Page 102 of Amnesty

Had I been dreaming?

Pulling back, I looked down at the end of the bed. A creepy feeling came over me. “She was here.” I decided firmly. “She was.”

“Okay.” Eddie relented. “I believe you.”

“You do?” I lifted my eyes.

He cupped my face in his hands. “Always.”

The worst of the anxiety inside me calmed.

“Come here,” he murmured, lying back down, tugging me with him.

I lay against him again, curling my arm tightly around his middle.

“I’ll leave the light on until you fall asleep,” his voice rumbled.

I nodded. The sound of his beating heart catching my attention. I lifted my head and scooted up his body so my ear rested against his shoulder, not directly over the sound.

“She was in here,” I told him again. “Watching.”

“But why?” he wondered around a yawn.

I had no idea. But I did know one thing. Whatever I’d known about her in the past, friends or bonded by situation, that didn’t seem to matter anymore.

Those things were gone just like my memory.

Whatever she’d been doing in here tonight wasn’t anything a friend would do.

The low tone of repeated vibrations broke into my rest. Amnesia was practically lying atop me, draped across my chest like skin. The first thought I had was of Sadie, of how, just hours ago, Am woke up insisting she was in here.

Right after that thought, the reason I even awoke took over. Flinging out an arm, I snatched my phone off the bedside table and hit the screen without looking at it.

“Yeah,” I nearly barked into the line. It was early, and we hadn’t slept the best last night.

“Eddie?” Mary Beth said, her voice hushed. I knew that tone.

Fully alert, I sat up, holding on to Am so she didn’t go rolling off me. “Mary B, what’s wrong?”

“I thought you’d want to know,” she quickly said. I could hear the stress in her voice. Mary B stressed wasn’t something I often heard; she was usually pretty cool. “Robbie was just brought in.”

“What!” I exclaimed, totally awake now. “Why?”

Against me, Amnesia stirred.

“He’s, um, badly injured. In and out of consciousness. We haven’t gotten ahold of his parents yet. It’s very early, and—”

She was rattled.

“Mary,” I snapped, gripping the phone tight. “What happened to Robbie?”

The words tumbled right out, nearly tripping over each other. “Someone tried to kill him.”

My entire body jolted. Am pushed off me, sitting up in the center of the bed to blink widely at me. I catapulted out of the bed and began to pace.

“I’ll be right there,” I insisted, then cut the call.

“What’s wrong?” Am asked, fear in her expression.

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