Authors: Tessa Dayne
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying with us today. We will be disembarking in just a moment. Please be sure to collect your belongings from the overhead and under your seats. And once again, thank you for flying with us today.”
Tapping his fingers on the armrest, Jonas itched to get moving. He practically flew off the plane when it came time for first class passengers to disembark. Once off the plane, Jonas quickly searched for the baggage claim area where he collected his one bag. Thankfully, that was all he had, besides his duffle bag.
Wondering who was coming to meet him, he looked around the terminal, searching the crowd for a familiar face.
“Jonas,” said a familiar voice. Turing around, he found John behind him. A pair of sunglasses perched on his nose and a ball cap was pulled down over his unruly hair.
“John.”
“I have a car waiting, if you’re ready.”
Jonas followed John through the terminal, his thoughts flying quickly from one to another. Why was John, of all people, here? Why would he risk the exposure? Was there something wrong at the hospital that one of Paige’s brothers or her father couldn’t come for him?
Once at the rental car, his bags secured in the trunk, Jonas turned to John with his questions.
“Not that I am not happy to see you, John, but why are you here? What’s going on? Is there something wrong at the hospital?”
“Everyone thought it would be best if I came to pick you up,” John said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Weren’t you afraid of being recognized?”
“There was that risk. Although they were more afraid of me being arrested and making the tabloids. Ollie would kill me.”
“What the hell is going on?” Jonas asked.
“Darren Armstrong is what is going on. He is an ass. We’ve nearly come to blows twice already and I just got here. I don’t know how you have stayed so calm around him and haven’t been arrested yourself.”
“I’ve been held back on more than one occasion,” Jonas said, remembering the night of the accident and the near fight he had with Darren at the hospital.
“Well, Marcus and Ryan held me while a security guard dealt with Armstrong. And since I was asked in no uncertain terms to vacate the area until I calmed down, we figured I would just pick you up from the airport.”
“Thanks, John. Have you seen her?”
“Not since she woke up. Armstrong has completely occupied her time. She’s been moved to a private room and she’s done some physical therapy. No one has really seen her, except Armstrong and her family.”
Jonas sighed and slid into the car. As John drove to the hospital, he filled Jonas in on everything he knew. Somehow, Darren had snuck into Paige’s room and had been there when she woke up. He hadn’t had the chance to tell her anything about the accident, even though he had tried. Paige’s father had stopped him from telling her any lies. And Dr. Gates had told them all in no uncertain terms that it would be detrimental to her health to tell her anything at all.
“So she doesn’t know anything about what happened? She doesn’t know that it was Darren that had caused her accident?”
John shook his head. “She doesn’t remember a thing, according to her father. Not you, not the baby, not the fact that she had tossed Armstrong out on his ear. Nothing. It’s all a blank slate. That’s why we are hoping that seeing you will jog her memory.”
“Is Dr. Gates okay with this?”
“He seems to be.”
They arrived at the hospital and John pulled into the underground garage. Finding a parking space, he parked and slid from behind the wheel. Frowning, he looked back into the car, finding Jonas still sitting in the passenger seat, his head leaning against the headrest, his eyes closed.
“You coming?” he asked.
“I’m scared, John. What if she doesn’t remember me? Remember what we had together?”
“She will. I know she will.”
“What if she doesn’t? What will I do then?”
John looked at him, saw the anguish in his face and knew that this woman held the key to not only Jonas’s happiness, but his heart and soul too.
“I don’t know, JD. Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. Okay?”
Silently, Jonas nodded. He had to see her and if she didn’t remember now, then he would do everything in his power to help her remember. Sliding out of the car, Jonas steeled his heart to the inevitable. If she didn’t remember him and their love, his heart was going to shatter.
He leaned against the elevator wall, his eyes closed, praying as the doors slid closed. They rode to the fifth floor where Paige’s room was in complete silence. As the elevator doors opened, Jonas was engulfed in a huge hug from his mother.
“I am so glad you’re here,” she said. “They won’t allow me in to see her. And that man….”
Jonas immediately knew who his mother was talking about. “Is William here?”
“He is. Which is why I can’t understand why I can’t see her. You would think he would have some pull around here.”
“They probably don’t want to tire her out, Mom. Let me talk to the doctor and find out exactly what is going on.”
Jonas approached the nurse’s station and smiled warmly at Molly. “Is the Doc around, Molly?”
“He is. Let me page him for you.”
Jonas paced the floor while he waited, wondering what the doctor would tell him about Paige’s condition that would give him hope.
