politely, still fiddling
with his heart rate monitor.
“I mean your first name,” he said.
I gave him a glare.
“Alison,” I said. “People call me Ali
around here.”
“Mine’s Caleb.”
I tensed up, stopping what I was doing
to look at him.
“I thought you couldn’t remember your
name. I thought you couldn’t remember anything .”
“It just came back to me,” he said casually.
I hesitated, but thought better about challenging
him on this.
“Have you remembered anything else?”
“No, not really.”
“So you still don’t know what happened
to you?”
“No,” he said.
He seemed to be speaking earnestly, but
I had no way of really knowing. But there was still something I needed an
explanation for.
“Why were you trying to leave?” I asked,
attempting to be nonchalant.
“I don’t know. I just wanted to,” he
said.
Nothing about this seemed right.
Suddenly, I felt my heart beating faster again, my pulse pounding and my blood
getting hot.
“I don’t believe you,” I blurted out.
“You’re lying about something.”
“No, really. I don’t know why I was
trying to leave. I just don’t like hospitals.”
“No, you’re lying. There’s something
you’re not telling me.”
“Close the door,” he said.
“No,” I said sternly.
“Close it.”
He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone
let me know that I had to obey him – or else . I walked over and shut the
door, leaning my body up against it, wanting to stay as far away from him as
possible in case he made a move at me.
“I’m not safe here,” said Caleb.
He kept his eyes steadily on me as he
said this, as if trying to imbue in me some sense of urgency. He was trying to
get me to let him leave, to help him even.
“This is a hospital,” I said. “It’s the
best place for someone in your condition.”
“Someone in my condition ? I’m
fine.”
“You’re not fine. You have retrograde
amnesia. You didn’t know your own name until ten minutes ago.”
“I don’t have amnesia,” he said flatly.
“I need to get out of here.”
“No, wait a second. Why did you lie to
the doctors? They’re trying to help you.”
“I said I’m fine . Besides, no one is going to
believe me anyway.”
“Try me,” I said, easing up a bit and
moving closer to him.
“How do I know I can trust you?” asked
Caleb.
“Because I just want to understand what’s
wrong so I can help you.”
“If you wanted to help me, you’d show me
how to get out of here.”
“I need to know why you’re trying to
leave.”
“There are men after me. If they find
out I’m here, I become an easy target. I need to be on the move. Constantly
on the move .”
“Who are these men? Who are you? ”
“Come here,” he said.
I don’t know why, but for some reason I
listened to him. I did as he said. I walked slowly over to the side of the bed,
still hesitant, hovering just outside of his reach.
“Why are they after you?” I asked, my
voice trembling just a bit.
I tried my best to conceal my
nervousness.
“Come closer, and I’ll tell you,” said
Caleb, his eyes still trained on me.
I took a step closer and immediately he
pulled me into him. He grabbed my breasts, shoving his face between them and
inhaling deeply. My heart beat wildly and I closed my eyes.
“It’s you,” he said softly, inhaling
once again.
“It’s me ? It’s me what ?” I
said, pushing him off of me, finally coming to my senses.
“You’re my mate,” he said. “Finally, I
know I can trust you. Now help me get out of here.”
“Your mate ? What the hell are
you talking about ? You’re freaking me out.”
I reached over attempting to press the
button that would signal an emergency, the button that would send someone else
running to my aid. But Caleb grabbed my hand, easily holding me back. His
strength was impossible for me to surmount.
“No one is going to save you. You’re
mine now, and you’re going to do what I say. Nod if you understand.”
I