Remember Me: Oakville Series:Book Two (3 page)

I
STARTLE
awake. My legs are tangled in the hospital sheets and my skin is drenched in sweat. My heart is racing, feeling as though it will beat right out of my chest. Flashes of broken glass and twisted metal play behind my eyes. It feels so real. The sounds of glass shattering and metal crunching. The smell of gasoline, burning rubber, and blood. So much blood. This isn’t a nightmare, I’m remembering the accident. I want my memory back, but why couldn’t it have been the happy times Beasley mentioned? I sit up and take in mouthfuls of air. Deep breathe, in and out. Trying to calm down, I remind myself that I’m okay. It’s over. The accident has already happened and I’m alive.

“Good morning!” Becky beams as she begins to check my vitals. Becky has become one of my favorite nurses. She always has a smile on her face.

“Morning.”

“You look tired. Did you sleep well?”

“Not really. I had nightmares about my accident all night. I think they were actually memories; bits and pieces of it anyway.”

“That’s a good sign. Hey, I know what will cheer you up. That handsome husband of yours is waiting in the hall to see you, if you’re up for it.” The thought of Kyle being here instantly puts a smile on my face.

“I do want to see him, but can you help me clean up first? I don’t want him seeing me like this.”

“Of course. It doesn’t surprise me that the mention of his name brings a smile like that to your face. He is one fine looking man,” she says, giving me a wink as she helps me into the bathroom to clean up. Maybe the bond my dad was talking about yesterday is so strong that nothing will break it. I have no idea. I just know that hearing he is here makes me happy.

Becky helps fix me up as best as she can with the limited resources we have. It will have to do for now. Slowly, I make my way back into bed.

“Ready for me to send in Mr. Hottie?” Becky asks with a giggle. I can’t help but laugh with her. Mr. Hottie. She’s not wrong.

“Yeah, you can send him in,” I say in between my laughter.

When Kyle walks through the door, my heart skips a beat. I can feel my pulse speed up and a smile starts to form on my lips. He looks uneasy. When he notices me smiling, his face lights up.

“Hi. I brought you some breakfast. It’s your favorite, an egg white omelet with bacon and cheddar. I made it myself,” he says proudly.

“That sounds really good. It’s my favorite?”

“Yeah. It has been ever since I can remember,” he says as he takes the food out of the bag. When he opens the container, the aroma makes its way to my nose and my stomach instantly responds by growling loudly. I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks from embarrassment. Kyle smiles at me as he hands me my omelet and fork. As I bring the first bite to my mouth, he watches me intently, anxious to see if I like it.

“Mmm,” I moan, the flavors bursting along my taste buds. “So good. I think it may still be my favorite.” His eyes light up at as his lips curve up into a heart-stopping grin.
Good God.
What a smile this man has. But, it’s nothing compared to his eyes. He has the most beautiful cobalt blue eyes. How did I ever do anything other than gaze into those eyes? I hear Kyle chuckle and realize I have a fork full of omelet halfway to my mouth, caught stupefied by his eyes.
Shit. Busted.
He goes from a chuckle to a full-blown laugh.

“What is so funny?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh, it’s just...some things never change,” he says, trying to stop his laughter.

“What do you mean?” It’s nice to see him happy, so much better than how he looked when he left yesterday.

“I catch you zoning out and staring at various parts of my body quite frequently. Though, in your defense, you catch me doing the same to you just as often.” He gives me a wink.

“I’m sorry,” I reply, a little embarrassed that he caught me gawking.

“You have nothing to apologize for, princess. You can stare at me as much as you like. I don’t mind at all.”

“Princess? Why do you call me that?”

“When we were kids, you loved the Disney Princesses. You wanted to be a princess, so I told you that you could be my princess. I started calling you princess and it just stuck. You always liked it before. I can try not to call you that any more if it bothers you.”

“No. I still like it. I was just curious.” I give him a smile, hoping to ease any tension that is building. “I know it must be a pain in the ass to have to explain every aspect of our lives to me. I don’t want to upset you by asking a million questions I should already have the answers to.”

“Princess, you’re not upsetting me. I am afraid I’m going to say or do something wrong and upset you.”

“How about we make a deal?”

“What kind of deal do you have in mind?”

“I won’t worry about asking you questions. When I have one, I’ll ask.”

“I can handle that. What do I have to do?”

“You just have to be yourself. Don’t worry about upsetting me. If something bothers me, I’ll tell you. Sound fair?”

“Perfectly.” We both reach out at the same time to shake on our deal. As soon as our hands touch, goose bumps raise on my arms and a zinging feeling like an electric shock rocks through my entire body. I know he feels it too because we both jump a little at the same time. Our hands remain touching longer than they need to as we seem to become mesmerized, peering into each other’s eyes. I’m not sure which one of us lets go first, but I feel a loss as soon as his hand leaves mine.

I was expecting it to feel strange between us, but, to my surprise, it doesn’t. I’m very comfortable around him. Kyle stays with me for a few hours and every minute is filled with conversation and laughter.