“Jonas, it’s good to see you again,” Dr. Gates said, stretching his hand out to take Jonas’s hand in his.
“Dr. Gates. So, how’s Paige? I’ve heard bits and pieces from everyone, but I would like to hear the whole story from you.”
“Well, as you know, Paige suffered from extreme head trauma,” he began, motioning Jonas to walk with him. “With that kind of injury and the length of time she was in the coma,
amnesia is a highly likely outcome. Now we don’t expect it to be a permanent condition. With the tests that we have been running, we think that her memory will come back to her.”
“That’s a relief. How much does she remember now?” Jonas asked, some of his anxiety relieved with this news.
“I’m afraid not as much as you would like. She says the last thing she can remember is receiving the invitation to your brother’s wedding.”
Stunned, Jonas stopped walking. “She doesn’t remember anything from that point on?” John had told him that, but for some reason he had hoped that John had been wrong and that he had misunderstood somehow.
“I’m sorry, Jonas. The memories should come back…in time. But I have to caution you and everyone around Paige. Her memories must come back on their own. You cannot force her to remember anything from that missing time frame in December.”
“And if someone were to tell her what happened?” Jonas asked, thinking of all the time Armstrong had alone with her already.
“Her memories would be tainted and twisted. She wouldn’t know what is true and what wasn’t. It could do more damage than good. She must remember those weeks on her own. I cannot stress that enough.”
Jonas nodded. “I understand.”
“Well, we’re here. Go in and see her for yourself. She’s back from a short therapy session. And she’s alone,” Dr. Gates said, nodding toward the door they stood in front of.
Jonas glanced at the door and took a deep breath. There was no time like the present.
~*~
Chapter
Eighteen
~*~
March 7th
Jonas tapped on the door, pushing it open as he did. He looked around the edge of it to find Paige lying in the bed, her eyes closed. He was about to leave, not wanting to disturb her, when she opened her eyes.
“Holy crap! Jonas Barnett is in my room!” she exclaimed, pulling herself into a sitting position. “If I am dreaming, do not wake me up.”
Jonas chuckled and entered the room. “You aren’t dreaming, Paige.”
“You know my name,” she said breathlessly. “How do you know my name?” Paige asked, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her up drawn knees.
“We’ve met,” Jonas answered cryptically. He couldn’t very well tell her just how intimately he knew her. That would be against the rules Dr. Gates had set forth.
“We’ve met?” Paige frowned, wishing she could remember when she had met the handsome man standing at the foot of her bed, his fingers tugging on his ear lobe, a sheepish grin on his lips. “I wish I could remember that. I bet it was something meeting you for the first time.”
Jonas laughed. It had been something indeed. He had knocked her off her feet, quite literally, at the airport on his way from Los Angeles to New York. Thank God that his flight had been a connecting one in Chicago. Or they might never have met and fell in love. Not that she remembered right now.
“It was something quite spectacular,” he told her, smiling.
“Hey! Wait a minute. Sara was marrying a man named Barnett. She didn’t marry you, did she?” Paige asked, her voice broken with disappointment.
Jonas raised an eyebrow and nearly burst out laughing at the look on her face. She looked downright crest fallen at the thought that he had married Sara. He was quite sure Chris wouldn’t be very happy with that idea either.
He was about to tell her no, he didn’t marry Sara when her face lit up with recognition. “Wait! I remember a man that looks like you, only younger. A little taller, lighter colored hair. He was dancing with Sara and she was laughing at something he said. Then she came and was dancing with you. You kissed her!”
Jonas nearly cried. Paige had just described the evening that Sara had offered to get to the bottom of whatever Paige was hiding from him. It was before the wedding and she had been wearing a turquoise dress with blue-green sequins and a plunging neckline. He had wanted to devour her right then and there.
“Did we dance that night too?” she asked him, hope shining in her eyes.
“You tell me? Did we?” he asked, remembering not only dancing with her, but making love to her half the night as well.
She frowned, and then sighed dejectedly. “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”
“It’s okay. You remembered me. It’s a start,” he reassured her.
“So, you didn’t marry Sara?”
Jonas shook his head no. “My younger brother, Chris, did. It was a beautiful ceremony.”
“I don’t remember much. It’s all so jumbled. I don’t know what I am remembering and what I am fantasizing about.”
“Just take it easy. The memories will come back,” Jonas said with a certainty he hadn’t felt before. She had remembered him a little bit and they had only been talking a short while. She would get the rest of her memories back as well. It was just going to take a little time. They had to be patient.
“Well, I should go. Let you rest. Visiting hours are almost over.”