Page 7 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

“I…I…I’m so sorry.” She covered her mouth for a moment as if needing to collect herself before she dropped the big explanation bomb. “Everything’s just been…crazy. Ever since—” Breaking off suddenly, she bit her lip. “What all do you know about…what happened to you?”

He swallowed drily. “Not much. The nurses told me there had been a mass school shooting at the university I attend. And I was one of the victims. After being shot three times, I hit my head on the corner of a table when I fell, which I guess put me in the coma. When I woke up, I had no idea who or where I was.”

“Th-Three times?” Tess went ashen as she cradled her belly. “You were shot three times? Oh God. I had no idea. You’re so lucky to be alive.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. He felt real lucky. When a thought struck him, he sucked in a breath. “Were you…were you hurt too?” Maybe that was why she hadn’t been able to get to him sooner. Maybe she’d been hospitalized and—

But she shook her head, her face full of guilt. “I…I…no. I was in my dorm room when it happened. I watched it all on TV. They had this one aerial shot from a helicopter they kept showing over and over again. We could see a figure lying on the ground in the middle of the street. It never moved. I think I cried all day for that one person, hoping whoever it was had survived.” Her eyes flashed to him. “I prayed it wasn’t you. And I…I called, but you never answered your phone.”

Turning away slightly, she lifted a hand to tuck a stray red curl behind her ear. “They sequestered us to our dorm rooms and wouldn’t let us out. I kept waiting for you to call back. But you never did. I was sure—” When her words broke off, he could see the torment in her entire being. Shaking her head, she looked back at him and whispered the last part. “I was too scared to check the fatality list. I couldn’t…I just couldn’t. I’m so sorry. I was scared.”

His throat worked. She still looked scared. Before he knew it, his anger slipped. The urge to ease her fears overcame him until he had to clench his hand into a fist and glance away. But as he took in his broken body covered by a thin white hospital sheet, the view reminded him why they were both here.

Brows wrinkling into a slight frown, he choked out, “How many died?”

She swallowed. “Eleven.”

Jonah’s body went cold. He cleared his throat and closed his eyes. “I hadn’t been able to…I hadn’t asked anyone that yet.”

“Twenty-one people who were wounded survived, though,” came her optimistic answer. “My friend’s boyfriend, Logan, was one of them. He caught a bullet in the chest when he stepped in front of her and saved her life.”

Opening his eyes, Jonah looked up. “Logan?” He shook his head. “I don’t…Do I know him too?”

“I—” She began to answer but stopped abruptly. “Of course. Of course you know Logan. Sure.”

He nodded, even though the name Logan didn’t resonate with him in the least.

“Who did die?” he asked. “Anyone I know?”

When her gaze darted away, grief filled him. Oh, God. Who had died? He hated that he couldn’t remember the names of anyone truly important enough to ask about. He hated that she was keeping things from him. He hated this entire confusing, fucked up situation.

“You know, why don’t you just focus on getting yourself better right now? We can worry about what happened in the shooting later when you’re healthy and you get your memory back. The nurse I talked to was worried about you. She said you hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch today, so you really need to eat. Okay?”

Jonah shook his head and glanced away. “I’m not hungry.”

“But—”

“No, God damn it,” he roared, winding back his arm. “I don’t want food.” After he launched the taco across the room, it splattered against opened door, adding to the mess already plastered to the surface. “I want to know what the hell is going on. Why are you the only person who’s come to visit me? Where is my family? My friends? I have family and friends, don’t I? What aren’t you telling me?”

“I…I’m sorry.” Trembling visibly, Tess scurried to pick up the meal she’d brought him and stuffed everything back into its takeout bag. “I don’t know why I did this. I shouldn’t have come here like this. This was a big mistake.”

“Why?” he demanded, the panic rising in his chest as she fumbled in her haste to collect her things. She wasn’t just going to leave him, was she? “Are we no longer together? Did I cheat on you? What’s going on?” When she didn’t answer, he latched his hand around her forearm and exploded, “Tess!”

She jumped and lifted her eyes.

He immediately wanted to apologize for scaring her, but God, he needed answers. He needed something.

“You can’t…you can’t just leave me like this.” To his mortification, his voice wavered, magnifying his fears enough for her to see and dissect every weak particle of his existence. “You’re the only link I have to…to anything.”

Her shoulders rose and fell sharply. More tears trembled at the edge of her eyelashes. Closing them, she opened her mouth. But before she could speak, a nurse barged into the room.

“What is all this yelling and commotion about in here?” Her lips pinched together as she eyed the door. “Mr. Abbott, did you throw more food? Just who do you expect to clean this mess up?”

“I will,” Tess said quickly. “I was about to get right to that.”

Leaving Jonah’s side, she hurried to the door to pick up the shattered dinner tray and stack the pieces. As the mollified nurse sent him one last lethal scowl before turning on her heel and storming from the room, he frowned at his girlfriend. She was a definite people pleaser, wasn’t she?

“You shouldn’t do that,” he grumbled. “A nurse or one of those volunteer people will get to it eventually.”

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