I felt sick. Brad’s cheating on Amanda? “Oh no, Gunner…you don’t think…”
“I don’t know, baby. Jeff asked Brad about it, and Brad said Smitty must have been wrong because he was out of town that week. ”
I picked up Alex and held her close to me as I felt tears building in my eyes. Did Brad cheat on Amanda? Please, God, no. Please don’t let that be true.
Chapter Nine
As we walked into the hospital, I thought about everything that had happened yesterday. Josh had been so cold and distant when he came back from his brain scan, and Victoria had been flying high as a kite.
Did she say something to Josh? What could she have said to make him so withdrawn?
Elizabeth grabbed my hand. “Heather, honey, are you okay? You seem so far away. ”
I had talked to her about how Josh wanted to start off by being friends. I’d seen how disappointed she was, and I knew exactly how she felt. I didn’t want to push Josh into anything, but at the same time, I felt like he was slowly slipping away from me.
“I guess I’m just trying to figure out how you go from being head over heels in love with someone and spending every moment you can together to…just being friends. ”
Elizabeth stopped and gave me a weak smile. I tried so hard not to cry, but it was getting harder and harder to hold it back.
“Don’t give up on him. Don’t give up on the two of you. What you shared is too strong to be forgotten,” she said as she wiped away the single tear rolling down my face.
“That’s just it…he did forget, Elizabeth. He forgot about me, about us. He doesn’t remember any of it. ”
“I’m telling you right now he knows that you both shared something. He even told Greg and me that you took his breath away when he first saw you. Please have faith that he’ll come back to you, baby girl. Please don’t give up on him, not when he needs you,” Elizabeth said as tears started to pool in her eyes.
“Elizabeth, I love Josh with every ounce of my being. My life would be nothing without him. If I didn’t have him…I…I just couldn’t live without him. He’s every breath I breathe. I’ll never leave him. Ever. ”
She pulled me into her arms, and we stood there, crying for a few minutes.
Then, Greg walked up. “Girls, are you ready to go in and see Josh?”
I pulled back and smiled as I wiped the tears from my face. “I promise you, I’ll stay faithful to him forever. ”
She tried to return the smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I knew exactly what she was thinking because I was thinking the same thing.
I would remain faithful to our love…but would Josh?
As we got closer to Josh’s room, I could hear Victoria laughing. Holy hell…does this girl never go home?
Greg opened the door and held it for Elizabeth and me to walk in. Unfortunately, I went in first and saw Victoria leaning over the bed, like she was about to kiss Josh. They didn’t see us right away, and the way he was looking at her caused my whole body to start shaking. Following me in, Elizabeth saw them and grabbed my hand.
“Jesus H. Christ, Victoria. Do you ever go home and sleep?” Elizabeth asked.
I almost laughed since I’d just thought nearly the same thing.
Victoria stood up straight, and her smile dropped from her face when she saw me.
Bitch. I will never leave him.
I glanced over to see Josh staring at me. When our eyes met, the smile that spread across his face made me weak in the knees. He was looking at me like he…loved me. But the way he had looked at Victoria was like he lusted after her.
When I smiled back at him, he held out his hand for me. I watched as Victoria noticed Josh’s hand stretched out toward me. Her head snapped back up, and she just glared at me.
Elizabeth gave me a little push from behind, and I made my way over to Josh’s side. Victoria gave me a fake-ass smile as she stepped closer to the bed, blocking me.
“Well, I have to go check on my other patients. Josh, I’ll see you in a few, honey,” she said as she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.
I sucked in a breath of air. Oh. My. God. She did not just do that!