“What’s going on, Luca?” Beck asks.
I open my eyes and look back at him, pissed that my brain isn’t fucking working.
“Apparently, Theo met a woman a few weeks before my accident. He kept it a secret from everyone, but I found out and became obsessed with her. I attacked her one day to keep them from leaving town. She’s been in a coma until recently. She’s doesn’t remember either, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”
“Holy fuuuck.”
“Yeah. Fucked-up shit. I don’t remember her or what happened.”
“You believe Theo?”
“There’s no reason for me not to. I’ve been having dreams about her for years, and she’s always in pain or sad and begging me for something. It stands to reason she was begging me not to hurt her. I just don’t know what I did to her in the short time I was there. And that shit fucks with my head.”
“Damn.” Beck whistles low. “What are you going to do?”
“Stay as far away from her as possible.”
“Probably a good idea.”
The door opens, interrupting our conversation, and my client walks in. Beck leaves a few minutes later, after letting me know he’ll be in within the next few weeks to get ink on one of the few empty places left on his body.
As I get things ready for my next session, my words to Beck play over in my head. I haven’t allowed myself to acknowledge it until I told Beck, but what I told him was the truth.
From the dream I had of Jules crying and begging me to stop, it’s apparent something happened between the time I got to her house and the time I left.
The question is, what exactly happened? For some reason, I feel like the answer to that question will change me forever.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jules
“THANKS FOR COMING with me today, Ella.”
She pulls up to the curb in front of my house and shuts her car off. “It was really no problem. I needed to stop by the store anyway, so two birds….” She ends with a smile and a shrug.
“You want to come in for a few minutes?” I ask, reaching for my door handle.
“Sure.” She looks at her phone. “Vicki’s not due home for a couple more hours.”
We get out and walk up to the house. I feel my pockets for the house key Theo gave me this morning and wince when I don’t find it.
“Crap,” I mutter, then look at Ella sheepishly. “We’re screwed. I must have left the house key on the kitchen counter.”
She laughs and pats my shoulder then walks over to the concrete steps. After rustling with the leaves beside them, she stands back up with a big grin on her face and holds out her hand, producing a key.
“Not screwed. I know where my brother keeps his hide-a-key.”
“Thank goodness,” I respond with a relieved smile.
She unlocks the door then puts the key back where she got it and we make our way inside. After Ella’s initial guardedness toward me the first day we met, we’ve sort of become friends. One morning, while Theo was shaving, his phone rang. I brought him his phone, but he told me to answer it for him since he was busy. The conversation was stiff in the beginning, but after a while, things became more relaxed. She’s called me on my phone several times since then. When Theo suggested Ella take me to my next doctor’s appointment, I was reluctant to ask, but did so anyway. I didn’t realize until she accepted how grateful I was. It meant Theo didn’t have to take me himself.
“Would you like something to drink?” I drop my phone on the counter beside the house key and go to the fridge. My stomach rumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten today. I look at Ella over my shoulder. “And maybe something to eat?” I add with humor.
“Water’s good, but nothing to eat for me. But it sounds like you need to.”
Nodding, I grab a glass, fill it with water, and hand it to her before going to the fridge and grabbing out the makings for a salad. Today’s been a good day. My doctor’s appointment went well and having Ella around has been great. The only real communication I’ve had since being released from the hospital, besides talking to Ella or Helen on the phone, has been with Aria and Theo. I love being with Aria, she always finds a way to make me smile, but being around Theo is stressful. I’m always worried what he’ll do next. And there are times when he looks at me with an expression that downright scares me.
I’ve learned a lot from Ella today. She told me how she and Vicki met and the struggle she went through before she came into her life. She also spoke of Theo, explaining the type of person he normally is. It’s strange to think of him relaxed and joking. It’s a side of him I haven’t seen yet. He always seems so tense around me, but I chalk it up to his life taking a one-eighty turn since I woke up. Things have not only drastically changed for me, but for him as well.