“It’s okay, Matt.” She quickly wiped away the rest of her tears and crossed to him, taking the bag he held in his hands. “Thank you for bringing me clothes.”
“It’s only for a few days, we’re checking you out on Sunday.”
“Mmm-hmm.” She propped the bag on the bed and started rummaging through. She picked up a white lightweight sweatshirt and black leggings, and then shimmied off her bathrobe and untangled the ties in her hospital gown.
“I’ll just step out while you get dressed.” Matt backed away toward the door.
Liz popped her head up. “Why?” she asked him, dropping her gown and revealing her practically nude body, wearing nothing but her underwear. She stared at him. “I’ve been in these for a few days, haven’t I?” she asked, pointing to the last piece of undergarment she had. “Did you bring me any?” She started to pull off that last article of clothing, until Matt, suddenly instantly at her side, stopped her.
“Liz,” he started. “What are you doing?”
“If you’re my husband then why are you so distant? Why is there this tension between us when you look at me? Almost as is if you’re afraid for me to notice something?”
And why haven’t you kissed me?
Matt didn’t answer, instead, he slowly let go of her arms and leaned past her, latching on to the sweatshirt by the duffle bag. He pulled it over her head and when she didn’t move, he gently pulled her hair from under the hood and waited.
She forfeited and ran her arms through the damn thing.
“You’re very intuitive,” he said after a moment. “The truth is, I don’t want to scare you. You’ve just been in a horrible accident, you don’t know who you are or who I am. I…I don’t want you to feel like I’m taking advantage of you. So, yes, I might be a little distant for that reason.”
Liz watched him, hoping to tell if he was being honest. His reasons made sense, but the way he looked away from her every so often—was where the doubt laid.
There wasn’t much she could do about it, if he was still lying, but she had to try.
Or end up a prisoner until she got her memory back.
Chapter 11
MATT
“How are you feeling?” Matt asked Megan later that night. He felt terrible that he hadn’t gone to see her yet. It’s true they weren’t that close and though he may not be a huge fan of hers, she was still family. That and he needed to talk to her—find out what happened.
“Like I’m stuck here until some nipwads tell me ‘yep your wrist is still broken, take this for pain, make sure we have your correct billing address on the way out.’”
He grinned. “Sounds about right.” He looked her over, uncomfortably. “Well you look good, and a little break from work might be good for you.”
“Huh. That’s what Ben said.”
“I’m sorry,” he said after an awkward silence.
“It’s not your fault,” she murmured and rubbed the band around her wrist.
She must have noticed Matt tense at her words.
“It’s not Liz’s either,” she said sternly, this time looking him in the eye.
He gave a slight nod, which he hoped she’d take as gratitude. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Megan shrugged and looked down. “It wasn’t even really that dark out. We were talking. We thought about calling you guys to tell you we were on our way back.” Her eyes trailed back and forth as she tried to retrace the night, then she shrugged. “We started to bullshit about my warmth towards people.”
Matt wished she would just keep her story in order so he could follow but didn’t want to push. It was a miracle Megan had said as much to him as she had.
“Was she upset?” He had to ask. And Megan had to know that it was on the top of everyone’s list of reasons why Liz may have been distracted while driving. A stupid thing that he had allowed to happen.
Megan looked up at him. Her eyes turned cold and her willingness to help had vanished. “Of course she was upset. But she was fine when we drove in the morning. For the most part. She had no problems at the mall.”
Normally Matt would laugh at a ridiculous statement like that. Or crack a joke about the cliché of women shopping when they’re upset. But he was afraid of missing a single word or throwing Megan off her train of thought.
