The Chase, Volume 4 Read online

  “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 familiar voice was smooth and gentle.

  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 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 frowned and looked 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 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 when 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 distant memory lost in time. 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. I’ll 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 sadness and uncertainty painted across his face.

  “Connor,” I repeated his name in a monotone voice. I stared at him. There was something about him that was familiar, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t seem to place him in my thoughts. 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 holding me in this intimate way. But I didn’t pull my hand away. 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?”

  “You were in a hit and run accident.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “You were thrown several feet by the impact and you hit your head on the cement and suffered some bone fractures along the left side of your body.”

  My eyes trailed at the left side of my body and nothing looked out of the ordinary. There were no blood, casts, or signs of injury.

  He saw my confusion and continued. “It’s been four months since your accident.”

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

  “The doctors say that this is probably just temporary. You might slowly regain your memories back.”

  “Really?”

  Just then a middle-aged bald man with a friendly face wearing a white lab coat walked in the room. “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 anything?”

  “It seems like you’ve suffered some memory loss from your accident. It’s not uncommon for someone to lose their memory after a traumatic event like the one you’d experienced.” He studied 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 stores 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 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 brain damage and permanent memory loss.”

  “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 your sub-conscious and removed from your conscious mind.”

  “So does that mean I’ll get my memories back?” I looked at the doctor 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, when can she check out of here?”

  “Her vitals are all normal and her physical injuries have all healed nicely. I want to run a few more tests on her today, and if they come out normal, then she’s free to leave by tomorrow afternoon.”

  “That’s great 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?”

  “I’m not sure where I’m supposed to go when I check out.”

  “I’ll take you home, Liv.”

  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 seem to know who I was, 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 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.”

  His face fell and I saw the sadness in his eyes. “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 ring set on top of a platinum, diamond-encrusted eternity band. How did I not see this earlier?

  I looked back at him, 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. “Can we take this slowly? I just feel really overwhelmed.”

  “Of course, Liv. Whatever you need. Just tell me what you want. Okay?”

  I nodded again. “Who are my parents? Do I have any siblings? Do they know I’m here?”

  I saw the pained expression on Connor’s face and knew I wouldn’t like the answer.

  “I’m sorry, Liv. Your mom passed away a few years ago. You don’t have any siblings.”

  “Did you know my mom? What kind of person was she?” Tears streamed down my face as I felt the loss for the mother I couldn’t remember.

  “She passed away right before we met here in Philly. I believe you left New Jersey and moved here to start a new life.”

  “Oh. And my dad?”

  He shook his head. “You rarely talked about him. From the little you had said, you haven’t seen him since you were twelve—”

  “—when my parents got a divorce…” I finished his comment as I remembered the flashback I had right before I woke up.

  “Yeah.” Connor looked at me in alarm. “Are you remembering things?”

  “Maybe. I had a flashback of them fighting when I was young right before I woke up.”

  “Oh. Did you get any other flashbacks?”

  “I don’t know. I think a little bit from the accident.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. I think I was running across the street and then a car came toward me and hit me.”

  “I’m so sorry, Liv.” Connor buried his face in his hands. “It’s all my fault.”

  “What do you mean? Were you driving that car?” I looked at him in alarm.

  “No, of course not!” He shook his head. “I…I just feel responsible for you.”

  I frowned. I could tell there was something he wasn’t telling me. “Do you know how my accident happened? Were you there?”

  He nodded and looked away. “I wish I could take it all back. I wish…”

  “What happened? Please tell me.”

  He looked up at me and I saw the regret in his face. “It was the night of our engagement party at the Franklin Institute Science Museum.” His eyes glazed over and he smiled as his thoughts him back to that night. “You looked absolutely gorgeous in that jeweled gown.” He paused and his expression turned somber. “But we had an argument toward the end of the night and you ran off and out of the reception hall…I went after you and when I got outside, I saw you running across the street. That’s when the car hit you.”

  I took in the story and felt a chill run down my back. “What was the argument about?”

  He looked away again. “It was over something really stupid. About our guest list for the wedding. You wanted to keep it under 200, but I wanted to include more business associates.” He shook his head in regret. “It was really stupid.”

  I stared at him in silence, at a complete loss for words. How come I don’t remember a thing? I thought in frustration.

  “I’m so sorry, Liv. I need you to forgive me. We shouldn’t have had that silly argument, and I shouldn’t have let you run off like that.”

  “You didn’t know this was going to happen.” I saw the anguish in his eyes and reached for his hand to reassure him.

  “But it did happen.” I saw his body stiffen and knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him to forgive himself.

  “Connor, please don’t.”

  He looked up at me with pained eyes.

  “There’s nothing you could’ve done differently when you didn’t know. I wish I had my memories. I wish I hadn’t run off that night. I wish things were different.” I blinked away a tear. “But sometimes we don’t always get what we wish for. Sometimes we can only work with the hand that we’re dealt.” I was surprised by the sudden acceptance I felt for what had happened. Maybe those who say, “ignorance is bliss,” is right.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  I looked at this stranger and somehow I knew I would remember him again. I knew he was important to me. I looked down at the engagement ring on my finger and instantly felt a loss for all the special memories that I didn’t have anymore.

