Chapter Five

“I think I am going back to school in September.”

Laena stopped abruptly and whirled around with an excited gasp.

Evie nearly ran her over with the grocery cart. She swerved, barely managing to control the heavy metal before it clanged into one of the dairy cases.

“That’s wonderful. I’m sure Kansas State’s program will be lucky to have you—”

Evie let out an exasperated sigh and leaned her forearms on the blue plastic handle of the cart. “No, Mom. I am going back to St Andrews.”

Displeasure pulled Laena’s lips into a tight, straight line. “Don’t be ridiculous, Evelyn.” She turned her attention to the display of yogurt and chose an armful of Evie’s favorite, a German import topped with lemon custard.

“Why is that ridiculous?” Evie demanded.

“It’s on the other side of the world. You won’t have anyone to take care of you.” She dropped the yogurt into the basket. “And you should never have gone in the first place.”

“First of all,” Evie began, straightening from her slouch. “I am an adult. I don’t need your permission. I was just informing you of my plans. And I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she added, under her breath.

Ready to launch into a tirade, Laena turned, lips pursed, the lines deepening around her mouth with age more pronounced. She opened her mouth but stopped short. She adjusted her purse on her shoulder and turned back to the dairy case. “We’ll discuss this later.”

“Why? There isn’t anything to discuss.” Is this really happening?

“We’ll wait until your father gets home.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Evie threw up her hands and turned on her heel.

Finishing her degree had been on her mind since her coffee date with Alec, but she came to the decision to return earlier that morning. Evan called to invite her out, again. He apologized for disappearing and promised to make it up to her. She did her best to sound reluctant, but truthfully, getting out of the house became her goal each day.

She hung up with him and realized she needed to do more than go drinking once a week and buy a few used books.

A scowl on her face, Evie stalked down the coffee aisle toward the chocolate. Alec never called her, either. And though she kept her phone on her person at all times for a couple of days, by the third Evie gave up hope of ever seeing him again. Clearly she should have been more conservative in what she shared with strangers. telling a date all about her dead fiancé and the car crash that ruined her life was obviously not the way to go twenty minutes after meeting.

When the disappointment of not hearing from him wore off, there was a thick layer of guilt underneath. It kept her awake at night, and then in bed when the sun rose; more time spent remembering Calum. More time wishing he was still with her. She was ashamed at how eagerly she pushed him from her thoughts, how quickly a handsome face could displace his memory.

She stopped and stared at the shelves of candy. But, she could admit the hour she had spent in his company had done wonders for her outlook on life, it was like talking about it, even just glossing over the details with someone who wasn’t being paid to listen, had rekindled her will to live rather than just exist.

She was making the right decision in going back to Scotland. A reply from Sarah the night before confirmed that. Her former roommate acted as if it had only been a week, not months, since their last correspondence, and she demanded to know when Evie would be back. Going back felt good.

It felt like living.

Half-heartedly, she grabbed a bag of milk chocolate caramels and turned toward the check-out line. What was her mother’s problem? They had always gotten along well, and Laena had always given Evie the space she needed to make her own decisions. She was supportive. Proud.

It wasn’t until Evie announced she was going overseas for her graduate degree that her mother’s attitude changed. And it had gotten even worse since Evie came to stay with her parents. Laena seemed to have no desire to get Evie out of the house. In fact, it felt like her mother wanted to keep her there for the rest of her life, for her to never have a life outside of her mother’s home. Hell, it wasn’t even a house she had grown up in!

Evie still seethed as she turned the corner of the aisle, and tripped over a yellow Caution, wet surface signs propped over the glistening surface. Her heel slid in something slick, and she fell helplessly through the air, head connecting with floor, bouncing twice.

And then there was darkness.

****

Evie opened her eyes as the glass door slid open. The harsh fluorescent light in the emergency room poured into her cubby hole, and she squinted as pain wrapped around her skull. The ache from the back of her head radiated around her jaw and settled in her teeth. Pulling the blinds shut and closing her eyes had helped, but both were quickly forgotten when her gaze made contact with the intruder.

Standing at the end of her bed in crisp Army uniform jacket and pants, stethoscope draped around his neck, was Alec.

“You never called me.” She blurted the accusation before she even realized the words tumbled out of her mouth.

A look of surprise crossed his face and she could have laughed as his jaw dropped, but a stab of pain kept her in check.

