Page 5 of Laying His Claim
There was an awkward moment of silence until Kaiya broke it “How’s Sebastian?”
It was a question that always brought a rush of warmth to him. “He’s doing fine; sitting up, crawling around. Doing really well.”
Kaiya smiled at this. “That’s great.” She looked as if she wanted to say something else. Justin waited on edge. “Jalissa’s doing so much better,” she told him. “She asked us to take her braids out, so she can work on brushing her hair herself. To strengthen her fine motor skills.”
“That’s a good idea.” The two women were still standing with their backs to the door, facing him, almost as if they thought it was up to them to grant him entry. He was having none of it. “If you don’t mind,” he said calmly, “I’d like to see Jalissa.”
Kaiya got that stubborn look in her eye that he had come to both admire and hate. “That depends.”
He was incredulous. She was settingconditions?About his access to his fiancée? “On what?”
“On what you plan to tell her. She’s making such good progress. It would be a disservice to… you know, do or say anything that would set her back. Remember, the doctor was very clear that her return to full memory should be gradual.”
Justin cut in with frustrated impatience. He was well aware of the constraints involved in Jalissa’s recovery, and even though his very soul chafed at it, he was willing to comply for her sake. “Do you think I’d ever do anything to hurt her? Even though, Kaiya, you of all people should know how secrets can get out of hand. The kind of pain they can cause.”
At this, Kaiya’s expression softened. “I know. I understand. I’m just trying to protect her—”
“I’mtrying to protect her, too. It’s the devil’s dilemma. On the one hand, she needs to be prepared. She needs to be primed to accept the fact that… certain things happened while she was in the coma. On the other…” He stopped himself there, feeling his frustration rising and his temper with it. “Now step aside and let me in, ladies. She’s my fiancée, goddammit!”
“So you’ve said,”Kaiya snapped.
Justin wondered if the guilt showed on his face. “What?”
“She doesn’t even remember getting engaged to you.”
“She doesn’t rememberanything!”He realized he was shouting, and that was confirmed by the dirty looks two passing nurses threw his way. He blew out a hard breath and went on, “Kaiya. Kalilah. You’ve been pillars for Jalissa and I’m grateful for that. I know you two have known her way longer than I have. But she’s my fiancée, and I’d like to speak to her.”
Kaiya and Kalilah exchanged glances, then nodded and stepped aside. “Be careful, Justin.”
He ignored them, offended by the mere idea that he’d ever willingly cause Jalissa any hurt, and brushed past them into the room.
* * *
Justin walked in to find Jalissa sitting on the edge of the bed, her natural hair splayed around her face and shoulders in a poofy cloud. She gave it a spritz of detangler and began brushing.
He found himself fighting the urge to reach out and wind her thick tresses around his fingers. She was wearing a satin dressing gown that reached only to her mid-thigh. Far from the frumpy hospital gowns adopted by many long-term hospital residents, this one was black with bright splashes of red roses. Kaiya had done some excellent shopping on her friend’s behalf.
One sleeve had slid off her shoulder, leaving it bare. He desperately longed to place a kiss on that expanse of smooth, bronze skin, but instead he said in admiration, “Like dandelion fluff on a summer’s day.”
She spun around, as if she hadn’t heard him enter. “Hey,” she said, smiling awkwardly.
He came to stand beside her, reaching out to tug on a lock of her hair. He remembered how it used to feel to wind handfuls of her hair around his wrists when they made love. How Jalissa used to urge him to tug on it with increasing roughness. The memory made him tauten, and he struggled to keep an even tone.
“You’re doing a great job exercising your hands, working on your coordination. I know it must be a challenge.”
She set the brush down and confessed, “Harder than walking, to be honest.”
“The finer skills take longer to come back.”
“I guess they do.”
Jalissa picked absently at strands of hair in the brush, avoiding his eyes, and that pained him. He wished there were a way to take that anxiety away. He remembered how the old Jalissa, brazen and bold, used to parade around his bedroom without a stitch on, taunting him with the sheer perfection of her round bottom; the way her long legs scissored past each other as she walked. She was a woman who knew how powerful her attractiveness was and never ceased to use it to bring him to his knees.
And now, she barely trusted him.
If she didn’t, how would he get her to agree to come home with him, where she belonged?Spit it out, he told himself,it’s the only way.“When you’re finally discharged, I want you to come home with me.”
She resumed brushing her hair, and he sat beside her, taking in her profile, admiring the determination with which she persevered, in all things, large and small. But she didn’t even try to answer.
