“She’s out of ICU. They had her walking around today, but I think she’ll be here for another few days,” Hulk explained.
“Has she remembered anything?” Trunk asked.
“For a guy who doesn’t want me to keep him in the know, you ask a lot of questions, buddy.” Hulk chuckled.
“Yeah, maybe I’ll go over and tell Caroline who owns the house she lives in,” Trunk retorted.
“Bastard,” Hulk grumbled.
“Asshole,” Trunk replied.
“She still doesn’t remember anything from the last few years. That fucktard dropped by a few times and gets pissed when we won’t let him in. I like that nurse, Bish. He’s good people. I watched him grab that preppy ass by the back of the neck yesterday and push him onto an elevator.” Hulk chuckled.
“I thought he was in the ICU?” Trunk inquired.
“Keith asked to have him and another guy assigned to Abbie as her personal nursing staff. He’s also offered them a job with NES. Don’t tell Darren or Claire. Keith said they would want to pay more money if they knew. He’s already got shit for giving them a discounted rate.” Hulk laughed.
“Blue-collar pride, I guess.” Trunk smiled.
“Yeah, by the way, your pride needs to get your ass here to see her. I haven’t seen a smile on her face since I got here,” Hulk told him.
“It’s better this way. Thanks, Hulk.” Trunk hung up the phone before his friend could say another word.
He was relieved Abbie was getting better, but it bothered him that Chad was trying to force himself on Abbie. If he truly loved her, the asshole should give her some time to heal. From what Trunk knew, the doctors thought the memory loss was temporary.
“Why is it better this way?” Chris asked as he propped his shoulder against the door jamb.
“Do you always intrude on private conversations?” Trunk asked.
“Do you always answer a question with a question?” Chris raised an eyebrow.
“Seems to run in the family.” Trunk chuckled.
He wasn’t ready to talk about Abbie to anyone else. He had to get over her before he could talk about it. Since it had been more than six years and he was still hopelessly in love with her, he figured he’d be an eighty-year-old man before that happened.
Nazareth’s song was right. Love Hurts.
Chapter 10
Abbie was tired of being cooped up in the tiny private room at the hospital. She’d woken up two weeks earlier, and she was ready to get out of there. The doctor seemed happy with her progress and said she could go home that day. Of course, he would need to show up to release her. Since it was after one in the afternoon, she was starting to get pissed.
“Two weeks I’ve been here. Two freaking weeks. Every morning Dr. Sunshine comes in and wakes me up at o’dark stupid when he’s doing rounds, but the day he’s going to let me go home, where is he? Who the fuck knows?” Abbie complained.
“I don’t think his name is Dr. Sunshine and what exactly is o’dark stupid?” Billie laughed.
“O’dark stupid is the time before normal people open their eyes, and does Dr. Asshole sound right?” Abbie huffed.
“I dropped by to see my happy-go-lucky friend. Is she here by the way?” Dana asked as she sat on the foot of Abbie’s bed.
“Bite me,” Abbie returned.
“Come on, Abbie. You’re lucky to be alive.” Billie sat next to her on the bed.
“I know, Billie. I should be glad to be alive, and I am. I’m just not happy being stuck in this place. I want to go home. I want to get my memory back. I want to know why the hell I would have agreed to marry a guy like Chad.” Abbie blew out an exasperated breath.
“Honey, we don’t even know why you were dating that idiot,” Dana retorted.
“He’s a dick, if you ask me,” Hulk grumbled from the corner of the room.
“Is that your opinion, or are you answering for a friend?” Abbie raised an eyebrow.
“Strictly mine, but I’ve got friends who don’t think much of the guy either.” Hulk lifted his light blue eyes to meet Abbie’s glare.
“Are you ever going to tell us why Ben suddenly turned you over to Bruce?” Billie asked.
“Who knows,” Abbie lied.
She remembered why Trunk left. Abbie was still in a state of confusion over his statement and couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital so she could talk to Sandy. If anyone could find out something, it was her. Sandy was known to find out things people didn’t want anyone knowing.
