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  Promise of Forever

  by Jessica Wood

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Jessica Wood

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  ERH Press

  Thank you for purchasing this book.

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  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Jessica Wood

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Other Books

  About the Author

  ALSO BY JESSICA WOOD

  Emma’s Story Series

  A Night to Forget – Book One

  The Day to Remember – Book Two

  Emma’s Story Box Set – Contains Book One & Book Two

  The Heartbreaker Series

  This is an Emma’s Story spin-off series featuring Damian Castillo, a supporting character in The Day to Remember. This is a standalone series and does not need to be read with Emma’s Story series.

  Damian – Book One

  The Heartbreaker – Prequel Novella to DAMIAN – can be read before or after Damian.

  Taming Damian – Book Two

  The Chase Series

  This is a standalone series with cameo appearances from Damian Castillo (The Heartbreaker series).

  The Chase, Vol. 1

  The Chase, Vol. 2

  The Chase, Vol. 3

  The Chase, Vol. 4

  The Chase: The Complete Series Box Set – Contains All Four Volumes

  Oblivion

  This is a standalone full-length book unrelated to other series by Jessica Wood.

  Oblivion

  ***

  “The moment I heard my first love story I began seeking you, not realizing the search was useless. Lovers don’t meet somewhere along the way. They’re in one another’s souls from the beginning.”

  Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

  CHAPTER ONE

  Tears streamed down my face as I ran into my bedroom and slammed the door behind me. I reached for my diary—the familiar pink leather journal that was filled with my deepest thoughts. My shaky fingers pulled the gold fabric ribbon page marker, taking me to my last entry, and I began to frantically scribble down everything I was feeling at that moment—all the pain and fear that raced inside me as the screaming escalated an octave higher between my parents outside of my room.

  They’re fighting again. It’s been happening more and more frequently, each time worse than the day before.

  I wish they weren’t so unhappy. I wish my parents didn’t hate each other so much. I wish I was anyone else but myself right now. I wish I was anywhere else but here.

  As if hearing my thoughts, I heard my father roar, “If you want a fucking divorce, you can have it! But I’m going to warn you just this once: if you walk out of that door, don’t ever think about coming back again!”

  “I don’t plan on it!” I heard my mother spit back. “I’m leaving first thing tomorrow, and I’m taking Liv with me!”

  “No!” I cried, my mind racing as I thought about everything I was about to lose.

  Just then, my room and the pink leather diary in my hand faded away into the background as my consciousness registered a soft, steady beeping in the distance. What is that?

  When I turned toward the sound, I found myself running across a familiar street in the middle of the night. I was wearing a jewel-encrusted blush-pink evening gown that weighed down on my body and restricted my movement. The air was bitter cold and cutting, but the adrenaline that coursed inside me seemed to shelter me from the cold like a numbing blanket.

  Suddenly, I saw two bright, blinding headlights coming toward me at high speed. The sharp screeching of car tires filled the air, drowning out all other noise. I felt the impact of cold metal against my body as I was lifelessly flung sideways against the solid pavement.

  I braced myself for the impact of the pain that would greet my body.

  But it didn’t come.

  Instead, the steady beeping returned, but this time, it seemed closer, louder.

  Then a hushed conversation seeped through my consciousness.

  “There’s nothing we can do for her right now, Mr. Brady. As you know she has suffered some head injuries from the accident, so all we can do right now is to wait for her to wake up and see from there.” The female voice seemed miles away, but for some reason, I knew she was talking about me.

  “Okay. Thank you.” The man’s voice was strained and low as I heard him walk in my direction.

  I felt my head throb in pain, in time with that unnerving beeping that became increasingly louder.

  “She’s very lucky to have someone like you to visit and be by her side every day. You must really care about her.”

  “Yeah. I do.” The male voice was closer than before.

  Then I felt a warm hand on mine, bringing me into the present. My mind registered the bed I was lying on. The smell of stale, chlorine air invaded my senses. The beeping came into focus and I could hear it coming from a machine a foot away from me. Am I in a hospital?

  My fingers twitched as I tried to move my body.

  “Nurse!” the man’s voice cried out in alarm. “I think I felt her move.”

  My eyes fluttered open and closed, struggling against the heaviness of my lids and the blinding lights that stung my eyes.

  “I think she’s waking up!” The man squeezed my hand as he inched closer to my face. “Liv?”

  “Mr. Brady, let’s give her some room.” The man loosened his grip on me and I heard him move away.

  I opened my eyes again, and this time, it was easier. My vision was blurred as I looked around, but I could detect two figures close by.

  “Ms. Stuart?” The female voice was gentle as she moved toward me.

