Royale (Book #1 Royale Series) {Under Revision}

Chapter 21: Matters of the Heart

Juliana's POV

 "What the hell, Jules?" I heard Aspen shout from a distance.

I stopped my pacing and turned around to see Aspen hurridly walking toward me with a bunch of papers in his hands. Crap. He had been served. I was hoping that I could explain my resignation before he ever got served with the papers.

"Aspen, back from Isola so soon? Where's Xander?" I asked nonchalantly.

"On his way to Isola. I was supposed to go with him, but I didn't even make it to the car before I was served with these." He slapped the papers in my hand. "Care to explain?"

I rubbed my temples. "I would love to tell you all about it and I will, but I have to deal with Lilac first."

Aspen frowned. "What do you mean? Has something happened?"

I nodded. "She's awaken." 

Aspen forced a smile. I knew he had other things on his mind, but still wanted to be supportive. "That's great. Why aren't you in there to see her?" He gestured to the hospital room which earlier I had been pacing in front of.

"Because Aspen, she doesn't remember me." I told him sadly.

I heard him exhale. "I'm sorry, Jules. How much does she remember?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. When she woke up and I discovered she didn't remember me, I called the nurse. Katherine is in there now trying to figure what she remembers and what she doesn't."

Aspen shook his head. "How does being choked result in memory loss?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe Katherine can explain that to us."

As if on que, Katherine stepped out of Lilac's hospital room and scribbled a few notes on her clipboard. I immediately began my questioning.

"So? Why doesn't she remember anything?" I had stopped bothering to be polite to Katherine. I didn't like her and she didn't like me and we both knew it.

"When she was choked to the point of unconciousness and collapsed, the blow from her fall to the hardwood floor caused severe damage to the brain. If you add that plus the medication that was used to induce her coma, there is no telling how long the memory loss will last."

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. "How much does she remember?"

Katherine shook her head almost in defeat. "Not much. She knows basic facts like her name, age, and the year, but that's about it."

"What about her son?"

"Nothing. The only person besides herself is her mother and other maternal family members. She seems to know bits and pieces of others in her life, but there isn't much more than that."

"Can I see her?"

Katherine sighed. "Just for a little while."

I nodded and immediately walked in. Aspen stayed outside in the waiting room. I guess he really didn't want to get involved.

I walked in to find her sitting upright in the bed messing with the remote that controlled the television in the room. Her red hair was longer, just a little past her chest and it had lost a little bit of it's color, but it still lit up a room. Her blue eyes looked lifeless and pale, but they were also still bright. The same couldn't be said about her complexion which was very pale. She was skinnier. Much skinner. The baby weight had disppeared completely.

"You're the girl that was with me when I woke up?" I nodded, not really knowing what else to say. "You seemed upset," I again nodded, feeling too awkward to do anything else. "I'm sorry about whatever you're going through. I'm sorry that I can't be of any help like you wanted."