He spent the next ten minutes reading all the cards and describing the pictures her students had drawn then he fell into silence. He was exhausted. He rolled his head from side-to-side and shrugged his shoulders before leaning back against the chair and closing his eyes. He’d promised himself he’d just rest for a minute, but he must have fallen asleep. The next thing he knew, LaTisha was gently shaking him awake.
“It’s eleven-thirty, Detective Wade. You should be heading home now and getting your rest for tomorrow. You know she wouldn’t want you walking around sluggish on her account.”
“Thanks, LaTisha,” he said around a yawn. “I must have dozed off for a bit.”
“I’ll give you a minute to say goodnight then come back to check on our girl afterward.”
“She’s lucky you’re here to keep an eye on her,” Phillip said, coming to his feet. “We both are.”
LaTisha waved off his praise as she left the room.
Phillip moved to the bed once more and ran his hand down Chase’s soft curls. He brushed his fingers back up her cheek and bent to taste her lips.
“Please, come back to me. I love you so much, Ace,” he whispered. “God help me, I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to open those gorgeous eyes for me.”
He dropped one more kiss on her lips and reluctantly turned away. He was almost to the door when he swore he heard her whisper. He jerked around, and his heartbeat picked up as he met her blinking eyes.
“Phillip.”
Her voice was rough, raspy even, but it was the most beautiful sound in the world to him.
“Ace?” he called, turning and racing back to her bedside. Her wide, green eyes pierced him as a grimace flashed across her face. He ran his gaze frantically over her, checking for signs of what might be causing her pain. “What is it? What’s wrong? Where do you hurt?” He wanted to run his hands over her but was terrified at the same time.
“Throat,” she managed to say. “So dry.”
“Let me get the nurse,” Phillip said and hit the call button then dashed over to shove the door wide instead of waiting for a response. Peterson jerked up and stared at him with wide eyes. “She’s awake!” Phillip yelled down the hall. “LaTisha! She’s awake.”
LaTisha came quickly, hollering orders as she did. She was calm and cool as she walked in the door. The perfect antidote to the anxiety he felt.
“Well, of course, she is. Told you it would be just a matter of time,” she said as she pushed past him. “We’re putting in a call to the doctor. He’s already at the hospital with another patient. He should be here soon. Why don’t you catch your breath while I check Ms. Riley,” she suggested.
“Phillip,” Chase croaked, and he was back at her side, clinging to her hand.
“Her throat’s sore. Can she have something to drink?”
“Of course. We’ll get her some ice chips in just a minute,” LaTisha answered, moving around the bed.
“Don’t understand,” Chase muttered weakly. “Why…here? How…long?”
“Shh,” Phillip crooned. “I’ll explain everything in a bit. The important thing is you’re awake, and you’re going to be fine. Everything’s going to be fine. Save your voice for right now. We’ll get you some ice as soon as it’s okay. When you’re up to it, we’ll talk.”
He leaned close and kissed her cheek then ran his hand over the soft fall of her hair. “God, it’s so good to see those eyes of yours.”
There were questions in her eyes, and it worried him. She didn’t know why she was here. He reminded himself she’d just woken up. He needed to give her some time.
He stayed at her side, holding her hand until the doctor arrived.
“I hear our sleeping beauty is awake,” the doctor said with a smile.
“Her throat’s a little sore,” Phillip said.
“That’s normal,” the doctor told them. “We’ll get you some ice chips to help with that in just a minute. First, let’s take a look and see how you’re doing.”
Phillip turned to Chase. “I’m going to step out real quick while the doctor’s with you,” he said then paused at the panic in her gaze. “Hey, I’m not going far. Promise. I want to call my mom and dad and let them know you’re awake. Everyone’s been so worried. Quick step out then right back in. I promise, baby. I won’t leave you.”
Her gaze searched his face before she nodded. He didn’t want to leave her, but he needed to make some calls now that she was awake. The sooner he got them out of the way, the sooner he could lock himself at her side and not move. He gave her fingers a squeeze then stepped outside while she was examined. She didn’t have any family of her own left, but his parents were as in love with her as he was. They’d expect a call letting them know she was awake. As would Burt. The cop in the hall had probably started the trickle of information through the grapevine. Peterson had already been on his phone when LaTisha had walked in the room.
