Chapter 19
Harper
My eyes start to flutter, being able to see bits and pieces of light and surroundings, but my lids still feel like concrete blocks, not wanting to open fully. I start to panic, my brain showing images of the last thing I remember, the man walking into my room. Scott isn’t at the door, or else he wouldn’t have been able to just stroll in here. A scream erupts from my throat as my eyes finally pop open, and see Liam at my side.
“L-Liam?” My hand clenched down on his. “It was him. He did it.”
Scott comes running inside. “What the heck is going on in here?”
“It was him. He was here.”
“Did you see him, Harper?” Scott asks.
“Yes, brown hair and blue eyes. White.”
My heart is racing, just having woke up from a horrible dream that just keeps replaying in my head over and over while I’m asleep. One thing is for certain; I have most definitely seen this man before. My eyes clench trying to make my mind work. I need to remember and fast. If I could figure out where I’ve seen him, then it would help the police track him down. “I need to see everyone that I would have seen in the last two weeks before the fire.”
“On it,” he says, pulling out his phone to call the station to alert them of the necessary photos.
For the next several hours, I go through every photo of every person they believe I’ve come in contact with including students, colleagues, and café workers. None of them are him. “This can’t be it. We are missing an important piece of the puzzle.”
“How are we supposed to know what the piece is without you being able to tell us?”
Change of plans. “Can you get me photos of any law enforcement or hospital workers I’ve come in contact with since the break-in?”
“Really?” Scott questions me.
“I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. This man has proven that he wants me dead.”
The longer I’m stuck in this bed, the easier it will be for him to get to me.
“You really think it could be a worker?”
“Think about it. The nurses and doctors would know how much morphine would kill me, right? Or someone with any kind of medical school basic training, I guess. Something just doesn’t feel right, like it’s right in front of me and I’m too stupid to see it.”
“Well, in that case, we need to get you the hell out of here. You’re not safe here anymore,” Liam says, walking outside to talk to a doctor.
The door is left open and I can hear Scott on the phone with the station explaining my request. Honestly, he should have been the one to think about this. If I didn’t hear the man’s voice, I would think maybe Scott is behind this.
“Okay, you’re being discharged in an hour,” Liam says. “Only question is—where are you staying? I have an extra bedroom if you would like to stay with me, no pressure though.”
Where else would I go? The only person that makes me feel safe is Liam, so I’ll go wherever he does. It’s not like I could go stay by myself somewhere, well I guess I could but what kind of sense does that make? Especially, while all this is going on.
The next hour passes by in milliseconds, and seems to go on forever until they finally bring me my discharge paperwork and ask Liam to bring his truck around to the front. Scott will bring the photos by the house once they are retrieved and put together for me to look over.
“Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Never been more ready for anything,” I reply, heading toward the elevator.
Thank goodness the hospital has some scrubs or I’d be stuck going home in a hospital gown. I would need to go to a bank to get money out—but which bank? Now that I’m out, clothes and toiletries are needed. Yet, I didn’t even know where my bank account is located here to be able to get money out. So many things were lost in that fire, and things will be hard until I start remembering my life.
Of course, I have visited Texas a few times, but never thought about moving here. The weather is warm, and the sun is out in full force making me squint my eyes, watching for Liam to pull up.
He helps me in the truck, and shuts the door behind me. “So, off to my house we go. Is there anything you need while we’re out?”
“I really need some clothes and a pair of tennis shoes, but can’t go out looking like this.” I peer down at myself in light blue scrubs.
“Here’s my phone. Call Tessa and she can pick you up some things and bring them over to the house.”