Chapter Four

“Jon?”

He turned to look at Abby, and the low December sun shone through the bare windows, illuminating her hair with a fiery halo. Combined with her ice blue eyes the effect was striking. She’d been in the hospital for just under three weeks and, apart from the amnesia, she was fit enough to be discharged.

He walked over to her and held her hand.

“The doctor says I can go home, but the trouble is I don’t know where that is.” she looked up at him, her ice blue eyes wide and trusting.

“Darlin’ if you think I’m letting you be on your own after this you have another thing coming. You’re coming to live with me.” The words were out before he’d had a chance to think about it.

“Oh thank god. The doc was telling me earlier what would’ve happened if you weren’t here for me. I’d’ve ended up in a bed in a psych ward somewhere until my memory came back, and that just sounds heartbreakingly awful.” she looked so relieved and so full of hope and trust that the truth fled and hid behind his smile.




As Abby had a fractured leg and broken rib she was going to need a lot of care and Jon had a Limo ready and waiting for her when she was finally discharged from hospital. The doctor still had a problem with the fact that most of her paperwork was incomplete but as Jon had handed his medical insurance details over without blinking at the amount, no real fuss was taken about the incomplete records.

Jon wheeled Abby out through the double doors of the hospital and into the car park.

“Jon? Where are we going? I thought an ambulance was taking me to yours?” Abby said, smiling, even when Jon hit a bump in the road and jolted her leg. She hissed slightly through the smile and Jon looked down at her.

“Sorry baby.” he murmured as he manoeuvred her over to the black stretch Limo that was waiting patiently for them.

Abby looked at the huge car in front of her and gasped. Surely this couldn’t be for them? Jon had told her what he did for a living but still, she was quite shocked at the size of the car.

“Jon! This must have cost a fortune! You didn’t have to do this just for me.” Abby said, trying to twist around in her wheelchair to look at the handsome man behind her.

Jon just gave her his mega watt smile as the driver opened the door for them.

Abby was settled down on the long back seat, her leg propped up against the back of the seat.

They had left the hospital and were driving through heavy traffic. Jon had settled down on the side seat for the long ride to his house in East Hampton. A silence filled the car and he looked over to see if Abby had fallen asleep. Ice blue met ice blue.

“I’m sorry, we haven’t had much chance to talk over the past couple of days, what with all those bloody tests and the doctors hovering over me. Honestly you’d think I’d been in an accident or something.” Abby smiled to show she was joking to break the silence.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, fidgeting on the seat.

“Strange. But really glad to be out of that room. And I‘m so looking forward to having a hair wash and a bath.” she answered truthfully, trying to twist her long hair out from behind her.

Jon reached over and helped her yank the mass of hair from where she’d been leaning on it. A faint aroma of apples hit his nose and he breathed it in deeply. Abby looked up at the man holding her hair and coughed discretely. Jon dropped her hair and sat back with an embarrassed smile.

“You’re a brave man, it hasn’t been washed in almost a month, it must be really greasy.” Abby grinned, “ I like your hair though, those caramel, honey colours really suit your skin tone and eyes.” She looked him right in the eye.

He cleared his throat and wished he had brought his sunglasses with him. Her direct stares were beginning to get to him and make him feel uncomfortable.

“Erm, strange how?” he asked, breaking the silence that had once again settled between them.

“Well, this amnesia thing is weird. Like I said to you in the hospital, I can remember certain things, things from my childhood, toys I played with and places I’ve been to but I don’t remember you or New York, or anything from the last twenty-odd years. It’s like my whole adult life has been wiped clean. I know the doctor told us that it would take some getting used to and that we’d have to go through the whole getting to know you thing again, but it’s been a week since I woke up and I still don’t remember a thing,” She looked at him pensively, “Even my name seems strange. I mean what was I doing there in that alley way without my bag. Was I mugged? I mean that could explain why I had no ID on me. Ugh, it’s just so frustrating you know. ”

“Well, the doc said everything will seem strange to you at first but over time things might start to come back to you.” Jon wasn’t sure, as he said this, whether he wanted things to come back to her as then he’d have to deal with the massive hole he’d dug for himself. He was sure if he looked at the bottom of the hole he’d see China.

“Where did we meet?” she asked, fixing him with an ice blue stare.

The question was so unexpected that Jon choked on the diet coke he’d just taken a sip of.

Shit. Get yourself out of that one, Jonny boy.

“Oh, er, at a Music Studio.” he replied, hoping to god he wasn’t going to start sweating.

“Really? What was I doing there? Do I sing as well?” she asked. Abby couldn’t shake the feeling that this man, her boyfriend, was hiding something from her. His body language was cagey, shifty almost. She fleetingly wondered how she knew that but got caught up in Jon’s answer.

“No, I don’t think you sing, if you do you’ve never mentioned it before. You were doing admin.”

“How long ago was it that we met?” Abby was desperate to have some information about her life, even if it seemed that Jon didn’t really want to tell her.

“Not long really, we’ve been taking it slow and private, which is why, until now, no-one knew we were together. You know, making sure…”he trailed off, wondering just why in hell he was doing this. ‘You know why.’ his conscience told him but he ignored it, not wanting to follow through on that train of thought.

“And, are we sure?” Abby asked, looking at the man she’d been told, by one of the nurses, millions of women swoon over daily, taking in the tired, drawn eyes, the paleness of his skin and the pinched mouth. She wondered what was stressing him out so much and why he was with her. She knew, from looking in the mirror, that she was not a conventional beauty and knew, from looking at him, that he was. What had brought them together?

Jon just shrugged and turned away.

A small laugh broke him from his reverie. He turned to look at the woman he’d named Abby.

“It’s okay Jon, I understand. Listen you don’t have to do this.” Abby smiled at him, twisting her long red hair in her small hands. Her good leg was bent at the knee and leaning over her bad leg, to help stabilise her against the back of the seat. Jon looked at her, taking in her small frame, small-ish waistline and the impressive breasts and his heart missed a beat.

Understood? Understood what? His eyes widened with fear. There was no way in hell she knew what he’d done. Did she?

His confusion showed on his face, as she continued.

“We’ve broken up. Haven’t we? That’s why you’re uncomfortable about answering questions about us. I get it. I don’t quite get why you’re taking me home to live with you, but you don’t have to. Just drop me off at my place and we’ll say goodbye.” Abby said, smiling at the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life, wondering why he seemed so familiar when she knew she didn‘t know him.

Jon just stared at her. Broken up? That was a new one. Hell lady if you only knew, you wouldn’t be sat there so calm.

“Huh? No we haven’t broken up,” he began, “Truth is, we don’t really know a lot about each other. We haven’t actually seen each other that many times as I’ve been away.”

Good going Jonny, you asswipe, she handed you a get out clause and you just stared at it while your mouth ran away with ya.

His conscience turned away in disgust and walked off.

“Oh, that makes sense, I guess. I‘m sorry to keep asking you all these questions but it‘s just really weird and quite frightening to have a hole where a memory should be.” Abby smiled, then hissed in pain as the Limo hit a pothole and her leg bounced on the seat.

Jon was out of his seat and kneeling by her before he knew it.

“Are you ok?” he asked, concerned.

She reached out her hand and rested it on his shoulder, for support as she struggled to get back into a comfortable position. She smiled as she felt the warmth of his skin seep through the pale brown fitted jersey he was wearing. A feeling of safety swept over her and she smiled; the first real smile for a very long time.