Page 60 of Inked Desires

Mr. Benton? What?

“Lopez,” I correct.“My last name’s Lopez. I’m fine... aside from the headache.”

He raises an eyebrow and writes something on his clipboard, then stands briefly to check my eyes with a small flashlight.

“What do you remember?”

Didn’t I just answer this? Didn’t the nurse tell him?

“I had plans to meet my friend for dinner. Then nothing,” I say quietly.

He nods and jots more notes.

“Where’s Jace?”

“We managed to reach your husband an hour ago,” he replies.“He’s on his way to see you.”

“He’s not my husband,” I correct again.

He sighs, lifting his eyes from the clipboard.

“What year is it?”

I frown. What kind of question is that?

“Two thousand fifteen.”

“It’s two thousand twenty-two,” he says calmly.

I stare at him, stunned. What?

“How long have I been here?!”

The doctor lets out a soft chuckle and leans toward me slightly.

“Three days,” he explains clinically.“Don’t worry. It looks like you’re experiencing dissociative amnesia, but we need to rule out retrograde amnesia. We’ll run a few more tests. Aside from that, you suffered a nasty head injury—a concussion—and were stabbed. Luckily, it didn’t hit any major organs, but you lost a lot of blood.”

“Dissoci—what? Stabbed? I don’t... I don’t understand.”

My head pounds harder.

“You were attacked at New London station and brought here. It appears to have been a mugging,” he adds, offering more context at last.

A mugging? I’m in the hospital because of amugging? My head spins.

“New London?” I echo.“What was I doing in New London?”

“That’s what everyone’s wondering, Mr. Benton. You’d been reported missing by your husband, then presumed dead. No one could find you.”

People thought I wasdead?

That means I vanished without a trace. And…Mr. Benton.I’m apparently married to Jace. We passed the“dating” stage. It’s 2022. That’s seven years. Seven years gone from my memory.

“What does this amnesia thing mean?”

“If I’m right, the trauma was so intense that your brain shut down part of your memory. Dissociative amnesia. Therapy might help recover it.”

“And if you’re wrong?”