Page 81 of Unearthed Dreams
“Charlie, what’s the last thing you remember?”
“I...” She swallowed hard. “I was at college. Finals week. Shelby and Simon wanted me to stay for a party, but...” Her voice trailed off as she looked around the room again. “Why is everyone here? Where’s Chase?”
Five months. She’d lost five months. Every moment we’d shared, every secret smile, every whispered confession—gone. I backed away from the bed, my legs threatening to give out. Through the roaring in my ears, I heard Dr. Ware explaining how memory loss was common with traumatic brain injuries, how it might be temporary.
Might be.
Charlie’s eyes found me again, that same polite confusion in them. “Kai, right?”
The words hit harder than any punch I’d ever taken. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
What could I say?
I’m the man you love. The man you trusted with your manuscript, your body, your heart. The man who let you get on that motorcycle with your drunk brother because I was too much of a coward to stop you.
“Yeah,” Elliot said. “He runs Callaghan’s now. Billy’s bar.”
“Oh, right.” Charlie nodded slightly, then winced at the movement. “Good to see you again.”
Each polite, distant word was another knife in my chest. I managed something that might have been a nod before turning and walking out of the room. No one called after me. Maybe they understood. Or maybe they were too focused on Charlie to notice the way my world was crumbling around me.
Chapter Thirty
CHARLIE
Everything hurt.
My throat felt like I’d swallowed glass, my head throbbed with each heartbeat, and even breathing seemed to take more effort than it should. The hospital room swam in and out of focus as I tried to make sense of... everything.
Mom hadn’t left my side since I woke up, her hand clasped around mine like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let go. The rest of my family rotated in and out—Dad bringing coffee, Elliot and Tessa whispering in the corner, Jasper and Natalie taking turns telling me stories about things I couldn’t remember.
Five months. I’d lost five months.
“And Chase?” I asked again, my voice still raw despite the ice chips. “He’s okay?”
A look passed between my parents, heavy. with meaning I couldn’t decode.
“He’s getting help, sweetheart,” Mom said carefully. “He was... struggling with some things. But he’s going to be fine.”
More secrets. More gaps in my memory that felt like missing puzzle pieces. The doctors said it might come back gradually, or all at once, or...
Or never.
I closed my eyes, trying to sort through the fragments in my head. Finals week. Packing up my apartment. Trevor helping me pick up dropped books... that all felt clear. Real. But after that, everything got hazy.
“MY BOOK!” I bolted upright, immediately regretting the movement as pain shot through my skull. “Where’s my book?”
“Your... book?” Elliot straightened in his chair.
“Charlie, honey, what book?” Mom’s voice was gentle, but I could hear the surprise in it.
“My manuscript.” Panic clawed at my chest. All those months of work, of secret writing sessions, of building my world of dragons and magic... “Please, I need?—”
“You wrote a book?” Jasper repeated, leaning forward in his chair. “Like, a whole book?”
“I...” The words stuck in my throat. How could I explain a fear I’d carried for months but suddenly couldn’t remember dealing with? “I wasn’t sure if...”
“Is it any good?” Jasper asked, earning an elbow from Natalie.