“Bruce, do you know?” Dana turned to the large man pretending to read a book.
“Nope,” Hulk responded without looking up.
“Liar,” Billie snorted.
“Forget it. I don’t care.” Abbie sighed.
“I’ll see what I can find out when I get back to Hopedale,” Billie told her. “Maybe I can talk to Emily. She’ll get it out of Keith.”
Emily was Keith’s wife and, from what Abbie saw, had her husband wrapped around her finger. Then again, she didn’t remember the last few years and who knew what had happened during that time.
“So, you have two babies?” Abbie smiled at Billie.
“Yes, they’re the sweetest girls you’ve ever met. Maggie is five, and Aria is two.” Billie held up her phone.
The picture on her phone showed Mike and Billie, with two little girls standing between them. They were holding hands, and Abbie felt a twinge of jealousy in the pit of her stomach. She was happy Billie had found the love of her life and had two beautiful children. It was just that Abbie wanted it too.
“They look just like you.” Abbie forced a smile.
“I hoped they’d have the O’Connor blue eyes. They have the dimples, though.” Billie looked down at her phone with a huge smile.
“I’m so glad after all that shit you went through that something positive came out of it.” Abbie sighed.
“It’ll come back, Abbie.” Dana took Abbie’s hand.
“I don’t know. It’s been two weeks, and all I get are flashes that make no sense.” Abbie didn’t know if they were memories or dreams.
“What do you remember?” Billie asked.
“I remember the fire and being here in the hospital. I remember getting brought home and having security with me all the time.” Abbie closed her eyes. “I remember leaving Hopedale the night we were celebrating that asshole got arrested.”
Abbie let her thoughts go to when she arrived home and how Trunk growled in her ear, how his scent made her tremble with want for him. They made love until they were both breathless, and she was happier than she thought possible.
“I think she’s lost in that X-rated memory again.” Dana laughed.
“Shut up,” Abbie grumbled.
It was over an hour when the doctor finally showed up and discharged her with a list of rules longer than her arm. She wasn’t allowed to go to work for at least another week, which was fine because she didn’t know what was going on at her office.
Billie looked after everything, and another agent who they’d hired a few months earlier helped to take up the slack caused when Abbie was injured. It made her uneasy because she didn’t even know the guy, but according to Billie, he was great.
Hulk pulled into her driveway, and she groaned. Her parents’ car was in the driveway as well as a few other vehicles. Abbie wasn’t in the mood to deal with a crowd of people at that moment.
“I’ll give you a thousand dollars to pull out of here and take me somewhere they can’t find me.” Abbie grabbed Hulk by the arm.
“They’d find us, trust me.” Hulk chuckled.
Her father was on the other side of the car before Hulk turned off the vehicle. He looked like he was about to pick up a fragile piece of glass as he pulled open the car door and held out his hand.
“Careful, Monkey,” he said as she stood up.
“I’m fine, Dad.” Abbie sighed.
They walked up to the front door, and it opened as if by magic. She’d expected to see her moth
er as well as Billie, Dana, and Dana’s mother, Brenda, but she didn’t expect the rest of the guests.
Nanny Betty was in the kitchen with Kathleen, Alice, and Tom Roberts. Tom was Betty’s boyfriend, or he was, but Abbie had been told the couple got married recently. One of the many things Abbie didn’t remember.
“Dere she is. Come sit and get a bit a grub in ya,” Nanny Betty ordered.
“Thanks, but I just want to lay down.” Abbie exhaled.
She couldn’t understand how a ten-minute drive from the hospital to her house could make her so exhausted. She was the type of person who could get four hours of sleep and then work for eighteen hours.
“Ya go lay down. I’ll bring ya up a plate.” Nanny Betty waved Abbie away as she scurried around the kitchen.
“I’m sorry, but you know how she is,” Billie whispered.
“It’s fine. It’s nice to feel like part of their family.” Abbie smiled.
“You’ve been family for a long while, but you might regret saying that.” Billie laughed.
“Let’s get you up to your room.” Abbie’s mother wrapped her arm around Abbie, and they made their way upstairs.