  “What’s wrong, Liv?” He saw the fresh tears in my eyes that were threatening their way down my cheeks.

  “It’s just a lot to take in all at once.”

  “I know.”

  I watched him gently brush the tears from my cheeks and from the way his hands caressed my face, I knew he’d touched me many times before. Were we happy before this accident? What kind of person was I when we were together? What did I enjoy doing? It wasn’t until then that another question hit me like a ton of bricks. What did I look like?

  I gave him a weak smile. “Connor, I’m sorry but I’m really tired. I need some time alone to digest all this.”

  His brows furrowed with worry but he didn’t try to object. “Okay.” He got up from the chair and looked down at me. “I’ll see you tomorrow. If you’re cleared by Dr. Miller tomorrow, I can finally take you home, and maybe being in familiar surroundings will help you with your memories.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” I forced a small smile. I wasn’t ready to be too hopeful. I wasn’t sure I could face the disappointment if he was wrong.

  He leaned down toward me and kissed me gently on my forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you, gorgeous,” he whispered.

  As I watched him leave, the hospital room suddenly disappeared.

  For a split second I found myself in a grand, sun-drenched bedroom lying naked on a large luxurious bed under lush layers of satin sheets and comforter. I screamed out and my back arched upward as intense pleasure radiated throughout my body. I felt another naked body on top of mine from somewhere under the layers and a second later, Connor’s face emerged out from under the sheets. He flashed me a wicked smirk as he slowly licked his lips. “And that’s how much I love you, gorgeous.”

  I gasped at the memory that just hit me, my body tingled as if that moment had just happened. I looked down at my body and the question that had blindsided me a few minutes earlier crossed my mind again. What did I look like?

  I slowly got up from the bed, and felt my muscles weak from the months of being on the hospital bed. It took me several minutes to move to the bathroom where there was a full-length mirror along the wall facing the door.

  Standing in front of the mirror was like standing face to face to a complete stranger. Nerves prickled through my body like ice, cold needles as I studied every inch of the unfamiliar person in front of me. Nothing about my reflection looked familiar. Her radiant blue eyes stared back at me. She had a long wavy blond hair that cascaded down her small frame. Even through the boxy hospital gown, I could see the curves on her body. I watched as this stunning woman staring back at me touched her face with both hands. I felt her fingers move across my face.

  “I’m Olivia Stuart.” My whispered words filled the silent room and seem to hang in the air as I continued to study myself in the reflection. Will this ever stop feeling so strange?

  ***

  By the following afternoon, I felt slightly better and hopeful about everything. The tests Dr. Miller had ran all came out normal and I was cleared to leave today.

  “Hey, gorgeous.”

  I looked up to find Connor at my door with a large bouquet of pink roses.

  “Hi.” I smiled, happy to see a familiar face. “You came back.”

  “Of course I’m back, silly. I told you I was going to take you home today.”

  “Oh, right.” Our eyes met and I felt my stomach flip nervously. I immediately looked away and felt my face turn beet red when I remembered yesterday’s flashback of the intense orgasm this man had given me. I knew that for him, we were lovers in love, but for me, I felt embarrassed that this handsome stranger knew me more intimately than I knew myself.

&nbs
p; “What’s wrong?” He walked over to me and kissed me lightly on my cheek.

  “Nothing.” I pushed my thoughts aside and flashed him a smile.

  He handed me the bouquet in his hands. “Pink roses are your favorite.”

  “Thank you. They’re beautiful.” I took the stunning bouquet and was instantly hit with its intoxicating smell.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” I responded honestly.

  “Are you ready to blow this popsicle stand?”

  I let out a light chuckle and nodded.

  Thirty minutes later, Connor had helped me finish all my paperwork to check out of the hospital. I had changed into a white Splendid cotton silk tee, dark-washed J Brand jeans, and a pair of black Christian Louboutin patent leather stilettos that Connor brought for me from my closet. Accordingly to him, this was one of my favorite casual outfits. I had stared dubiously at the three-inch heels when he had handed the stilettos to me. They looked more painful than comfortable to me. But when I put them on, they had fit perfectly and I was surprised by how at ease I was walking around in them.

  “Hey, gorgeous.” Connor looked up from the hospital paperwork when I walked out of the bathroom. “You look like you’re back to your old self.” I watched as his eyes moved up and down my body, and a nervous shiver ran down my back.

  “I guess my muscle memory’s still intact,” I joked as I looked at my heels.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “I never did understand how you could walk in those heels. You know on one of our first dates, I called you Wonder Woman when I saw you running in a pair just like those.”

  I smiled. “Why was I running?”

  “We had just had an amazing date at Tria, this great wine bar, and you had a few glasses too many and you were running and skipping down the street without a care in the world and giggling uncontrollably.” He laughed at the memory and beamed at me. “It was at that moment that I knew I’d fall in love with you.”

  I laughed along with him, wishing I could remember that memory.

  A few minutes later we were outside, standing at the entrance of the hospital.

  “Liv, I’m going to go get the car. You okay with waiting right here for me? I’ll bring the car around and pick you up.”