Текст книги "Faithful"

Автор книги: Kelly Elliott

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

Sitting in the waiting room, I thought about everything that had happened between Josh and me. The love I felt for him was beyond anything I’d ever felt before. My hands started shaking as I recalled what had happened yesterday. I had walked out of his parents’ house without even telling him that I was leaving. I’d just left, like I had done with my parents. I’d just left without a single word to him—no, I love you…no, we’ll talk later about things.

Nothing.

“Heather, I see the wheels spinning in your head. You heard the doctor. Josh is going to be fine.”

I looked over toward Ari. She was curled up next to Jeff on the small sofa.

“I just left him. I didn’t even say good-bye to him. I just walked out. What if—”

“Don’t do that to yourself, Heather,” Jeff said as he got up and walked over to me. Sitting down, he pulled me closer to him.

I wanted so badly to be in Josh’s arms right now. I wanted him to tell me how much he loved me and how he wanted no one but me. Why was I so upset with him? I’d heard him tell Lynda he was in love with me.

“I was so mad at him when I left. He went outside to talk to Lynda, and at the time, I thought he was just trying to be sneaky about it. Now that I look back…oh god, Jeff. He was just trying not to hurt me. I’m such fool.”

Ari stood up and came toward us. Getting down on her knees in front of me, she grabbed my hands. “The moment he wakes up, just tell him. Tell him how much you love him and that you’re sorry for walking away like that. Tell him you’ll never walk away again,” Ari said, giving me that smile of hers.

Greg cleared his throat. “Um, Heather, honey, would you like to go in and see him?” he asked. “Liz is still in the room.”

Getting up slowly, I nodded. Greg reached out and took my hand. As he led me to Josh’s room in the ICU, my heart started racing, and my head was spinning.

When we stopped right outside the door, Greg turned me to face him. “I want you to know something before you walk into that room.”

Tears began building again, and I did everything I could to not cry. “Okay,” I whispered.

“Josh was on his way to Mason when he had the car accident.”

I felt all the air leave my body at one time. What? “What do you mean, ‘Josh was on his way to Mason’?”

“When we were at the Christmas party, I could tell he was so miserable. He told his mother and me that he’d made the mistake of not going after you the moment he knew you’d left. He wanted to make things right with you. He said he was going to Jeff and Ari’s because he figured that would be the first place you’d go.”

Oh. My. God. It’s my fault he had the car accident. He was coming after me! “Oh no. Oh god, no. This happened because of me,” I said, barely able to get the words out.

Placing both of his hands on my face, Greg brought my eyes to his. “No! This is not your fault, Heather. This is no one’s fault. It was an accident, and he’s going to be okay. He is going to be okay, Heather. I want you to repeat this to me right now, ‘This is not my fault.’”

Tears were rolling down my face as I looked at Greg. He was the closest thing I had to a father, and I felt like I had just let him and Elizabeth down.

“Heather, repeat it to me right now. You have to say it.”

I slowly started to open my mouth to speak, but instead, I broke down and began crying.

Greg pulled me into his arms. “Everything is going to be okay. He’s going to be okay.”

“I’m so sorry, Greg. I’m so sorry I left. If I had just stayed and talked to him—”

Just then, I felt another hand on my back. I looked over my shoulder to see Elizabeth smiling at me.

“Heather, you will never utter those words out of your mouth again. None of this was your fault. Josh could have just as easily run after you to stop you from leaving. Things happen. This is life, sweetheart. He’s going to be okay. You’re both going to move on from this. You’ll get married and give me grandkids, damn it!” Elizabeth said, taking me into her arms.

I let out a giggle as I buried my face in her sweater. I loved how she smelled. It wasn’t like my mother at all, but it was just the same. Just from being in her arms, I calmed down almost immediately.

Elizabeth held me out at arm’s length as she looked me up and down. “Shall we go in, so you can see our boy?” With a smile, she wiped the tears off my face.

“Yes, let’s go.” I glanced back at Greg before Elizabeth and I headed into Josh’s room.

The moment I saw him in the hospital bed, I sucked in a breath of air. His face was cut and bruised. He was just lying there…broken. Then, it hit me. I hadn’t even asked how the accident happened.

I stopped and turned to face Elizabeth. “Wait. How did the accident happen?” I whispered.

Elizabeth shook her head and glanced down at the floor and then back up at Josh. “A drunk driver ran a red light. Bastard doesn’t have a scratch on him. He’ll be sorry though when my law firm gets done with him,” she said with a wink.

A drunk driver? I looked back over toward Josh. I love him so much. I’ll never, ever leave him again. I’ll never give up on him.

