I finally convince a young nurse to tell me what’s going on. I find out that the other car T-boned her car, killing the other driver instantly. It makes me sick to think that could have been her. God, please let her be alright.
After sitting with Claire for a while, the staff made me leave for the waiting room. I didn’t go without a fight, though.
“Are you the family of Claire Davis?” a tall, middle-aged doctor asks.
I fly out of my chair. “Is she alright?” I know I’m invading his personal space, but I don’t care. I just need to know how she is.
“Are you her husband?” the doctor asks.
“No, I am.” I turn at the offending voice and want to throw him through a damn wall. “I’m Trevor Davis.”
“I’ll take you back to see your wife.” The fucker starts walking off toward the hallway with the doctor but first turns around to smirk at me. It takes all my willpower not to charge at him. I’m only holding back because of Claire.
“Why the hell is he just now getting here?” I ask Evan as I sit back in the chair. I’m seething.
“The hospital wasn’t able to get a hold of him right away.”
“Right. Where’s Brady?” I’m glad the little guy isn’t here because he doesn’t need to be around all this.
“Trevor’s mom has him. Claire had just left her house. Thankfully, he wasn’t in the car with her. There’s no way he would have survived that.” He throws his head back and drags his hands through his hair. He looks worse for wear. I’m sure I’m not any better.
I feel sick. I stand from my seat and leave the waiting room without saying anything else. I just need to be by myself. I’m fucking pissed that Trevor is in with Claire, instead of me. I hate that mother fucker. He’s a good-for-nothing man who is now trying to pretend to be the caring husband.
I go to the nearest bathroom and splash cold water on my face. God, I cannot lose her. I lean over the sink and breathe in and out. The next thing I know, I’m throwing up in the nearby toilet. I’m sure anyone outside the door is wondering what the hell is going on in here.
I totally fucked things up with Claire and I may never get another chance with her. I don’t know if I’ll be able to live with that.
I hear a knock on the door.
“You okay, man?” Evan asks when I open the door.
“Yeah, just needed to cool off some. Did the doctor come out again, while I was gone?”
“I went to the front desk because nobody was giving us answers. Douche bag Trevor won’t come out and tell us anything.”
“Okay. What did they say?”
“The tests they did show there could possibly be permanent brain damage.”
I stare straight ahead, not able to comprehend what he’s saying to me. I can’t respond.
“They’re hoping everything will be alright, but we’ll just have to wait.” He rubs his temples as if warding off a headache.
“When will they know?” I choke out. I’m about to have a fucking breakdown in front of this guy. I can’t bring myself to care though. This woman quickly became my life, and I can’t imagine a world without her in it.
“Not until she wakes.” He pats me on the back and then makes his way back to his wife in the waiting room. Avery and Sierra got to the hospital an hour after we did. I’m glad she has so many people here for her.
49
Ryker
“Ryke, wake up.” I feel someone shaking one of my shoulders. I slowly open my eyes and see Evan standing in front of me. I’m fucking exhausted. It’s been four days since Claire’s accident and she has yet to wake up. Along with the head injuries she suffered, she also broke her right leg and her shoulder was dislocated. Thank God, she was hit on the passenger side or she most likely would have died in an instant.
“What’s up?” I rub my eyes and see Evan.
“She’s awake.” She’s awake.
I jump from the couch I dozed off on. “Can we see her?” I have to see her. They’ve been letting us visit occasionally, but for the most part, we’ve had to wait in the private family waiting room.
“Trevor is back with her now.” Fucking hell. Of course, he is. The fucker hasn’t even stayed here. He’s gone home each night and has even been to work. He’s put on a nice little act, showing everyone he’s stressed and worried for his wife. I can see right through his bullshit.
“Damn it.” I sit back down, leaning my elbows on my knees, face in my hands. “I’m about to lose my fucking mind with that asshole.”
Evan shakes his head as he takes the seat next to me. “You and me both, bro. I don’t even know how to handle him. He’s always been a grade-A asshole, but they’re legally still married, so he’s the only one they’ll give information to.”
“Fuck, don’t I know it.” I huff.
“She filed for divorce, ya know?” I turn and look at him, most likely wearing shock on my face. “You didn’t know that, did you?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I think I really fucked everything up.”
“Listen, man. She went through a real rough patch before she met you. I never want to see my sister like that again. It was awful.” He shakes his head as if trying to rid the memory from his brain. “She couldn’t even get out of bed to care for Brady. She hated me for a long time after I admitted her to the hospital. I didn’t think I’d ever get her back.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Then this shit happened and I was terrified that I was going to lose someone else like this. I couldn’t fucking deal with any more tragedy.”
I feel like the biggest asshole. While I’ve been sulking for the last few days, worried about Claire, I never once thought about how her brother felt. She’s the only family he has left.
“I’m sorry, man.” I leave it at that and we sit in silence until they let us see my beautiful girl.
“Mr. Porter, you can go back to see your sister now.” A young brunette nurse tells Evan.
“Come on.” He pats me on the back. “She’ll want to see you.”
We make it to Claire’s room and, thank God, Trevor is already gone.
