4. Dimitri
4
DIMITRI
I can kiss her cherry lips forever,butIforce myself to pull away.Her patient monitor is a siren in my ears now.
I’m about to glance up at it when I see violet eyes staring back at me.
I suck in a breath,certainthat this is some cruel hallucination.
But then she blinks.
And just like that, all is right in the world again.
“You’re awake,” I say, cupping her cheek.
She flinches at my touch. I pull away as if I’ve been electrified.
“Are you in pain?” I ask her.
She stares at me with vacant eyes.
“Can you hear me?” I ask.
She doesn’t say a word. Instead, she studies my face like she’s looking at a stranger. I see a glimmer of interest in her eyes, but there’s nothing else there. I guess it’s to be expected that she’s disoriented after so many weeks in a coma.
“I should probably alert the doctors now, but I want to keep you all to myself,” I say, brushing her lower lip with my thumb. “I never thought I’d miss something as much as I missed your eyes.”
She looks around at her surroundings, at the tubes attached to her body.
“Where is Mother?” she asks. There’s a quiver in hervoicelike she’s afraid this is all some sick game.
“You’ll never have to worry about that woman again,” I say, gritting my teeth. “You’re safe now, Briar. You’re with me.”
Her eyes land on mine. Again, they’re so vacant. An alarm goes off in the back of my mind, but I’m too consumed by Briar to notice it.
“With you?” she repeats.
“Yes.”
“Do I know you?” she asks.
And just like that, my world screeches to a halt once more.
I clutch her hand in both of mine.She’s just disoriented. Confused. That’s all that this is.
“I’m Dimitri,” I say. “We met at the club.”
“What club?” she asks.
I glance down at her belly. My child is growing inside her, and she doesn’t recognize me.
I tell myself that it’ll only be a matter of time before her memories return. There’s no way she can forget me.
“You were…” She touches her lips.
“Yes?” I ask.
“You were kissing me earlier,” she says. “Why?”
“Because that’s what we do, solnishko ,” I say.
“We’ve kissed before?” she asks, wetting her lips and drawing my attention there.
“Among other things,” I say.
Her heart rate shoots up once more. I can see the numbers climbing.
I should really call the medical staff now. Before she closes her eyes again and doesn’t open them for a long, long time.
“You’re hurting me,” she says, glancing down at her hand.
I release her hand immediately. I’ve been squeezing it too hard. There’s an imprint of my fingers on her wrist.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you to wake up.”
“Do you work for her?” she asks, searching my face.
She thinks I’ve been sent by her mother.
I brush her hair away from her face.
"No, solnishko ," I say. “I don’t work for anyone.”
The doors slam open, making Briar jump. Chloe and Max storm into the room, along with a horde of medical staff. I’m still reluctant to let go of Briar.
All I want is for her to know she’s safe with me. I want her toknowthat she doesn’t have anything to be afraid of.
Not anymore.
“Oh my God, Bri,” Chloe says, running to her sister. “You’re actually awake. I can’t believe this.”
Briar opens her arms for Chloe. She doesn’t seem to face any trouble recognizing her sister. I watch as they hug each other.
When they pull apart, Briar is grinning at her. The sight of her smile feels like a punch to the heart. It always has.
She looks ethereal when she smiles—like a fairy that’s too good for this world.
“ Chloe ,” Briar exclaims. “What are you doing here?”
“You were sick, sweetheart,” Chloe replies. “We’ve been watching over you.”
The doctors and nurses take over. They start asking her questions and note down her responses.
Chloe walks over to me.
“Why didn’t you call us right away?” she asks. “The medical team was alerted because her heart rate was too high.”
“Something about her is different,”I say.
“How so?”
“I think she has issues with her memory,”I say.
“What makes you say that?”Chloe asks.
“She didn’t recognize me,”I say. “She doesn’t remember ever meeting me.”
Chloe looksbackat her sister with concern, but I feel Max watching me. He doesn’t hide the suspicion on his face.
“Do you have something you want to say?”I ask him.
“I didn’t say anything,”he says, watching mefor a momentbefore looking away.
“She does appear to have retrograde amnesia,”a doctor says, glancing over at us. “She has no memory of the events that transpiredduring the past few months.”
The blood drains from my face.
The doctor’s words echoin my head, haunting me like a cursed lullaby.
I don’t want to believe it.
If she has no memory of the past few months, it means that she has no memory of all the things we went through. She has no memory of ever meeting me.
To ground myself, I look at Briar’s face.
I need to focus on the positives. She’s awake again. That’s all that matters for now.
“What’s the cure for the amnesia?”I ask.
“As of now, we’ll consult with a psychiatrist first and take some scans before deciding on a treatment plan,”he says. “But Ihave towarn you that she’s in a delicate state right now.She’sbeen through a lot, so I have to request that you don’tput any additional stress on her.”
My hands curl into fists.
My instinct is to grab this man by the collar and ask him who the fuck he thinks he is. But instead of doing that, I keep my eyes on Briar.
I don’t know if she realizes it, but her eyeskeep searchingfor me. She might not remember me, but her body sure does.
Her pupils were dilated when she was looking at me. Her heart was pounding. She kept licking herlips,like she was waiting for another kiss.
But even when her eyes land on me, they’re devoid of emotion.
She’s forgotten everything.
Which means that sheforgot aboutour last interaction.I have a second chance with her after all.
I don’t care if she forgot about every moment we spent together.
All it means isthatI get to make her fall in love with mea second time.And this time, I’ll be more careful.