“I love him so much, Elizabeth. I can’t live without him,” I said, turning back to her.

Elizabeth reached down and took my hand as we made our way toward Josh.

“I know, baby girl. He feels the same way about you. I know how much that boy loves you.”

For a few minutes, we stood there, talking.

“Honey, I’m going to give you some time alone with Josh,” Elizabeth said.

The moment the door shut, I sat down in the chair next to his bed. I picked up his hand and stared at the IV.

“I’m so sorry I left you, Josh. I promise you, right here and right now, I will never leave you again. I don’t care if you tell me to leave you…I never will. With every ounce of strength I have, I will fight for our love. I will forever be true and faithful to only you. I love you so much, and I’d be lost without you in my life. I could never go on without you. You are my every breath, every smile, every tear, and every single laugh. You are my everything. You are my life, Josh Hayes.”

Just then, I felt him squeeze my hand. As my heart started pounding, I jumped up, and the chair flew back, landing on the floor with a loud crash.

“Can you hear me, baby? Please squeeze my hand again if you can hear me!”

“Heather! What’s going on?” Elizabeth ran in with a nurse following right after her.

“He squeezed my hand! When I was talking to him, he squeezed my hand.” I smiled at her.

The nurse walked over and picked up the chair.

“I’m so sorry. I just got excited when I felt him squeeze my hand!”

“No worries, sweetheart. Let me get some vitals on Mr. Hayes,” she said as she started to take his blood pressure.

I turned and ran into Elizabeth’s arms. “He’s going to be okay,” I whispered in her ear.

She hugged me for a long time. “Yes, of course he is.”

I was so glad Greg and Elizabeth had talked Ari and Jeff into heading home. I knew Ari wanted to get back to Luke. This was the longest she’d ever been away from him, and I was sure that she was worrying herself sick from not being with her baby.

“How did you manage to get Ari to leave last night?” I asked Elizabeth as she poured me a glass of orange juice.

“The same way I got you to come home with us for a few hours of sleep…I threatened her,” she said as she winked at me.

I looked at the clock. It was getting close to one in the afternoon. Josh would be moved into a regular room today, but the last update we’d heard from Greg was that Josh was not awake yet.

I stood up and took my plate over to the garbage can. Glancing at my half-eaten bacon and eggs, I sighed.

“Baby girl, just throw it away. I’m not going to make you sit until you clear your plate. I’m just happy you got some food in your stomach. Now, why don’t you go change out of Josh’s clothes, honey, and then we’ll head over to the hospital, okay?” Elizabeth said, leaning back against the kitchen sink.

I looked down at what I was wearing. When we got back to the house early this morning, I had gone straight to Josh’s bedroom and put on one of his old T-shirts with a pair of his sweatpants. His smell was everywhere in his room. I’d curled up with his pillow and cried myself to sleep before waking up around nine this morning.

“Just give me five minutes, and I’ll be ready to go.” I washed off the plate and then made my way upstairs.

Five minutes later, I met Elizabeth at the front door, and we headed out to her Mercedes. I loved Josh’s parents. They were super rich, but they never acted like it at all. I remembered going with Greg and Elizabeth when they’d bought this car. She’d hated the idea of owning a Mercedes. She’d wanted a Jeep, like the one Ari had. I giggled as I thought about it.

“Was that a laugh I just heard?”

When I glanced over to Elizabeth, I laughed again. “I was thinking about how you wanted a Jeep like Ari’s, and Greg fought with you about it all the way to the Mercedes dealership.”

Elizabeth let out a giggle. “That’s right. I still want a Jeep, damn it.”

During the drive to the hospital, we talked and laughed about that day. Josh and Greg had argued about some piece of equipment that Josh wanted to buy for the business. Greg had said that Josh didn’t need a stupid new age machine. When Greg had told Josh that he needed to do it all by hand, Josh’s face fell.

Those two would fight all the time, but they loved each other so much. Josh’s eyes would light up when his dad would call and ask if Josh wanted to go fishing. I’d never seen so much love between three people…at least not since my parents had passed away.

The last five miles to the hospital, we drove in silence. I was scared to death, and I had the worst feeling in my stomach. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it.

My phone went off just as we were walking into the hospital. I looked down to see I had a new text message.

Amanda: Hey, I just got to the hospital, sweets. Text me when you get here.

I sent her a text back, and right when I hit Send, I heard her voice.

“Oh, sweets!”

When I glanced up, I saw Amanda walking toward me. I picked up my pace and practically ran into her arms.

“Oh, Manda!”

Somehow, I was able to hold in my tears. I knew Josh was going to be okay, so I needed to get my big girl panties back on and stop with the stupid crying.