He recovered quickly, blinking away the initial shock of seeing her spread out over the white hospital sheets. “Oh, I tried. But I was unable to complete my call because I needed the correct country code.”

Correct country code? Evie frowned until she realized what she had done. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I must have given you my old mobile number.” She’d never given the new one to anyone before. In fact, now that she thought about it, she wasn’t even sure she knew what it was.

His expression remained skeptical. “You know, you don’t have to say that. It’s really fine if you don’t want to see me, again.” He looked around the small room. “Well, after this.”

She gave an apologetic shrug, but inside her heart leapt around her chest, flopping around in an entirely inappropriate happy dance. “No, I’ve been waiting. Well, I was waiting. Not too long. Too long would be pathetic.” Why was she rambling? “It was a non-pathetic amount of waiting. I promise.”

His right eyebrow shot up and the corners of his mouth twitched. He turned abruptly to the computer monitor mounted to the wall and signed into the system.

She swallowed, suddenly self-conscious. “You weren’t just saying that, were you? Just to be nice because you really didn’t want to call me? You were just being polite, weren’t you?”

He shook his head and his shoulders bounced in laughter. When he swiveled to her, he was grinning. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall. “I promise. I tried to call.”

She slumped into the foamy hospital pillow. “Oh. That’s good.”

The screen changed on the computer and his attention flicked back to it, reading over what she figured must have been her triage reports.

She shifted in the uncomfortable silence. “You didn’t tell me you were a doctor. Actually, come to think of it, I don’t think you told me much of anything about yourself.”

“You did cut our coffee date a little short.” He kept his eyes trained on the report.

“Mm, yeah, sorry about that. I had my dad’s car, but he needed it for some work thing. My mom wanted me back with it because she had a very important appointment to keep with the movie theater.”

He looked up. “Movie theater?”

She nodded, then winced and wished she hadn’t. “Yup. She had a hot date with a bag of popcorn and a diet soda.” And her favorite actor, but there was no reason to tell him that, even if Evie did find the whole thing ridiculous.

They grinned at each other and her heart fluttered. She broke her gaze away. She didn’t want him to catch her staring at his mouth or see the red heat rising to her cheeks.

“Well, tell me what happened.”

“I got home, she took the keys, and that was that. She didn’t even ask if I wanted to come.” Evie wrinkled her nose. “Maybe I wanted to watch the smut, too,” she muttered to herself.

Alec chuckled. “No, I meant how you got here. What happened?”

“Oh!” she smacked herself in the forehead, but then wished she hadn’t. The pain reverberated off the backs of her eyes and she sucked in a breath.

“Sorry. I, uh, I slipped in the commissary. I ran right over the stupid sign they placed over a wet spot to warn idiots like me, and, you know, feet in the air, head on the concrete.” She clapped her hands together. “Pow.”

“And did you lose consciousness?”

Ah. She deflated. It was all business, now.

“Yes.”

He made a sort of humming noise in the back of his throat, and then straightened. “Protocol is to order a head CT, and considering your history, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I’ll order it, and then someone will be in to wheel you to radiology in a few minutes. Anything else bothering you?”

She smirked. “Just my pride.”

His lips tightened, but they jerked upward, and he reached for the door, sliding it open and disappearing down the corridor. Evie suddenly felt a little abandoned.

She didn’t know how long she waited for someone to come retrieve her for the head scan, but it didn’t seem like much time at all. She only had a few moments to replay the last five minutes in her head, mentally wincing at her own awkwardness.

A stout woman pushed the sliding door all the way open, smiling politely and announcing she would be the one taking Evie to radiology. She spun a wheelchair into the small space, and then held out her hands to help Evie sit down, adjusting the footrests as soon as Evie was situated.

Evie clasped her temples between her hands. Sitting up caused a near-vomit-inducing spinning to join the ache squeezing her battered skull.

The scans were over quickly, and they were done in a dim room, which she appreciated more than she could express. As she was wheeled back into her little slice of the emergency room, she regretted the whole thing hadn’t taken longer because, sitting in the chair next to the bed, was her mother.

“I thought you were going home.” Evie’s eyes narrowed.

“Only to put away the groceries.” Laena folded her book shut and uncrossed her legs. “You were brought here in an ambulance. You really thought I would just go home, watch a soap opera, and wait for you to call for a ride?”