“Good afternoon. I see you two are doing well today,” Dr. Scarn says as he enters my room. “I hate to break up your good time, but I have to take Amber for a few tests. All routine, but nothing you can be with her for, Kyle. If you have any errands to run or anything else you need to take care of for the next few hours, now would be a good time. I’ll come back in about ten minutes so you have a chance to say goodbye.” He smiles at us and walks out of the room.

“I should check in on Holly and Paul at the bar. How about I come back around dinner time with your favorite dinner?” He gives me a shy smile.

“Hmm. That depends,” I tease.

“Depends on what?”

“What is my favorite dinner?”

“I can’t tell you that, princess. You’re gonna just have to wait and see.” He gives me a lopsided grin that makes my stomach flip-flop. “I’ll see you around five.” He walks over to my side and bends down like he’s going to kiss me. In that moment, I realize I want him to. I don’t miss the look of desire that flashes across his face. My body starts to tremble slightly and I lean forward, waiting for him to make his move. He quickly kisses my cheek, which has me a little disappointed. When his lips touch my skin, my heart begins to race and I’m a little light headed. Wow. I can’t help but wonder now what those lips would feel like on mine.

As I watch him walk out the door, I can’t stop the smile that blooms across my face. Just before he closes the door behind him, he turns and lifts his eyes to mine. The moment he sees the smile I’m wearing, one instantly appears on his face. I love that smile of his.

A
S
I walk out to my truck, I’m on cloud nine. This morning was so much better than I had even hoped. I was scared shitless when I walked in there, unsure of what to expect or how she was going to react to me. As hard as this is for me, it has to be ten times worse for her. She may not have all of the memories of our times together, but I know she feels our connection. I can see it in her eyes. And, I almost fucked everything up by kissing her. Those beautiful brown eyes were begging me to kiss those plump, soft lips. I shake my head, trying to stop my thoughts from wandering any further. I have to control myself. God help me, because I want… no, I need her so fucking bad it aches. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up scaring her away.

Before I go check in at the bar, I stop by our house to pick up a few things that will make Amber more comfortable while she’s in the hospital; which I’m hoping isn’t too much longer. I also grab two photo albums — one from our wedding and one that has all of her family photos and us growing up. Holly put the photo album of wedding pictures together for us. She gathered pictures that our guests had taken as well as the ones from the photographer. She thought it would be a nice thing to have when Amber woke up. Now, I’m only hoping that the photos help her remember. If not remember, at the very least see how perfect we are together. There are so many memories in this house of the two of us; maybe being home will help her regain some of her memories. What is it going to be like when she does come home? Is she going to want to stay here? Is she going to want me here with her?
So much for being on cloud nine.
All of the uncertainty I felt this morning rears its ugly face, hitting me like a fucking brick upside the head.

When I arrive at the bar, I’m glad to see that Holly is gone. I love Holly, but I’m not in the mood for her to grill me about my visit earlier with Amber. I plop down on a barstool and wait for Paul to finish with a customer. He always tells it to me straight. I need to know how to handle this. I don’t want to push too hard and scare her away, but at the same time, I don’t want to do nothing either.

“You look like shit. Did your visit with Amber not go so well?” Paul asks as he slides a beer in front of me.

“Actually, it went really well. I was fine until I went by the house and started thinking about what was going to happen when she gets out of the hospital.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, is she going to want to come home? If she does come home, is she going to want me there? How the hell am I going to live in the same house and not be with her?” I express my concerns and he just stares at me like I’m crazy. After a few seconds, he begins to shake his head and laugh.

“What the fuck are you laughing at? There is absolutely nothing funny about this situation.”

“Calm down. I’m not laughing at the situation, I’m laughing at you.”

I flip him off. “I’m so happy my pain and suffering keeps you amused.”

“You just need to relax. Take everything one day at a time. Stop getting so worked up over what ifs.”

“I know. I’m just so fucking scared I’m gonna lose her. I couldn’t take it. I wouldn’t survive it again.”

“Stop worrying. The only thing you’re doing is driving yourself insane. She’s not going anywhere. You need to have a little faith,” Paul scolds me. Luckily, a big group of college kids walk in and take seats at the other end of the bar. Looks like Paul’s going to be busy for a while. After finishing my beer, I wave goodbye to Paul.

I drive to the little seafood place twenty miles outside of town, anxious to get back to the hospital. Back to Amber. As I’m driving along the country road, the memories of the last time I took this particular drive flood my mind — the last time I tried to surprise Amber with this meal. It was the day Beau had taken her, the day I thought I’d lost her forever. I shake my head, clearing away the memories as my heart starts to accelerate. It’s over. Amber is alive, that’s the only thing that matters. And, I’m not going to give up. Even if she never remembers anything before the accident, she fell in love with me once, it can happen again.

I walk into Amber’s room and take in the image before me. Her head is gripped in her hands with her eyes are squeezed shut, pain etched in her features. Before I get all the way into the room, her head snaps up and she smiles brightly at me. She’s trying to smooth her features, hiding her obvious discomfort. If I were anyone else, it would have gone unnoticed. But, I’m not anyone else and I hate seeing her in pain while I’m not able to do anything about it.