Phillip headed to the end of the hall and placed the first call.
“Phillip,” his mom greeted him on the third ring. “Is it Chase? Is she okay?”
“She’s awake,” he told her. “Chase is awake.”
“Oh, thank God!” his mom exclaimed, and he heard her whispering to his dad in the background. “Your dad says we can be there in an hour.”
“No,” Phillip said. “She’s in with the doctor now. I still don’t know anything. I just wanted to call and let you know she’s awake.”
“First thing in the morning, then,” his mom said. “I’ll bring breakfast.”
“Okay,” he agreed. “I love you, mom.”
“Love you, too,” his mom said. “You call me if you need anything. I mean it.”
“I will. Promise.”
“I’m so happy she’s awake,” his mom whispered.
“Me, too. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He hung up and made his second call.
“I heard,” Burt said when he answered the phone. “That’s great news. Is she okay? Has she said anything, yet?”
“I haven’t had a chance to really talk to her. Doctor’s with her now. I’ll be in touch again as soon as I know anything.”
“Grant’s probably on his way to the hospital by now,” Burt warned, mentioning the detective in charge of Chase’s case. “He’ll want to speak to her as soon as he can.”
“That’ll be up to the doctor,” Phillip said. “I know we need to find out what happened as soon as she’s able to tell us, but I won’t let anyone push her.”
“You’ll probably want to talk to her before Grant does anyway. He’s good, but a bit abrupt. You’ll want to make sure she’s up to handling an interrogation.”
“I’ll watch for him,” Phillip assured his partner.
Grant was a quality guy, one of the older detectives with the department. He was good, damn good, and Phillip was happy Chase’s case had been assigned to the other man. If anyone would dig until he got answers, it would be Grant. Unfortunately, he had a gruff personality that often came across as the bad-cop persona, especially as he pushed for answers.
“How does she seem?” Burt asked, and Phillip knew his friend was referring to the fact she and Phillip were no longer a couple.
“I don’t know. She seemed happy to see me when she opened her eyes. We didn’t get a chance to talk or anything. She woke up, and I called for help,” Phillip admitted. He was a little anxious to see if she’d ask him to leave now that she was awake. When she’d broken things off, she’d said she still wanted to be friends, but nothing was certain right now.
“Good luck, buddy,” Burt said.
“Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Take the day off,” Burt said. “Captain will understand. We’ll cover for you. Come in Wednesday, or hell, ask to have your leave kick in early.”
“I can’t do that. Johnson doesn’t come back until next week. I won’t ask him to come back early to cover for me. His wife just had a baby. I’ll take tomorrow off and be back Wednesday. They’ll probably keep Chase in here at least through the end of the week, if not longer. She’s been in a coma for two weeks.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Burt agreed. “Keep me posted on how she’s doing.”
“I will,” Phillip promised.
“I’ll see you Wednesday, then.”
“See ya,” Phillip agreed and hung up. He was staring down the hall when the elevator dinged and Grant stepped off. He had to give it to the other man; he was damn quick.
“Phillip,” Grant said softly as soon as he approached him. “I hear your girl finally woke up.”
“Peterson?” Phillip asked, and Grant nodded.
Phillip motioned Grant to follow as he headed back down the hall toward Chase’s room. “The doctor’s in with her now. I’m not sure if he’ll let you speak to her tonight or not. I appreciate you coming out, though.”
“She’s part of the family, and I was already in the area,” Grant said with a shrug. Phillip stopped outside Chase’s door, and Grant leaned on the wall beside him. “We’ll see what she remembers when she’s ready to talk to us.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “I still say it has to be someone close to her. I wasn’t comfortable with clearing the deceased girl’s boyfriend.”
“Jocelyn,” Phillip said, picturing her laughing brown eyes.
Grant grunted and kept talking. “Then there’s the roommate Jocelyn was living with. Definitely something off with that one. If you ask me, she and the boyfriend are both too damn quiet. I know we couldn’t find anything there to connect either of them to this, but my gut says to keep looking. Feels like one of them is hiding something.”
Phillip nodded in agreement. Sometimes, all a cop had to go on was his gut. “Chase seemed to get along with both of them. Said the boyfriend was quiet but had a good heart. He’s ex-military. Just came back from a second tour in the Middle East. Chase said he doesn’t talk about his time over there. I know from what I heard Jocelyn seemed to love the guy.”
