Forever Mine (16 page)

“My leg is fine,” he lied. Until now he’d managed to ignore the fiery pain shooting up his leg and into his side. “I’m not leaving her until she wakes up.”

“Will you trust me when I say she’ll be fine?” Anna studied him intently.

Behind her, Sebastian nodded in silent confirmation of his wife’s words. Nicholas wanted to vehemently reject Anna’s request, but the certainty in her brown eyes made him nod his acquiescence.

“I’m to be told the moment she wakes up. Is that understood?”

Anna silently acknowledged his order. Nicholas looked back at Victoria. He didn’t want to feel anything for this woman, but he did. The realization scared the hell out of him. Slowly, he made his way to the door connecting his room with Victoria’s. He looked back over his shoulder one last time at Victoria’s still form in the bed before he limped his way out of the room.

Present Day

T
he wild shrill of alarms jerked Nick out of sleep. In an instant, he was on his feet and beside Victoria’s hospital bed. In the hallway, he heard the frantic squeak of shoes against tile as medical personnel raced toward the room.

“Victoria, can you hear me? It’s Nicholas. You need to wake up, sweet witch.”

The endearment had become a regular refrain in his efforts to awaken her over the past four days. Victoria’s eyes moved beneath her eyelids, and hope welled up inside him. Two nurses rushed into the room followed by Dr. Bertram. As usual, he was shoved to the sidelines as the nurses checked her IV and monitors. Nick stood at the foot of the bed while Bertram leaned over her as if he was listening to her speak. His heart slammed into his chest at the sight.

“Let me talk to her, Bertram.”

Nick met the doctor’s gaze of frustration. They both knew the only real responses they’d gotten from Victoria were when he was talking to her. Bertram looked at the nurse on the opposite side of the bed and nodded sharply. The moment the woman stepped back, Nick took her place. Leaning over Victoria, his fingers caressed her brow in gentle strokes.

“Victoria. I’m not going to leave you. Come back to me.” At his words her lips moved.

“I can’t…find you.” It was the merest hint of a whisper, and he sucked in a breath at the note of confusion he heard in her words.

“I’m right here, sweet witch. I’m right here.” Nick’s heart pounded frantically in his chest. “Victoria, wake up. Come back to me.”

Despite his urgent plea, the alarms immediately stopped shrieking, and Victoria went still again. With a loud noise of defeat and anguished desperation, Nick whirled around and strode out of the room. He crossed the wide corridor and furiously slammed the flat surface of his fist against the concrete wall.

“
Fuck
.”

Hands braced against the wall, he bent his head and closed his eyes. Each time Victoria seemed on the verge of waking up, she slipped back into her coma. As a hand touched his back in a compassionate gesture, Nick straightened upright and turned to face the doctor. Pressing his back against the wall, he met Bertram’s sympathetic gaze with a sense of helplessness.

“I realize how frustrated and worried you are, Barrows. But every time she has one of these episodes it’s a good thing. It means she’s still in there, fighting to come back. You have to be patient.”

“It’s hard to be patient when there’s the possibility she might not have the strength to come back,” he snarled.

The words struck at something deep inside him that made him want to lash out at the world. He’d just found her again, and the thought of losing her filled him with the depth of a torment he’d never dreamed possible. Nick closed his eyes, and tipped his head backward to rest it against the wall. For the first time he was beginning to doubt Victoria would come out of her coma.

The realization was like a knife cutting deep into his soul. How could he be in love with a woman he’d spoken only a few words to? He wanted to reject the idea, and yet he knew it was true. The pain engulfing him every time Victoria slipped away from him was so intense he had no choice but to believe he loved her.

“For someone who insisted Miss Ashton was going to surprise everyone, but you—I’m amazed at your sudden about face.”

“You heard what the neurologist said yesterday,” Nick snarled.

“What I heard Dr. Mitchel say was that she didn’t know how to explain what was happening to Miss Ashton.” Bertram met his gaze with empathy. “Just because a medical condition can’t be explained doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless. I’ve seen cases where I thought all hope was lost, but the power of love created miracles where modern medicine failed.”

“And what makes you think this is going to be one of those cases?” Nick bit out in a hoarse whisper.

“Because, you’ve made a believer out of me, Barrows. I think it’s time you start believing again as well.”

With an abrupt nod, Bertram headed down the hall to the nurses station. Nick stared after the man before he slowly pushed himself away from the wall and returned to Victoria’s room with its quietly beeping equipment. Drawn to her side, Nick stared down at Victoria as his fingers stroked her hair and then her cheek.

“Come back to me, sweet witch. Don’t leave me again,” he whispered. The soft plea came straight from his heart, and he could only pray she would hear him.

October 1897

T
he mist was so thick it reminded her of fat, fluffy cotton balls. She stretched out her hand to test her theory. The only thing that brushed across her fingers was a warm breeze. Somewhere close by she sensed there were other people, but it was impossible to see them.

“Hello?”

A faint noise drifted through the dense fog. It reminded her of a small bird chirping. She took a hesitant step toward the sound and then another. Each step she took was an effort in sheer willpower. It was if there were weights on her feet preventing her from doing anything more than slowly taking one step at a time. Quiet murmurs floated in the air around her, and she turned her head trying to see who was talking. Through the mist a powerful, deep voice scraped across her senses. She took a slow step toward the voice.

