He had the most God-awful headache. There were times when it felt as if there was an army of blacksmiths hammering away inside his skull. Just moving his head on the pillow sent a spasm of pain spiralling to his brain. A brain, which he had to admit felt like mashed banana, and just about as much use to him besides.
At least he still appeared to be in one piece. He might have a stinking headache, but his brain was still functioning, albeit at half power. Some of the poor devils in the beds around him didn’t even know which day it was. And the head injuries one of his fellow patients had sustained made him feel quite weak.
Well, weaker than he did already, he amended wryly, aware that right at this moment, he couldn’t have punched his way out of a paper bag. Dammit, even his legs felt like jelly. And although they’d assured him it was just delayed shock, he couldn’t seem to stop shaking.
It must have been one hell of a mess, he thought, not envying the fire crews and paramedics who had had to deal with the aftermath of the crash. Bodies everywhere, most of them well beyond the help of anyone in this world. And the screams—oh, God!—he could remember them. He doubted he’d ever get them out of his head.
Which was strange when so much else was gone. He didn’t remember getting on the plane. He didn’t even remember where he had been going. But most disturbing of all, he didn’t remember his name, or any damn thing about himself.
He didn’t remember the actual crash, either—just the horror of finding himself on the ground, surrounded by the cries of injured people. Someone had told him, he didn’t remember who, that he’d been thrown clear when the plane ploughed into the end of the runway. By some uncanny quirk of fate, the fuselage had fractured near his seat, and he’d been pitched onto the grass verge that edged the tarmac.
He remembered the smell—a sickening odour of kerosene—and the searing heat of the ball of fire that had consumed what was left of the aircraft. He knew that more people had died, engulfed by the flames, while he’d lain there unable to do anything.
They said he’d been knocked unconscious, which accounted for his memory loss now. He just wished he could have forgotten the aftermath of the crash. At present, it was the only thing on his mind.
Yet, if he concentrated, he could remember superficial things. It caused the throbbing in his head to increase, but he knew the name of the president who was presently occupying the White House, and he was pretty sure he could still read and write. For instance, those blacksmiths who were taking his skull apart had to come from somewhere. And no one had had to tell him where he was.
Or was that strictly true? Had he really known he was in a hospital in New York? He frowned. So, okay, someone had told him that, but he’d known what a hospital was, and he’d known what was happening after the crash.
The hammering was worse, much worse, and his mouth felt as dry as a dust bowl. Probably tasted like one, as well, he thought ruefully, wishing he could call a nurse. The injection they had given him earlier to relieve the pain must have worn off.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, a face swam into view. A female face, oval shaped and somehow vulnerable, it was gazing at him rather uncertainly. As if the woman didn’t quite believe he was alive, he mused, forcing himself to concentrate on who she was. She was nothing like the nurse who’d attended him earlier, who’d scolded him for trying to get out of bed. Just because he’d wanted to go to the bathroom instead of using one of their damn bedpans. Dammit, he might have lost his memory, but he still had some pride.
He wondered briefly if he’d died and gone to heaven. The way his head had been hammering earlier, there was always a chance. And surely only an angel could have eyes that vivid shade of sapphire. Or were they violet? he pondered dazedly as a sooty fringe of lashes swept her cheeks.
He licked his lips, but whatever romantic words had formed in his mind, his outburst was hopelessly prosaic. “A drink,” he whispered, giving in to the urgent needs of the moment. “I need a drink. I’m parched.”
Every word caused the pain in his skull to expand, and her timid “What?” had him groaning for relief. Dammit, what was the matter with her? Was he speaking a foreign language? Why was she gazing at him with those big blue eyes, as if he’d scared her half to death?
“Oh—water,” she eventually stuttered faintly. And now he heard the unfamiliar inflection in her voice. “I didn’t think—I didn’t realise—you want a drink?” She glanced around. “I’ll get the nurse. Just hang on a minute.”
“No,” he began as she would have moved away, and although he sensed her reluctance to obey him, she stayed where she was. “There,” he croaked, “on the cupboard.” And she turned to look at the carafe of water and the glass.
It was her accent, he realised as she poured a little of the water into the glass, dropped in a straw, and slid a slim arm beneath his shoulders. It was different, unfamiliar—English? Yes, that was it. He would almost swear it was English So—he knew her accent, but he didn’t know who she was.
A drifting cloud of fragrance enveloped him as she lifted him. And her breath, as she murmured, “Are you sure this is all right?” was just as sweet. Perfume, he breathed; nurses didn’t usually use expensive perfume. Or wear fur-trimmed overcoats besides, he thought as the softness of her sleeve brushed his neck.
He was so bemused by what his senses were telling him that when she brought the straw to his lips, he felt some of the water go sliding down his chin. Oh, great, he thought, he was dribbling like a baby. What an impression he was going to make.
Nevertheless, the drop of water that made it past his lips was refreshing. The straw was only plastic like the glass, and the liquid had a faint metallic taste, but it felt like liquid honey on his tongue. It eased the awful dryness that was almost choking him, and although his head was still throbbing, the woman’s appearance had distracted him from his woes.
When she lowered him back to the pillow, he groped blindly for her hand. “Who are you?” he demanded, hearing his voice, hoarse and anxious in his panic. He gripped her wrist, feeling the narrow bones taut, and somehow fragile, beneath his fingers. “You’re not a nurse,” he stated with more conviction. “Nurses don’t dress—or smell—the way you do.”
She hesitated. “Don’t they?”
“No.” He frowned. “I guess I should know you, right? We have—we have met before?”
“You don’t remember?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t be asking.”
He sighed. That was stupid. He had to calm down. Getting angry with her wasn’t going to achieve anything. She was here because she was concerned about him, not to listen to his griping. It wasn’t her fault that the damn plane had crashed.
“If—if they let you in to see me, you must be a relation,” he ventured steadily. He expelled his breath in frustration. “I can’t remember.”
She licked her lips now, her tongue appearing almost hypnotically to lave her upper lip. Its tip, pink and provocative, was mesmerising. It reminded him that his emotions hadn’t been paralysed by the crash, and he let go of her wrist, not wanting her to recognise his reaction. For God’s sake, the woman could be his sister, though he sensed with a kind of gut feeling that she wasn’t.
“You don’t remember—anything?” she asked at last, clearly as dismayed by the circumstances as he was himself. And, although he had no reason to think so, he sensed that it alarmed her. So their relationship was not as simple as he’d like to think.
Yet why wouldn’t she be alarmed to hear he was virtually a stranger? He was someone who couldn’t even tell her why she was here. It must have been a shock. Hell! It was something more than that to him. But he still had the feeling there was something she was trying to hide.
“Nothing—personal,”