Free Forgotten by Lauren Barnholdt, Aaron Gorvine Page A

straightens the sheet on my bed.
    “No, Cam,” I say, starting to feel a little panicked at the thought of him leaving.
    “I want you to stay.” I reach my hand out to him, and he crosses the room to the other side of my bed.
    “Of course I’m going to stay,” he says, taking my hand. “I would never leave you.”
    My mom gives a tight smile, then stands up and then heads over to the window, opening the blinds all the way. “Let’s get some light in here, shall we?” she says. Then she turns around. “So, who do I talk to about what’s going on? Where’s your doctor?”
    “Dr. Palermo is the one who’s in charge,” I say. “He should be back soon. They gave me an MRI, and now they’re just waiting for the results to come back.” Cam’s still standing next to me, and I look up at him. I was feeling a little less scared, but bringing up the fact that I’m waiting for MRI results makes me nervous again. What if there’s something really wrong with me? He squeezes my hand, then kisses my forehead, and instantly I feel a little better.
    “So what happened exactly?” my mom asks. “You woke up this morning and you couldn’t remember anything?”
    “Yes,” I say. “I woke up on the beach, and I…I couldn’t remember anything from the weekend.”
    “The beach?” she asks. “What beach?” She glances at Cam.
    “The beach at Cam’s dad’s house,” I tell her. I can see her face tighten a little, like she’s annoyed that’s where I was. “We spent the night in the pool house, and then this morning, I …I woke up on the beach, and I couldn’t remember anything.”
    “You and Cam were in the pool house?” my mom asks. “Where was Mr.
    Elliott?”
    “I’m not five, mom,” I say. Suddenly, I’m a little bit annoyed. Who cares where Cam’s dad was? I understand that she’s concerned, but come on. There are more important things going on right now than whether Cam and I were being supervised.
    “No, I know.” She shakes her head, like she’s trying to let it go. “I just… if you were with Cam, then how did you end up on the beach?”
    Cam and I glance at each other. The truth is, we don’t know. We’re not sure if I got up for some reason, or if someone came into the pool house and took me.
    “We don’t know,” Cam says, “and I didn’t hear her get up. Or I would have never let her go by herself.”
    “You two were in the same bed?” Her face tightens even more. But then she must decide that’s the least of her problems, because then she says, “Okay, so you woke up and went for a walk?”
    “I don’t know, Mom,” I say. “The last thing I remember is being at the game on Saturday.”
    She nods. “And then Cam found you? On the beach?” She brushes my hair away from my face again. Her hand feels cool and good. “Are you hurt?”
    “No.” I shake my head. “There’s nothing physically wrong with me.” It’s a bit of a lie. I have small scratches all over my arms and legs, and a bigger one on my face.
    But according to Cam, that’s from this weekend, when we were running through the woods. He has the same kind of marks.
    My mom reaches her finger out and traces a line down the thin scratch on my left cheek. She opens her mouth, like she’s about to say something, but then she changes her mind.
    “Well,” she says. “As soon as the doctor comes back in, we’ll figure out what’s going on.” She turns to Cam. “Campbell? Can I talk to you in the hall for a moment?”
    “Sure,” Cam says.
    She heads out of the room, and Cam follows her, turning back and giving me a
    “what the fuck is this about?” look as he leaves. I shrug, even though I know exactly what it’s about.
    My mom’s worried about me, and she’s looking for someone to blame. And that someone is Cam.

Chapter Two

    Campbell
    I know Nat’s mom is going to be pissed, but when we get into the hallway, her face becomes a mask of rage and disgust.
    “What did you do to my daughter?” Her