Lynette Eason - Holiday Amnesia

“I don’t remember seeing any other cars in the parking lot except Robin’s, but that doesn’t mean someone didn’t park elsewhere and walk over. You’ll need to scour the security footage from different areas on campus.”

“Okay. Local police are already here. They’ve requested FBI presence and resources, so they made it easy for us.”

“Meaning you’re already looking into it.”

“We have a team of local and federal agencies questioning people who were on campus at the time and near the lab. So far, no one’s come up with anything useful.”

“Okay. Let me think.” Toby drummed the steering wheel for a moment. “First and foremost, Robin’s got a head wound that needs to be checked out.”

“Anything else besides the head wound?”

“Some superficial wounds to her hands. What worries me the most is the confusion and memory loss.” He paused. “She doesn’t know me.”

“Oh no. That doesn’t sound good.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Okay, get her checked out but don’t linger. They’re probably going to be checking the hospitals. I’m going to be gathering information on this end and see if I can figure out who’s behind the blast. You just keep her safe.”

“Got it. Bye.” He gave her a gentle shake and frowned when she only blinked and closed her eyes again. He gave up and went around to the passenger side, hefted her slight form in his arms and carried her into the emergency department. With one eye behind him and one in front, he caught the attention of the triage nurse. “Got an emergency here.”

She took one look at them and reacted. No doubt Robin’s bloody head was quite the attention-catcher. Within seconds, the nurse had them back in a room and was examining Robin. “She’ll need a CT scan and a number of other tests. You’ll have to wait here.”

He caught her arm and pulled her to the side. “She needs police protection. She wound up like this because someone tried to kill her tonight. I don’t want to leave her.”

She held his gaze for a few moments, then nodded. “Are you a cop?”

“Not exactly. I’m working with the FBI. I can give you a contact number if you need proof, but I can’t leave this woman.”

“No ID?”

“No. Not for this assignment.”

“I see.”

He had a feeling she did. After several agonizing seconds of her scrutiny, she shot him one more look and nodded. “You can go.”

“Thanks.”

For the next six hours, Toby stayed with Robin, never leaving her side and monitoring those who entered her room with ID checks. The kind nurse who’d shown him grace by letting him stay with Robin stepped into the room.

“How’s she doing?” she asked. “Has she regained consciousness yet? Is she talking and making sense?”

“She’s in and out of consciousness and not making much sense when she talks.” He paused. “She grew up in foster homes and is talking about one of the families she lived with when she was around ten years old, I think. She doesn’t know who I am though.”

“Did she know who you were before the knock on the head?”

He shot her a tight smile. “Yes. I’m very concerned.”

The nurse nodded. “You’re not the only one. We’d like to keep her overnight for observation,” she said. “The doctor’s not comfortable releasing her yet. The fact that she’s still not remembering anything that happened has him wanting to take extreme cautions and the neurologist concurs.”

Toby blew out a breath. “Of course.” He rubbed his chin. “What about helping her remember?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, telling her things that she doesn’t remember right now in an attempt to jar her memories loose.”

“The doctor said good memories would be fine. Anything that might upset her or be a shock would be better for her to remember on her own.”

“I see.” Well, that could work in his favor since he definitely didn’t want to tell her about their last few weeks together. Not yet at least.

“I’ll be back to check on her shortly,” she said after adjusting the IV line.

“Thank you,” Toby said.

She left, and Toby settled into the chair next to Robin’s bed. He pulled out his phone and texted Ben an update, then leaned back to close his eyes for a few minutes.

When the door opened, he blinked and straightened. His gaze went to Robin who was resting peacefully, eyes shut, lips parted slightly. A male nurse in his late thirties nodded at him and pulled a syringe from his pocket. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” Toby frowned. “What’s that?”

“Just a little more pain medicine. Want to keep her comfortable.”

“I think she’s fine.” Toby’s gaze went to the man’s name tag. And found it missing. Toby stood. “Let me see some ID please. She just had some medicine not too long ago.”

“I know. I read her chart. But the doctor wanted her to have this.”

“What is it?”

The man huffed and aimed the needle at the IV port. “Look, I’m just following orders, okay? If you have a problem with it, take it up with the doc.”

“I will.” Toby stepped forward and grabbed the man’s forearm. “But you’re not giving her that medicine until I do. Understood?”

Fury flashed in the man’s eyes, but his lips curved in a cold smile. “Of course.”

“Where’s your name tag?”

“I forgot it today. Why?”

Toby yanked the syringe from the man’s fingers in a smooth move and shoved him away from Robin’s bed. “Who are you, and how did you know she was here?”

The man bolted for the door and Toby followed, stopping just outside the door. He couldn’t go after him without leaving Robin alone. He grabbed the phone and called security, describing the incident and where the man had disappeared, then turned back to find Robin sitting up in bed, blinking at him. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“We’re getting out of here.” He grabbed her filthy clothes from the bag on the counter. “You need to put these on.”

She grimaced. “Why?”

He went to the bed and took her face in his. Gently, so as not to cause her any more pain. “Look at me.” He waited for her eyes to meet his and focus. The nurse’s words flipped through his mind. Don’t tell her anything stressful or shocking. It’s better for her to remember on her own. He hesitated for a brief second. “Will you trust me?”

“No. I don’t know you and I’m in the hospital, and I can’t remember anything. Why should I trust you?”

At the edge of hysteria in her words, he made an executive decision. “You’re not safe here, understand?”

“Why?”

“Because—”

“Wait a minute.” She pressed a hand to her bandaged head. “There was a fire.”

“That’s one way of putting it. Someone set that fire, okay? In the form of explosives. And I’m pretty sure you were supposed to die in it.” She stared, unblinking. “When they discovered you survived, they sent someone to finish the job. I just chased him off. At least that’s the way it looks. Whether or not any of that is true, I’m not willing to chance it. We’re leaving.” Her eyes followed him, but he saw no sign of recognition in their depths. “Will you trust me? Please?”

“Someone tried to kill me?” she whispered. “Here? In the hospital?”

“Yes.” Had he said too much? Pressed her too hard? Done irreparable damage because he hadn’t followed the nurse’s orders?

“Hand me the clothes and help me into the bathroom. I’ll be ready to leave in about sixty seconds.”

Once they’d made it out of the hospital and she’d climbed into the passenger seat of Toby’s truck, Robin leaned her head back and closed her eyes in spite of the fact adrenaline wired her. Her head wasn’t pounding nearly as hard as it had been, and she figured it was the medicine that was keeping the pain under control.