Page 75 of Don't Forget Me
Evelyn turned her gaze on her papa. “Yeah, not now. Can’t you see she’s still sick from being coma-toes?”
Elizabeth couldn’t help the laugh that only made her headache worse. No matter what else she felt, it was good to see Evelyn’s ornery smirk, Owen’s knowing smile.
“It’s comatose, Ev.” Owen shook his head. “If you’re going to say it, at least say it right.”
“All right, all right.” Elizabeth’s dad stood, taking Evelyn with him. “I need to get these guys to school.”
“Aw, can’t we stay?” Evelyn pouted.
Owen’s eyes welled up. “I don’t want to leave Mom. What if she goes to sleep again?”
“Hey.” Elizabeth reached out a hand. Owen put his in it, and his sister followed suit. Two sets of eyes met hers. “I’m going to be okay.” She forced a reassuring smile. “I’m back with you, and soon, you can take me home, and then you’ll be my nurses.”
“Do you promise?” Evelyn’s lip quivered.
Elizabeth nodded. “I love you, kiddos, and your grumpy grandpa. You aren’t rid of me yet.”
As if those were the words they’d needed to hear for days, both kids’ shoulders dropped, and they smiled, letting go of her hand.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Her dad pulled a familiar phone out of his pocket. “The doc says it’s okay for you to have this now. They found it at the site of the accident.”
She took the phone gingerly, flipping it over. Over the last few days, every time she’d asked about her accident, her dad changed the subject like it was too hard for him to talk about. He said the investigation was over, and it was ruled an accident, but she didn’t need to relive it.
He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be back around lunchtime.”
She nodded and waited for him to go before powering on the phone. The moment the home screen appeared, she keyed in her passcode and tapped the internet icon.
Her fingers started typing her own name, wanting to search for her accident and if there was a cause she couldn’t remember, but something stopped her. Instead, she typed Nick Jacobs.
Article after article populated the browser along with a photo at the top. He looked different than she remembered him—with his hair done up and a designer jacket—but also the same. The frown she’d learned was only a front marred the beautiful face.
After dragging a finger over his face, she clicked on the first article she found about the accident.
Most of it was what she’d known when it first happened. Nick Jacobs was driving under the influence, but it wasn’t alcohol as she’d assumed.
Oxycontin. Pain killers?
Nick was an addict? Or was it a one-time thing?
The article had few answers for her until she reached the bottom where there was a quote from Sherrie Thompson.
Elizabeth grit her teeth, thinking of the up-and-coming starlet married to Nick, at least for now.
“Nick wasn’t ashamed of his issues. Being an addict isn’t something to hide. He was dealing with it and planning to go to rehab. He’d never have wanted to hurt anyone.”
Had he hidden a drug addiction from her? Elizabeth thought they’d shared everything over the months, every part of themselves. It hurt to know he’d held something back.
There was an image with the article of Nick looking strung out, like he hadn’t slept in weeks. It looked nothing like the man she’d known, the one who breathed life into her.
By the time Nurse Samantha walked in, Elizabeth couldn’t look at her phone any longer.
“Morning, dear.” Samantha was an older woman with graying black hair and a warm smile. “You eat your breakfast?”
“Some.” In truth, she’d picked at the biscuit and forced down applesauce, but she couldn’t stomach the rubbery eggs. They hadn’t put her IV back in after she took it out, but there’d been the expectation she’d eat and drink on her own now.
The drinking wasn’t a problem. Her mouth was constantly dry, and there wasn’t enough water in the Gulf of Mexico to cure that.
Nurse Samantha frowned at the tray. “Liz, you know the drill here.”