Before we see her, the room is quiet, but then we hear Claire wailing as if pain. On instinct, I push past Evan to her side. She looks up at me, seeming to be lost as she continues to cry.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay. Shh.” I’m now leaning over her bed, rubbing her good shoulder. She won’t stop thrashing around and I’m worried she’s going to do more damage to her already beaten body.
“Don’t touch me!” she screams and I step back from her, my heart racing. Evan comes around and takes my place. My heart shatters in my chest at the sight of her like this.
“Claire, it’s me, Evan. It’s okay.” He tries to calm her, but she is still out of control. “Ryke, call for the doctor, now!” he yells at me.
I run out the door, looking around for someone to help her, but, of course, no one is to be found.
An older man in a white lab coat finally comes around the corner.
“Sir, can I help you with something?”
“Yes, my girlfriend needs help.” The doctor rushes to Claire’s room, and in the next moment, Evan and I are being escorted from the room.
“I’m not leaving her!” I shout, but nobody cares what I want. I have no fucking clue what they’re doing, but I’m about to lose my damn mind.
“Claire, I’m Doctor Martinez. You were in a bad car accident and it seems you’ve suffered a pretty rough head injury.” That’s the last thing we hear before they shut us out.
50
Claire
I wake, feeling the sweat drip down my body. God, I need a shower. I blink my eyes open and, at first, it’s hard to focus on anything. I hear whispered voices and one voice in particular stands out to me. It’s rough and masculine, but somehow it makes me feel safe. I have no idea where I’ve heard it before, but I’m desperate to find out who it belongs to.
“She’s awake,” a different voice says. I turn my head toward the sound, barely
able to move as my neck is stiff as a board.
The voice came from my brother. I give him a small smile as he leans in to give me a kiss on my forehead. Everything is still a fog.
“Hey, sweetheart.” This comes from the familiar voice I heard moments ago. A tall man, built of steel, with dark brown hair and beautiful blue eyes stares down at me. I have no clue who this man is, but I’d like to find out.
The stranger tries talking to me, but I’m hardly able to register anything he’s saying.
“Where’s my husband?” I croak out and grab my throat. I hadn’t realized until now that I’m desperate for some water.
“Ryke, her water is on the table.” This comes from Evan. The man, Ryke, I guess, lifts the straw to my lips and I suck the water down as if I’ve been in the Sahara Desert for the last month.
Where the hell am I? I stare around and quickly realize that I’m in a hospital bed. But why?
“Do you know where my husband is?” I ask the good-looking stranger again. I feel kind of bad having these thoughts of this man when I’m a married woman.
He doesn’t answer me right away but instead gives me a pained expression.
He shakes his head. “No, sweetheart. He’s not here. But we’re going to take you to Shayna’s until you’re ready to go back to Phoenix. Alright?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I shout and then Evan comes back to my line of sight. Damn, my throat hurts.
“Sis, do you know who that is?” He points to the man who I am quickly becoming angry with. I just want to find my husband. Damn it.
“No, I don’t know him. Evan, please, where’s Trevor?”
The dark-haired stranger walks away from the bed and, a moment later, I hear the door click shut. Weird. I don’t know who that guy is, but he really needs to pull the stick out of his ass.
I wake panting. I try sitting up in this godawful bed, but I’m quickly halted by the restraints around me. I can’t move my arm and something heavy lies on my leg.
No. Accident. Head injury. Memory loss. Broken shoulder. Broken leg. Lucky to be alive.
I can’t breathe as I suddenly remember all these words being slung at me earlier. I was in an accident? I just want to fucking get out of here, but these assholes are keeping me as their prisoner.
“Hey, Claire Bear,” Trevor says as he comes around to hold the hand of my uninjured arm.
“I want to go home,” I whisper up at him. Why do I feel like this man is a stranger? I’m so confused right now at how I’m feeling and really just want to go home to my own bed. I shouldn’t be tired after all the sleeping I’ve done over the last few days.
“We’re gonna get you home soon,” he says as he smooths my hair out. I’m sure I look like a damn hot mess after not showering in who knows how long.
“She’s going home with us,” I hear Evan roar from the door. I turn toward his booming voice and he looks pissed off as hell.
My brother has always been a bit of an asshole, but he’d do anything for me.
Trevor stands so that he and Evan are eye to eye.
“She’s fucking going home with me. Her husband,” Trevor seethes. Why the hell would I go home with Evan? My brother is off his rocker.
“Right. I’m sure that’s where she wants to be.” Their yelling is giving me a damn headache.
The door creaks open and in walks the dark-haired stranger from before. He looks weary, like he hasn’t slept in days. I don’t know why this guy keeps coming to my room, but he acts like he knows me. I have no fucking clue who he is.
I massage the side of my head, trying to rack my brain.
Brady.
“Where’s my son?” I interrupt the chaos around me.
“You remember him?” Evan asks, seeming to be surprised.
“Yes, where is he?” A lone tear rolls down my cheek. I hate this feeling. It’s as if a huge part of my life is missing, like I don’t even know who I fucking am.
“He’s with my mom,” Trevor says as he squeezes my hand. “She’ll bring him home tomorrow so you can see him.”
