CHAPTER ONE
Lucy's eyes opened to...a hospital room? "Where am I?"
"Everything's going to be alright." A female nurse, who appeared to be middle-aged, reassured her, patting her shoulder as she looked at her IV, adjusting the drip.
Lucy struggled to sit up, "What happened-Aah!" Pain shot through her wrist.
"Easy there," the nurse said softly.
Lucy's wrist was wrapped tight in a bandage. She laid back, cradling it to her chest, "Where am I?"
"Seattle Memorial."
Then she remembered, "We were in an accident." Alarmed, Lucy grabbed the nurse with her other hand, "Where's Flynn? Garcia Flynn, he's my boss. He was with me, where is he?"
The nurse picked up a syringe from the bed tray and injected her IV. "He's fine. He's in a room on the sixth floor."
"He's okay? He's not hurt?" Lucy's words started to slur, the room began to fade.
"Yes, he's alright, sweetie. Now rest."
Unable to fight whatever it was she'd just been given, Lucy went out like a light
"Hey, Lucy." Lucy's eyes opened to find Jiya gazing down at her, smiling. "How are you feeling?"
Lucy turned her head and saw daylight coming through the window.
"Jiya."
"You two had us so worried!" Jiya exclaimed, squeezing her arm. "When I got back to L.A. and called you, someone here answered your cell and told me you were both in a car accident."
Lucy reached for the remote to raise her bed higher, but Jiya got to it first.
"Here, let me."
As Lucy's bed raised her to a better sitting position, she noticed that her gold band had been moved from her right ring finger to her left and figured the person who wrapped her wrist must have done it. "When you and Rufus left for the airport in the morning, after the meeting with the Cranston property clients, Flynn and I decided to meet one more client since we had four hours until our flight back to Los Angeles. We met with the clients, but it was raining hard on our cab ride to the airport." Lucy rubbed her head, "I think I was trying to text you to let you know we were running late to our flight. Then I woke up here. Have you seen Flynn?"
Jiya shook her head, "I just got here when I saw you waking up." Lucy started pulling back her covers. "Wait, wait… What are you doing?" Jiya asked, worried.
"You know what room he's in?" Lucy started to swing her legs out of the bed.
Jiya raised her hands and tried to stop her. "Take it easy, you've been through a lot."
Lucy held her good hand out to Jiya, "It's only a sprained wrist, everything else is fine," she replied impatiently. "Can you hand me that robe?" She pointed at one hanging on a hook near the door.
"Hold on there missy!" They both looked up as the same nurse Lucy remembered from earlier entered the room, a disapproving frown on her face.
"I just want to see Flynn, to make sure he's okay," Lucy quickly explained, as she stood.
The nurse placed her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't be out of bed."
"Please? I just want to see him."
The woman glanced from Lucy to Jiya and back again before letting out a defeated sigh. "Only for a little bit. Let me get a wheelchair."
"Thank you," Lucy said, relieved.
The elevator stopped on the sixth floor and the nurse wheeled Lucy into the hallway with Jiya right behind them. Down at the end of the hall, they turned into a room. The nurse pushed Lucy right to the bed.
Flynn was lying there, eyes closed with a bandage wrapped around his head. There were dark circles under his eyes and stubble on his face, all in all, he didn't look too good.
"Will he be alright?" Jiya asked.
"He's fine and healing but…he has acute memory loss," the nurse informed.
Lucy frowned and exclaimed, "What?"
Flynn began to stir and turned his head toward her. Lucy leaned in closer, "Hey, how do you feel?"
He opened his eyes and saw that the lovely voice came with a pretty face that he didn't recognize. "Who are you?" he rasped.
Worry filled her, but she softly replied, "I'm Lucy."
His eyes intently moved over her face trying to remember her, as he wondered how he could forget someone so striking. He noticed her shiny dark hair and his eyes settled on her pleasant brown ones.
"Lucy?" he asked and she nodded, giving him a soft smile.
"What's...my name?"
"Garcia Flynn. We call you Flynn."
"Flynn," he quietly repeated. "How do you know me?"
"You're my-."
"Good, you're up." A young male doctor breezed into the room with a tablet in his hand. He moved over to Flynn as he firmly said to Jiya and Lucy, "I need to examine him, if you could please step outside."
"We'll be back," Lucy assured Flynn. She sat back in the wheelchair and allowed herself to be wheeled into the hall, Jiya following behind.
