Chapter 16
Harper
People are talkingaround me, and someone is lightly caressing my hand in theirs. The machine begins going haywire, alerting everyone that my heart rate is elevating. Calm down.
Do I even want to be able to open my eyes being surrounded by strangers in a foreign place?
“Doctor!” a man yells. “What’s going on?”
I hear someone else come into the room. “It’s just her heart rate. Nothing to be alarmed about. Just keep talking to her. Believe it or not, I’ve had patients tell me it’s helped them.”
The voice sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it. I try to speak, but something is in my throat, making it impossible. Who are you? Where am I? Those are the questions I beg to ask and get answers to, but it’s pointless. Without being able to speak, I’ll never get answers. Just trapped inside my own mind forever.
His hand is back on mine. “I remember our first date... how nervous we both were... online dating, right? Who knew we would find each other—on there of all places—it truly is a miracle.”
First date?I haven’t been on a date since my junior year of college. He obviously is delusional.
One thing’s clear from the noises, and him calling the doctor, I must be in a hospital. With the many hospital dramas I’ve seen, it’s possible I’ve been in an accident, the thing in my throat is a ventilator, and on a vast amount of pain medication to keep me sedated. But it still remains unclear. What put me in here? Who is this man?
“I’m hoping for another miracle—Harper—you need to get better. Come back to me.”
His sobs echo around the room. This man knows my name, and feels so deeply for me, yet I have no recollection of who he could be. Hell, even why I am here? I truly hope I recognize him once I open my eyes so I could extend that same care. That maybe something would shift, and I’ll know him.
With my eyes shut, I try to think back to the last thing I remember. Think hard. That only makes me wince. I’ve got to be missing something. Where are my parents? Why aren’t they here? Everything about this situation seems weird, and it makes my stomach tense. Did something happen to them too?
“Did you just squeeze my hand?” he asks. “If so, squeeze it again.”
I focus on it and use all my energy to do it again.
“Doctor! Come quick!”
“What is it, Liam?”
“She squeezed my hand. I even asked her to do it again,” he tells her, the excitement in his voice is apparent.
Another set of footsteps comes in. “I’ll lower her dose so that she can wake up as naturally as possible. But you need to be prepared, we’re not sure yet what complications the swelling could have on her.”
Complications? Swelling? What the hell are they going on about?
The weights on my eyelids are wavering, and before I know it, I can see. My eyes dart around the room, to the doctor, to the man named Liam, and then to the police officer standing in the doorway. What the hell happened to me? I try to talk, but it gags me.
“Can’t we take that out?” Liam asks the doctor. “It seems like it might be hurting her.”
I’m not sure who this guy is, but he can read my mind.
Before they take the tube out, they instruct me not to fight. “Your throat will be very sore for the next couple of days. So, take it easy.”
When I can finally breathe on my own, it’s the best feeling in the world. Everyone has their eyes on me, waiting for me to say or do something. I have no clue who any of them are, and there must be a reason a police officer is guarding my door. Something bad happened, I can feel it.
“Not to be rude—but could you stop staring at me,” I say, voice raspy. “It’s really starting to freak me out.”
His arms close around me, and I recoil from his touch. “Do I know you?”
At that moment, the despair in his eyes breaks my heart. He’s hurt by my words, and stands up and moves away just a bit from my bed.
“Liam,” he answers, pointing to his chest, and looking over at the doctor, completely shattered. “You don’t remember me?”
The doctor comes over to me. “How are you feeling? Any pain? Nausea?”