I nod and then lay my head back on my pillow.
Dark-haired Stranger stands on the side of my bed. Is this guy a doctor or something? Because he isn’t dressed very professionally. He could have at least combed his damn hair.
“Hey, sweetheart.” He takes my hand in his. I look over toward Trevor and see that he’s livid that this complete stranger is touching me. Pretty affectionately at that.
“Why do you keep calling me that?” I look back to Trevor. He’s still staring at us, looking as if he’s going to pounce on this guy if he makes a wrong move.
“That’s what I always call you,” he whispers. “We were together for a month. And it was the best damn month of my life.” I look up at him to see the sorrow in his eyes.
I’m starting to get fucking annoyed. I’m married, for Christ’s sake. How is this asshole going to tell me that I had been dating him?
I shake my head in agitation. “No. You’ve lost your fucking mind. My husband is standing right behind you, so I suggest you get your damn hands off me.”
The man instantly has a look of pain on his face.
“Come on, man. Let’s go.” Evan grabs the guy and leads him toward the door.
The next second Trevor is by my side again. “Who was that guy?” I ask my husband.
“Just a friend of Evan’s. Just ignore him.” Trevor chuckles, but I’m confused as all hell and don’t find any of this to be humorous.
51
Claire
Since the accident, I’ve been in a lot of pain, but, thankfully, my meds kick in pretty quickly. I’m constantly exhausted and told Trevor I didn’t want any visitors. I feel so lost right now. I still can’t remember much since before everything happened. The other day at my doctor’s appointment, we learned that I lost all memory of the last six months. I didn’t realize how old Brady was, and when Lynn brought him to me at the hospital, I completely lost it. I feel like I’ve lost so much and don’t know what I can trust.
“Hey, sweetie.” I turn toward the sound of Shayna’s voice. I should have known better than to think she’d listen to Trevor.
“Why am I not surprised you’re here?” I smile at her.
“Because you know I don’t listen to anyone.” She leans in and kisses my cheek. “Here, I got you something.” She reaches into a plastic bag she carried in with her.
“Not flowers?” I smirk. Shay absolutely hates flowers. She’d buy me a whole new wardrobe before she gave me damn roses.
“I’m glad your sassy ass is still in there. No. Here.” She holds out a jewelry box. Only Shay.
“Seriously, Shay? Jewelry?” I laugh but take the velvety black box from her.
I gasp. “Shay, this is gorgeous.” I start to tear up at my best friend’s thoughtfulness. Inside is a gorgeous tennis bracelet that has rubies that wrap all the way around it. My birthstone.
“I figured that wouldn’t die.”
“Uh, you could have gotten me a teddy bear.” I snigger.
“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes. “How are you feeling? Have you showered since you got home?” She looks at me from head to toe. If anyone else did this, I’d deck them in an instant. But this is just Shay for you.
“I’ve been home a week. Yes, I’ve showered. Do I smell that bad?” I raise one of my arms to smell my armpit. “I’m not that bad.”
“You’re disgusting.” She huffs as she sits back in the rocking chair next to my bed. “But really, how are you?” She now has concern etched on her face. She knows I’ve been frustrated with my memory loss. I’ve been very sensitive for the last week and every little thing seems to set me off.
“I’m okay. I just feel so weird. Like everyone is telling me what my life was like before the accident, but I have no fucking clue if they’re lying to me or not.” I huff as I run my fingers through my hair.
She eyes me before she says anything. “And what have you been told that you
’re not sure of? You know you can trust me, right?”
Shay had wanted me to stay with her after the accident. She said something about how I was going to be staying at her house with Brady, but none of it made sense to me. Why would I stay with her when I have a perfectly good home with my husband?
“Yeah,” I sigh. “It’s just overwhelming, you know?”
“I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” She gives me a sad look, but I know she won’t say much because she knows I don’t deal with sympathy well. We have that trait in common.
“Can I ask you a really fucked up question?” I turn toward my best friend and start to get emotional because, honestly, she feels like the only one I can trust right now. I don’t know why, but as much as I want this house to feel like home, it doesn’t. Trevor has barely been here since last week. He’s left me to fend for myself with two broken bones and a fucking brain injury. If Shay knew this she’d kill him.
“Of course,” she says softly. I don’t see this side of Shay often, but I can tell she’s really worried about me.
“Am I in love with Trevor?”
“Oh, um.” She turns to look out the window, seeming to be ignoring my question.
“Shay?” She’s making me nervous.
She turns back toward me and coughs into her hand. I can tell she doesn’t want to say what she needs to which gives me my answer.
“No,” she whispers as she shakes her head slowly. “Not for some time.” I feel the weight being lifted from my chest. It’s a strange feeling but it explains why I haven’t felt close to Trevor since I woke up. He obviously doesn’t love me either or he would have been here to take care of me. He sure was adamant about me coming home with him.
I stare into space. “I didn’t think so. Something has felt off ever since I woke at the hospital. But why was he acting like a freaking control freak when that guy talked to me?” Dark and handsome.
Revived (Unexpected Series Book 1) Page 20