"You're in good shape, despite the head wound, Mr. Flynn," the doctor stated as he finished checking Flynn.
Flynn let out a slightly frustrated sigh as he rubbed his eyes. "How long until I get my memory back?"
"That's hard to say. In most cases, memory returns gradually as the wounds heal."
"Most cases?" Flynn asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Give yourself a couple weeks of healing," the doctor instructed kindly. "I'll prescribe some medication for you for any pain, okay Mr. Flynn?"
He called him Mr. Flynn, and that felt odd. Hearing his own name was completely foreign and triggered nothing in his memory. What if he never remembered?
The doctor saw the worried, frustrated look on Flynn's face and touched his shoulder. "Give yourself time. Rest and allow yourself to heal." Flynn sighed and nodded.
As soon as the doctor stepped into the hallway, Lucy immediately asked, "Is he alright?"
"He'll be fine. In cases like these, memory normally returns within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the other issue we have with him is that we can't find a next of kin. So, he's going to have to be released to the state," he replied.
Lucy was perplexed. "The state?"
He nodded, "When no one can claim a patient and they need to be monitored, we release them into the care of the state."
"He needs more medical care?" Jiya asked.
"He isn't incapacitated enough to stay in the hospital, but with amnesia, he can't be left on his own. He'll still need supervision," the doctor explained.
Lucy gazed at Flynn from the hallway window. His head was turned away from her, and he was peering out of the hospital room's outer window. Who knows how long they'll let him stay before they turned him out onto the streets. He seemed so helpless. Lucy couldn't let him be released to the state.
"He'll be coming with me," she said with finality to the doctor.
"Sorry, he can only be released to a relative."
"That's fine, because I'm his wife," Lucy replied, shocking herself, but holding a straight face. Jiya gasped and the doctor had a skeptical expression as Lucy continued, "We got married here at the courthouse in town," she held up her left hand to reveal the ring on it.
He hesitated but said, "Okay then." He typed on his tablet, "Be careful telling him anything about his true self because he may not be able to handle it so soon after the event. Keep in mind, he may get frustrated which is natural with people suffering memory loss."
"So, it's like that whole 'don't wake a sleepwalker rule?" Jiya surmised.
"Exactly," the doctor replied. "Now, he'll need to get some more rest."
"I want to speak to…my husband some more. Please?" Lucy asked.
"Okay, but not too long." He glanced at the nurse, "Please begin his paperwork for release."
"I can take her back to her room," Jiya volunteered to the nurse.
The nurse eyed Jiya. "Ten more minutes," she ordered, then walked off.
"What are you doing?" Jiya exclaimed.
"I can't just let them take him away," she reasoned, "We at least have to get him home."
"You're going to look after him?"
"He doesn't have anyone else," Lucy replied.
"This is crazy. How're you going to do that? You have an injured wrist and he remembers nothing. And you said you're married?"
"That seemed the most plausible idea since they weren't going to release him into my care."
Jiya touched Lucy's shoulder, "You haven't thought this through."
"No, I haven't." She grabbed her hand, "Jiya, I'm going to need your help, yours and Rufus."
"Alright. We're here for you."
TWO DAYS LATER – NIGHT
They made their way through the crowded baggage claim area and there was a young man in a suit, holding a sign that said Preston.
She walked over to him, "Hi, I'm Lucy Preston."
He nodded, "Good evening, ma'am, sir. My name is Jason and I'll be your driver this evening."
"Thank you, Jason." Lucy replied as she pointed, "Our bags are over there."
The young man retrieved their two bags and said, "Please follow me."
"Do you have the Pasadena address?" Lucy asked Jason as he held the limousine door open for them.
"Yes, ma'am."
The limousine pulled away from Los Angeles International Airport terminals and headed to Interstate 105.
They rode for some time in silence.
Lucy glanced over at Flynn and saw he was resting his head back against the seat. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Just the usual headache and slight dizziness that hasn't gone away yet." He sighed as he turned his head to her. "We're married?"
"Yes." she stiffly replied, not meeting his eyes.
He viewed her profile, "But your last name is still Preston?"
She glanced over at him, "I decided I wanted to keep my name." His eyes squinted as he mentally took her answer in. "It's not an odd thing to do," she added, as she tried to make her feeble answer not sound so feeble.
"What's going on?" he asked flatly.
She swallowed, "What do you mean?"
"Something's not right."
"True, we were in an accident."
"Exactly… And we haven't touched. Even when you came into my room. What's going on with us?"
