Chapter 24 – Waking Up

William

“I know this might bring back some uncomfortable memories, but any detail that you could remember would surely help us catch the people that did this to you,” I explained to the boy who was lying in the hospital bed in front of me.

I had volunteered to interview him since he was staying in the same hospital as Harmoni. I was reluctant to leave her side for too long.

When I arrived back at the hospital after my trip to HQ, I went straight to her room to check on her. There had been no change in her condition; disappointment dropped like a stone in my stomach.

Harmoni had still not woken up. It had been three days already, and I was getting restless, but the doctors kept telling me it should be any moment now. They had had to keep her sedated for an extra day as her injuries hadn't healed as fast as they had hoped.

Although the doctors were still optimistic, her lack of response was worrisome. As each day passed, doubt twisted me inside. I was starting to prepare myself for the dreadful news that she had slipped into a coma. She wouldn't do that, right? She had to stay with us... The back of my throat burned at the idea of never seeing her piercing green eyes again.

I was glad her friends came to visit her. Emily was allowed in as she was on the list her father had given to the hospital staff. Jessie and other people from her cheerleading team or simply classmates were in the waiting room for many hours each day. It warmed my heart to see the support she was receiving from the people around her.

Focusing back on the situation at hand, I had been questioning Marcus for the past few days, but was yet to receive anything useful. He kept on dodging the questions, saying he couldn't remember or that it was still foggy.

It wasn't surprising, seeing as the previous two boys that had been kidnapped and drugged could barely remember being awake at all.

Marcus mentioned that he had been awake at least four times. They had asked him questions, but he couldn't recall any of the questionings he had suffered through. This was probably the effect of the drugs combined with the traumatic experience he had gone through.

“Does the name Caprica mean anything to you?” I tried one last time. His body tensed at my question, betraying him.

“No,” his answer was short, but he hadn't dared to look at me.

Normally, I would leave it at that since the kid could be traumatized.

The problem here was that I had been trained in behavioral analysis and could tell that this guy was lying. There was no doubt in my mind; this name had significance.

His reaction was enough for me to confirm one of the theories we had. The kidnappings and the school shooting were related.

I was about to call him out on his lies when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Swiftly reaching for it, I answered and placed the phone to my ear.

“Huntz,” I answered curtly.

“She's awake,” I heard the other person say. That's all I needed; I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had been waiting for someone to tell me those two words for days now. I quickly excused myself from the room, telling Marcus to let me know if he suddenly remembered anything.

Rushing out of the door, I immediately headed to the staircase. No way was I going to wait for an elevator to come to the right floor. Taking two steps at a time, I finally reached the floor which had a passerelle connecting this part of the building to the private wing.

I had done this trip about five times already, yet it had never seemed so long in the past. By the end, I was nearly jogging. Once I was closer, I noticed Logan waiting for me outside the door. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to take a deep breath. I closed the distance between us. I walked past him, ready to enter when his hand reached out to stop me.

“Before you go in, I think there's something you should know,” he said to me. I kept my eyes fixed on Harmoni while she hugged her father. Seeing her awake was like a weight had been lifted from my chest.

“What?” I asked, slightly out of breath. My brows creased with concern at his remark.

“She seems to be having some kind of amnesia. She doesn’t remember the shooting.” My eyes never left her as I took the information in. Amnesia. I didn’t know how to react. I knew it was common and could happen to people that had been through something traumatic. Yet, it hadn’t even crossed my mind that Harmoni could be affected by it.

“Did the doctors say anything about whether she would be getting her memory back?” I asked, concerned. Some people never remembered while for others it was a temporary side effect to the drugs and unconsciousness.

“They were as surprised as we were, but they explained that it would depend on her and that anything could be a trigger to getting her memory back,” he repeated slowly.

“Okay,” I took a deep breath to calm myself before pressing the handle down and opening the door. She didn’t notice me at first as I was hidden behind her father’s figure.

“I’ll go get you something to eat,” James said before standing up and heading out, clearing the way between Harmoni and me and leaving us alone in her hospital room.

As soon as our eyes met, my heart picked up its pace, but at the same time it calmed down. How? Don’t ask me, I have no clue. I hadn’t realized how much I craved to see her awake and well and how much it had worried me. The air seeped out of my lungs slowly as relief washed over me.

“Hi,” I said nervously. Seriously Wil? Hi? You couldn’t say anything better?

By the time I reached her bedside she still hadn’t answered, yet her eyes were now filled with tears.

“Hey! Shuuu,” I immediately hugged her to me, wrapping my arms around her. I patted her head slowly, playing with her hair, hoping to settle her a bit. She relaxed against me progressively before she opened her mouth to speak.

