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Her mouth sagged open. “You stole herkeys?”
“I didn’t steal them,” I swore. “She begged me to go through her stuff, and when she saw the keys, she wanted to go check on her apartment to make sure everything was okay.”
I’d returned to her apartment yesterday to clean up from when I’d stayed the night. I’d even spotted a book she had due at the library, and I’d taken it back, paying for all the overdue fees.
And I’d been hoping to sneak her key into the hospital when I’d gone to visit next, but yeah, that didn’t seem like a possibility anymore.
My throat closed and the prickling returned to my skin, but I swallowed down the anxiety and forced my mind away from those thoughts.
“I—yeah, of course,” Oaklynn assured me, taking the keys. “I’ve got it handled.”
“Can I go with you?” Faith asked. “She probably doesn’t remember me, but… I’d like to visit her too. I can help distract her while you return the keys.”
When Oaklynn readily agreed, I smiled at the two and said, “Thanks, guys.” Then I turned to Keene and motioned between the two ladies. “Andthat’swhy you fall in love.”
Across the room, Hudson nodded his head in satisfaction. “Amen, brother.”
32
RAINA
Istayed in the intensive care unit for five days after I woke from my coma before they moved me into observation. And the morning after I was transferred, a delivery of gaillardias in a small terracotta pot showed up.
The captain was the only person I could think of who might know that blanket flowers were my favorite. So I called him from my cell phone that I’d found in my bag of personal effects. A nurse had lent me a cord to charge it, and now that I could have some contact with the outside world, I felt a lot more in control of myself.
But the captain who’d had to go home for the week to return to his charter told me he hadn’t sent the flowers.
The only other person I could think of who might know about my love for gaillardias was Kinsey.
So from there, I somehow convinced myself thatshe’dsent them.
Yes, from beyond the grave.
When I tried to tell Oaklynn and her friend, Faith, when they visited about Kinsey’s delivery, they only looked at me warily, as if they didn’t want to inform me I was insane.
But I wasn’t sure why it was that crazy of an idea. Both of them could see the freaking dead.
“You don’t see her anywhere, do you?” I asked. “Do you think her ghost would visit me here?”
“Sweetie.” Oaklynn took my hand and patted it. “Not everyone who dies turns into a ghost.”
“Butshemight have,” I insisted hopefully. “Hey, do you think you could go to where the crash site was and look around? Maybe she’s there.”
Oaklynn opened her mouth, and I knew she was going to object, but Faith spoke up, saying, “Of course we could do that for you, hon. No problem.”
When Oaklynn shot her a surprised look, she only shrugged. “We did it for Parker. And it’ll take—what—a couple of hours to look around. We can do this for Raina.” Turning to me, Faith assured, “We’ll do it.”
“Thank you,” I rasped. “I hope you find her.”
After they left, I pulled my bag of personal effects back into my lap, bored and needing something to do. When my set of keys fell out into my lap first, I picked them up, blinking in confusion because I was sure I hadn’t seen them in there before.
Had I?
The doctor had warned me my mind might play tricks on me for a while. I could hallucinate and think all kinds of things were happening that weren’t. And Ihadcalled for some water right after the nurse had brought me a cup. My memory definitely needed work.
But I was so sure these keys hadnotbeen in that bag before.
Looking at them now, I winced, wondering how bad off my apartment must be. My plant was probably dead, and the expired food in my refrigerator—Whew. That wasn’t going to be pleasant to clean out.