“Hello, is anyone there?”

The bird began to chirp rapidly in the way a small chick might when frantically searching for its mother. The man’s commanding voice echoed in her ears again, but this time it was behind her.

“Stand still, will you,” she muttered with irritation. “I can’t find you in this fog if you keep moving around,”

She took one step and then another. Each step seemed to take forever, and she was exhausted after only three steps. She stopped, waiting for the man to speak again.

“Victoria, wake up. Come back to me.” The man’s voice was barely a whisper, and it had changed direction again.

She turned toward the sound and took another step forward. A split second later, she plummeted downward and jerked as her body hit a soft mattress. Victoria opened her eyes and blinked as the hazy mist evaporated to reveal the organza canopy of her bed at Brentwood Park. Disappointment made her heart sink. She was still in the past. Disoriented, she cried out in fear as someone touched her wrist.

“Don’t be alarmed, my lady. I’m simply taking your pulse.”

Her gaze shifted toward the voice, and she saw a young man sitting on the edge of her bed staring intently at a pocket watch. The sharp, stabbing pains in her head had ceased, and just as she had at the cottage, she felt as though she had a bad hangover. Wetting her parched lips with her tongue, she tried to sit up.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Anna said firmly from her position opposite the doctor. Gently, the woman pushed her back into her pillows. “You’re going to stay right where you are until Doctor Bertram says it’s all right for you to get up.”

“Could I have something to drink?” she whispered hoarsely.

A moment later, Anna held a glass of water to Victoria’s lips. The cool liquid soothed her throat, and she drank until the inside of her mouth no longer felt like cotton candy. Outside, the afternoon sky filtered its final light of the day into the room’s floor to ceiling windows. Noting how the sun had dipped low in the sky, she frowned.

“Have I been asleep all day?” she rasped.

“
All day
?” Anna exclaimed quietly. “You’ve been unconscious since Nicholas brought you back to the house yesterday morning.”

A snap pierced the air as the young doctor closed his timepiece. Shoving it into his waistcoat pocket, he leaned forward to peer into Victoria’s eyes. Next, he pressed the sides of her throat then examined the cut on her forehead. Sitting back, he crossed his arms and smiled at her.

“I understand from Lord Guildford that you’ve had several of these troubling headaches.” The doctor eyed her carefully, and she nodded.

“Yes,” she murmured.

“I’m not surprised that you’re having headaches given that nasty bump you have there.” Dr. Bertram nodded toward her forehead. “Do you always faint with these headaches?”

“No, only sometimes.” Suddenly aware that she needed to guard her words, she didn’t volunteer any unnecessary information.

“His lordship also tells me you don’t remember anything prior to your return to Brentwood Park,” Dr. Bertram said in matter-of-fact tone. “Although that’s not uncommon with a head trauma, I have limited experience with the disorder, but I’d like to call in a consultant as a precaution.”

“
No
.” Panic sent Victoria’s heart slamming into her chest as she looked away from the doctor. Fingers digging into the sheets, she shook her head. “My memory will come back when everyone stops all this poking and prodding.”

Before the doctor could reply, Nicholas walked through the connecting door of their chambers. As her gaze met his, she could have sworn she saw an expression of relief sweep across his face before he scowled at the doctor.

“I seem to recall telling you that I was to be informed the moment my wife was awake, Bertram,” Nicholas said in a menacing voice.

“And
I recall
telling you to stay off that leg,” Bertram snapped rudely. The two men glared at each other for a long moment before Nicholas accepted the rebuke with an abrupt nod

“Since I’m already here, I’ll have a few moments alone with my wife, if you please.”

At the arrogant statement, Dr. Bertram narrowed his eyes at Nicholas before he jerked his head in agreement. Extending his arm toward the door, the doctor invited Anna to join him.

“Shall we give them a few minutes, Lady Starling?”

“Of course. We’ll return when you send for us,” Anna said as she gave Victoria’s hand a quick squeeze then looked at Nicholas. “You’re not to upset her, Nicholas, do you understand me?

Annoyance crossed his face as he met Anna’s gaze then nodded. As the doctor and Anna left the room, Nicholas crossed the room to her bed and she frowned. His limp was more pronounced than she’d noticed before.

“You’re in pain,” she said quietly.

“It’s been worse,” he said in a noncommittal manner. “How are you feeling? Is the headache gone?”

“Yes, but I feel like I just ran a marathon.”

Victoria closed her eyes for a brief moment then jumped as the mattress sagged beneath Nicholas’ weight. Instantly, Victoria’s senses went on high alert, and she swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat as she met his astute gaze. He frowned slightly as if disturbed by something then cleared his throat.

“Everyone’s been worried about you.”

Something in his voice made Victoria believe he’d been concerned for her as well. Pleasure rushed through her at the thought before she quickly reminded herself that nothing had changed. She was still in the past, and she was posing as the man’s wife. A woman who just happened to be a dead countess.

“Thank you,” she murmured as she pushed aside the thought of Nicholas’ wife.

“Do you remember what happened?” His question made her flinch, but she nodded.

“I had another headache.”

“When you fainted in here the other day, did you have a headache then as well.”

“Yes,” she said with a shrug. “Whenever I try to remember how I got here, the headaches start. The harder I try to remember the worst they get.”