Chapter 4
Lauren heard Carson shift on the bedside chair, but she kept her eyes closed. He’d said she needed to rest and she was trying
to do just that. But she kept reliving that terrible panic and praying it wouldn’t come back. Between that and the fuzzy thinking,
she couldn’t calm herself.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before someone slipped into the room—the doctor, judging by his scrubs and lab coat. He was bald
with warm brown skin and a kind smile.
“Hello, young lady. I am Dr. Kadambi.”
“Lauren Wentworth.”
“Congratulations. You have already passed my first test.” His gaze flickered to Carson. “You are friends with Miss Wentworth?
It is good if someone who knows the patient is present for the questions.”
“Ah, in that case, I think it would be better to bring Jonah back in. That okay, Lauren?”
She pressed her lips together. “I guess.”
“Tell me how you are feeling,” the doctor said as Carson left the room.
“My head’s a little better.” The nurse had put something in the IV. “I’m a little nauseated.”
“We can get you something for that. Any weakness, tingling, or numbing anywhere?”
“Um... no.”
“The light is off, so I assume your eyes are sensitive?”
“Yes.”
“This probably will not be pleasant, but I need to check your pupils.” He leaned in and shone the light in her eyes. “Good.
Now follow the light with your eyes only. Good, good.”
She heard Jonah slip into the room, but she was still seeing spots from the light.
“Come in, Jonah. I am Dr. Kadambi and I will be asking Lauren some questions. We may need a bit of help.”
“Okay.” Jonah came as far as the chair and perched on the edge of it.
“Lauren, can you tell me where we are?”
“At the hospital. Pinehaven Hospital.”
“What happened to bring you in today?”
“I... I fell.”
“I told you that,” Jonah said. “I had to tell her that twice. She didn’t remember falling.”
Dr. Kadambi raised his brows at her.
She thought hard. Back to the last thing she remembered. She wanted to prove Jonah wrong. But she couldn’t recall the accident.
“I—I don’t really remember falling.”
“That is not unusual with a concussion. You might never remember the moments before the accident. What is the last thing you
remember?”
“Um...” She thought back. “We were on the pier. I just came back from a boat ride.”
“That’s right.” Jonah voice was laced with excitement. “That was this afternoon.”
“We—we argued.”
“Who argued?” Dr. Kadambi asked.
Her eyes flickered to the corner. “Jonah and me.”
“That’s not true. That didn’t happen.”
She nailed him with a look. “Yes, it did. I remember very clearly.”
“What did we argue about then?” He searched her face. Where was all this warmth and concern coming from all of a sudden?
“I didn’t wear a life jacket. You got all bent out of shape.”
His lips parted. Otherwise his features froze. Then he glanced at the doctor, who in turn glanced at her.
“What?” she said. “It’s true. I know I’m a little fuzzy, but the memory’s very clear.” Why was Jonah disputing this?
“Is that what happened, Jonah?”
He blinked. “Yes.” He stared at her again, those blue eyes holding secrets she was suddenly sure she didn’t want to hear.
He cleared his throat, his focus like a laser beam on her. “The argument on the pier did happen. But it didn’t happen today.”
The doctor returned his attention to Lauren, and his gaze sharpened on her. “Can you tell me the date?”
Seriously? She huffed. What kind of trick was Jonah playing on her? She glared at him.
“Humor me, Lauren,” the doctor said.
“It’s Sunday, April twenty-eighth.” She rattled off the year for good measure.
A beat of silence passed. The clock ticked away the seconds. Something shifted in the room as the doctor made eye contact
with Jonah.
“ What? I know it’s Sunday, but it could be the twenty-ninth, I guess. I’m a little foggy, remember? Cut me some slack.” She sometimes
lost track up here—something she’d never done in the city. But why had Jonah insisted they hadn’t argued that very day? She
was still peeved about it. He could be such a pain, a real stickler for the rules. She was a perfectly good swimmer, for heaven’s
sake.
