Tom and the nurse spoke over her head, but Angie didn't care anymore. This was the ninth circle of hell. What else could go wrong? He pulled her hands away from her face and forced her to look at him. He'd crouched in front of her.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not." She pulled her hands away and leaned back in her chair, staring at the white ceiling. The neon light hurt her eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked quietly.

She just nodded, sniffing like a toddler. She really needed a tissue. Pull yourself together. He's alive. Has no idea who you are, but he's alive. And she owed him answers. So she straightened up and patted the plastic chair next to her.

"Your name is Tom," she said.

For a moment, he just stared as if a three letter name was hard to process. Then he dropped next to her and put his joined hands behind his head. "Well, I was close enough."

A laugh escaped her. "You have no idea how close. Your middle name is Theodore."

"Seriously?" He let out a huff. "Thomas Theodore? What the hell is wrong with my parents?"

So much was wrong with them, he had no idea. "Actually Tom comes from Thompson."

"Like the gazelle?" He shook his head in disbelief and mouthed a curse. Then he sat quietly, looking at the wall in front of him.

Angie shifted uncomfortably. All her euphoria had burned to the ground, leaving her feeling like an intruder, and it was stupid because this was Tom. Except it wasn't. It was Theo. Why wasn't he asking anything?

"My name is Angie, by the way," she said.

He just nodded, seeming completely uninterested in her. And it almost tore her open. No, don't go there. It's not his fault. It wasn't her fault either.

"Come with me," he suddenly said, standing.

Angie complied and followed him down the hall, into a room on the left. As soon as she stepped in, her breath caught in her throat. On the bed, connected to a ton of machines, was Billy. His full-moon face was bruised and battered, his arms were bandaged. Guilt weighed her down. She hadn't even given Billy a second thought once she spotted Tom.

She walked to his bed to get a closer look, but it only made her feel worse. "How bad is he?"

"He has a bit of swelling, so they're keeping him under until it deflates," Tom answered.

"Oh, so he's not in a comma."

"Technically he is."

She waved her hand impatiently. "An induced comma isn't the same thing. He can actually wake up from this when the doctors stop the meds."

He nodded, seeming mildly impressed, and it took her back to when they first started hanging out and he did his best to make sure she wasn't an idiot. The memory brought no joy.

"What's his name?" Tom asked.

"Billy. He's your cousin."

"Really? Wow. And who are you?"

"I'm your-"

No, she couldn't say it. Not when he was staring blankly at her, as if she were a mildly interested TV show. She couldn't tell him she was his girlfriend and see the confusion and pity in his eyes. Well, not that she could see his eyes. She'd been brutally kicked out of his circle of trust.

"That nurse. Has she seen your eyes?"

"Who, Geaneyi?" He frowned in confusion. "Yes, of course."

"Can I see them?"

He took a step back, a wary look on his face. "Why?"

There it was, proof beyond any doubt that he didn't trust her, didn't feel comfortable around her. Didn't love her anymore. And maybe it was the heat, the despair, the sheer exhaustion, but she couldn't deal with this anymore. She couldn't make him fall in love with her a third time. Couldn't get crushed and heartbroken again.

"No reason. I just..." She just what? She sat on the chair next to Billy's bed, intertwined her fingers, and rested her forehead on them.

Come on, pull yourself together. Think! Tom was alive, but had no idea who he was, who she was. Billy was in an induced coma. She was basically alone with this. Sam would fix it. She had no means of letting Sam know what was going on. She really needed her phone.

Tom wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on top of her head. It felt so tender, so soothing. Her body responded at once, heating up, sending butterflies to her stomach. She ached to take his face and kiss him all over, rejoice in the life force coming from him. But it didn't work that way. Because rejection would kill her. She needed him to remember, needed him to reassure her that it would all be okay in the end, that she wasn't cursed to just keep on suffering. But he didn't. All he had to offer was a hug.

She tilted her head upwards to look at him. Her own drained face stared back from his reflective lenses. She hated those sunglasses with a passion, but still, she cupped his face, needing to feel more of him. He didn't move, just frowned the slightest bit.

And in a matter of seconds, he pulled away. "Are you my sister?"

Her jaw hit the ground. "What?"

"Black hair, green eyes..." He pointed from her to himself. "You're just as tanned as I am, and..."

"I'm not your damn sister," she said between her teeth. If there was anything worse than being friendzoned, it was being siblingzoned. "I'm your friend."

She was pretty sure he'd narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you Billy's girlfriend?"

She wanted to open her mouth and tell him she was Billy's sister, but then she'd cousinzone herself. "No. I'm his friend, too."

"O-kay..." He turned away from her and started pacing. "This is so confusing. I'm getting all these mixed signals and I know I should be asking you more stuff, but it's so freaky because you know me and I don't know myself."

"What mixed signals are you talking about? And I'll tell you anything you want to know." Except the truth about who she was. She was keeping that to herself at least for a while.

