Two days later, after a myriad of tests and scans that still don’t have her remembering, Sal’s on the bus.
She should be sleeping. But she isn’t. She’s been stagnant too long. She wants to move. Explore. Live. She knows this mind-bending situation is the clusterfuck of impossible clusterfucks, but Sal can accept it so easily because of Roy. For so many months, she’s dreamed about getting away, and now she has it—freedom.
She’s in a new world, on her way to a new life.
Though she’s nervous, she’s not afraid. She spent enough time being afraid, being lied to, in her old life. She’ll never go back to that.
Sal cracks the door to the bedroom and steps out into the hallway, swaying slightly from the rocking motion. The bus is massive, with sleeper bunks and a large lounge and kitchen. Jace sprawls in a lower bunk, trying to nap. Seeing her, he raises rusty-red eyebrows, his hand.
Sal waves back.
She likes Jace. She likes them all. She feels like they root her. Like she can learn everything about herself, everything she lost, and they will hold it. They will help her. They already have. The way they stayed with her at the hospital, how they took up for her with the police. She won’t forget that.
As she pads down the hallway, Sal looks for Luke. She hopes he went to bed. He’s been by her side for two straight days. He’s exhausted. When she reaches the second bedroom, the door cracked a few inches, she hears Luke’s voice. Soft. Hushed. Smiling, she moves to push open the cracked door but stops. Luke’s on the phone, his handsome profile pulled into a worried frown. “I know. I know. It has to be later, though. Now’s not the time.” He pauses, listening to the person on the other end of the line. Sal leans closer.
“Okay,” he says softly. “Love you too.”
Sal pulls back, his words a cold shock to her system. Her mouth goes dry as her heart pounds out a furious beat in her ears.
Before Luke can spot her, she turns and retreats down the hall, her confused mind trying to make sense of what she’s just heard. Could there be someone else? She doesn’t know. Not sure if she wants to.
When Sal gets to the dining area, she slips into a booth, tucking her bare feet beneath herself. She tries to relax, tries to force Luke’s conversation from her mind. She settles back against the cushions, feeling cozy in the buttery sweatpants and hoodie that Luke brought her this morning. They’re too big, too expensive, but they’re heaven against her skin.
Propping her chin in her hand, she stares out the window at the flash of her surroundings. Alabama traffic signs disappear as they cross over into Tennessee.
Almost unconsciously, Sal runs a finger across the crooked scar on her hairline. She scowls, the simple action calling to mind Roy. She hates that he’s the one who sewed her up and got her well. Hates that he’s the one who kept her alive. Why? And for what purpose?
“Hey.”
A rumbling voice drifts through her dreary thoughts. Sal glances up to see Seth sliding in across from her. “How you feelin’?”
“Fine,” she says too quickly. It’s got Seth frowning at her like he doesn’t believe her.
“How far away are we?”
“Still got about an hour to go.” Seth gives her a look. “You should get some rest.”
“That’s what the hospital was for.” Her lips curve up at the edges. “Rest and torment.”
Seth leans back in the booth and laugh-groans. “Glad to see you still got your stubborn streak.”
“Oh, I’m stubborn, am I?”
“The worst. In the best kind of way.”
She smiles at that. She likes hearing about herself. She’d like her memory back even better. Dr. Newsome warned her that it could come back gradually or not at all. Both options, Sal isn’t fine with.
“Seth?” she asks. “We’re close, right?”
He hesitates, then nods. “We are.”
“Why?” Sal senses there’s a past to her and Seth. He’s not just Luke’s brother. It’s something else.
He rubs the back of his head. An uncomfortable look settles over his face. “Sal, maybe we should wait until you ...”
He trails off when she shakes her head.
“No,” she says, frustrated. She knows they don’t want to push her, but if they try to hide everything, she’ll never remember anything. “I want to know.” She eyes him dead-on. “You said we were best friends ... were we ... ever anything more?”