The doctor touched her arm. “Lauren... You seem to have lost a bit of time, which can happen with a concussion. We’ll need a few more tests, and I’d like to keep you overnight as a precaution.”
Her thoughts got hung up on his first sentence. “How much time?” Her gaze toggled between the doctor and Jonah. Had she lost
a few days? Was that why Jonah said they hadn’t argued that day? That made sense, didn’t it? When thinking was like slogging
through mud, it was hard to tell.
“Lauren...” Dr. Kadambi said. “It is not April. Today’s date is September seventh.”
***
Jonah sat frozen to the chair. Lauren thought it was the end of April . That would’ve been only about a month and a half after her arrival. If Lauren didn’t remember the past four months, she
hadn’t just forgotten about the barn and Graham.
She’d forgotten about them .
“I’m not his girlfriend.”
She didn’t remember all the weeks they’d spent working their way from antagonism to love. She didn’t remember their first
date or her steady slide into his heart. She didn’t remember when he’d professed his love or when she’d finally vocalized
her own feelings.
No wonder she was behaving so strangely. She was still neck-deep in animosity. Dread seeped into his bloodstream.
“That—that can’t be true.” Lauren’s eyes, full of confusion, darted from the doctor to him. “It’s April .”
Dr. Kadambi pulled his cell phone from his pocket and held it up for Lauren. “This is my home screen. Can you read the date?”
She blinked. Gaped at the screen for a full five seconds. Then she lifted a hand to her face. “I don’t understand. How can
this be possible?”
“Jonah, this memory Lauren had of the argument on the pier. When did that occur?”
He tried to slow his spinning thoughts. “Um, I couldn’t tell you the exact date, but it would’ve been toward the end of April,
like she said.”
Her gaze fastened on his. Disbelief warred with fear in her familiar green eyes. And he hated that he’d helped put them there.
The doctor laid a hand on Lauren’s, his voice softening. “I know this must be unsettling, Lauren. But you seem to have what
is called temporally graded retrograde amnesia. It is a form of memory loss that can sometimes occur after a traumatic brain
injury.”
Her fingers tightened on the sheet. “Traumatic brain injury?”
Jonah popped to his feet and approached the bed. “I thought her CT was normal.”
“A concussion is a traumatic brain injury, and the brain is a very complex organ. An injury that damages the region where
memory is stored can cause this type of amnesia.”
He had to ask the question that was surging up from the deep, sludgy well inside him. “Will she—will she get her memory back?”
“I cannot say for certain, but often memory is restored within days or weeks.”
“Weeks?” Her breath rushed out. She blinked back tears. “This can’t be happening.”
“It’s gonna be okay.” Jonah started to grab her hand. Grabbed the railing instead. She wouldn’t welcome his touch. Once again
he was just the pesky son of her boss, the man she had to deal with on a daily basis.
Only now that man was madly in love with her.
Jonah approached the ER waiting room where his mom and dad waited in hard plastic chairs. They jumped to their feet at his
approach, his dad, gray hair windblown, towering over his mom.
His mom’s dark hair was caught up in a youthful ponytail. But worry lines marred her forehead and empathy filled her brown eyes. “How is she?”
He found himself swallowed up in his mother’s embrace. His dad’s beefy hand settled on his shoulder. Gave a firm squeeze.
“Physically she seems okay. The CT scan was normal and they’re running more tests.”
“That’s good news,” Dad said.
She hadn’t wanted him there for the tests. It was written all over her face. Since Mom had texted that they’d arrived, he
used that as an excuse to slip away. Plus, he really did need some time to absorb all this.
April.
Mom’s intelligent eyes homed in on him. “What aren’t you telling us?”
He opened his mouth to relay what had happened. He could hardly believe this was happening. It felt so surreal. Maybe saying
it out loud would help. “She’s lost some of her memory. When the doctor asked her the date, she thought it was April. But
she understands now it’s not. She’s reeling a bit.”
