Chapter 8 #2
She looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes and a grayish tint to her skin that immediately made him want to take her home and tuck her into bed. Had she been taking care of herself? Had their friends made sure she was taken care of? Their friends…
Stone’s eyes widened. “Is Lacy okay?”
Mae’s eyebrows pulled together and her mouth made a little frown.
“She’s fine… Sloane’s making sure that everyone’s on their way.
They wouldn’t let me stay the whole time.
I would have been here… I should have been here when you woke up.
” Mae wiped at a tear that was tracking down her face.
Shit, this doctor needed to finish up so he could get his arms back around her.
“Isn’t she here?” His eyebrows pulled together. “Or, I guess, if I was out for two weeks, she would have been released, right? She was okay…”
“She’s totally fine. Why are you worried?”
“Her allergy. We were all at dinner. In the parking lot. I was… I was hit by a car, right? My body feels like I was hit by a car.”
He watched the confusion cloud her eyes. Mae’s eyes bounced to the doctor, who was standing with his arms crossed, watching their conversation unfold.
“Stone, what’s the last thing you remember?” Dr. Anderson asked.
He tried to think back to what he remembered last doing. And he was sure they’d all gone out to dinner. Somehow, sesame had gotten into Lacy’s meal, and she’d had a reaction. They called an ambulance for her and he talked Nash through using her EpiPen. And after that…
Darkness.
“Dinner at Davney’s…”
“Stone,” Mae gasped. “That was two months ago. You weren’t… you weren’t hit by a car. You were shot.”
He didn’t remember.
Mae knew that she should be more upset that Stone couldn’t identify the shooter, but honestly, and selfishly, that was the last thing that crossed her mind.
And now, as she walked down the long hallway towards the conference room that had become like a home base away from home for everyone, she couldn’t seem to wrap her head around what had just happened in Stone’s hospital room.
Was it a blessing he couldn’t remember? Was it the second chance she’d been praying for? Mae’s hands shook as she walked into the waiting room.
Forget being overwhelmed at what the doctor had said. Her friends standing up and rushing towards her with a million questions… that was overwhelming.
“How is he?”
“What did the doctor say?”
“Are you okay?”
“What’s his prognosis?”
“What did he say about the shooting?”
“Okay, okay.” Lacy’s voice rang out over everyone’s. “Let’s not bombard her. Mae,” Lacy hooked her arm around Mae’s waist. “You’re looking a little unsteady. Do you want to have a seat before you tell us what happened and how Stone is?”
She nodded, not able to muster the words. Nash jumped up from his seat, which thankfully was closest to where they were standing. Mae forced herself to take one single breath for fortification before she dove in.
“Stone is awake. Fully. Well, he was, before he fell back asleep a few minutes ago.” Her friends looked at her in horror, so she jumped to reassure them.
“Dr. Anderson said that was completely normal. He’ll hopefully work up to being awake for longer stretches of time.
Stone was able to talk to me, he knew who I was.
Dr. Anderson believes his brain just needed time to recover from the concussion and surgeries. Unfortunately…” her voice hitched.
“Unfortunately what, sweetie?” Emma’s hand slid over hers, holding on tightly.
“When Stone woke up, he was confused about how he ended up in the hospital. The last thing he remembers is from Nash and Lacy’s wedding dinner. Being in the parking lot after her allergic reaction. He doesn’t remember anything in the last nine-ish weeks since then.”
“It’s temporary though, isn’t it? Just from hitting his head?” Gage asked.
Mae shrugged. “Dr. Anderson needs to run some tests, but I spoke to him after Stone fell back asleep. While it could just be his mind working its way out of the coma, it could also be something else. And if it’s that something else, there’s no guarantee that he will ever regain those memories.”
“Fuck.” Sebastian stood, pacing behind the row of chairs Mae was sitting in. “We’ve been relying on the hope that Stone would be able to identify who shot him. There has to be something we’re missing. Something that was captured on one of the cameras we’ve set up in town. Tracker—”
“I’m already on it, Cap.” Gage responded. “I’ll comb back through all the feeds I have access to. I’ll ask the sheriff’s department if they’re willing to share their call log from that night. See if anything suspicious was reported.”
