Phillip nodded and swallowed. His thoughts were stuck on one thing. Chase didn’t remember the attack. What else had she forgotten?
“She’s asking for you,” the doctor said to Phillip. “I’ve ordered some tests to be run over the next few hours. Standard procedure. I’m not expecting anything, but she’s been unconscious for two weeks. Unless I see something of concern on the preliminary results, I’ll check back in the morning and see how she’s doing.”
“Thank you,” Phillip murmured automatically.
He and Grant stood there silently as the MD walked away. Phillip figured Grant was as lost in his thoughts as Phillip was in his. Phillip hadn’t dealt with a case involving amnesia before, not that he would ever consider Chase a case. It left him on shaky ground, not knowing exactly how to act or respond. The last thing he wanted was to cause Chase any more harm. He’d have to wait to see what the tests showed before he said anything to her.
“Guess, I’ll head home for now,” Grant said. “I’ll stop back tomorrow to check in.”
“Sounds good. I’m sure I’ll be here.”
The other detective nodded and moved away, giving Phillip a pat on the back as he passed.
Taking a deep breath, Phillip pushed back into the room. Two gazes landed on him, but LaTisha was the one to speak.
“See. There he is. Told you he wouldn’t go far,” the nurse told Chase. “I was just telling our girl how you’ve been here every day, waiting for her to wake up.” LaTisha motioned to a cup beside the bed. “I got some ice chips. Much easier on a throat that hasn’t had anything in a while. We’ll see how this does before trying water,” she told them both, though her gaze was focused on Chase. “You buzz me if you need anything. Welcome back,” she said with a smile before heading out the door.
“Phillip,” Chase said and wiggled her fingers, motioning him toward the bed.
He moved to her side and laced his fingers with hers.
“Why am I here?” she whispered. “The doctor said I was in some kind of an accident, but I don’t remember anything. I want to go home.”
“Chase,” he said, but when he would have lifted his hand, she held tight.
“Don’t leave me again,” she begged. “Please, don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, honey. I’m going to stay right here with you.”
She nodded, and he watched her body relax. He ran his fingers over her cheek, unable to refrain from touching her. She moved her face into his hand and smiled up at him.
“Chase, what’s the last thing you remember?” he asked.
She shook her head, her brow furrowing in concentration. “You kissing me goodbye before you left for work,” she answered hoarsely.
“That could have been any morning,” he said with a smile. “What else do you remember?”
“You came home late the night before. We ate cold spaghetti on the couch and made love in the shower before falling into bed.”
He remembered that night well. God! That was more than a month ago. She’d lost several weeks before the attack had taken place. She might only be talking to him because she didn’t remember the marriage proposal or turning him down. The conversation where she’d confessed she didn’t think she was cut out to be a cop’s wife was gone. When she’d left that night, there’d been tears on both their faces, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. He remembered it, every moment of it, but she didn’t. Part of him felt like a cruel bastard for feeling a sense of relief.
“What happened?” she asked again, tugging on their joined hands. “Please, Phillip. I need to know.”
He took a deep breath and leaned down to wrap his arms around her then lifted her just a bit into his chest.
“Let me hold you for a minute,” he soothed. “Just let me hold you for a minute.”
“You’re scaring me,” she whispered, and he closed his eyes.
If she was scared now, how would she feel when he told her why she was in the hospital?
Chapter Two
Chase spent a restless night in the hospital. Whenever she fell asleep, something always woke her. Sometimes, it was the nurse Phillip had called LaTisha. Other times, it was something else, something she couldn’t place. She’d wake with her heart pounding, hands clenched in the sheets, panting for breath. Each time, Phillip had been there, hovering, trying to make sure she was okay. Something was off about that, too. He was reserved with her, and that scared the hell out of her. Plus, she still didn’t know why she was in the hospital. She’d been ready to demand answers when she’d gotten back from the battery of tests, but as soon as she’d returned to her room and the bed, she’d fallen asleep.
She was incredibly weak. Amazing what lying in a bed sleeping for two weeks did to the body. She was still reeling from the information she’d managed to pull out of Phillip. She’d been in the hospital for weeks in what her doctor called a self-induced coma.
