Come To Me (8 page)

“You
okay?” Tony asked as soon as the nurse had left with Jasmine. Doctor Kilgore
had remained behind to speak with them for a moment.

Baron
brushed his hand through his hair. “No, man. I’m not.”

“I
take it she didn’t remember you?” the doctor asked.

Baron
shook his head.

“Well,
let’s see what the test shows. For now, it’s best we just let her continue to
mend at her own pace.”

“I’m
not going to lie to her, Doc,” Baron said, to the man.

Doctor
Kilgore nodded. “I understand, just don’t volunteer any information you don’t
think she’s ready for.” He looked over at Tony. “If she asks, then tell her the
truth.”

They
both nodded, and the doc continued. “She’ll probably be gone for a while. At
least an hour, if you want to leave and get some dinner.” Then he left them
alone.

“I’m
sorry, man. So fucking sorry,” Tony said.

Baron
looked at his friend before sitting on the bed. “It’s not your fault.”

“I’m
sure once she starts asking questions and getting answers it will trigger
something in her. Once she’s in familiar surroundings, her memory will return.
And that’s probably tied to her hearing loss. So when one comes back, so will
the other, and things will be just as they had been before,” Tony ended.

“I
hope so, man. She’s my—she’s my
everything
.”

“Well,
you got her to fall in love with you once, sight unseen. So do it again.” Tony shrugged.

Baron’s
mouth curled slightly, appreciating his friend’s attempt to cajole him into
thinking positively. “She fell in love with the sound of my voice, which she
can’t hear anymore.”

“Last
I heard there are five senses, so that’s just one. You’ve got four more to work
with.”

Baron
frowned. Then he laughed for the first time in days. “You know, I remember why
we became friends and why I agreed to go into business with you. Thank you.”

“All’s
good. Did you have a chance to eat?”

“No.
Let’s go down to the cafeteria and see what’s on the menu for the evening.”

Tony
grinned. “It’s a date.”

They
got back to the room just as Jasmine was settling in. Baron took the chair
closest to her, and she smiled at him. She shifted, looking for Tony. When she
spotted him, her smile grew even brighter. And Baron’s heart contracted in
pain. Shit.

“Hey,
there you are,” she said.

“Ah,
yeah,” Tony said, taking the seat furthest away from the bed but directly in
front of it.

Baron
couldn’t take his eyes off Jasmine. Hers, however, were on Tony.

“Have
you guys eaten?” she asked. “The nurse said she’d bring something around for
me.”

Baron
took the pad near her hand and wrote on it.

‘Yes, we ate.’

“Okay,
that’s good.”

Gladys
came in then with a tray and set it up for her.

Baron
grimaced at the dry-looking chicken. At least the salad appeared fresh. “Well
that seems appetizing,” he joked. But when she looked blankly at him, he
remembered to use the notebook. He offered it to her so she could see what he’d
said.

She
laughed and glanced at him. “Yes, yummy.”

For
a moment their gazes connected, and she stared at him a little longer than
necessary. She blinked, as though coming out of a daze. But for that split
second, Baron could’ve sworn he saw recognition in her beautiful eyes before
they glazed over again.

“Maybe
I better get going?” Tony said.

“Yeah,
do that,” Baron replied. He saw her frown so Baron took the pad and passed it
to Tony for him to give her. His friend held it up for her to read.

“Do
you have to go?” she asked Tony.

Tony
glanced over at him and spoke as he wrote,
‘Yes.
I need to get back to the office for a bit. We’ve both been here for the last
couple of days and things are backing up.’

“Well,
can Baron go instead?” she asked.

Tony
shook his head and continued to write, saying it out loud again for Baron’s
benefit. “No. This is something I need to take care of, but Baron can stay and
keep you company. I’ll check in on you in the morning.”

She
turned to look at Baron. “That’s all right. You don’t have to stay and keep me
company.”

Tony
passed the paper to him when he gestured toward it.
‘I’d like nothing more. I don’t have any plans for tonight.’
He
grinned and continued writing,
‘I’m going
to see Tony out. I’ll be right back.’

“Okay.”

He
stood, and then went out into the hall with Tony they moved toward the
elevator. “Thank you, Tony, for that.”

“No
worries, man. I just hope this all works out for you both.” He placed his hand
on Baron’s shoulder and hit the elevator’s down button.

“Me
too. I’ll stay with her tonight and hope to God when she gets up in the morning
she remembers me. Remembers us.”

“She
will. Just give it some time.”

The
elevator arrived and his friend stepped on. He turned around and went back to
the woman who didn’t remember him, but who he loved more than his own life.
When he entered the room alone, the happiness in her gaze faltered. The stone
that rested on his chest ever since he’d been told about her accident seemed to
grow twice as large.

He
shook his head and forced a pleasant look on his face for her. At least he
hoped it was fine. She was in love with him. He needed to remember that and
find a way to help her regain her memory, for her to come back to him.

Chapter Ten

       When
Baron returned to the room he was alone. At first Jasmine felt disappointed
that Tony didn’t stay with her and his friend did. But when he sat on the chair
by her mattress, something happened. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, and he
continued to gaze at her. Her heart began beating faster against her chest and
her stomach muscles clenched in response to his nearness. She blinked and
looked away. This was wrong. She shouldn’t feel this intense attraction to him.
He was ridiculously handsome, but so was Tony. These feelings should have been
reserved for Tony and yet… There was something there, something between them
drawing her to him. Her head began pounding. She held her hands up to rub her
temples.

A
touch on her hand had her waking up. She hadn’t even realized her eyes were
closed until she felt him in every cell of her body. The sensation burrowed
into her core and wouldn’t ease up. Like it belonged there. Like he belonged
there.