“No,” Sebastian rubbed his chin with his palm. “I’ll ask Hank myself. I should have been on top of it.”
Mae knew Sebastian and the sheriff were close. Emma and his wife, Daisy, were best friends.
“Mae, did Dr. Anderson say anything else?” Sloane asked.
“Um, he called Stone’s condition post-traumatic amnesia?
He’s trying to determine if Stone will have trouble making new memories…
” Mae’s eyes landed on Lily, who was brushing away a tear from her face.
The only one in the group to know her secret, and the fear that had been growing in the back of Mae’s mind was so clearly reflected on her friend’s face too.
If Mae told him about the baby, would he be able to remember?
“Or if it’s just retrograde.” Sloane finished Mae’s thought for her.
“Right.”
“How long until we know?” Sebastian asked. “How long until the doctor has an idea if his lost memories will come back?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think Dr. Anderson was planning on doing any testing until the morning, to just give Stone’s mind a little extra time to catch up, but I’ll let you know once he does. I’m honestly overwhelmed and I don’t really understand what’s happening.”
“Try not to panic. I’m sure Dr. Anderson will explain everything.” Sloane’s sentiments should have been comforting, but the shadow of the words he last spoke to her was sitting in her stomach like a lead weight.
“Dr. Anderson did tell me that if it’s retrograde amnesia, and Stone doesn’t remember the missing time before he’s discharged to go home for the remainder of his recovery, we should just try and move forward as if it were the day after Nash and Lacy’s wedding.
That we shouldn’t try to force the memories to come back.
He mentioned not recreating situations or stressors in the hopes that it would trigger something. ”
“That’s the right call, as least according to recent studies.” Sloane had her phone out, and it looked like she was swiping through something. Probably a peer-reviewed study so she could be better equipped to help Stone. Mae loved her for that.
“That won’t be a problem. We can all just carry on. Nothing’s changed that dramatically, has it?” Gunner asked. And that’s when Mae broke.
Tears tracked down her face as every emotion warred within her.
“Gunner, honestly.” Lily scolded.
“What did I say?”
“Mae, just breathe.”
She did as she was told, the overwhelming tidal wave of pressure letting up just a bit as she did.
“He doesn’t remember what he said to me…” she whispered, her arms wrapping around her waist. “You want me to just pretend everything is fine between us?”
The room was silent.
“Honey, nobody wants you to put your feelings on the back burner.”
“Fuck yes, you should.” Gunner blurted out. “Mae. He almost died. His head is messed up! You love him, and he doesn’t remember you guys breaking up. What is the fucking problem? You get a do-over. Take it.”
Mae nodded, but Lily apparently wasn’t on board.
“Do not speak to her like that, and certainly not in front of the kids.” Her head tipped towards the corner of the room.
Mae had completely missed Embrie, Addie, and Sage playing together.
Three little girls. Would the baby in her belly be a little girl too?
She couldn’t keep that a secret much longer. Mae groaned, the weight of everyone’s gaze and their expectations stealing the breath from her lungs.
“I can’t… I need some air. Rhett and Cheryl might have more information. They stayed with him. I just wanted to tell you all…”
“I’ll come with you.” Lily volunteered.
“Me too.” Gunner grunted as he stood from his chair.
“Absolutely not.”
“Lily Kate, you can be mad at me all you want, but I will make sure you’re both safe. The person who shot Stone is still out there. We don’t know the motive, if Stone was a random victim or a target… if we all could be targets.”
“Mae needs a minute of peace, and I’m going to make sure she gets it. Stay here and make sure the girls are safe. We’ll stay by the nurses station. They have a security guard posted there.”
“Fine,” he conceded.
“Come on, Mae. Let’s go.”
Lily tucked Mae’s hand in her own, and pulled her out of the room. Some of the tightness in her chest finally eased.