Amanda pushed me away from her and looked me up and down. When she smiled, I smiled in return. I’m so blessed to have three of the most amazing women as my best friends.

“Hey, Elizabeth, how are you?” Amanda said.

“Hello honey.” Elizabeth said.

Then, Amanda reached for me and hooked her arm around mine as we followed Elizabeth into the hospital and over to the elevators.

“I talked to Ari this morning, and then I called Ellie. Ellie’s so upset that she can’t be here with you. They’re going home today with the baby, and she told me to tell you that she’ll be at your side in a few days,” Amanda said, giving me a wink.

“Are you going to go see Alex?” I asked as we stepped onto the elevator.

“Brad and I plan to head out to Mason tomorrow. I bought the cutest outfit for Alex a few weeks ago. I can’t wait to see it on her!”

Elizabeth and I started laughing.

“How did you know it was going to be a girl?” Elizabeth asked.

“I didn’t! I bought two. I picked out my favorite outfits for a little boy or a little girl. I’ll just hold on to the boy’s outfit for the next person in the group to push out a pup,” Amanda said as she bumped her shoulder against mine.

Elizabeth spun around and grabbed me. “Oh. My. God! Are you?” she yelled at me as the elevator doors opened and two nurses got on.

“Am I what?” I asked, confused.

“Oh, baby girl, don’t play stupid. Are you pregnant and not telling me?”

My eyes darted between Amanda and Elizabeth. “What? Elizabeth, I’m not pregnant!”

The two nurses smiled as they looked back and forth from Elizabeth to me.

Jesus H. Christ. Why the hell does she think I’m pregnant?

“Damn it all. You just got my hopes up,” Elizabeth said as the doors opened to the fifth floor.

Amanda laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about Josh’s mom liking you. Hell, she wants grandkids already!” she whispered in my ear.

I glanced at Amanda as we both started giggling.

A baby with Josh. I smiled at the idea.

“Oh shit!” Elizabeth said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked over to see Greg standing at the nurses’ station. He was talking to a nurse, and he seemed to know her. She appeared to be my age, maybe a few years older, and she was wearing her dark brown hair up in a ponytail.

“Oh, holy hell, not Victoria,” Elizabeth said as she reached down and grabbed my hand.

What the hell? Who is Victoria? I peeked at Amanda, and she just shrugged her shoulders. When I turned back to Elizabeth, she winked at me as she leaned down toward my ear.

“Don’t freak out. Josh dated Victoria during his sophomore year of college. Don’t worry. She was a bitch, and he couldn’t stand her, but she was the only other girl he’s dated besides you and Lynda. Put your game face on, girl,” she whispered.

Oh. My. God. She did not just dump that on me!

As Elizabeth started to pull me close to this Victoria chick, I turned around to Amanda. “Oh my god. Did she just—”

Amanda nodded. “Yes. Yes, she did.”

“Mrs. Hayes! Oh my gosh! I was so shocked to see Josh’s name on the board when I came in this afternoon. Thank God he seems like he’ll make a full recovery. I was just letting Mr. Hayes know that Josh hasn’t woken up yet.”

Elizabeth put on the fakest smile I had ever seen her wear. She squared her shoulders and looked at Greg. He smiled at her and then gave me a wink.

I love them both so much. I would never be able to get through this without them.

“Well, hello there, Victoria. It’s been a long time. I see you followed your dream and became a nurse. How wonderful.” Elizabeth glanced at Greg as he rolled his eyes at her. “I’m glad Josh hasn’t woken up yet. I’m sure he’s waiting for Heather.”

Victoria frowned as she glanced over at Amanda and peeked down at her wedding ring. As she looked in my direction, I noticed when her eyes landed on my bare left hand.

“Heather?” she asked Elizabeth.

“Oh, where are my manners? Victoria Chapman, this is Heather Lambert, Josh’s girlfriend,” Elizabeth said with a wicked smile.

If I didn’t know any better, I would swear she was getting a kick out of this.

I reached out my hand toward Victoria. At first, I was sure she wasn’t going to shake my hand, but then she put on a fake smile as she extended her hand.

I smiled as I shook her hand and introduced her to Amanda. “Very nice to meet you. This is Amanda, one of my best friends.”

Victoria gave Amanda another fake smile.

“Could we please go see Josh?” I asked.

“Oh, of course. Follow me, y’all,” Victoria said.

After she led the way into the room, Elizabeth and Greg started talking to Josh. I walked up next to him, and Amanda came and stood by my side. When I looked across the bed, Victoria was staring down at Josh.

