Page 65 of Tactically Acquired

“Sweetie, this is Mick Jeffries. He’s your husband,” Charla smiled.

“My…” Again, my gaze swiveled to his and I stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. No, this was all wrong. I wasn’t married. I had just…What was the last thing I had done? My brain tried and failed to sort through the chaos of what had happened most recently, but everything was a mess. I felt like all my wires were crossed.

“Just lay back and relax,” Charla suggested. “I’ll be right back.”

My mouth gaped as the woman dropped my hand and headed for the door. I was desperate to call her back, to beg her to stay, but she just kept walking, leaving me alone with Baldy. He was watching me carefully like I might lose it at any second.

“Audrey—” Baldy started.

The door opened and Baldy quickly snapped his mouth shut, turning to face whoever was coming in. Charla re-entered with a doctor behind her.

“I didn’t have to go far, sweetie. He was already on his way here.”

The man was older with greying hair and a mustache. The wire-framed glasses sat perched on the end of his nose, givingme the impression that he belonged behind a desk instead of studying my chart. Could he even see?

“Audrey…Jeffries,” he smiled, looking up at me. “Well, everything looks good. That bump on your head is nasty, but from what your husband told me, you took quite the tumble down the stairs. He was quite worried about you.”

“Tumble down the—” My gaze cut to Baldy’s, but he was listening intently to the doctor.

“Should she stay for the night?” he asked. “I don’t want to rush anything.”

“No, she’ll be fine. Stay with her and make sure she’s okay. I’ve taken the liberty of printing out what to look for—signs that she needs to be brought back in, but I’m confident with a little rest, she’ll be on her feet and feeling better in no time.”

Tumble down the stairs? That never happened. I didn’t fall down the stairs, and I wasn’t married to this man. What the hell was he talking about?

“And the memory loss?” he asked.

He seemed genuinely concerned as he stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, nodding along as the doctor talked to him, discussing me as if I wasn’t here.

“—should come back in a few hours or days. Traumatic events can cause a person to revert to a time when things were different as a way to protect themselves. Has anything changed recently in her life?”

Baldy nodded with a sigh. “I’m afraid so. She recently lost her mother. They were very close.”

“My mother died?” I shouted, regretting it as the words rattled around in my head.

Baldy was instantly by my side, holding my hand again. The look of concern on his face was almost too much to take. He was seriously holding my hand and…Oh God, was he leaning into kiss me? His lips pressed against my forehead in what was supposed to be a soothing gesture.

“Trust me,” he whispered.

Trust him? He wanted me to trust him? I was in the hospital, I was married, I had amnesia, and apparently, my mother had just died! But yeah, I’d trust him.

“Like I said, lots of rest will do wonders,” the doctor smiled again.

“I’ll just grab your discharge papers while the doctor is with you,” Charla said, giving me a pointed look.

Was she trying to make me feel better while I was still here since she was sending me home with a complete stranger? How could they do this to me? I needed to call…my manager. No, Spencer! Spencer would know what to do.

But even as I thought it, I knew that wouldn’t be possible. I didn’t know Spencer’s number by heart or anyone else’s. That was the problem with cell phones. You never memorized a number anymore because everything was in the palm of your hand, just a touch away.

As the nurse pushed a wheelchair into the room, she handed me my clothes and helped me up. Dizziness washed over me, but I held onto her hand and waited until it passed. I desperately needed a moment to myself in the bathroom to sort through all the shit in my head.

“Just call out if you need anything,” Charla said as she pulled the door closed.

I walked over to the toilet and sat down with a sigh. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Amnesia. Married. My mom was dead. I stared down at my hand and frowned. If I was married, where was my ring? Maybe they removed all my jewelry when I came in. Either way, I couldn’t focus on that right now. I needed a plan of attack. What was I going to do when I got out of here? I definitely couldn’t go home with Baldy.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” Baldy called through the door.

I narrowed my eyes at him, even though he couldn’t see me. If I could, I would shoot lasers out of my eyes and skewer him. “Fine!”

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