The car slowed. "We're here," Lucy said, avoiding the question. The limousine eased to the curb and stopped.
Flynn saw a little white craftsman house. There were three steps that lead from the sidewalk, up to a path that extended to the porch steps. The front door was white with three little rectangular windows, and a yellow porch light glowed over it. It had a wood railed porch with two picture windows on each side of the front door. There were some flowers in the front yard with a green lawn on each side of the little cracked cement pathway to the house.
The driver jumped out and opened the back door for them. Flynn exited and held his hand out for Lucy, which she took. The driver retrieved their luggage from the truck.
Lucy tipped him. "Thank you for your services."
"You're welcome, ma'am," the young man nodded and got back into the limousine. Lucy lead the way up to the porch, pulling her luggage bag behind her with Flynn following, pulling his. She unlocked the door and they both walked in.
Lucy flipped on the lights and Flynn looked around. Hardwood floors went through-out the place as far as he could see. On the right side of the living room, there was a tan, L-shaped sofa with a dark wood coffee table in front of it. A 40" flat screen TV sat on a stand in the corner next to the picture window by some built-in, dark wood bookshelves with glass doors. On the left was a small, tan loveseat and ottoman next to a small fireplace that had a big, wooden framed mirror hanging over the mantle. On either side of the mirror were two antique wall sconces with frosted etched globes. It was nice, airy and…small.
"We live here?" he asked surprised.
"I live here," Lucy corrected. "This was my great aunt's home." He gave her a look that told her to explain. "You and I had a big fight and separated," she simply stated, giving him a short explanation of their 'complicated,' relationship. "That's why you'll be sleeping in the other room."
Flynn frowned, "What were we fighting about?"
"Let's not talk about that now, you need rest." His alarm on his watch went off. "Time for your meds and I promised the doctor you would go right to bed," Lucy said, relieved that she could get out of explaining their situation to him for a little while longer as she went around him to walk down the hallway to his room. "Jiya and Rufus brought some of your clothes over for you. The bathroom is there, second door in the hall and," she opened one of the doors, "this will be your room."
Flynn walked over to her and checked inside the room. The walls were white and there were two windows on the far wall that faced the neighbor's driveway. In the space between was a full-size bed that had a sturdy wooden craftsman style headboard and a burgundy comforter. The room was small, but warm and inviting.
His brow furrowed, "Who are Jiya and Rufus again?"
"Rufus is your business partner and Jiya is an employee, like me. Jiya was the one at the hospital. She and Rufus are married."
"We have a business together with them?"
"You have a business together with them. It's a good company and it's still in your name."
"We sign a prenup agreement?"
"You really should take your meds and rest," Lucy pushed, wanting to go rest herself.
"We're going to have to talk eventually." He slid his hands in his pockets, "After all, you cared enough about me to take me in."
"Of course. Until you're better, you're welcome to stay here with me."
He liked the warm smile that appeared on her pretty face. "Thank you," he sincerely replied.
"I can only imagine how frustrating this is for you," she softly replied. "It's the least I could do. Oh, I took some time off, which, by the way, I took the liberty of approving because my boss needs some peace and quiet."
He gave a one-sided smile, "It's approved."
"OK, now bed, Mr. Flynn. Meds, then bed," she ordered.
He smiled, as he watched her enter her bedroom that was next to his at the end of the hall, "We'll talk tomorrow…Mrs. Flynn."
Lucy quickly took out her cell and texted Jiya.
What was I thinking? I'm lying to my boss, telling him we're married and brought him to my home. -Lucy
You've been busy! -Jiya
Jiya! I could be fired over this! He could even call the police on me once he remembers! -Lucy
Well, you've been wanting to leave the job and go work for the museum. -Jiya
Not by way of the police. -Lucy
I doubt he'll do that. You're his favorite assistant. Let him heal a bit, and you, too. Get some rest and don't panic. You're doing a nice thing for him. -Jiya
… -Lucy
Take an Ibuprofen and get some sleep. I have a feeling this will all work out fine, OK? -Jiya
...OK. -Lucy
Flynn changed and got in the bed all the while thinking and wondering who he was and if it was always going to be hard to get answers out of Lucy.
Lucy.
His...wife.
He needed to find out what happened between the two of them. He knew it couldn't be because he stopped being attracted to her, because he most definitely was, but she was being...evasive. Maybe whatever happened, she didn't love him anymore.
He didn't like that thought one bit.