Could you eye-fuck him any more? Bitch. I hate her already.

Reaching down, I took Josh’s hand and brought it up to my lips. Then, I leaned toward his ear. “Baby, please wake up for me,” I whispered.

As I stood up, I noticed Victoria glaring at me. I tried my best to give her a smile, but then I felt Josh squeezing my hand.

“Oh my god. He’s waking up!” I could barely get the words out before he opened his eyes.

He looked straight at Victoria.

“Josh, you’re in the hospital. You had an accident. Do you remember the accident, Josh?” Victoria asked as she went to grab the blood pressure monitor.

When he smiled at her, my heart started to race. He must recognize her!

More importantly though, I realized he was going to be okay. Thank God.

“Tori, what the hell are you doing, working at a hospital?” Josh asked.

I peeked over at Elizabeth and Greg, and they were smiling from ear to ear.

Victoria laughed. “I’m a nurse here, Josh.”

I must have squeezed his hand because he looked down at my hand holding his. When he glanced up at me, his beautiful green eyes captured mine, and I smiled.

“Hey, there. You really scared us,” I said as I glanced over at Elizabeth and Greg.

“Did I now? And who is us?” Josh asked with that damn crooked-ass smile of his.

“Well, for starters, your parents and me,” I said with a chuckle.

Josh’s smile faded, and he looked at me funny. “I’m sorry. How do you know my parents?”

Oh god. Oh god…please…no.

I let go of his hand and brought my hand up to my stomach. I felt sick. When I glanced up at Victoria, she gave me a faint smile. I looked back down at Josh, and he was still staring at me.

“Josh, don’t you know who I am?” I asked with panic in my voice.

“Um…no. Should I?”

With that, my legs slowly started to give out.

Greg was next to me in two seconds flat. “Josh, buddy, you don’t remember Heather?”

“Hey, Dad. I thought y’all were in Paris,” Josh said with a perplexed expression on his face.

Paris? What the fuck is he talking about? He’s confused. That’s all. He is just confused.

“Mr. Hayes, it would probably be best if Heather and…Amanda, was it?” Victoria looked between Amanda and me.

“Yes, it’s Amanda,” Amanda said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“It might be best if they stepped outside for a bit. I’m going to call for the doctor.”

Greg gave me a weak smile. “Josh, buddy, I’ll be right back. Liz…” He waved for Elizabeth to come over and talk to Josh.

As soon as we got out into the hallway, I wanted to collapse to the floor. Greg and Amanda helped me over to one of the waiting room chairs.

“Oh my god. He doesn’t remember me. He doesn’t remember me, Manda! Greg, why doesn’t he remember me? Why did he think y’all were in Paris?”

“Um…well, considering his confusion with Victoria working at the hospital and then his comment about us being in Paris, he must think it’s his sophomore year of college.”

“What?” Amanda and I both yelled at the same time.

Greg took a deep breath in before he slowly let it out. His eyes filled with tears, and he looked at me with such sadness that I felt like my whole world was about to be ripped apart.

“The only time Liz and I ever went to Paris was for our anniversary when Josh was a sophomore at UT. He was dating Victoria at the time.”

I just started shaking my head. No, this is not happening. This can’t be happening.

“So, you think Josh doesn’t know who we are because…because he thinks he’s back in college?” Amanda asked.

“And dating Victoria…he thinks he’s dating Victoria,” I said as tears started to roll down my cheeks.

My mother was just staring at me as I watched Victoria walk around the room.

What the fuck is going on? How in the hell is she a nurse?

“Mom, what the hell happened? Tori, when the hell did you get a job as a nurse?”

Victoria laughed just as the door opened, and a doctor walked in.

“Good morning, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Hayes. I’m glad to see that you’ve woken up,” he said as he gave my mother a smile and a wink.

“Good morning, Dr. Michaels. Um, it seems Josh has woken up…in a different time zone!” my mother said with a small smile.

“Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

My mother spun around and gave me the look. “Joshua Michael Hayes, do not use that language!”

Dr. Michaels laughed and walked up next to me. He picked up the medical chart and glanced over it before looking back at me. “Josh, let me start off by telling you that you were in a serious car accident yesterday. You had surgery to repair some internal bleeding, and you got a pretty bad concussion with a small amount of brain swelling. Your brain scans all came back normal. Your vitals are all good. It just appears that you have a slight case of amnesia.”

“Slight? A slight case?” my father said from behind the doctor.

Dr. Michaels turned around and shook my father’s hand. “Good morning, Mr. Hayes.”

“He thinks he’s still in college,” my father said as he went to stand next to my mother.

