She rolled her head to the side and looked at Jax. Her mind must’ve been playing another trick because Jax looked the same. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I know I did some messed-up, unforgivable things, but I don’t deserve this. No one deserves this.”

“Shh…” Jax wiped a tear from her cheek and held her face gently. “Try to calm down and listen to me. It’s February sixteenth.”

Her shock stopped her tears. “What?”

“We fought this morning. It was ugly, and I stormed out. I came back in and found you on the floor. You’ve been unconscious for over an hour. I was terrified.”

“February sixteenth,” she said in wonderment.

“Do you remember any of that?”

Gretchen looked at Jax in a daze, unable to believe her life was really moving forward.

“I have to get the doctor.”

“Wait.” She watched Jax turn back to her slowly. Jax looked defeated with her eyes slightly downcast. One sleeve of her sweater was rolled up, and she wouldn’t look at Gretchen. Gretchen struggled to sit up. She pressed her fingertips into the center of her forehead. She felt like she had the worst hangover of her life. A wave of nausea kept her from speaking again. She sucked in a deep breath, but she couldn’t stop the bile from rising. She grabbed a nearby basin and heaved until her stomach burned and throat felt raw.

Jax rubbed her back as she coughed. “Gross.”

Gretchen laughed even though she felt atrocious. “My head is killing me.”

“They did a scan when you first came in because we were afraid you hit your head in the fall. Again. But everything came back clear. All the previous damage has healed.” Jax cringed as she took the dirty basin from her and moved it to the farthest corner of the room. “We were worried this latest seizure would set you back. Do you feel any different?”

Gretchen shook her head and regretted it immediately. “I remember everything, even not remembering everything.” She blinked hard a few times. “Was that English? Am I speaking English?”

“You are.” Jax picked up her jacket. “I’ll make sure someone comes in to check on you.”

“You’re leaving?” she said, knowing she sounded desperate, and she didn’t care. Jax leaving never led to anything good.

“Carly’s on the floor above us. She had the baby, so I’m going to check on Wyatt.”

“But you’ll come back?”

“There’s no reason for me to stay.”

Gretchen struggled to get her body to move, but she used all her energy to get out of bed. She walked up to Jax on wobbly legs. “Stay because I need you to.” She wouldn’t accept this ending. She didn’t live and relive a nightmare just to lose all over again. “Stay because you promised.”

“You’re going to hurt yourself. Get back in bed.”