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“Funny how that works, huh?” I asked softly, gazing out into the quad as I remembered Kinsey’s last visit. But when I caught sight of a familiar figure jogging our way, I straightened. “Is that Foster already?”
Alec lifted his face, only to pop to his feet and answer, “Damn. Did he sprint or what?”
I stood up next to him as Foster approached, wearing a T-shirt that had the sleeves ripped off, exposing a good portion of his ribs, and workout shorts along with sneakers.
“Ah, shit,” Alec groaned in regret as his friend drew near. “Did I pull you out of practice?”
“It was just weights and conditioning,” Foster answered breathlessly as he wiped his glistening brow with the back of his wrist. “And they have them twice a day, so I’ll just attend both sessions tomorrow.” Then his gaze shot to me before he returned it to Alec where he shook his head. “What’s going on?”
“I—I…” I tried to explain, but when Foster zipped his blue eyes my way, my brain stalled, and I didn’t know what to say.
“I came across her here,” Alec supplied, motioning to the bench behind us. “Having a panic attack.”
“You—” Foster’s gaze flared with worry, and he took a step toward me. “Are you okay?”
“She’s good,” Alec was quick to add. “We tried your finger-in-the-ear technique, and it seemed to clear everything up. But get this. She knew my name.”
Foster tore his gaze from me to frown in confusion at Alec. “What?”
Alec nodded in excitement. “Yeah. We’d never met before the accident, and I had no idea who she was, but then she called me Alec, and we were both like…what?” He paused to act out an over-exaggerated surprised expression. “And then she asked how she knew my name, so I answered that she must be remembering. And she was all like,remembering what? And…” Cringing, he popped his knuckles before confessing, “I kind of told her everything.”
Foster’s jaw dropped for a full second before he slowly asked, “You told her…what exactly?”
Keeping eye contact with him, Alec lowered his chin before whispering, “Everything.”
Shaking his head, Foster blew out a breath and continued to stare his buddy down before he sternly asked, “Why would you do that?”
“Probably because I deserve to know,” I broke in just as sternly. When Foster spun to me in surprise, I lifted my eyebrows in reprimand and set a hand on my hip. “Why were you so determined for menotto find out?”
He shook his head for a second, looking lost before he rasped, “I—I wasn’t determined for you not to find out. Iwantedyou to know. But you needed to remember on your own because it wouldn’t matter what I told you. I could stand here all day, until I was blue in the face, explaining what happened during every second of every day for the entire duration of your coma, but unless you remembered it for yourself, none of it will mean shit to you.”
My mouth fell open in disbelief. “You don’t think it would matter to me that my ghost or spirit—or whatever it was—followed you around like a little shadow for twoweeks?”
“I’m saying,” he defended himself. “You needed to remember it for yourself.”
“Well, Idon’tremember!” I snapped irritably. “So you better tell me every freaking thing that happened or I’ll—I’ll…” But I had no idea what I’d do, and instead of finishing the threat, I heaved out a shudder, and my breathing went wonky.
When I couldn’t seem to get my oxygen under control, Foster’s eyes flared with alarm, and he reached for my arm.
“Raina?” He sounded so familiar with me, like he really did know me, that it scared the crap out of me, convincing me even more that what Alec had told me must be true.
But I remembered none of it. I had no idea what I’d said or done for two complete weeks. And that was terrifying.
Before Foster could touch my elbow, I jerked my arm back, and he froze, not daring to come closer.
Next to him, Alec shoved his finger into his ear, demonstrating as he reminded me, “Pull down slowly.”
Keeping eye contact with him, I followed his instructions for a few moments before I closed my eyes. Then I drew in a deep breath and exhaled repeatedly until I could breathe right again.
When I reopened my lashes, both Alec and Foster were still there, watching me. But Alec was smiling in approval, while Foster looked traumatized with tears in his lashes.
“Are you okay?” he rasped in a hoarse voice.
I nodded, even as I said, “I want to go home.”
“I’ll take you,” Foster immediately answered and reached for my arm again, only to stop himself. Clearing his throat, he dipped his chin meekly and dropped his hand. “MayI take you back to your apartment?”
I bobbed my head and said, “I guess you already know where I live, anyway.”