Wait. What? Still in college? Does that mean I’m out of college? What about football? Someone needs to tell me what the fuck is going on! And who the hell was that beautiful girl holding my hand?

“Okay, stop. First of all, my head is pounding. Second, Dad, what do you mean by I think I’m ‘still in college’? Someone tell me what the hell is going on! And where did that girl go?” I glanced at Victoria, who was giving me a funny look, and then over to my mother, who was smiling from ear to ear.

“You mean Heather?” my mom asked.

Victoria walked right in front of my mother and grabbed my hand. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. It’ll all come back to you when it should. Heather is a friend of yours. As soon as your brain has healed, you’ll remember everyone when you’re ready.” She turned around and looked at my parents. “Isn’t that right, Dr. Michaels? We don’t want to force Josh into remembering things. His memory needs to come back on its own.”

My mother was glaring at Victoria. Damn, Mom has never liked Victoria.

Dr. Michaels said, “Well, um…thank you, Ms. Chapman, for that explanation of sorts. Josh, I wish I could tell you exactly why you don’t remember the last four and a half years, but—”

“Four years? I’ve lost four years of my life? Did I finish college? What am I doing now?”

My head was spinning. Then, I remembered the beautiful blonde who was holding my hand. The moment I looked into her eyes, my stomach had dropped.

That has never happened to me before…ever. Victoria said she’s a friend, but the girl didn’t look at me like we were just friends.

“Mr. Hayes, just calm down.” The doctor glanced over at my parents as he took in a deep breath. “With amnesia, we can’t say that you’ll regain a hundred percent of your memory. In most cases, we’ve seen patients get all of it back, but then in others, people seem to only get some of it. It could happen in a day or maybe a year. We just don’t know. Don’t force yourself to remember, and don’t feel pressured by others who want you to remember. The key is to let your memory come back on its own.”

I shook my head. I don’t remember four and a half years of my life. I looked at my parents and then back to the doctor. “Well, can I ask questions about my life?”

“Of course you can. Just try not to take in too much right now. First, Victoria needs to change your IV.” The doctor turned to Victoria. “Ms. Chapman, please give him some of the pain meds I prescribed. I’m sure he needs it right about now.” Looking back to me, Dr. Michaels gave me a wink.

Oh, I’m feeling it. Not only was I in pain, but I was also completely confused.

Victoria walked over and leaned down. After she kissed my cheek, she moved her lips to my ear, so no one else could hear her. “Maybe after everyone is gone, I can help ease some of your pain,” she whispered before she pulled away.

I tried to give her a smile, but my stomach turned at her words. Okay…I’m pretty damn sure we’re no longer together. Didn’t I break up with her? Oh yeah…right after the blow job. Best fucking blow job of my life…at least from what I can remember.

Then, my mind flashed an image of the beautiful mystery girl. Who is the blonde?

I glanced at my mother, who was watching Victoria leave the room. If looks could kill, Tori would be flat on the floor.

For a few minutes, the doctor talked to us about the rest of my stay in the hospital. He mentioned that I’d need another brain scan before I could leave, and then I’d need follow-up appointments with the internal medicine doctor.

Once he was out the door, my mother walked up to me and leaned down to give me a kiss. “Baby, you scared the shit out of me.”

I let out a laugh and then winced in pain. “What happened?”

My dad pulled up a chair next to me and sat down. “You were heading out to Mason when a drunk driver hit you.” He began shaking his head with anger.

“Mason? Was I going out to the ranch to meet Gunner and Jeff?”

My mother smiled. “No, you were—”

“Liz…too much information, maybe?”

“Oh please, I know exactly what that little witch was doing with the whole don’t-force-him-to-remember shit!” Mom said with a disgusted look on her face.

“Yes, but the doctor said the same thing, and…”

I tried to suck in a deep breath, but everything hurt. Fuck, just tell me already. “I want to know everything. Don’t hold anything back. Fuck what they said. Mom, where was I going?”

Smiling, my mother said, “You were going to see Heather.”

“Heather? The girl that was in here earlier? That’s Heather, right?”

My dad cleared his throat and nodded. “Yes, Josh. You and Heather are, um—”

“More than friends,” I said.

My mother sat straight up and gave my dad a huge smile. “What? He’s figuring it out on his own!” she said with a wicked grin on her face.

I let out a laugh. “Okay, I was just taking a guess. My stomach dropped at the sight of this girl, so I knew we had to be more than friends.”

My father and mother looked at each other and then at me.

My mother smiled. “Oh yeah…more than just friends.”

I smiled at the idea of being with this girl. There was something about her that made me feel…different, and I sure as shit couldn’t wait to figure out what it was.