She settled in her room, and her mother left the bedroom. Abbie asked Billie to get a replacement for the stolen phone but not to tell anyone. Abbie desperately wanted to call Sandy, and since Hulk was with her all the time, she didn’t get a chance to use a phone in the hospital.
“Did you get me another phone?” Abbie asked Billie.
“Yes, and all your info is downloaded to it. Thank God for iCloud.” Billie pulled a box out of her purse. “But if you tell anyone I got it for you, I’ll deny it. You’re not supposed to be working.”
“It’s a phone. I’m allowed to have a freaking phone. Maybe I want to play a game or catch up with the news I can’t remember,” Abbie grumbled as she scrolled through her contacts.
She found Sandy’s number and quickly typed a message before Billie could see anything. Billie was scrolling through her own phone, so Abbie sent Sandy a quick text.
Abbie: When you get a chance, can you drop by my house to see me?
It took less than a minute for Sandy to respond, and she wasn’t surprised to see her sarcasm coming through in her text. Sandy was a lot like Abbie, and it was why they got along so well.
Sandy: I wasn’t sure if you knew who I was. Need to give you a knock in the head to get that brain working again. I’ll drop by whenever you want.
Abbie: As soon as you can and bring your laptop.
Sandy: On the way.
Abbie blew out a breath as she glanced up to see Billie staring at her. She’d never kept anything from either of her best friends, but since they knew Trunk, she wanted confirmation that what he told her was true before she said a word.
“Everything okay?” Billie asked.
“It will be.” Abbie forced a smile.
“I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” Billie’s eyes filled with tears, and she hugged Abbie.
“Don’t start that shit. I’m fine, and when they find the prick who did this, I want five minutes with him to find out what he did with my damn car,” Abbie grumbled.
“You’ll never change.” Billie chuckled.
Sandy arrived less than thirty minutes later, and Abbie asked everyone to leave so she could talk to Sandy alone. She felt terrible for putting the hurt expression on Billie’s face, but she didn’t want her to hear her conversation with Sandy.
“What’s with all the secrecy?” Sandy plopped down on the bed with her laptop in hand.
“I honestly don’t know if we’re friends or not. I remember meeting you, and I liked you right away, but I feel more comfortable asking you to do this stuff than I would asking Smash,” Abbie whispered.
She knew her friend, and chances were Billie was outside the door trying to eavesdrop. Abbie was probably paranoid, but she didn’t want to sully Trunk in any way. No matter what, she still cared about him tremendously.
“I’m assuming you’re whispering because you know Billie as well as I do.” Sandy eased off the bed and pulled open the bedroom door.
The hallway was empty, and Abbie relaxed. She was satisfied she could talk freely with Sandy.
“What’s up, girl?” Sandy’s brow furrowed.
“We’re friends, right?” Abbie wanted to make sure.
“Yes, we’re good friends. Although the rest of the girls don’t like it when we drink together.” Sandy smirked.
Abbie chuckled because she did remember seeing Sandy drunk once, and the woman didn’t care what she said or to who. Much like Abbie was.
“I need you to look up something for me.” Abbie pulled out a piece of paper with Laurie’s name on it.
“Sure, whatever you want.” Sandy took the paper and froze. “Except this.”
“Why?” Abbie asked.
“I just can’t.” Sandy handed her back the paper.
“Is it because the man that killed my sister is Ben’s stepfather?” Abbie met Sandy’s eyes.
It was hard to read her expression, but Sandy’s shoulders squared, and she swallowed, making it clear she knew about Laurie and what happened.
“He told you?” Sandy seemed surprised.
“Yes, but is it true?” Abbie asked.
“It is, but the asshole was a bastard. Trunk was horrified when he found out. He thought it would be better to break things off before things got serious,” Sandy told her.
“He said that?” Abbie asked.
“Not in those words. Trunk believes you wouldn’t be able to look at him the same if you knew the truth,” Sandy explained.
“Why would I blame Ben? He didn’t do anything. It was his stepfather,” Abbie said.