“Headache?”
He mouthed the words slowly and touched his head.

“I…I
think I just need a little sleep. I hate taking the drugs.”

He
spoke again, but this time she shook her head that she didn’t understand him.
He took the notepad on the bed and wrote.

‘You’re in pain. I can get the nurse.’

“I
think I’d first like to try to fall asleep on my own.”

He
scribbled again and showed her.
‘Okay. Go
on and do that. Do you want me to leave?’

She
looked at what he’d written and frowned. “No.” Why would she say that? But it
was the first thought she had and it just came out. For the life of her, it was
the truth. She didn’t want him to go. She raised her gaze to his and saw
something in his eyes, something very familiar to her. Her heart hurt. “I mean,
it’s incredibly sweet of you.”

He
shook his head. “My pleasure,” he mouthed.

His
sincerity warmed her from the inside out. She couldn’t help the look of
happiness she gave him. Then it dawned on her. Had they been more than friends.
Oh, my god. What about Tony? Had she been unfaithful to him with Baron? What a
mess. She couldn’t remember
.
The
headache came back even worse. Baron leaped to his feet and pushed the call
button, summoning the nurse. She came in, took one look at Jasmine, exchanged
words with Baron, then left.

Baron
sat beside her and gathered her into his arms. She clung to him. He felt solid.
Right. Like she belonged there. And his scent—she burrowed her face in
his cotton shirt and inhaled—seemed so familiar. This also seemed like
they’d done this a thousand times before. She raised her head and looked at
him.

“Who
are you to me?”

But
before he could answer, Gladys returned to the room and handed her two pills
and a glass of water. She helped her settle back on the bed. Jasmine shut her
eyes.

She
felt the brush of Baron’s hand down the side of her face and his kiss on her
forehead. “I know you,” she managed. Then she was pulled down into the healing
bliss of sleep.

When
Jasmine woke up she sensed it wasn’t quite morning yet. Although the curtains
were drawn tightly over the windows, her body told her it was late night. She
glanced around the darkened room. Only a nightlight in the bathroom provided
the most scant illumination. Still, she saw the figure seated against the wall.
He sat in one chair and had pulled the other one up under his feet. The
position looked uncomfortable even to her. She couldn’t really make out
features or clothes but somehow she knew the man watching over her was Baron.
She took comfort in knowing he was there, that he’d stayed for her. Content,
she drifted back to unconsciousness again, but suddenly she was wide-awake and
sat up in bed. This was all wrong. Shouldn’t it have been Tony here? Tony, her
fiancé? Why was Baron here? Why did she think it was all right for him to be
here? What if it was as she suspected earlier. Had she been having an affair
behind Tony’s back? She inhaled sharply at the thought. She refused to believe
she was that kind of person. No way would she cheat on someone she’d made a
commitment to, someone she was supposed to love. At least she didn’t think she
was.

She
glanced beyond the foot of the bed again. He had moved. She saw him sit up
straighter in the chair, then lower his legs to the floor. He stood and came
over to her, sitting on the side of the mattress. Like he had a right to. She
looked up at him and her lips trembled.

“Who
are you to me?”

At
first he didn’t say anything. She could barely make out his features in the dim
light. He held up her wrist and kissed her palm. She felt that kiss through
every nerve ending in her body. She curled her fingers into a fist, and he patted
his hand over it. Then he lowered his torso to hers, placing his hands on the
sides of her face and covering her lips with his mouth. The shock that rocketed
through her exploded in her brain. She must have made some sort of noise
because he rose. His mouth moved but she was in too much pain to understand
what he was saying.

“I’m
sorry. So sorry,” she said.

He
turned on the bedside lamp and found the pad.
‘Are you all right?’

“Yes.
Just a little headache. I…I have to know something. Why did you kiss me? Were
we more than just friends?” Her heart hammered against her chest as she watched
him write on the page, waiting for his answer. Part of her already knew what it
would be.

“Yes.”

She
nodded then stared right at him. “Were or are?”

“Are.”

He
said the words for her to understand. She nodded again. She’d feared it was
true. It would explain much, such as why he was still there. As much as she
found Tony attractive and thoughtful, there was something about Baron that drew
her to him. What kind of person was she to be engaged to one man, a man who
saved her life, while having an affair with his best friend? That kiss…familiar
like something she’d done before and enjoyed. “God, I need to remember my life.
I need to remember the person I was, am, and who you are to me.” A tear leaked
from the corner of her eye, and her head began throbbing again. She rubbed her
temples.

He
took her hands away from her head and kissed her again. This time she kissed
him back, leaning forward and draping her arms around his neck. She had her
answer. He pulled back and wiped the tears off her cheeks and wrote on the
notepad.

He
wrote, ‘Be patient. It will come back to you.’

“God
I hope so. I can’t stand this.”

She
read. ‘
Go back to sleep. I’ll be here.’

“Yes,
I know but what about Tony? I don’t want to hurt him. He saved my life. I
remember that much. Does he…does he know about us?”

He
nodded.

A
cry escaped her lips. “What? Oh god.” She raised her hand and stared at her
ring. “And we’re still engaged?” Then suddenly a thought occurred to her. Were
they still engaged? Was she in love with Baron or was it just an affair?
Jasmine looked at him, and something inside her tightened. Whatever was going
on between them, it was more than an affair. Unsure how she knew, she just did.
Yet how could she hurt Tony so?

“Am
I still engaged to Tony?”

Baron
seemed to hesitate then shook his head, no.

“Oh
God! What have I done?”