Cherish (Covet #1.5) by Tracey Garvis Graves

Author:Tracey Garvis Graves [Graves, Tracey Garvis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

JESSIE

A few days later when I’m in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher, I hear the crash. The sound came from the living room, and when I round the corner I see Daniel sprawled out on the floor next to the coffee table.

“Daniel!”

He isn’t moving.

When I crouch down next to him, his eyes are wide with confusion.

“What happened?” I ask.

“Just lost my balance,” he mumbles.

“Did you hit your head?”

“No. I’m fine.” His breath is coming in short, staccato bursts, as if the wind has been knocked out of him and he’s trying to find his natural rhythm.

“Take slow, deep breaths, okay?”

I stroke his head as he closes his eyes and nods. There’s something so vulnerable, almost pathetic, about Daniel right now. He’s been doing well, and a setback like this, no matter how minor, has probably rattled him a bit.

“All right. Let’s get you up.”

He may still be underweight, but it’s no easy task getting a one-hundred-and-ninety-pound man up off the floor. At least his equilibrium seems to have returned to normal because, once we’re finally upright, his footing seems solid and he doesn’t sway. But he keeps his arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder.

“I don’t know what happened,” he says. “That came out of nowhere.”

“It’s okay. The doctor said it might happen.” At that exact moment, I know we’re both thinking about the motorcycle parked in the garage and how it will be parked there indefinitely. “Do you want to sit on the couch?”

“I want to go to bed. I’m tired.”

“Okay.”

He lets me lead him down the hall, the two of us doing an awkward side-by-side shuffle since he still has his arm around my shoulder and I’ve wrapped my arm tightly around his waist. In the bedroom, I pull back the covers and he slips under them.

“Can I get you anything?”

“No.” His voice sounds so dejected and I feel the prickle of tears.

Before I leave the room he says, so softly I almost don’t hear it, “There are so many things I can’t remember.”

“The memories will return eventually. We just have to be patient.”

“Things about Gabriel.” His words slice through my heart because memories are the only thing Daniel has left of his son. Those memories are burned into my brain. All of them: the good, the bad, the horrifying, the heartbreaking. Every single one. After Gabriel died, I temporarily pushed them away, telling myself I would go back to them when I was stronger.

“I’ll tell you all about him. I’ll fill in the blanks so you can remember.”

He doesn’t answer.

“I’ll just be out here if you need me,” I say, and then I close the door and let him be.

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