Help Me Remember (Rose Canyon, #1)(2)

“Mrs. Davis, I need to examine her, and it would be best if we can do it with no distractions.”

If it’ll give me some answers, I’ll do anything. Knowing my mother, she’ll never go without a fight. “Mom, it’s okay. I just . . . I need a minute.” My smile is brittle, but she nods and lets my hand slip from hers.

As Spencer, Emmett, Addison, and my mother leave, a nurse enters, and she and Holden flank the bed.

Holden moves in, flicking a light in my eyes before sitting on the side of the bed. “I know that waking up like this can be confusing and overwhelming. I’d like to check your vitals and talk, okay?”

I point to my throat, and the nurse hands me a cup with a straw. “Start with small sips. You have an empty stomach, and we want to go slow.”

I swallow the ice-cold liquid, letting it soothe some of the ache. I want to keep going so the sensation never stops, but she pulls the cup away much too fast.

Then he shows me photos of three objects. “In a few minutes, I’m going to ask you about those objects and you need to remember them and answer the questions I ask. Do you need to see them again?”

It’s a cup, a key, and a bird. It’s not rocket science. “I’m good.”

“All right. Can you lift your hands and push against mine?” I do as he asks, and when he seems satisfied, he moves on to a few other minor tests. Then he listens to my pulse and rattles off numbers. As he does that, my mind races, but I’m too tired to try to chase the thoughts around.

Holden speaks to the nurse. “Patient has started to present bruising around her face so we’ll need to take updated photos prior to discharge. I’d also like to order another MRI just to verify the swelling from both injuries is abating.”

“How bad are the bruises?” I ask.

“Nothing too bad. They should be healed in a week or two.”

I nod. “Okay. What about the head injury?”

“We’ll know more after the tests and the second MRI. We can go over the results after, okay?”

“Can you tell me why I’m here or what’s going on?”

“As I said, we’ll go over all our findings once we finish the exam part.”

We go through a ton of questions, all the while my mind is swimming. I keep waiting for my brother to come through the door and tell Holden where to shove his medical assessments.

Once I’m done answering those, he puts down his tablet. “What was the first image I showed you?”

I take a deep breath, and then my mind blanks. “I . . . it was a . . .” I lean my head back and try to think. I know it. “A cup!” I say triumphantly.

“Good. Do you remember the second image?”

“Yes, it was keys.”

He smiles, and the nurse nods.

“Excellent, Brielle. Now, do you remember the last image?”

I do. I . . . know it. I try to recall him showing me the pictures, but my thoughts are slow and muddled. “I do, but I’m so tired.”

His hand moves to my arm. “You’re doing great.”

I don’t feel so great.

“Why don’t you tell me about the last thing you remember?”

I stare down at my hands, twisting the ring my father gave me as I try to think. I start with my childhood, remembering holidays, birthdays, and vacations. My brother and I were always causing mischief, but poor Isaac was always the one who got in trouble. My father could never punish me, and I took full advantage of that.

I recall my high school graduation, the lavender dress I wore under my gown, and how my father died two days later.

The funeral is a haze of tears and sadness, but I clearly remember Isaac being the rock that held my mother up as she fell apart.

Then I remember meeting Henry. I was a sophomore in college, and he was in my math class. God, he was so cute and funny. At the end of our first date, he kissed me outside my dorm, and I swore my lips tingled for an hour after.

It was magical.

More dates. More memories of us falling in love and us graduating with our undergrads. We’d been so excited as we opened our acceptance letters to the same grad school in Oregon. I recall the apartment we moved into, ready to start our lives as we pursued our career paths. Two years and another graduation later, we were no longer so excited because we were no longer kids in school and were forced to make adult choices.

Like when I chose to move back to Rose Canyon while Henry stayed in Portland, working for his family to take over the business. That was a few months ago.

When I pull my eyes away from my ring, I find Holden watching me, waiting for my answer.

“I graduated grad school about six months ago. I have been living with Addison and Isaac while I was interviewing for a job.”

Holden writes something down. “Good. Anything else?”

“I . . . I know that Isaac and Addy got married. I came home for it. Henry and I were—” I pause as I struggle to think about what we were. I don’t know that’s right, but I think it is. “We fought. It was so stupid because he kept asking me to move to Portland when he knew I didn’t want to. Oh! I got the job I was interviewing for, and I am going to be moving out of my brother’s house.” My eyes widen as I remember that I just got a job here. In Rose Canyon.

“What do you do?”

“I’m a social worker, but I’m working at a new youth center. I started there a few weeks ago.” I smile, feeling like I can breathe a little. I remembered.