"My guess would be the nurse."
"That bastard. I knew. I knew he was going to try something. It's why I kept security on you morning, noon, and night. And our guys to boot."
"And I am very thankful for that my old friend."
Me and Kane have been with one another since our college days. Some guys tried to jump me one night as I was heading to my apartment near the school and Kane saw them. I held my own with at least two of them but there were five. Kane came to help and he's been by my side ever since. Another nurse comes in before we can continue any further.
"Oh thank heavens for small miracles...," she looks me up and down, "well, maybe not so small."
"This is Lynda. She has been my tireless crusader while having to deal with your bloody brother."
"Thank you for all of your care and help, ma'am."
"Oh please call me Lynda. Ma'am makes me sound like a grandmother and I'm not THAT old yet!" She gives me a wide grin and then realizes there is someone new in the room. "Who is that?"
"We're not sure just yet. She was on the floor when Sterling woke up." The fact that Kane is telling this woman this information tells me a lot about how much he trusts her.
"Was she somehow part of the commotion that sent everyone running?"
Kane just looks at her and shrugs. "Hard to say but Sterling wants to find out just who she is and why she's here."
"Has the doctor been called?"
"Funny you should ask. That one nurse from the other day was just in here asking questions and now his brother knows he's awake."
Lynda's eyebrow goes up and her hands land on her ample hips. "Oh really?"
"We told her to bring the doctor but it wouldn't surprise us if the doctor never got that request."
"I'll take care of it...," She turns towards the door and I hear her mutter under her breath, "and that new nurse as well."
I'm going to have to find out if I can steal Lynda away once everything is settled. I'm not sure what I would do with her but I like to take care of those who are loyal to me. And it sounds like this woman is very loyal.
My eyes inexplicably track back to the woman laying in the hospital bed. I can't help but wonder which side of this little argument she will be loyal to - my brother if he in fact hired her, or...me, a stranger she has never really met. I’ve never cared or given a shit what other people thought of me but I find myself having an overwhelming need to make this woman like me, to trust me, to be loyal only to me. What the hell’s been going on since I've been asleep for the last two and a half weeks?
Chapter Nine
____________
Makenzie
I come awake lying in a bed, the sound of machines still somewhere nearby. The ceiling is a stark white and reminds me better than anything that I'm not in the bed I woke up in this morning. I try to remember what might have led me to be where I am. Was I in an accident? Did I get hurt?
Movement from the corner of my vision causes me to realize I’m not alone in the room. When I turn my head everything comes rushing back to me. I don't think it's possible for me to ever forget those eyes. The impossible blue/gray orbs snap to me once he becomes aware that I am awake.
I push up on my elbows not really liking the feeling of being so off balance around this man and realize there is another person in the room with us. One I don't know.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
My heart starts to sink before going utterly still for long seconds. He doesn't remember me. He doesn't remember anything about his time as the ghost that haunted my house...um, I guess it's his house now that he isn't really dead.
"I...," what the hell do I tell him? I could try to tell him the truth - and come off looking like a complete psycho - or I could give him some of it and hope it jogs his memory about me...about us. "I...I bought your house."
"You what?!" This is not the man I know, not the same person that came to visit me at night. This man has cold eyes and when he speaks to me there is no softness in them. He is not the Sterling I fell in love with.
I fight back the tears that clog my throat. "I met a man about a month ago selling a big, Victorian house online. I was hesitant about believing that something this big and beautiful could be up for sale in my price range but eventually, the sale came through and I...was the owner of the house...your house."
"Sterling would never sell his house. You lie."