“Well, I would never accuse you of watching soap operas, but yeah,” Evie answered. “I’m fine. There is no reason for you to be here. I could probably walk back. It’s only what? A mile?”

“Really, Evelyn, this is ridiculous even for you.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Evie demanded.

“It means you’re acting ridiculous.”

Evie leaned her head back on the pillow and groaned. This really couldn’t be happening.

As if on cue—because, obviously her life was some sort of sick comedy—Alec came back through the door, stopping short when he caught sight of Laena. He blinked a couple of times before offering her his hand.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Carlisle,” he murmured as Laena slipped her hand in his.

Carlisle. Interesting, Evie thought. They had never gotten around to the whole full names thing. She supposed he was privy to hers since it was written all over his fancy little computer screen. At least now they were on equal footing

“Laena Blair,” her mother answered politely.

Alec turned his attention back to Evie. “Is it all right to…” His gaze flicked to her mother briefly before turning back to her.

She knew what he was asking, and though she would love to see her mother’s face if he told her she needed to leave, she just couldn’t do it. Evie nodded, instead.

“Great. We’re still waiting for the results, but they should be done in a few minutes. I just wanted to keep you updated. They brought you something for the pain?”

She shook her head.

“I’ll order it and a prescription for you to take home. You’ll be able to pick it up in the pharmacy on your way out.”

“Does that mean you aren’t going to keep her?” Laena asked.

He turned his attention back to the older woman. “We’ll need to see the results of the CT first, but as long as everything is clear there, no, you’ll be able to take her home.”

Evie sighed away her disappointment.

She was alone when he returned. It was easy to persuade her mother to go pick up the prescription at the pharmacy while she waited for the discharge papers, and once Laena left the glass-enclosed cubicle, Evie hopped off the thin mattress. Avoiding hospital beds was her long-term goal in life, and she carefully folded herself into the arm chair Laena previously occupied.

Alec found her with her legs curled up on the fake leather seat and feet tucked under her knees. The space between his brows was creased thoughtfully as he stared down at a print out, and Evie instantly went on alert. She sat up straighter and dropped her feet to the floor as she prepared for bad news.

“You said you were in a coma.”

Her brows shot up toward her hairline. “That’s right. For three and a half months.”

She failed to be more specific: three months, thirteen days, thirteen hours, and three minutes. She had always found threes fascinating, and thirteen more so, and those would forever be burned into her brain.

He ran his tongue over his teeth. “I pulled up your medical records.” His gaze remained glued on the paper. Was he avoiding looking at her?

“Okay.”

She swallowed. Was he looking for more information? Something was behind his interest and clearly and it had nothing to do with her lovable sense of humor and roguish good looks.

“There seems to be quite a bit of information missing. If your condition today had been any worse, I—well, anyone here—would need that information to best treat you.”

Evie frowned. “I don’t know what could possibly be missing. All of my records were sent here when my parents had me transferred. My mother even hand-carried hard copies.”

He flipped the paper over quickly before turning it back over. “Not one of the scans shows any sort of traumatic brain injury. There is no information about your rating on the Glasgow scale. Your arm injury, broken femur, burns, those are all well-recorded, but the head injury…”

“Are you telling me I wasn’t in a coma all that time?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“No, that isn’t what I’m saying at all.”

He hesitated. There was something in his tone. Something she couldn’t place.

“I’m asking you if they ever gave you a reason why. There’s no explanation here. Nothing.”

“And I take it you believe that means something?” She folded her arms over her chest and squirmed as his gaze finally met hers. They stared at each other as the seconds ticked away, neither blinking.

“I think that means you are in danger, Evelyn,” he murmured. His expression darkened, his mouth falling into a grim line and his eyes hooding beneath slashing brows.

A chill shimmied down her spine and she tightened her hold on herself. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. She was suddenly aware of how much larger he was than she. How much stronger. And he stood between her and the only escape route.

“What… what do you mean?”

“Be careful who you trust.”

His guarded expression lightened instantly, and his lips turned up into a pleasant smile. Had she imagined the darkness radiating from him but a moment before?

“If any of these symptoms appear, you need to come back immediately.” He handed her copies of her discharge papers, and in a few steps, was gone.

Evie swallowed, fell back in the chair, and crumpled the stack of papers in her hand.