Page 12 of The Two Last Moments

I’ll call up Cliff and make sure West Oaks PD sends someone here to watch over her.

But after that, I’ll have to say goodbye. Lark is already doing much better. Tomorrow, I need to be back home with Nina. And that’s just the way it is.

* * *

The next day,I bring In-N-Out for lunch again. Lark digs right in. “You’re back,” she says after her first bite. “Wasn’t sure if you would be.”

“I wasn’t sure either.” And yet, here I am. Even after I resolved yesterday to return to my own life and stop inserting myself into Lark’s. I just…couldn’t stay away. “Is that okay with you?” I ask.

She swallows another bite of cheeseburger. “If you bring greasy food, you’re welcome anytime.”

I grin and pull up the chair by her hospital bed. “Did you sleep well overnight?”

“Like shit. It can be noisy around here. I don’t like things beeping at me.”

I nod sympathetically. In the Army, I learned to sleep anywhere, but it does take some practice.

Lark’s looking better today. More color in her cheeks, not such dark circles under her eyes. She doesn’t have the IV anymore. It will take her time to fully recover, but I suspect she would’ve been discharged already if not for her memory issue. Plus her lack of any friends or family offering to care for a woman who doesn’t know her own last name.

She’s still alone.Reallyalone. Fuck, it’s not okay.

And that, right there, is why I’m back at her bedside. I had to check in on her. I’d be an asshole if I didn’t.

“How’s your grandmother?” Lark asks.

“Nina’s having a good day. She’s usually best in the mornings. Afternoons can be tougher.”

“You should bring her In-N-Out. That would cheer up anybody.”

“Trust me, I do, when it’s not too rough on her stomach. Providing comfort food is one of my top tactics to make people like me.”

“So this is a sneaky plan of yours? I thought you were doing it out of the goodness of your heart. Like some kind of hero.”

“Nah, I’m just a guy trying to do what he can.”

“Sounds heroic to me.”

I just shrug. “Do the doctors know yet why you lost your memory?”

“If they do, they haven’t shared. Some different people have come to talk to me. I lost track of them all. They only ask questions. Not so great with the answers.”

“Anyone from West Oaks PD? The police?”

“Yeah, but I told them to come back later. I’m not a fan of cops. Firefighters are okay.”

That gets another smile out of me. “Why not cops?”

“Just a feeling. Like knowing that In-N-Out is one of my favorite burger places, even if I can’t remember going there. I think cops make me nervous because they don’t always help when people need it.” She frowns and turns her eyes to the food wrappers in her lap.

I reach over and gather up her trash. “I’m sorry to hear that. But I guarantee the cops trying to help you now are good people. One is even my roommate. When I’m not living with Nina, anyway.”

“Do you think there’s anyone out there looking for me?” she suddenly asks. “Friends or family, wondering where I am?”

I drop the remnants of our lunch into the trash can. “I’m sure there are. They’re probably frantic not knowing. But they’ll find you.”

And what about the guy driving the car?The guy she doesn’t know about yet, or at least doesn’t remember. What aboutthatguy? I’ve been worried about that piece of work since we got here. I’ve been in touch with Cliff, and he said they placed a discreet unit near Lark’s room to keep an eye on things, as I requested yesterday. Nobody has tried to come near her. But the police haven’t made any arrests either, nor identified the car that tried to run her down.

The investigation is ongoing. That’s what Cliff keeps telling me.

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