Page 79 of Don't Forget Me
Nurse Samantha scowled. “Go. Bring her back promptly.” She turned on her heel and marched in the opposite direction.
“How did you know she was late coming back from break?”
Jasmine pushed her toward the now unguarded door. “Everyone comes back at least a couple minutes late here. The doctors are chill, so they don’t seem to mind.”
“You’ve noticed this in your few days here?”
“Of course. I notice everything.”
Who was this woman? “What newspaper did you say you worked for?”
“I didn’t say.” She mumbled something Elizabeth didn’t catch.
“What?”
“Hollywood Magazine.”
Elizabeth’s brow furrowed. “But… isn’t that just for gossip? Like, not an actual news organization?”
Jasmine sighed. “Yes. They have me here trying to find something gossip-worthy about Nick, to dig into this supposed drug addiction, but all I’ve found are questions. Like… this wife of his… she’s been acting like such a worried wife and mother-to-be, scared for the life of the husband she loves—at least on TV. But I think that’s wrong.”
It was. Elizabeth wanted to tell her just how wrong it was, that the actress was trying to use her pregnancy to win the PR battle with Nick and force him to stay in the marriage for his own image, but she couldn’t betray his trust to a gossip reporter, so instead, she said nothing.
They entered the room slowly, as if there was someone inside who could kick them out, realizing they didn’t belong, but the only presence hadn’t opened his eyes.
Tears. Elizabeth couldn’t stop them. She couldn’t prevent them from dampening her face as they rolled over the bridge of her nose and down her cheeks. They blurred her vision as she gripped the arm of the wheelchair with one hand, trying to maneuver herself to her feet despite the broken arm.
Jasmine grabbed her when she almost fell back and helped her to her feet. She was a stranger, a woman with no role in this story, yet she believed Elizabeth, something that seemed so impossible.
“I’ve got you,” she said as she guided Elizabeth around the wheelchair to the seat at the side of the bed.
Elizabeth managed to fall into it before letting her eyes settle on Nick’s face. A sob lodged in her throat. Fading yellow bruises marred his tanned skin. His nose had obviously been broken and now sat slightly crooked. That perfect movie face… but he wouldn’t care about that.
What he’d care about was the fact that both legs were wrapped up like he was some sort of mummy creature. “Will he even be able to walk when he wakes?” She wanted to touch him, but he looked so fragile she worried he might break further.
Jasmine put a hand on the back of her chair. “I don’t know everything, but from what I’ve overheard, he should recover after rehabilitation. It’s his mental faculties they’re more worried about.”
“He’s been asleep longer than I was.” What did that mean? If he woke, would he be the same person? Would he be able to look at her with the softness in his eyes she’d loved, a softness she knew few people had ever seen?
“Nick.” She couldn’t take it anymore, this distance.
Reaching forward, she stroked a finger along the back of his hand, the only part of him she could get to past the wires and IV.
Slipping her hand under his, she folded their fingers together, imagining he reacted to her touch, that when she squeezed, he squeezed back.
“You’re going to be okay,” she whispered. “Do you hear me Nick Maxwell Jacobs? You’re going to come back to me. You promised, and I know you wouldn’t break a promise to me.” She blew a tear from her lips. “You and me. Always.”
The hum of the monitors filled the silence as she stared at him, willing him to open his eyes.
Elizabeth had almost forgotten she wasn’t alone until Jasmine spoke. “You really do know him.” She sat on the arm of the chair, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I thought you said you believed me.”
“I did. I do. It’s just… you didn’t know him before his accident, did you? That’s why you haven’t been allowed to come to his room. No one knew about you two.”
How did one explain the impossible?
“We met after the crash.” It was the only thing she could think to say.
