My eyes dart open and I'm instantly aware that I'm not in bed at Alexa's. This room is bright. The large light above my head is shining directly into my face.
"Kayla. Kayla Monroe?" She repeats my name. "Do you know your name?"
If I didn't, I'd guess it was Kayla Monroe just by her incessant need to repeat it over and over again to me.
"Yes," I whisper through a swollen lip. "I'm Kayla."
Her hand brushes over my forehead. "Don't move. I'll get the doctor."
"The doctor?" I try to raise my hand to touch my forehead. It's burning. I feel as though I fell asleep with my face inside of a frying pan. "What doctor?"
I sense movement beside me. Where's Alexa? I need her.
"Kayla?" It's a man now. His voice is deep and gentle. It's familiar.
I turn my head slowly towards him. I remember him. He's handsome. We kissed. "Ben," I say his name. I remember his name.
"You're going to be fine." He leans down to run his hand over my lip. "Nothing is broken. You didn't need any stitches."
"Why are you here?" I try to look behind him for another familiar face. "Did I get hurt?"
He nods slowly, his eyes darting beside me to a nurse standing next to the bed. I don't flinch as she grips my wrist to take my pulse.
"Her pulse is ninety-two." I listen as she shuffles with papers. "She's stabilizing."
"Give her four hundred milligrams of ibuprofen and get someone from admitting down here," Ben directs her. "She needs to be monitored tonight."
Why is he saying those things? I turn to watch her walk quickly past one of the curtains that surrounds the bed. I'm in the hospital. I try to sit up. I can't be here. I need to be at work in the morning. I need to tell Alexa where I am so she doesn't panic.
"I have to go." I try to swing my legs over the side of the bed. "I need to go home."
"You can't leave." His hands push me back down. "You're seriously hurt."
"I want to talk to the doctor." I feel my lip quiver. "Go get the doctor."
He shakes his head slightly. I watch him take a heavy swallow. "I'm your doctor."
"What?" I bolt back to a sitting position.
He steadies my balance with his hands on my shoulders. "You fell, Kayla. I brought you here. I'm your attending physician."
"You're not a doctor," I blurt the words out quickly without any thought. I don't know who he is. Could he be a doctor?
"I'm a doctor." He points to the identification badge clipped to the front of his sweater. "I work here."
My eyes scan the badge. I can't focus on the writing. It's blurry. "This isn't real." I feel panic race through me.
"I'm Dr. Ben Foster."
"Foster?" I shake my head certain that I misheard him. "As in the Noah Foster?"
"No, Ben Foster. I'm not Noah. Noah is a photographer. You probably saw a story about him online or in one of the papers," he says gruffly. "My name is Ben. You and I met several weeks ago. You may feel temporarily confused because of the impact of your fall. That will…"
"Do you know Noah Foster?" I interrupt him.
"Do you know him?" It's a challenge woven into a nervous chuckle.
My eyes don't leave his face. He knows Noah. I see it now. That's who he looks like. "I know him," I offer quietly. "He loves my best friend."