Free Forget Me Not (Escape Contemporary Romance) by Nina Blake Page A

excuses, but there was no point worrying about that now. ‘She told us what happened,’ James said. ‘I understand that you needed someone to look after you for a while because the hospital would only release you into the care of someone who knew you. That’s what she told us, anyway.’
    ‘Claire, you mean?’
    ‘Yes, Claire.’
    Stefan didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about all this. Talking to his father on the phone felt strange. He’d seen photos, knew what the man looked like, but that was it. If he was being honest, he didn’t feel much of anything.
    ‘How are you, Son?’
    ‘It’s hard to explain.’ Stefan paused. ‘I’m fine. Physically, there’s nothing wrong with me. The doctors said there was no real reason to keep me in hospital.’
    ‘So we were told. That’s why we didn’t immediately jump on a plane and get over there. Claire said the doctors had done as much as they could.’
    ‘But I have lost my memory.’
    ‘As long as you’re okay, that’s the main thing.’
    I’m okay, am I? Was that what the man thought?
    Stefan didn’t have a life-threatening illness and he wasn’t going to drop dead from disease or from some other slow-moving ailment, but he’d suffered a radical transformation. Or so he’d been told, but that was second-hand information and other people’s experiences.
    He wasn’t the same man he’d been before. Claire had been a stranger too, at first, but as soon as he’d seen her, he’d felt something, some small spark. Perhaps he would feel the same way with his parents, too.
    In the meantime, if this man on the other end of the phone didn’t understand what was going on, Stefan would have to lay it out for him.
    ‘I can’t remember any part of my life that happened before ten days ago,’ he said down the phone. ‘I don’t know who I am. I can’t go to work. I have enough trouble justgoing to the store to buy a few things for myself. And if I bumped into you on the street, I wouldn’t know you from the next person. I am far from a fully-functional human being, Dad.’
    ‘I see,’ the man said. ‘I’ve got a couple of important business meetings that can’t be cancelled, but we’ll be there as soon as we can. Don’t think we’ve abandoned you. In fact, we’ve got a few ideas on how we might be able to help you.’
    Stefan figured he’d give his father the benefit of a doubt. The man was probably loathe to make an ill-formed judgment when the only information he had was second-hand. Still, Stefan’s gut was telling him there was something wrong with this situation.
    Also, he was well aware that speaking over the phone wasn’t the same as seeing his parents face-to-face. It’d have to wait.
    ‘Hang on,’ James said. ‘Your mother’s just walked in the door.’
    There was a kafuffle and raised voices, and then Stefan heard his mother’s voice come down the line. ‘Darling, I can’t believe it’s you. How are you?’
    He didn’t feel like going over the same ground a second time. ‘Physically, I’m fine. I’m all in one piece, but I can’t remember you or Dad or anything else.’
    ‘Are you eating enough?’
    Stefan shook his head, amazed at the question. ‘That’s the one thing you don’t need to worry about.’
    ‘Are you able to take care of yourself and do the basics?’
    ‘I don’t need a nurse to bathe me if that’s what you mean, but doing the simplest things can be difficult. I can’t remember... anything .’
    ‘Is she taking care of you?’
    There it was again—that word, she —as though Claire’s name didn’t deserve be spoken. Stefan knew that his mother must be alluding to something, but he had no idea what and he didn’t have the energy to be bothered finding out.
    ‘Claire is definitely taking care of me,’ he said. ‘She’s doing an excellent job.’
    ‘Hmm.’
    ‘I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s a gem.’
    ‘We’ll be there soon. Hang on ‘til we get there.’
    As if he