negotiation in the lifestyle were so popular.

“What if she never remembers me?”

Tony’s expression softened. “She will. Just give her time.” He stared through the window again. “The way she looked at you before all this? You are her heart and soul. You will be again. Love like that doesn’t just disappear.”