“What are you thinking?” Lily’s eyes roamed over Mae’s face.
“He doesn’t remember! Everything bad from those last few weeks together…
it’s just gone. And I wished for this,” she whispered, a confession that had been eating at her since Stone first seemed confused about what had happened.
“When we had our fight that night. Lily, I wished that he would forget the last few weeks, and I could have the Stone back who loved me. Who worshipped me like I was a fucking goddess and peppered me with promises of our future together.”
Mae took two steps back, letting her eyes close as soon as she was pressed against the wall.
“He could remember everything tomorrow,” Lily said as her hand landed on Mae’s shoulder, giving a little squeeze in support. “Or, like my idiot husband failed to say in a gentle way, you both could have the chance to explore what things would have been like had that night not happened at all.”
“I want to do it. To pretend.” Mae shook her head. “I would do anything for him. But I’m scared to lose myself in the lie that we’re a happy couple. It would be so easy to let myself lean into it. But what the hell will I do when it all comes falling down?”
Stone’s eyes drifted open, but his heart fell when he realized Mae wasn’t in the room. She was there when he’d fallen asleep, wasn’t she? “Mom?”
“Hey, Honey. What do you need? More blankets? Some water?”
Stone moved his head back and forth. “Can you… please go check on Mae.”
His mother’s hand reached out to pat his leg. “She’s filling everyone in on what Dr. Anderson said. They might have a lot of questions.”
“That she won’t have the answer to. And no offense, I’m happy you guys are here, but I just want to hold her. I’m still tired, and I can’t stand the thought of going back into the darkness without her.”
“Come on, Ma. Sara will want to grab dinner anyway. You can tag along with us back to Silver Springs.” Rhett nodded at Stone. Thank God his brother was there to help wrangle his mom. He was grateful for his family, but he just wanted to be with Mae.
His mother crossed her arms and huffed. “Fine. But I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”
“Can’t wait,” Stone mumbled.
“I heard that. You know, you used to want me to kiss your boo-boos.”
“Ma, honestly, the man almost died. Let’s not embarrass him back into a coma.” Rhett chuckled.
Stone’s mother leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
“Later, bro.” Rhett’s hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed for a second before he stepped away.
Stone let his head fall back onto the pillow, which was pretty much paper thin and useless. He felt restless, but exhaustion was calling out to him. How fucking pathetic. A few minutes awake and he was already falling asleep.
The door creaked open, and Stone opened one eye. That was all it took for everything to feel right, because in walked Mae.
“Hey, handsome. Heard you woke back up. Thanks for that,” she teased.
“Apparently, being stuck in a coma for two weeks makes you really tired. Come lay with me?”
Her bottom lip pulled in between her teeth. “I don’t know if that’s smart. With everyone here. Hawk does–”
“I don’t give a fuck about Hawk finding out about us. We’ll deal with your brother later. Together. Right now, I need to hold you.” His arm raised, fingers opening, reaching out for her.
She stood still, her eyes growing wide before slamming shut.
“Mae?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered.
“It’s more painful to have you standing over there like a stranger. Come over here, please. I need you.”
She didn’t move. Stone rolled onto his side, groaning at the effort. It worked. Mae rushed right over to the bed.
“Alright, alright. Hold on one second so I can make sure we don’t pinch any of the important lines running into your body.”
She made quick work of getting all that sorted before gently easing herself onto the mattress next to him. His body was so fucking sore, but holding her in his arms was a soothing balm for the pain.
“Don’t just lay there like a board, Mae. Get comfortable. I’m not going to break.”
She scoffed. “For almost two weeks, I didn’t know if I’d ever have this again.”
He pressed his hand to her back and encouraged her to move closer to him. Finally, she relented, and the heat from her body settled into his bones.
“Perfect,” he admitted, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as soon as it rested on his shoulder.
“I missed you so much,” she whispered. “There’s so much we need to talk about.”
“Tomorrow, Mae. Tonight, I just want to sleep with you in my arms.”
“Okay,” she sniffled. “Tomorrow, then.”