  “Where am I?” I blinked and after a couple of seconds, her face came into focus. “Who are you?” I looked around the room and found myself in a surprisingly large and luxurious hospital room.

  “Ms. Stuart, you were in an accident and you’re at The Pavilion, a private in-patient hospital unit at the University of Pennsylvania hospital. I’m Nurse Betty and I’ve been taking care of you.”

  “An accident.” I repeated her words and tried to think through the dense fog consuming my every thought. Then I winced at the throbbing pain in my head.

  “Are you in any pain?” She looked at me with concern.

  “Just a horrible headache.” I reached for my head.

  “I’ll let the doctor know and we’ll get you something for that.”

  “What happened to me?” I looked up at her, searching her face for answers.

  She flashed me a kind smile. “There’s actually someone that’s been here
waiting for you to wake up for quite some time. I’ll let him tell you what happened while I check your vitals.” She moved aside and my eyes focused on the other figure in the room—the tall, handsome man in a tailored charcoal suit standing anxiously behind her.

  “Hi.” I looked at him, unsure of what else to say to this stranger.

  “Liv? Thank God you finally woke up.”

  I smiled at him. His warm, hazel eyes were filled with concern as he moved in front of the nurse to grab my hand. I studied him, wondering why he seemed so familiar.

  He reached for me. Deep creases formed between his brows as he furrowed them in worry. “Liv, how are you feeling?” His voice was smooth and gentle. I couldn’t quite place where, but I knew I’d heard it before.

  I placed my hands to my head and groaned. “Besides this killer headache, I’m okay.” I tried to get up but my arms felt weak as I slumped back down against the pillows when I tried to sit up. He reached over and helped me lean up against the headboard of the bed.

  “It’s so good to see you awake.” He held my face and kissed me gently on my forehead.

  I flinched and frowned up at him. “Who are you? Have we met before?”

  His expression changed immediately and he whipped around and turned to the nurse. I saw them exchange a look that I didn’t understand.

  He then turned back to me and frowned, his eyes filled with sadness. “You don’t remember me?”

  I studied his face and thought about it. “No, I don’t think so,” I finally said as I shook my head.

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked me tentatively. I didn’t need to know this man to detect the anxious expression on his face.

  I stared at him and tried to rack my brain, searching for anything I could remember. I shook my head in frustration as I buried it in my hands. My head was pounding in pain as if I had just awoken from the worst hangover of my life.

  “Liv, are you okay? What’s wrong?” The alarm in his voice exacerbated the panic that was building inside.

  “Why do you keep calling me Liv?” I felt annoyed as I looked back up at him. My annoyance turned to worry when I saw the shocked expression on his face.

  The nurse stepped forward. “Do you remember your name?”

  I opened my mouth, ready to answer her simple question, but then stopped. It was only then, when I was forced to think about it, that it dawned on me that I didn’t actually know the answer. “I…I can’t remember.”

  “Is there anything you do remember?” Her tone was gentle and cautious.

  I searched my thoughts, trying to grab onto any memory. But everything outside the last few minutes seemed like a dream that I had somehow forgotten the moment I woke up. Why can’t I remember anything? I shook my head in frustration. “What happened to me?”

  “I’ll let Mr. Brady here tell you what happened while I go get Dr. Miller.”

  “Honey, I’m Connor. Connor Brady. Are you sure you don’t remember me?” The man moved back toward me, a mixture of hopefulness and uncertainty painted across his face.

  “Connor,” I repeated in a monotone voice. I studied him, trying to place him to some moment in my life. There was something about him that was familiar, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t seem to remember how I knew him. I shook my head slowly. “I don’t even remember my own name.”

  “Your name is Olivia Stuart. Your friends call you Liv.” He sat down on the chair next to my bed and placed his hand on top of mine. His hand was warm and familiar but it felt weird to have this stranger touching me in this intimate way. I didn’t pull my hand away, though. I needed answers and this man seemed to have them, so the last thing I wanted to do was to offend him.

  “What happened to me?”

  His face fell. “You were in a hit-and-run accident.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. He paused before continuing. “You’ve been in a coma for the past eight days since the accident.”

  Panic and confusion swirled around me at the idea of losing so much time without knowing it. “Eight days? But…but I don’t remember any of this. Why can’t I remember anything?” I felt frantic as I tried to push through the fog and my mind came back blank.

  “Liv, you sustained some head injuries from the accident. The doctors said that memory loss was a possibility when you woke up…”

  I stared at him in disbelief as my hands immediately moved up to my head. When my fingers traced the layers of bandages, I knew he was telling me the truth.

  “Don’t worry. The doctors say that if there’s memory loss, it might only be temporary,” he tried to reassure me. “You might slowly regain your memories back.”

  “Might?” I didn’t feel reassured by that word.

