Chapter 142 – The Truth
Jacob stood waiting anxiously for Natalie to show up. His heart was racing, and he was sick to his stomach, filled with worry about what Natalie needed to talk about.
He watched Natalie slowly step out from behind the shrubs and stared at her as she looked around in search of him. Her eyes lit up in relief when her green eyes connected with his, but they quickly turned to sadness. His stomach knotted as his chest filled with anxiety. As much as he wanted to run away and not have to deal with all the emotions that were running amuck inside him, he knew that he needed to know the truth and be there to support his mate.
He leaped across the creek, landing close to where Natalie was standing. “How’s she doing?” he asked her, his voice filled with anxiousness.
She gave him a small smile as she nodded her head before answering his question. “She’s doing alright, she’s resting right now.”
The tension in Jacob’s body eased when he heard that she was okay for the moment.
“So, why can’t she remember anything about me?”
Natalie took a deep breath. This was going to be tough to explain, but she knew it needed to come from her and not from Gavin in order for him to understand.
“It seems that Cassidy has some type of amnesia where her brain is causing her to block out a certain traumatic event in her life. With everything that’s been happening with her these last few months, she has blocked out everything from now back to the first weekend that we were up here at the cabin,” she explained softly.
Jacob’s brows furrowed, “But that’s the same time we met. Why is she blocking me out?”
Natalie shrugged, “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. But if we step outside of the box and look at the picture from a different perspective, everything that has happened to her, you’ve been linked to it, one way or another.”
Jacob’s chest filled with pain, and he reached up, placing his hand over his chest, in hopes of some way it would stop the pain. Natalie had a fair point, even if he didn’t want to believe it to be true. He had been the cause of so many things in her life to go wrong. No wonder her mind was shutting him out.
Natalie slowly reached out, placing her hand gently on his arm, “I’m not saying that what you have is dead and gone; I’m not giving up on the two of you. To me, there have been more great moments than bad moments, we just need to remind her of that,” she said in a reassuring tone.
Jacob nodded, but his heart was heavy, and he was unsure if Cassidy would want him in her life after everything that had happened to her.
Natalie leaned in and focused her green eyes on his bright blue ones. “We need to have faith. Don’t give in to all the negatives; you two are meant to be together,” she said to him with confidence.
***
Cassidy’s eyes fluttered open after finally getting some rest after these last few crazy days she’d had. She sucked in a deep breath and noticed a scent in the air she hadn’t detected earlier. She turned toward the pillow next to her and took in the heavenly smell. It had a masculine signature to it, and she wondered how she hadn’t caught it before.
She slowly pulled herself out of the bed and attempted to stretch. She immediately regretted that choice as she winced in pain and realized how stiff and sore her body was. Her brows furrowed as she tried to remember what could have caused her body to ache so much. But nothing came to her.
She walked over to the window to look out at the day and was confused when she saw a light amount of snow edging around the ground. Cassidy shook her head as she made her way into the bathroom. She stepped into the smaller room and flipped on the light.
Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped as she stared at the unknown person staring back at her. Cassidy let out a frightful scream.
Natalie rushed quickly into the room to check on her friend.
“Cass, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Look at me! I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror. How did this happen?” Cassidy cried out.
Natalie stayed quiet while her best friend freaked out over what she had seen. She waited patiently until Cassidy was ready to listen to what she had to say.
Cassidy stopped crying and turned toward her friend for an explanation and emotional support.
Calmly, Natalie extended her hand out for her friend to take.
Cassidy looked down at the extended hand before grabbing it and following her friend back out to the bedroom.
Natalie guided her over to the bed and motioned for her to take a seat. Cassidy followed directions and sat next to her friend.
Natalie pulled out Cassidy’s phone and held it gently in her hands. “Cass, you’ve been through something pretty bad. I’m not even sure about everything that happened. But something inside you is trying to protect you from the hurt and pain that you experienced.”
Cassidy shook her head.
“What are you talking about?”
Natalie passed her the phone, making sure not to light up the lock screen. “I want you to look at your lock screen and tell me what you see.”
Cassidy pressed the button on the side of her phone, and the screen came to life. Her eyes widened as she stared at the picture in front of her, and she didn’t understand what it meant. It was a picture of her and the tall scary man she had seen in the warehouse. They looked happy and in love, but she had no recollection of him or the picture. She shook her head, not understanding what Natalie was getting at when she noticed the date on her phone.
“That’s impossible,” she whispered as she stared at the date.
How could she have no memory of the last three months of her life?