Page 60 of Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

"Wait," I said, finally finding my voice. "I took some pain medication earlier for my hip, and it made me a little woozy. I felt disoriented when I went looking for the restroom, and at some point, I ended up on the swim platform. I'm not sure exactly how I got into the water, but my head is clearing, and I'm sure it will come back to me. I need a little time."

I wasn't going to make an accusation in this group. That would only add more drama and maybe put my life at even greater risk. It was better to blame everything on the medication at this point.

"I never should have given you that medication," Andrew said. "You were in so much pain."

"I probably shouldn't have drunk champagne at the same time," I added.

The tension in the room eased at my words, as I'd given them a plausible explanation and taken all the blame onto myself.

"We'll let you rest then," Victor said. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, Lauren. I feel completely responsible for even allowing that area of the yacht to be open and untended. I had no idea it was possible for anyone to get that close to the water while we were cruising. I am going to ensure that whoever is responsible is punished and never works on my boat again."

His rage felt thoughtful but also irrelevant. I didn't plan on ever getting on this boat again, so I didn't really care about his plans for future security. I actually just wanted to close my eyes against the lights and the questioning gazes, take some deep breaths, and try to get my bearings.

"That's enough. Lauren needs some space," Harper said, taking charge. "She can answer all your questions later, but right now, everyone who doesn't need to be here should go. Andrew, why don't you get out of those wet clothes so you can come back and sit with Lauren? In the meantime, I will stay with her, and everyone else can go back to doing whatever they were doing."

At her sharp words, the room cleared, leaving only Harper, me, and the medical officer. I turned to him. "How am I really?"

He gave me a reassuring smile and said, "You're going to be fine."

I let out a breath. "Okay, good. I needed to hear that."

"I'll be back in a few minutes to check on you."

As he left the room, I looked at Harper. "Thanks for going bitchy Harper on everyone."

She smiled. "No problem." She sat down on the side of the bed. "I'm not going to ask you any questions, because clearly you are not up to answering, but I wanted to let you know that everyone was really concerned about you when I realized you were missing."

"You realized that first?"

"Yes, I came down from the bridge to look for you, and you weren't at the table. I went downstairs and didn't see you, but I saw Allison, and she said she'd actually been looking for you, too, because you'd seemed like you were feeling ill and had gone down there to look for the restroom. I started searching for you, and then I saw one of your shoes on the swim platform. I knew something terrible had happened. I started screaming, and they finally got the boat turned around. It felt like it took forever."

"It felt like that to me, too." I paused as Andrew came back into the room dressed in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants.

Harper got up from the bed. "I'll leave you two alone."

As she left, Andrew stretched out on the bed next to me, putting his arm across my body as he gave me a slow, warming kiss. I wanted to savor his kiss, his embrace. I wanted to feel safe with him. But my brain was flashing on odd moments of memory, and I didn't know if they were real.

Had I heard Andrew talking to someone downstairs? Or had that been someone else?

I'd felt someone behind me on the swim platform. I'd thought it was him. But then I'd felt a push in the middle of my back.

I pulled back at that thought.

He gave me a surprised look. "Lauren?"

"Sorry. I was just remembering when I went into the water."

"I thought you didn't remember."

"It's hazy in my head. I'm not sure."

"You don't have to remember right now. Don't think about it."

Did he not want me to remember because he'd been there?That was crazy. That would mean he'd pushed me in the water, and he wouldn't have done that. If he'd wanted me to die, he wouldn't have jumped into the sea to rescue me.

Although he had jumped in after the two other guys. Maybe he'd thought it would look bad if he didn't try to save me. At that point, the deckhands had a better chance of bringing me back safely to the yacht.It had probably made for a good photo, though, I thought cynically. No doubt Megan and her team had been shooting my entire rescue. Not that Victor would want any of this to get out. It would be another secret to keep. There were getting to be so many of those, I didn't know how I could keep up with all of them.

Andrew propped his head up on one elbow as he gazed down at me. "You really gave me a scare, Lauren. I thought I was going to lose you."

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