"It's just that I..." He bit his lower lip.

Angie frowned. She didn't think she'd ever seen Tom biting his lip before. She'd noticed Sam doing that a lot, but Tom usually smiled humorlessly, or pursed his mouth when he was uncomfortable. It was weird, like looking at Sam.

"I don't really trust you," he suddenly said.

It felt like a hit to the head with a chair. "What? Why?"

"Because I have a bad feeling about you." His face was definitely apologetic. "I don't remember you, but I think I didn't like you much."

Her eyes widened. No freaking way. She knocked her head back and let out the hysterical laughter bubbling up inside her. What were the chances of Tom keeping all that resent inside him and fixating on the part of their relationship in which they hated each other?

"Why is this funny?" he asked, rightfully confused.

"Because we did have a time when we couldn't stand each other. But we got past that. I came out looking for you in India, didn't I?"

He rubbed the back of his head, and that made him look more like Tom. "I guess so. Sorry about being so blunt."

"But what was mixed about that?"

"Oh... nothing. Forget that. Why am I in India anyway?"

There we go. Finally a question that made sense. "It's such a long story. We have a lot of talking to do."

Before he could answer, the door slid open and the nurse stepped in, a frown on her face. And suddenly, Angie understood all about bad vibes. The girl was giving her the creeps.

"I'm done," she said, her eyes never leaving Tom. "Ready to go home, Theo?"

Tom looked from her to Angie, seeming confused. "Apparently, my name is Tom."

"Oh, really?" Her eyes settled on Angie, her smile sharp and deadly. "Who is she?"

"A friend of mine. She came looking for me."

The pride in his voice warmed Angie up, and she could actually smile honestly at him.

"That's so nice," Nurse Bitch said, her tone filled with fake sweetness. "She can meet you back here tomorrow. Let's go home."

Something the nurse said finally register and Angie looked from one to the other, unable to believe it. "Wait, you're living with her?"

"Yeah." Tom rubbed the back of his head again, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Geaneyi was nice enough to take me in. After I was okay to be discharged, I had to leave the hospital. I was only here to visit..." He looked at his cousin. "Billy."

"Is there a problem?" Geaneyi asked on the same falsely sweet tone.

Hell yeah, there was a problem. Because Geaneyi was a pretty girl, with her tanned skin, the dark eyes and hair. Even the stud in her nose was cute. And she obviously had a little crush on Tom. Or maybe not so little. Not that Angie could blame her. It was hard to find someone as good-looking.

"Isn't that inappropriate?"

The girl's dark eyes narrowed. "What's it to you?"

He's my boyfriend, you bitch. But she couldn't say that. Because it was selfish and mean. After all, this girl had been taking care of Tom, feeding him, treating him. And he needed a nurse to change all his bandages. Angie was no good at that.

So she just sucked it up, sighed, and arranged to meet the guy she loved the next day, then watched him leave with another girl.

⭐⭐⭐

Tom sat on the single bed, his hands under his head, looking at the ceiling fan running lazy circles. It was so weird thinking of himself as Tom, but it did feel right. Just like Theo - a name he'd given himself - had sounded more natural than Alan, the name Geaneyi had given him while he'd been knocked out.

Angie... That girl was trouble with a capital T, he could tell. He couldn't remember her, just like he couldn't remember Billy or anyone or anything else, but she was a familiar presence. An unwanted familiar presence. What confused him more was that even if he felt there was something wrong, that he didn't like her, he wasn't repulsed by her. Quite the contrary. He was drawn to her in a way he'd never been drawn to anyone before.

"Why?" he asked the ceiling fan. "Why do I just want to touch her if I can't stand her?" Why couldn't he stand her?

We did have a time when we couldn't stand each other. That's what she'd said. But what did it mean? How had they gotten over it? Did that explain the attraction he felt? The fact that he couldn't stop thinking about her? Was it even appropriate to want to kiss her? And oh, how he wanted it. To run his hands through her hair, all over her... Not what's important right now.

He'd been so confused, so stupid. Why hadn't he asked more? He didn't even know his age, for crying out loud, or his birthday. He knew nothing except his name and the name of his cousin. And her name. Angie. He really needed to see her. He should've asked where to find her, not stupidly agree to meet her at the hospital the next day.

We have a lot of talking to do. She could bet her sweet ass they did. He wasn't a tourist there, that much he was sure of; or she'd have mentioned it right off the bat. So it was obviously something more, something mysterious and serious and... She really did have a sweet ass.

Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me? He didn't even know if he could trust her. But it wasn't like he had much of a choice. He didn't really have anything.

🌟🌟🌟

So here we are. Tom has been found and is so very confused about what's going on. Do you feel like I did justice to Angie' s feedings? To his confusion?

Do you understand why Angie didn't just tell him who she Is?

Also, what do you think about Geaneyi?

Thanks so much for reading. Now vote and comment and tell me what you think.