“There wasn’t anything.” I grab the chair from the other side of the room, and drag it back to her bedside. Her eyes study me.
“Well, what was there?” Her hands go up in the air. “I thought there was stuff after the fire? Now it’s just gone? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Just a couple of papers, that’s all.”
“But Scott said there were boxes. What was in those?”
“They were gone, Harper.” I close my eyes, trying to find the right words to tell her that he went to her house since she’s been here, and took everything.
“Okay, go to the station and get them. Maybe they took them into evidence or something.”
“No—they were taken by someone else. They are GONE.”
I could see wheels turning in her mind as she processes what I’m telling her. Why wouldn’t this person leave her alone? Without anything from her past, how is she supposed to get her memories back?
“They are going to see if they can find any fingerprints to ID the guy. But so far no luck, as usual,” I tell her, eyeing Scott.
The fact remains that they haven’t even been able to partially identify the person who is doing this to Harper. Where are all our taxpayer dollars going? It’s been over two weeks and still nothing?
“You should tell Scott about your nightmare. I really think they need to at least hear about it.”
I continue to beg and plead. Sure, she never saw his face, but it’s something. Right now the cops didn’t have anything, so what could it hurt?
“Please, if it doesn’t amount to anything, then fine—but what if it does?”
She calls Scott over, and starts explaining the nightmare, but he keeps interrupting her, asking questions. What did he look like? Any tattoos? Scars?
“Just let me talk!” Harper screams at the top of her lungs. “I can’t do this anymore!”
A nurse comes in, and asks Scott to step outside. “She can’t think at the capacity you are asking her to. You’re putting her brain into overdrive.”
She presses her hands to her forehead, tears leaving a streak on her face.
“Would you like me to go?” I ask, as her head hits the pillow. “I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
Her hand grabs mine. “No. Please stay for a little while.”
Harper holds my hand as she drifts off to sleep, and for the first time since she woke, I feel like maybe she could fall in love with me again. There is hope yet for us, and that makes my day. This whole time I’ve been terrified that because of the beating I lost her. My chance to be with her was gone, but maybe not.
I sit still while she gets a nap in, which she deserves after the day we’ve had. She should be able to get discharged soon which I think will make a big difference for her, you know, not being stuck in a hospital all the time.
Although, that just makes me think about all the things that could happen once she leaves here, where would she go? I’d offer her to stay with me, but with the way things were, she might not consider it. The house is not livable—not that she would even want to go back there after the horrible things that happened. I couldn’t walk into that house every day and feel safe even if they catch the suspect, and I’m not even the victim. I wish one of the duplexes were empty.
“Good afternoon, sleepyhead. How’s your headache?” I ask, brushing the hair out of her face. This time she didn’t recoil from my touch which is a step in the right direction.
Her arms stretch and then she sits up. “It’s finally gone. How long was I asleep?”
“Just over an hour. Not long.”
“You didn’t have to stay with me.”
“I wanted to.”
Our eyes lock on each other, and the essence of a smile appears on her face, as she realizes we are still holding hands. “So, I want to know more about us. It’s crazy to think you are this way after a week of knowing me. We must have one hell of an epic love story.”
Indeed, we did. I can’t imagine life without her, and everything will be done in my power to get her to reciprocate those feelings again.
The rest of the afternoon is spent telling her about our first and second date, then the two nights we spent together following them. She seems intrigued by the story like I’m reading it straight from an epic romance novel written by one of the greats.