“It was whose stepfather?” Her mother’s voice startled Abbie and Sandy.
“Mom, I… sorry, just something I heard about a friend.” Abbie glanced over her mother’s head.
“Monkey, I know that face. What’s wrong?” Her father stomped into the room.
“Nothing, Dad. Sandy and I were just catching up.” Abbie lied.
“Yeah, catching up.” Sandy smiled.
“Abigale.” Her father used the same tone that used to make her tell him anything she’d done wrong.
“Okay, I wanted Sandy to look up something on the man who killed Laurie,” Abbie blurted out.
“Why the hell would you want to know about that piece of dirt?” Her father growled.
“I don’t remember a whole lot on what happened to him over the last few years,” Abbie lied.
“I’ll tell you about Jerry Stamp. That man should have been charged with a whole lot more. He killed one of our daughters and almost killed the other and her friend. Not to mention he’d left his house that day after beating his wife and leaving her for dead. If it weren’t for one of his kids running to a neighbor, the poor woman would have died.” Her mother didn’t get angry often but talking about Jerry Stamp seemed to bring it out.
“Those poor kids never had a chance. Hopefully they didn’t end up like their old man,” her father grumbled.
“They didn’t,” Sandy said and then pressed her lips together.
“How would you know?” Abbie’s mother asked.
“I told you I asked her to look things up for me,” Abbie interjected.
“Yes, it turns out both boys are doing very well. One is a fireman, and the other is working for a…” Sandy stopped.
“Works for a what?” her father asked.
“I can’t remember now,” Sandy replied.
“Why don’t I believe you?” Her father narrowed her eyes and glared between Sandy and Abbie.
“It doesn’t matter, Dad. They got away from him, and they’re doing well.” Abbie shrugged.
Abbie wanted to talk to Trunk, but how was she supposed to get him to come to see her. Especially if he had decided it was better if they stayed away from each other. She understood why he felt that way, but she didn’t blame him. She did
wonder how her parents would feel about it.
“Dad, would you talk to the man’s children if you had a chance, or his wife?” Abbie asked.
“They didn’t do anything, and if they turned out as well as Sandy says, then I’ve got no grudge against them. They were lucky to survive that bastard.” Her father sounded genuinely sorry for Trunk and his family.
“I thought someone said they moved out to the west coast, but I don’t know if that’s true.” Her mother shrugged.
“Sandy can find out for us.” Her father pointed to Sandy’s laptop.
“I can if you want.” Sandy glanced at Abbie.
Abbie shook her head slightly to let Sandy know it wasn’t the time. Abbie needed a conversation with Trunk before she told her parents anything, and she prayed they were as understanding as they said.
“Maybe another time. I’m drained, and I’d like to get some sleep.” Abbie faked a yawn.
Her parents took the hint, and Sandy told her she’d call later. She couldn’t do anything until she talked to the one man who could answer all her questions. The next morning, she woke up and reached for her phone. She stared at Trunk’s number and wondered if she called, would he answer?
Chapter 11
Trunk sat on the back porch of his house with his feet propped up on the rail. It was still chilly, but thankfully the month of May brought sunlight. He was able to sit outside, get some air, and have a little silence. Chris wasn’t hard to live with, but Trunk had lived alone for a long time. His brother was a bit of a chatterbox, and since Chris was on his three days off, it was difficult to get some tranquil time.
The doctor released Abbie from the hospital the previous day and it killed Trunk that he wasn’t the one taking her home. Hulk sent texts to let him know how she was doing but other than that, he had no idea what was going on with her.
Keith informed him the police found Abbie’s car earlier that morning parked behind an abandoned building on Portugal Cove Road. The car was wiped clean, and they didn’t find any of her stolen items. They didn’t tell Abbie yet because they wanted to go over the vehicle again.
The thing that terrified him was whoever attacked her knew where she lived. Trunk didn’t like the fact that the asshole who stabbed her could possibly try to access her house. Keith assured him Abbie and her house were secure. All locks were upgraded and codes on her alarm system changed, not to mention her parents and Hulk were there.
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