Page 97 of The Echo of Forever

“When we were twelve, our grandfathers made a marriage pact on our behalf. It would’ve been a good look, me marrying the daughter from a family of rejecting doctors. Butshe and Inever had romantic feelings for one another. Alyssa is married, and I see them as part of the family. You don’t have anything to worry about, but I could easily fix that. Just say the word.”

Her eyes searched mine, then she rolled them and walked toward the clinic’s entrance.

“No need to plot the murder of your childhood friend, Demetrius…” She turned right as I stepped behind her. “But, thank you for—”

I kissed her, purposely stealing some of the gloss from her lips cause it tasted good.

“For what, my forever?”

It pleased me, watching how hard she struggled to keep control.

“—reassuring me,” she whispered without missing a beat.

Pleasing my wife in every way possible was the bare minimum in my eyes. She deserved so much more.

CHAPTER 23

FOREVER

All things medical-related gaveme the worst kind of migraine, the kind that left a person agitated with everything and everyone.

Being with Demetrius made me forget, but the pain had never gone away. Except for the night of the ritual, whatever they’d given us opened me up completely.

“It’ll take a couple of days for me to get the results from your blood work and CT,” Alyssa said, entering the room where they’d stuck me after ten minutes in the scanner. “Have there been any more fainting spells?”

I shook my head and flinched.

She stepped toward me immediately, brows pulled together in concern.

“On a scale from one to ten, ten being the worst, how bad does it hurt?”

For the briefest moment, I thought about lying and protecting myself from scrutiny. No one cared to help before or even ask how bad the pain was.

Instead, they shoved a fabricated diagnosis my way, completely disregarding the oath they’d taken, for one that came with much better benefits.

How many other doctors under society orders had lied to a patient and kept them in the dark about their own health?

All to protect what was supposed to be considered thegreater good.

“Forever…”

My eyes snapped in her direction, and she took a step back, both hands up.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Right now it’s about a nine, but mostly because I’m here. My trust in doctors is nonexistent at the moment. Demetrius trusts you so…” I shrugged.

She moved to sit on the stool across from me, keeping her distance but close enough to speak softly.

“I understand your hesitation,” she said. “What was done to you was unethical, and I’m sorry you had to experience that. But I need you to know that everything I do here is independent of any outside influence. That includes your husband, which is why I suggested he stayed in the waiting area until we were done.”

It hadn’t really been a suggestion, but I was picking up what she was putting down and respected it.

“With that, I have to be honest…” Her eyes met mine dead on. “A lot of time has passed. There’s no guarantee I’ll have any answers for you once we’ve exhausted all our options. But, I do believe the chronic migraine diagnosis wasn’t something they pulled out of their ass. You said they’re constant and there’s rarely a break in between. It would make sense for you to experience them and not unlikely for them to become more frequent.”

I hummed, appreciative of her candor.

“And the memory loss?” I asked, and that had Alyssa dropping her shoulders, which seemed out of frustration more than anything.

“That’s where things get tricky,” she admitted, fingers drumming against the tray she pulled in front of her. “Memoryloss after head trauma can be complex. Sometimes it’s physical damage, or psychological protection, but it can also be both. The fact that you’re having flashes of recognition with Demetrius suggests your brain is healing itself. I’ll be able to gain more clarity with your test results. For now, let me prescribe something for your migraines. Do you remember what you were taking before?”