Page 25 of Still The One

Eve’s eyes widen and her brows furrow in curiosity. She tilts her head slightly to the side, her gaze fixed on the object in front of her – me.

‘Whose name?’ she finally asks.

Matty laughs, not holding back even a little, shaking his head and taking another bite of his burger.Thanks for the help, man.

‘Uh—yours,’ I admit.

Yep. It happened. After casually dating Gia for about a year, she one day dropped down onto one knee at the side of the track after a comp and actually said the words: ‘Will you marry me?’ I swear, my heart actually stopped. And in that second, the name of the one person who could make it start again left my lips. A name that got me punched – the video’s online – by Gia, right in the fucking nose. It wasn’t my finest moment, that’s for sure. The only thing that still stands out about Gia for me is her smile – she had a great smile. Too bad it was a facade for the entitled thirty-year-old beneath. I’d never missed Eve so much as I did while I was dating Gia.

‘Google “Famous 15 gets punched”,’ Matty tells her.

‘Don’t,’ I advise. ‘How about we change the subject? I dreamed of you.’ I say the words I wasn’t planning on saying, catching Matty off guard as he glances my way curiously. Ilook at Eve instead. ‘While I was sleeping, after the accident, I dreamed of our first date. And that poker night where you whooped everyone’s ass.’

She smiles, her cheeks growing pink again. I don’t remember her blushing this much before, but my mind is foggy.

‘By the way, tell your friend Kait she owes me a Voodoo box before I leave this place, as payback for tormenting me with the smell as I lay in confusion a few days ago.’

She grins. ‘OK…’

‘They didn’t feel like dreams,’ I continue. ‘It was more like… I was there. In the moment. Then something would snap me back to reality and I’d know I’d been awake the whole time, but it’s like my soul went to revisit the past.’ I run my hand over my head, shaking out my hair that hasn’t been washed since I got here and is probably filled with dust from the track. ‘Does that even make sense?’

‘I get it,’ Eve says. ‘Like an out-of-body experience. But instead of seeing the present, you relived the past.’

‘Yes,’ I say with as much enthusiasm as I’ve had since I got here. ‘The only thing missing was the ghost of Foster’s past.’

She laughs.

‘Pain meds can be a real roller coaster of an experience according to patients I’ve worked with. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled out a few years ago, I got an unexpected package days later.’ She shakes her head. ‘Do not shop while medicated, is my only advice. I now own what Amazon calls a naughty boy lamp, which is a lamp shaped like a boy wearing a black lampshade, and the off and on toggle switch is located where his wiener would be.’ She presses her lips into a flat line, clearly regretful of this purchase.

I let out a laugh that sends me into another coughing fit. I hold my injured arm closer to my side, attempting to reassure my broken ribs that they will survive this.

‘I named him Willy,’ she continues, this time making Matty nearly spit his black coffee at her. ‘I smile every time I turn him on and off.’

This is the Eve I remember. She’s funny. Witty. Laughing at her own joke. Note to self: look this lamp up to get a full visual later.

‘Don’t trust your judgment right now, is all I’m saying.’

Touché. This girl just changed the subject without me even noticing. Distracting me from telling stories of daydreaming of her. Do I make her nervous? We’re quiet for too many seconds and Matty can’t take it; I see him fidgeting.

‘So, Eve, you work here? What do you do?’ he asks.

She works here. That’s right. My mind is loopy at best and that day in the ER feels like forever ago. I do remember her saying my name. The rest of her words were a jumble because I thought my heart was going to stop right then and there with her familiar voice. Never had I let myself forget this woman. I’d memorized everything, and I think of her often. I just always hoped she’d reach out to me so I wouldn’t look desperate. She left me. I wasn’t going to chase down a woman who only left a note – a note I’ve had memorized for five years.

‘I’m a trauma nurse in the emergency room.’

‘Oh,’ he says, stunned. ‘You were there when Foster came in? Likeinthe trauma room?’

Her eyes meet mine as she nods her head softly. ‘I was.’

‘How was that?’ Matt asks.

‘Um…’ She takes a breath. ‘Terrifying.’ Her gaze doesn’t leave mine and I see fear in her eyes.

She was terrified, yet she’s here now. Not Gia. Maybe there is a God.

‘I didn’t realize you’d become a nurse,’ Matty says. ‘But I didn’t know you long either, did I?’

‘My early twenties were kind of messy,’ she says, scrunching her face. ‘Got my nursing license when I came back to Oregon and I’ve worked here ever since. Lots of hours – so I don’t have a lot of time for myself. But, on Saturdays, my best friend and I go to the farmer’s market, that’s always fun.’

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