Page 86 of Don't Forget Me
Elizabeth didn’t care what the doctors said, she had to get in there. Forcing her way in, she didn’t let anyone push her away as she reached the side of the bed.
Nick’s eyes locked on her as if she was the only thing holding him to this plane of existence.
32
ELIZABETH
“He’s trying to speak.” Elizabeth didn’t know how long she’d stood there once Nick opened his eyes. Sherrie never came back into the room, and Doctor Stephens didn’t make her leave again. They seemed to understand it was futile.
The nurse who’d spoken looked over the monitors, jotting down notes. “His stats are good.”
Doctor Stephens looked down at him. “Nick, you’ve been in a coma. We’re happy to see you awake.”
Elizabeth hugged her arms across her chest, waiting for him to acknowledge this, acknowledge anything. Instead, his eyes stayed locked on her almost as if he saw through her.
His lips moved again, and this time he managed to get a few breathy words out. “My wife?”
Elizabeth took a step back, a tear tracking down her face.
Doctor Stephens smiled. “Your wife was here a moment ago. I’m sure she’ll return soon.”
When it was convenient for her.
It wasn’t until Nick forced three more words out that everything inside Elizabeth shattered.
“Who are you?”
Grief was an all-consuming thing.
This time, the person Elizabeth grieved wasn’t dead. Nick Jacobs was still very much alive, at least the version of the man the world knew.
The one she’d known? He was gone forever.
She cupped her hands around her tea, staring out at the backyard where the flowers she’d planted with Owen bloomed. Beautiful pinks and yellows stretched across the gardens, highlighted by a sun that once would have lifted her mood.
In true Florida girl fashion, she lived and died by the sun, letting the bright blue skies overhead make her happy even on the worst days during her cancer treatments. Now, she was cancer free, but something else grew within her, some other darkness.
It was too early for the kids to be up, so she had the house to herself. One week ago, she realized the time she spent at the lake house really had been as pointless as she thought at first. Well, maybe pointless was the wrong word. She wouldn’t give up what she’d felt—what she still felt—for the world. But the pain… that, she could live without.
Warm tea slid down her throat, calming her nerves as she leaned back against the windowsill next to the bench window seat in the kitchen. She hadn’t been allowed back in the hospital, or at least, Nick’s wing. That was what her dad told her when she asked to go. They’d received a call, warning her of another attempt.
Now, the only news she had of Nick was what she read in the gossip columns, and she knew most of it was fake. The hospital wouldn’t give any of them access like this.
Elizabeth’s cell rang, and she sighed as she stood to grab it from the kitchen counter. She answered without looking to see who it was. “Hello.”
“Liz? I’ve been trying to reach you.” Jasmine sounded as sad as Elizabeth felt.
“I haven’t been much for talking lately.”
“Understandable.”
“I saw your article.” The article Jasmine had spent weeks in Gulf City to write appeared in Hollywood Magazine online yesterday. It had been a fluff piece on the world needing Nick Jacobs in it.
“It was bad, wasn’t it?” Jasmine sighed. “I spent weeks in that hospital, and I got nothing.”
“You had plenty of information.” About Nick, about Elizabeth’s story.
“Nothing I could print.” She paused for a long beat. “But I’m still working on an investigative piece.”