  Just then a middle-aged bald man in a white lab coat walked into the room. A warm smile appeared on his friendly face. “Ms. Stuart. I’m Dr. Miller. It’s great to see you awake. How are you feeling?”

  “What’s wrong with me, Dr. Miller? Why can’t I remember who I am?”

  “Let me ask you a few questions first, alright?”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you know when you were born?”

  I searched my mind, trying to recall the answer. Nothing. I shook my head.

  “Do you know where you went to high school?”

  “No.” I shook my head again as I felt the frustration and helplessness grow inside.

  “Do you know the name of Philadelphia’s football team?”

  To my surprise, I didn’t draw a blank this time. “The Eagles.”

  “You remember,” Connor said excitedly as he squeezed my hand.

  Dr. Miller smiled. “Can you tell me how many states there are in the U.S.?”

  “Fifty.” I frowned at the doctor, wondering if that was a trick question. “There are a few territories like Puerto Rico and Guam though,” I added.

  “Well, it looks like you’ve suffered from some memory loss due to the accident, but not all. It’s not uncommon for someone to have some degree of amnesia after a traumatic event like the one you experienced. From your answers, it appears the amnesia has affected your episodic memory, which is the memory of experiences and specific events—the memories personal to you. But it seems that the amnesia didn’t affect your semantic memory, which is the memory dealing with facts and your knowledge of the eternal world.” He studied the clipboard in his hands. “The good news is from all the tests we’ve run on you, it doesn’t seem like there was any damage to the areas of your brain that store your long-term memories.”

  “What does that mean, doctor?” the handsome man in the charcoal suit cut in to ask.

  “Well it should mean that Ms. Stuart hasn’t suffered any long-term memory loss.”

  “So I don’t understand. Why can’t I remember anything about myself, then?”

  “That’s the thing we don’t know at this time. The brain is a miraculous and mysterious thing. It’s unlikely that you’re suffering from any permanent brain damage.”

  “So what’s the problem?” Connor asked, his grip tightened around my hand.

  “Sometimes the brain will suppress memories after going through a traumatic experience. That memory hasn’t been forgotten in the traditional sense, but it’s locked away by the sub-conscious and removed from the conscious mind.”

  “So does that mean I’ll get my memories back?” I looked at him hopefully.

  “The chances are good, but it’s also not a guarantee either that you’ll get some or all of your memories back. The best thing for you is to go back to your life before the accident and surround yourself with the things that are familiar and important to you—those are usually the things that will help trigger your memories.”

  “Liv, baby, I promise to help you through this.” Connor held up my hand between both of his as he pulled it close to his chest. He looked up at Dr. Miller. “Doc, what’s the next step?”

  “Well Ms. Stuart, since you just woke up from the coma, I’d like to run some tests and keep you under
careful observation at the hospital for a week or so. During this time, you’ll also start your physical therapy to strengthen your muscles that have been inactive while you’ve been here. If the tests look good, then we can have you released as early as next week.”

  “Thank you, doctor. That’s good news.” Connor beamed at me.

  But as much as I tried, I couldn’t seem to adopt his excitement.

  Sensing my unease, his expression changed. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  As if taking this as a signal, the doctor cleared his throat. “Ms. Stuart, we’ll let you guys talk. I’ll check up on you in an hour or so to run those tests.”

  Anxiety built inside me as I watched the doctor and nurse slip out of the room. Even though I knew that this man in the charcoal suit seemed to know who I was, he still felt like a stranger to me, and being completely alone with him made me uneasy.

  “What are you thinking, Liv?” he finally broke the silence.

  “Liv…Olivia.” I said my name aloud. It sounded foreign, yet familiar from my mouth. I then met Connor’s gaze. He smiled at me as he studied my expression. “I still don’t know who you are exactly. I mean, I know your name is Connor, but…how do we know each other?”

  His smile disappeared and I saw the sadness in his eyes again. “Liv, I’m your fiancé.”

  “Fiancé?”

  He nodded. I followed his gaze as it darted down to my left hand. To my surprise, there on my ring finger was a large, sparkling diamond set on top of a platinum, diamond-encrusted eternity band. How did I not see this earlier?

  I looked back at him in silence, overwhelmed by everything.

  “This must be a lot for you to take in right now. And I’m sure you have a lot of questions. I’ll be happy to answer whatever I know. Let’s just take this one step at a time. We can go at the pace you’re most comfortable with, okay?”

  I nodded and drew in a deep breath as thousands of questions whirled around in my head, fighting for my attention.

  “Thanks.” I gave him a small smile, grateful for his patience and understanding. At that moment I thought about how hard this must be for him as well—to be engaged to and in love with someone who doesn’t remember you or feel that same love anymore.