Page 41 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I reached for my hair and held up a strand. Dark brown. All right.
The handsome man who had called himself Callum came back into my room. I let the strand of hair fall from between my fingers and clasped my hands in my lap. “Hello.”
“Hey, Lina,” he said. He seemed nervous, like he was walking on eggshells. He came and sat down beside me. “You don’t remember me, huh?”
I shook my head. “I don’t. I’m sorry.”
“No, no. Don’t be sorry. It’s all right.” He offered me a smile that set me at ease. I sank into the mattress a little deeper and looked into his kind, blue eyes. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “I’ve just spoken with the doctor. He wants to keep an eye on you here for the next couple of days, but then you’ll come home with me.”
I nodded. “How do we know each other, Callum?”
His smile still lingered as he looked down at his hands. “Uh. We’ve been friends for a long time. Since childhood, actually. Now you help me with my son, Asher. He’s five. And please, call me Cal.”
None of that rang a bell, but I nodded anyway. Doctor Brennan had told me everything would sound surreal for a little while, until my memory came back to me. “So I live with you, Cal?”
“No. Well. Not before. But you’ll stay with me while we get you back on your feet. Does that sound okay to you?”
“I think so.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Cal said.
I had questions. Tons of them. But I was also tired and aching all over. So when Cal asked if I needed anything, I told him I wanted to sleep. He gave me that smile that made me feel safe and told me he’d leave me to rest while he wandered down to the cafeteria to get a shitty sandwich and an even shittier cup of coffee.
I fell asleep before he even left the room.
Cal’s car was much fancier than I’d expected when he helped me into it on my release day from the hospital two days after waking up. The doctors had run all their tests and confirmed that I was in good health, except for the memory-loss thing. That was all still a mystery.
Doctor Brennan and I had had several talks over those two days, where he told me in depth what I should and should not expect. He told me things to look out for: headaches, dizziness, loss of short-term memory, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea. He also told me things that were good signs. He told me to trust my gut and my emotions. If something felt good, I should do it. He also brought me a plain black leather-bound notebook and told me to jot things down at the end of every day. Then, when I woke up the next morning, I could flip through it and refresh myself and take a moment to see if any memories came back to me.
Cal was the first thing I wrote about in the journal the very day the doctor gave it to me. Then I wrote about Doctor Brennan and some of my nurses. And the grumpy lunch lady.
I was wearing a pair of sweatpants that Cal had brought to the hospital for me, along with a long-sleeved gray shirt and a pair of white sneakers. They were all new. I could tell.
After Cal closed the car door behind me, he walked around the hood of the car. I watched him. He was a good-looking man. All square, dark features and muscle.
He got into the driver’s seat and turned the car on. “Do you want to stop for anything on the way back to my house? Coffee? Food?”
I shook my head. “I’m all right, thank you. I had breakfast.”
“That garbage they have in there is not breakfast. Come on. I’ll take you to one of your favorite drive thru joints, and you can get a breakfast sandwich and a latte.”
“Do I like those?”
Cal glanced at me. I couldn’t read his expression. “Yes.”
I put my seatbelt on and nodded. “All right. Let’s go. Will you be getting coffee and food, too?”
“I never say no to food.”
I smiled, and he pulled out of the parking lot. I peered up at the glass structure of the hospital as we drove off, and I gripped the handle on the door panel when we hit the main road.
Cal must have noticed. “Are you nervous being in the car?”
I let go of the handle. “No. Sorry. I think it was a reflex.”
“Let me know if you’re uneasy.”
“I will.” I stared out the window as we drove through the city. I was hoping something would look familiar, but none of it did. It was all interesting, sure, but none of it stuck out and screamed “Remember me.” It all came and went without leaving anything in its wake.
