Close Your Eyes, Remember Me (TBF Book 1)

Lucia

"You'd think with so few humans about I would get a week's peace," Dr Farris mumbled to himself as he examined Lucia's rapidly purpling and swelling side, "it's definitely broken." he added.

Lucia was laid back awkwardly on a medical cot, a crisp white pillow behind her head and ruthlessly tucked sheets beneath her. Dr Farris hovered over her while Elijah watched from his tiny plastic chair at her side, he looked like a giant and Lucia had to stifle a snigger.

"What can we do to heal it?" Elijah asked worriedly, he was holding her hand like he had when she first woke up from her fall, it made her fingers tingle.

Dr Farris frowned at them,"You have to let it heal on it's own, unfortunately." he said as he removed his plastic examination gloves and scribbled a few lines of notes on his clipboard.

Lucia and Elijah shared a wide-eyed look before she found the courage to ask, "How long will that take?"

"Mmm... somewhere between three and six weeks I believe." Dr Farris replied as he dug about the medicine cabinets, "In the meantime, I'll give you some painkillers and send Julie to fetch an ice pack from the freezer downstairs." he sent a voice note on his phone to the blonde nurse, asking her to bring an ice pack as soon as possible.

"An ice pack?"

"Yes, just for a couple of days. They do wonders for bruises, swelling and inflammation." He waved her off as she began to ask another question, "Now, more importantly I need you to do your best to breathe as normally as you do now and then take a few big deep breaths a day," he demonstrated with a slow and exaggerated breath and she nodded her understanding, "if you need to cough, press a pillow to your chest while you do it."

"Right, okay."

"What I don't want to see is you running about, lifting anything that looks remotely heavy, pushing yourself too hard or staying still for too long."

Lucia raised a brow, "You want me to avoid moving too much but also not moving at all?" she repeated uncertainly.

"Exactly, just don't stay in one position for too long."

"What about when I'm asleep?"

"Sleep sitting upright until the end of the week if you can."

Lucia pulled a face but didn't complain, things could be far worse.

"Take these up to three times a day and keep four hours between them," Dr Farris advised, handing her a small box of tablets and then checking his vibrating phone and announcing, "Julie couldn't find any ice down in the kitchen so she will go to my office in the clan lands to pick up some of those chemical ones that come in bags."

"Thank you, doctor."

He nodded and took his leave, bidding them farewell and reminding Lucia to check in with him every day until the end of the week.

Silence hung around the couple until Lucia could feel the squeeze of tension in her stomach, something wasn't quite right.

Finally, Elijah folded his arms over his chest and locked eyes with her, "You said Alyssa poisoned you." he stated, raising his dark eyebrows at her in a motion for her to explain.

Lucia sighed quietly, "When I was sick, it wasn't a stomach bug. I stuck my fingers down my throat to force out this disgusting liquid that she forced me to drink. I don't know what it was but there was no way it was anything but dangerous so I had to get it out of me."

"Why didn't you tell me when you woke up?" His voice sounded far more hurt than accusatory, "We were so worried about you."

"Because as she was pinning me down she said something, called me a name, and it brought back my memory of everything that had happened before she threw me down those stairs."

"Everything?" He breathed, his arms sliding down to his lap and his face falling into utter dismay.

She nodded with a sympathetic smile, "I needed a few days to stitch together the two Elijahs in my head. The shy and spineless one I met when I was first frogmarched into this house," he somehow managed to look even more hopeless as he listened to her, his eyes barely able to hold hers for more than a moment at a time. "who I did my absolute best to scare off with my harsh words and stink faces."

"You were very good at that." He mumbled.

"And the sweet, interesting and gentle Elijah that I woke up to." She breathed, watching his features lift in relief, his sea-green eyes gaining their shine back in an instant. "In the six weeks that I spent with him, I fell in love. And I won't lie to you, it's still incredibly difficult to imagine that the Elijah who kissed me to the point of weak knees is the same man who could barely get through a conversation with me when I arrived." He chuckled with a sheepish expression and she gave him a wide grin before continuing, "Even with my memories back I found it so hard to ignore the fluttery feeling in my tummy whenever I thought of you."

"I'm so sorry, Lucia." He stressed his words to the point of utter sincerity and regret, "I should never have kept the truth from you, I should have told you everything honestly when you first woke up. I got sucked into this fantasy ideal of us, of being your fiancé. When you woke up you were a completely different person to the Lucia I met in my father's office and I was instantly infatuated with you, I realised what I could have had if we had met differently and I couldn't bear to lose it."he scrubbed his hands over his face and through his dark curls, "I wanted a second chance so desperately that I would hide the truth to get it. I'm truly sorry, Lucia."

Lucia stared at him for a few moments, enjoying how full her heart felt, before simply stating, "I forgive you."

"Why?" He whispered with wide, round eyes.

"Well, I don't want this hanging over us on our wedding day, do I?" She teased with a wink.

His face creased with disgust, "You don't have to marry me, Lucia." he said gravely, "You can leave at any time, I will give you anything you wish to help you live the life that you want to-"

"The life I want to live is with you." Lucia stated firmly. Being given a choice by Elijah made her that much more certain, she wanted to be his wife, to spend the rest of her life as she had done for the last six weeks. This was her decision.

"I'm serious. Money, houses, land, whatever y-"

"I'm serious too, Elijah." She tilted her head up to give him a cocky grin, "I didn't survive three attempts on my life just to quit now, I've earned my title of 'Mrs Bonnet'." she giggled and he threw himself at her, wrapping her in his arms clutching her close. A short grunt was the only sound of pain that slid from Lucia's lips, she didn't want him to let go no matter how much it hurt. Despite his body being unable to generate heat, she felt warm in his embrace.

"You don't want to be Mrs Martinez-Bonnet?" He murmured into her hair.

"No."

She smiled at him despite a small sad feeling pinching at her throat and they shared a brief kiss before Julie trundled in with the ice packs looking unnecessarily embarrassed at what she had witnessed.

As cool as it would be for her initials to spell out 'lamb', Lucia had no desire to keep the Martinez name any more. It was an unnecessary weight sitting on the back of her neck. Quite frankly, fuck them. She had a new family now. When she took the name Bonnet it would not mean the Bonnet Clan to her, she would regard it as joining Sariyah and Elijah and Eden in sharing a link that bonded them together. They were the family she wanted.