“Oh.” The stranger laughed, and then she took her hand
from her pocket and set it on Giana’s knee. Through her black
slacks, the touch burned. It was the only warmth in the frigid
car. “That’s okay. But I’m worried. If you can’t remember…
this is scary. Are you sure you’re okay to go home?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine. I’m sure it will come back soon enough.”
“Is there a doctor I can call? Someone who could come to
the house?”
Panic closed her throat, but the other woman’s eyes were so
intense and beseeching that she couldn’t say no. Maybe there
was something seriously wrong. Maybe she had something
going on in her head that would kill her in a few hours. Why
was she so numb about that? Blue eyes, a laughing child. A
girl. Blonde hair. Beautiful. Who was she? The feeling was
back. The sensation of her skin being stripped away and
something pressing down on her flayed body. Pain. It hurt.
“Yes. There’s someone.” She passed her phone over, out of
her purse, which she’d grabbed before leaving the office. Or
rather, the woman had grabbed it for her. She unlocked it with
her thumbprint. “I’m sure I have someone in the contacts.
Under doctor or something. Is there someone?”
“I’ll look.”
Giana shut her eyes while the stranger scrolled through her
phone. She trusted this woman. She trusted her enough to give
her unrestricted access to her phone. Then again, what did she
have to hide? Did she have something to hide? Something
from her?
“You delete all our call and text history,” the woman said in
a low voice after a few minutes.
Shame scalded Giana. “I’m sorry. I guess I was trying to be