“I’m so sorry I pointed a gun at you,” she whispered, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She remembered! Looking at her at that moment I would have preferred the memory to stay away. It was causing her pain, pain that I didn’t want her to have. She had endured it once, she didn’t need the memory as a constant reminder of the nearly fatal fight she had.

“It’s okay, Har. It’s okay,” I soothed.

“It’s not okay! I pointed a gun at you! A GUN!” she yelled like I was completely mental for telling her it was okay.

“You didn’t shoot me and you were just scared and being cautious. It’s okay. I’m glad you faced both people that were talking to you, if it hadn’t been me then you would have been protected.”

She didn’t answer anything and kept crying onto my shirt. I leaned back from her just enough to reach her chin and tilt her head up.

“Never, ever do that again. Don’t you ever say goodbye to me on the phone again and jump into a situation that could get you killed.” My voice was slightly harsh, but she needed to know that what she had done was not okay. “You could have been gravely injured, hell, you could have died in there.” I took a few breaths to calm down again.

These past few days I had been terrified that I wouldn’t get to see her smile again or speak to her. It was a feeling I never wanted to experience again.

“I know. I’m sorry,” was all she said as we kept looking into each other’s eyes. As much as I wanted to deny it I missed these captivating green eyes. My eyes shifted to her lips, my insides heating up. If I simply leaned forwards a bit our lips would meet. I know I had said it was a mistake, but we all knew how wrong I was.

When my eyes connected with hers again, I could tell she had noticed my movement. She bit her under lip shyly, making my last string of control snap.

I leaned down and sealing our lips together. At that moment, it felt like the world around us had stilled, leaving only her and me. It was just as I had remembered, soft and inviting. I poured all that I was feeling into this kiss, the pain of seeing her unconscious, the stress of her not waking up, the incessant worry, the gratefulness at seeing her better, but most importantly, all the feelings she had triggered in me. I didn’t know yet if I loved her, but I couldn’t be very far.

I felt her hand reach up and curl in my hair, pulling me closer to her while my own hand reached her cheek. My heart trembled at our closeness. Her own emotions mixed with mine in this passionate kiss. I couldn’t get enough of her. Our lips moved in sync for a few minutes—I wish I could freeze this moment and make it last forever, but I knew I couldn’t.

I’m pretty sure Logan had witnessed our kiss, but I couldn’t risk her father walking in on us. I slowly pulled back and pressed my forehead against hers as our breathing evened out.

“Now that that was said, I’m proud of how you held your ground in that fight and took control of the situation,” I praised her.

Although I told her it was a mistake the other day, I knew it was only a matter of time before I wouldn’t be able to resist any longer. So why deny the inevitable? I did, however, promise myself that I would not let it affect my work in any way. If for any reason, I thought that my feelings for her were endangering her, then I would quit. This was non-negotiable.

“You didn’t even see me fight,” she answered while rolling her eyes playfully.

“I didn’t have to, all I needed was to see what the other guy looked like,” I grinned, earning a smile out of her. “There it is.”

Understanding what I meant, her smile grew.

“When will you be released?” I asked her.

“How should I know, I’m the one that just woke up after three days,” she said sarcastically. Okay, point taken.

“Wait here, I’ll go ask,” I said before internally facepalming myself. Did my brain just turn to mush?

“It’s not like I can go anywhere,” she answered, smirking at me.

A doctor rushed into the room and started asking her a few questions to check her memory and verify when she would be able to be discharged.

In the meantime, I allowed my mind to wander.

What were we doing? I had already admitted I had feelings for her, and I would be ready to bet she had some for me too. Yet, how far could I take this? Knots formed low in my stomach at the uncertainty.

What would James think? James was a very influential man. There is no telling to what extent he would go if he opposed our relationship. He had ruined more careers than I could count. The men all deserved it, but this still showed to tell that he could destroy everything I worked for.

However, there was no possibility of Harmoni and I being together without having her father’s approval. I knew it was important to Harmoni, but it was also a key element for me. I didn’t want to sneak around like a teenager, I had long past that phase.

If I were to be with her, I wanted our relationship to be in the open. I wanted to bring her to HQ barbecue. I would probably even go to prom if she asked me to. I would show her off and make every other man in the room jealous. I mean, look at her, how could they not? The corner of my mouth lifted in a small smile at the thought. This all seemed like a dream. A dream I was willing to try my best to reach.

James had told me that with everything happening, he would want me on board for at least another year. It was an important decision for me to make.

The pay was beyond anything else I could find, and the hours were flexible and adjustable, which I had never come across before.

All in all, it seemed like a perfect job for me. Yet, the voice in my head kept reminding me how staying would put Harmoni in danger.

This was a decision I would soon need to make. For now, I decided to put it on my back drive and focus on Harmoni.