“What about the bar fights?” Grant asked. “Think he could have been violent toward the girlfriend?”
Phillip shook his head. “The fights were all directly related to times when someone made anti-military comments. As for Jocelyn, she wouldn’t have let him get away with raising a hand to her. Plus if he had, Chase would have known. Those two kept nothing from each other. Chase would have told me if she even suspected. They were always fiercely protective of one another. I just don’t see it. Besides, every time I saw Jocelyn and Seth together, he deferred to her.”
“Yeah, you said he was content to let her plan stuff. He just doesn’t seem the docile, domesticated type to me.”
“Didn’t say he is. Jocelyn liked to enjoy life, and I think he liked to watch her enjoy it,” Phillip said.
He understood what Grant was doing. Going over the case notes with Phillip, getting everything fresh in both their minds. It would help when it came time to talk to Chase.
“I don’t know. Sometimes, people can be too close to a situation,” Grant said then went in another direction before Phillip could comment. “What about the roommate?”
“Nicole? She’s been around for a long time. Always quiet whenever I was there. I don’t know if she’s always like that, or not. Jocelyn liked her well enough to live with her.”
“Wasn’t Chase staying there part-time, as well?”
Phillip nodded. She’d moved in with Jocelyn and Nicole temporarily after she’d turned down his proposal.
“I understand Jocelyn often hung out at your place?” Grant prompted.
“She did. We live in the city, and Jocelyn didn’t. Plus, her boyfriend, Seth, lives here, too.”
Grant nodded. “How often was Chase around Jocelyn and Seth?”
Phillip shrugged. “She hung around with them a lot, usually when I worked late. The roommate, Nicole, came in and hung out with them, as well. Usually, it was just Jocelyn and Chase though. They were more like sisters than best friends.”
They both remained silent for a moment as the comment sank in.
“She’s going to take this pretty hard,” Grant stated.
“Yeah,” Phillip agreed, and he’d be the one to tell her Jocelyn hadn’t survived. He wasn’t looking forward to it.
The door opened, and both men pushed from the wall and turned.
“Gentlemen, we need to talk,” the doctor said without preamble. Phillip had met him on several occasions during the time Chase had been here. Fortunately, she’d listed him as her emergency contact—him and Jocelyn. Phillip had introduced Grant to the doctor during the first few days when they’d anticipated Chase waking earlier.
“How is she?” Phillip asked.
“Physically? Weak, mostly from being in bed for the last two weeks. We’ll get her up and walking around over the next few days. She’s going to tire easily, which will frustrate her. So, try to be understanding.”
“Absolutely,” Phillip agreed.
“There’s something else you need to know, as well,” the doctor continued.
“What?” Phillip felt as if his heart were in his throat as he waited to hear the next words.
“Ms. Riley seems to be suffering from what we refer to as retrograde amnesia.”
“Amnesia? That doesn’t make sense. She knows who I am,” Phillip said. “She called me by name.”
She’d asked why she was in the hospital though and how long. Phillip hadn’t worried about it at the time. Chase had just woken up. Of course, everything would be foggy.
The doctor nodded. “Retrograde amnesia is a form of short-term memory loss. It can block out events or periods of time, particularly those surrounding a traumatic incident. She has no idea what happened to her or her friend. She doesn’t know why she’s even in the hospital.”
“Is this a result of the beating? What are the chances she’ll eventually remember?” Grant asked while Phillip stood there, processing the news.
“It’s hard to say with any certainty. Often, people eventually remember. Some don’t. Give her time. I understand she’ll want to know what happened, and you can explain it to her. All I’ve told her for now is that she was injured and brought to the hospital to recover. I’m not sure how you want to play this out, Detective Wade. As her only listed family, this is your call.”
“Is there any danger to telling her what happened?” Phillip asked.
“Medically speaking, I don’t believe so. All I can tell you is to be patient. Don’t push her to remember what she can’t. Play it by ear, and take it one day at a time.”
“We will. Thank you, Doctor,” Phillip said.
“Remember one thing,” he warned them. “Sometimes, amnesia is the mind’s way of protecting itself from something a person can’t otherwise handle. We all saw what she looked like when she was brought in here. I can’t blame her psyche for not wanting to remember how she got that way.”