Her nerves were frayed from a morning filled with more tests, and she knew it wouldn’t take much to set her off. Then there was the surprise sitting outside her hospital room door. When the day nurse finally left the room, Chase was done with the interruptions and ready for answers.
“What’s going on?” she demanded as soon as she and Phillip were alone. “I have retrograde amnesia, but I’m not supposed to worry? How? Why? What the hell happened to me? Because I got a good look in the mirror earlier, and I know I didn’t suddenly take up boxing. Why is there a cop in the hallway? Where is Jocelyn? Why haven’t you called her? If she knew I was awake, she’d already be here.”
Phillip sighed wearily and hung his head, hands dangling between his knees where he sat. It killed her to see him so uncertain, to have him treat her with kid gloves as if she were fragile.
“You’re scaring me,” she whispered when he remained silent. Finally, he looked up. For a moment, she swore she saw a flash of fear in his eyes, but she shook it off. That couldn’t be true. Nothing scared Phillip. “Tell me. Please. I need to know.” She groaned in frustration. “What am I not remembering?”
“You and Jocelyn were going out of town for a weekend trip,” Phillip said and looked at her as if judging whether or not those few words had jarred her memory.
She had nothing though. She and Jocelyn had been friends for years and had taken plenty of trips together. That little trinket of information didn’t bring on a sudden “ah-ha” moment.
“Just the two of us?” Chase asked, trying to pull more details from him.
Phillip nodded. “Girl time,” he answered and gave a weak smile.
Her eyes widened as what he’d disclosed sank in. “So, whatever happened, Jocelyn was with me. Is she here? Down the hall? I need to see her.” She tried to sit up, but too weak to support herself, she fell back against the pillows again. The morning had worn her out.
“Easy,” Phillip urged, coming over to sit beside her on the bed.
She clung to his hand, frantic, eyes searching his. She blinked back tears, somehow knowing the answer before she found the strength to ask. It was there, in his expression, in the fact Jocelyn wasn’t beside her. Something was wrong, very wrong.
“Where is she? Is she in the hospital or…” She let the unfinished question trickle off as his body language registered.
He glanced down, and she knew. Her breath caught in her throat, and she shook her head in frantic denial. He couldn’t look her in the eye, and that told her more than if he’d answered. She couldn’t hold back the sobs choking her.
“She’s gone?” she asked but didn’t wait for his reply, confirming her own question. “She’s gone.”
Phillip pulled her up against his chest and held her close. “I’m so sorry, honey. So sorry.”
Hearing the words fueled a grief as crippling as the coma she’d been in. Her mind, so recently awakened, wanted to shut down again. She pictured her best friend laughing, auburn curls bouncing around her face while her brown eyes twinkled with mischief. For a second, another image flashed through her mind. This one was of glazed eyes, wide open, but sightless. And blood. So much blood.
Chase cried out and lifted one hand to cradle her head. A throbbing headache had formed behind her eyes.
“Chase?” Phillip asked, easing her down until she lay back on the bed again.
“My head,” she moaned.
“I’ll call the nurse,” he assured her, hitting the call button and holding her hand tightly while they waited.
She closed her eyes and more tears trickled free. Jocelyn. Gone. It made no sense. Was the brief image of Jocelyn covered in blood real? Was that how Jocelyn had looked the last time Chase had seen her?
She blinked open her eyes, determined to find out the exact details of what had happened, but before she could demand answers, the intercom clicked on and a female voice filled the room.
Phillip focused on it immediately, telling the nurse that Chase had a headache and asking if they would bring her something. It was exactly what she expected of him. Phillip was always willing to charge in and play her hero. It was how they’d met. She’d locked her keys in her car, and he’d been the one to open her door and get them. She’d joked about him being a thief and teased him about breaking the law. He’d grinned and said he’d only break the law for her. She hadn’t learned he was a cop until later, over dinner.
Why did that memory make her heart ache? It was a happy memory. One they laughed over often. Nothing was happy right now, though. Discovering Jocelyn was gone left her feeling numb. When it wore off, the pain would be immeasurable.
