One thing I know for sure is that for the second time in two days, my life has changed completely.
Chapter Three
Juliette
“Bed one-oh-six, Juliette Shaw,” Lisa, the nurse during the day shift, says as she walks into my room with Colleen at her side. Both women have tablets in their hands, taking notes as Lisa goes over my last vitals check to turn over to Colleen for the night. After Lisa is finished speaking, Colleen smiles and walks up to the side of my bed, pressing her fingers to the inside of my wrist.
“Good evening, Miss Shaw.”
I smile. “Hi, Colleen.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good,” I answer with a nod. Sure, my body is still sore from the accident but even that has dulled significantly in the past three days and the only real pain comes when I try to move too quickly. For the most part, I feel like myself again… or myself five years ago, I suppose, since my memory still has a giant blank spot in it.
“You’re looking great,” she says, pulling away to type some notes into her tablet. “Doc might even let you go home tomorrow.”
I force a smile to my face as I clasp my shaking hands together. Each time someone mentions going home, it’s the same reaction from me and I know it may not be fair to Gavin, but going home with him when I barely know him terrifies me. Not to mention, that I won’t recognize anything in my world. Laying my head back against my pillow, I sigh. I know it’s not fair to Gavin that I don’t remember him and I wish more than anything, I could go back and stop all this from happening. I would if I could and not just for myself. He’s showed me over the past few days that he’s a good man and completely devoted to me but it’s just hard to be who he wants me to be when I don’t even remember who she was. As far as I’m concerned, I’m Juliette from five years ago and it’s becoming quite clear to me that she’s a different person than the woman Gavin knows. So as much as being cooped up in this hospital bed is driving me crazy, it seems better and safer than the alternative.
Gavin’s stomach growls and I turn my head to look at him.
“You should go grab some food from the cafeteria.”
He shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest without looking away from the game show rerun on TV. “No, I’m good.”
I watch him for a moment before sighing and turning back to Colleen. She smiles and pats my hand before quietly excusing herself from the room. Turning back to Gavin, I study his face and sigh again. He looks exhausted with the circles under his eyes even darker than they were when I woke up three days ago and I know he’s not sleeping well on the little couch in the corner of the room. Not to mention, that he refuses to leave me long enough to do anything and he hasn’t eaten since coming back to the hospital last night. He’s a stubborn man, especially when it comes to taking care of me but as much as I appreciate that, I don’t see how neglecting himself helps me.
“I’ll be okay for a little while on my own,” I assure him but he just shakes his head and I sigh again. “Gavin, you need to eat.”
He meets my gaze, his blue eyes blazing. “I’m not going to leave you by yourself.”
“Knock, knock.”
We both turn to the door as it swings open and Nico stomps in, a perfect contradiction in her floral knee length dress that hugs her curves and black combat boots. Her purple streaked hair is pulled back into two poofy buns on either side of her head and her makeup is dramatic with a cat eye and a bold lip. I’m slowly realizing her signature style is taking things no one else would ever think of putting together and making it work. She’s effortlessly cool; she doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks about her.
Her eyes land on me and she flashes me a smile as she struts into the room. “How you feeling, babe?”
“I’m good,” I answer with a smile. “Just trying to convince Gavin to feed himself.”
She turns to him and nods. “Go eat. I’ll keep her company for a while.”
He peeks over at me and I can tell he’s almost convinced so I offer him a smile. I suppose it really is sweet the way he looks after me and I know I haven’t been exactly warm and welcoming to him in the past few days but I just hope he understands how weird this is for me. Finally, he sighs and nods.
“How long can you hang out?” he asks Nico. “I’d love to run home and grab a shower, too.”
“Take all the time you need. She’s stuck with me all night,” she quips, flashing me a grin as she winks and I stifle a laugh. There’s something so infectious about Nico’s personality that doesn’t make me feel weird and out of place like I have since I woke up and realized I was missing a huge chunk of information. Being around her is just easy and it doesn’t matter that I don’t remember her because it feels like I’ve known her for years.
Gavin lets out a sigh of relief and I fight back a grimace. I knew staying by my side was wearing on him but what I am supposed to do if he refuses to leave me alone? At least he’s taking care of himself now, I guess. He stands and throws his arms over his head in a stretch. His dark t-shirt rides up, revealing taunt muscles and a line of dark hair leading into his jeans.
Damn.
God, the man is too hot for my own good. All this time, I’ve been picturing him in a suit and that image alone is enough to intrigue a girl but to see what he’s working with under his clothes, I don’t stand a freaking chance. A blush creeps up my cheeks and I bite my lip as I turn away from him. Nico meets my eye and flashes me a little grin as she nods as if to say, “I know, right?” My blush deepens and she laughs.
“All right,” Gavin says, drawing my gaze back to him as he leans over the bed and presses a kiss to the top of my head. Thankfully, the jerking away from his touch has calmed down some because I know it was taking a toll on him and it made me feel terrible each time it happened. When he pulls back, he grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’ll try to hurry back.”
“Take whatever time you need. I’ll be okay.”
Nico nods. “Yeah, get out of here. We need some girl time.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answers with a hint of a grin on his face and I suck in a breath.
Jesus.
The man is too handsome for my own good.
“Love you, baby,” he calls to me as he heads for the door and I nod, watching him until he closes the door behind him. When Nico and I are finally alone, I release a breath.
“Okay, so how is it really going?” she asks after a second and I shrug.
“As well as can be expected, I think.”
Rolling her eyes, she grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I know you don’t remember this but we’re like best friends and I know when you’re bullshitting me so how about you be real with me, chick.”
“I don’t know. It’s all so weird. He seems very sweet and devoted to me since he hasn’t left my side since I woke up except to shower but I don’t know him. I can’t remember how we met, our first kiss, or our first date. I have no idea how he likes his coffee or which side of the bed he sleeps on and it’s just a lot to take it all at once.”
She nods as she grabs her bag off the floor. “I get that. Which is why I brought pictures for you and I happen to know all the answers to your questions because when you met Gavin, you could not stop talking about him.”