Mom gasped. “April? That’s a lot of time to lose.” Her eyes flashed with a succession of emotions, putting it all together.
Then they filled with compassion. “Oh, honey. She doesn’t remember...?”
“No.”
“She’ll get it back though, right?” Dad asked. “The memories will come back.”
Jonah swallowed around the boulder in his throat. “The doctor seemed optimistic they’d return in days or weeks. But he couldn’t
say for sure. Hopefully they’ll know more after the tests.”
Mom squeezed his arm. “They’ll come back. They just have to. We’ll be praying hard.”
“We’ll do everything we can to help with her recovery,” Dad said. “Whatever she needs.”
“I have no idea what that’ll entail.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Mom said. “She’s family and we’ll be here for her. Now, you should go be with her. She must be scared and
confused, poor thing.”
Jonah squeezed his neck as another piece of his heart cracked off. “She, uh, doesn’t really want me in the room, Mom.”
Her eyes watered. “Oh, honey.”
“You remember how things were between us in April. She had some kind of panic attack earlier. It was awful. I don’t want to
put her through that again. But you should go back. A friendly face would probably be comforting just now, and I don’t want
her to be alone.”
The plastic chair was hard. Jonah shifted regularly. Got up and paced. People came and went. The TV screen mounted to the
wall played Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! He had no idea how much time had passed when his parents returned to the waiting room, but his mom’s face was tight with
worry, her ever-present smile nowhere to be seen. His dad lumbered behind her.
Apparently Lauren’s memory hadn’t magically returned. Jonah met them near the check-in desk. “How’s she doing?”
“Holding her own,” Mom said. “But losing all that time... It feels like we’ve gone back to square one in our relationship.
They were just starting some tests, and I didn’t feel she wanted us there.” She wrapped an arm around his waist. “I can’t
even imagine how this feels to you.”
“They’re keeping her overnight,” Dad said. “They’ll be moving her upstairs soon.”
“Thanks for going back there, being with her.”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
He longed to be with her himself. It was killing him to stay out here. But the memory of that panic attack, or whatever it was, was fresh in his mind. He could still see the raw fear in her eyes as she struggled to draw breath. He never wanted to see that again. Never wanted her to feel like that again.
“I’m gonna stay here.”
“All night?” Mom asked.
“Yeah.” He couldn’t leave her. And if her memory came back, she’d want him. “Would you guys check the barn for her phone?
She wanted to call Sydney earlier. It must’ve fallen out of her pocket. I’d call her myself, but I don’t have her number in
my phone.”
“I’ll do that soon as we get home,” Dad said. “And we’ll bring your truck and leave it for you.”
“I’ll gather a few things she’ll be wanting, toothbrush and whatnot.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’m sure she’d appreciate that.”
They left a few minutes later and Jonah resumed pacing. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been hoping they’d come out and report
that Lauren’s memory had returned. That she was asking for him. If he deflated any more, he’d be a limp, airless balloon lumped
on the floor.
He got water from the vending machine and stared sightlessly at the TV screen until his parents returned with a bag for Lauren
and a backpack for him.
Dad handed him the keys to his truck and they talked for a few minutes. Offered to stay. Jonah insisted they go home and get
some rest. They wanted to be updated of any changes no matter the time of night, and Jonah promised he’d call. Then they left.
He asked the desk attendant to take Lauren’s things back to her. Then he resumed his long-distance vigil, only remembering
belatedly that he hadn’t used Lauren’s phone to call Sydney. But she’d no doubt do that herself. He hoped Sydney would come
because Lauren needed someone she could trust. But then he remembered the woman was flying to Florida this week for her brother’s
wedding. What terrible timing.
Sometime later he opened the backpack and found a small blanket, toiletries, water bottles, protein bars, and homemade cookies. The sight of food reminded him he hadn’t eaten supper. Then he remembered the reservations at The Landing. He glanced at the utilitarian wall clock. Ten twenty-six.
Had the night gone as anticipated, right now he would’ve been engaged to the love of his life.