“I hear you have a headache,” the nurse said as she entered.
Chase nodded. The RN went over a checklist of questions about the pain and asked if Chase was experiencing any other problems. Chase had a feeling if she hadn’t just gone through a battery of tests, she’d be on her way for more. Finally, after Chase had been poked and prodded and the nurse was satisfied, medicine was offered.
“Dr. Andrews left a note saying you could have ibuprofen if needed. I’ve got some here for the pain.”
She handed Chase the tablets then poured a glass of water and held it so Chase could sip from the straw. Her throat was still sore, and it took more effort than it should have to swallow.
“Need anything else while I’m here?”
Chase shook her head. “No. Thank you.”
“Of course,” the woman assured her. “Just press the call light if you need anything else. Try to get some rest now,” she added then left them alone again.
Chase waited a few minutes before turning to Phillip. She needed the extra time to collect her thoughts. Not having a memory sucked. She didn’t know what to ask, because she had no idea what had occurred. “I need to know what happened.”
“Why don’t you rest for a bit first? Let the medicine help with the headache?”
“No. I think I’ve been patient as long as I can. I can tell you’re not thrilled about having this conversation, but I need to know what happened to Jocelyn…and to me. What kind of accident were we in?”
Phillip shook his head and swallowed, his fingers flexing at his sides. She knew he was worried about what she could handle and what he should say. He didn’t want to upset her more. None of that mattered. She had to handle it. Nothing could upset her further than not knowing.
“Please,” she whispered. “What happened to us?”
“No one’s a hundred percent certain,” he admitted. “You were in really bad shape when you were found.” He swallowed as if it were hard for him to remember.
“Where were we?”
“Jocelyn’s car was sitting on the side of the road. Doors were open, but no one was in it.”
“Where was I?”
“You were over in the ditch. The person who called for help didn’t even know you were there. It wasn’t until the first set of officers arrived and searched the area that you were discovered.”
“Jocelyn?”
He shook his head. “It was too late. She was gone before help arrived.”
“How?”
“Are you sure you want to hear this? The doctor said not to force the memories. Fuck, honey, I haven’t avoided talking to you because I don’t want to. I don’t have a clue what to tell you or how much detail to give.”
“Why would telling me matter?”
“I don’t want anything I say to taint your memory.”
“We don’t know that it will,” she countered. “Besides, maybe the more you tell me, the more I’ll start to remember.”
“I’m not sure I want you to remember this,” he hissed, looking frustrated. “Yeah, I know, that makes me a selfish prick. As a cop, I should know better. With you though, procedure goes out the window. I’m not immune to this, and I want to protect you from the memory of what you went through.”
“You can’t protect me from something that’s already happened,” she whispered.
His head lifted, and their gazes locked. She just stared at him until he gritted his teeth and spoke again.
“Someone beat you, both of you. Jocelyn was…” He ran a hand roughly through his midnight locks. “God, Ace. I don’t even want to remember how she looked. It was bad, real bad. Someone did a number on both of you, but Jocelyn… She took the brunt of it.”
“She was beaten to death?” Jesus! Chase closed her eyes and breathed through her nose in an attempt to hold back the nausea. Why would anyone do that to Jocelyn? She was one of the nicest people Chase knew. She swallowed again.
Had been
. Jocelyn had been one of the nicest. Past tense.
“No,” Phillip said, and Chase flicked her eyes open to glance at him once more.
“What?”
“She was beaten, but that wasn’t what caused her death. She was strangled,” he said.
Chase swallowed, blinking away the visions trying to fill her head.
“I don’t understand,” Chase murmured. “Why would anyone want to hurt Jocelyn?”
“Or you?” Phillip added, coming back over and sitting on the bed beside her. “They hurt you, too, honey.”
Hurt wasn’t the same as killed. She’d been hurt, meaning, eventually, she’d recover. Jocelyn hadn’t been so lucky.
“Why? This makes no sense.”
“We’re hoping you’ll be able to tell us,” Phillip admitted. “Jocelyn’s car was fine. No flats, plenty of fuel, started perfectly. Both your cell phones were on and working. We have no idea why you stopped or what happened when you did.”