Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek, #3) (43)

Noah sheepishly nods.

“Is that normal?” Ellie asks the doctor.

“Most people don’t remember their traumatic events,” Dr. Murray says. “I’d say that’s quite common.”

Reminds me of when Tripp got one during high school while playing football. He didn’t remember anything from that whole day.

“Wait, is Ranger okay?” Ellie asks Noah.

“He’s fine. Fisher told me they got him back in your trailer unharmed.”

She presses a hand to her chest, breathing out a sigh of relief. “Good. He must be so scared.”

“So you have no memory of the race or before it?” Noah prompts. “Not even Magnolia, Landen, and me screamin’ for you? I made the coolest sign.”

“No…it’s blank. I don’t even remember going to the rodeo. The last thing I remember is arriving at Uncle’s ranch. Wait, no, Easton’s uncle’s ranch. Anything after that, I’ve got nothin’.” Ellie rubs her temple, then tilts her head in confusion. “I thought you were married to Fisher. Who’s Landen?”

Noah’s eyes widen as she looks at the doctor and then points to me. “Landen. My brother.”

“Ohh…” Ellie studies me, and a whirlwind of thoughts enters my mind. “I figured he was one of those hospital volunteers who keep patients company or whatever. I did think it was weird how he was just stickin’ around, but I figured hey, he’s cute, so why question it?”

Noah chokes out a laugh, blinking rapidly. “You don’t remember him at all?” When Ellie shakes her head, Noah adds, “You’ve known him for four years. He’s helped train you.”

“There’s a sense of familiarity, but I don’t remember knowing him.” Ellie glances from me to the doctor, panic written on her face. “Is that normal for me to forget people?”

Great…she hates me so much, her unconscious mind completely erased me from her memories.

Talk about a gut punch.

“With a concussion in addition to an epileptic episode, I’d expect you to experience some memory loss or brain fog,” he says.

“For how long?” Ellie asks.

One of his shoulders lifts as he purses his lips. “Typically, a few days. But in some cases, it can take weeks or months. Sometimes it never comes back. With your injury, it’s hard to say. Everyone recovers at their own pace. The key will be resting and not overdoing it.”

She’ll probably just randomly remember and then hate me even more.

“But I’m not dying, right? I know you said there are all these possibilities of what caused this and you’re still waitin’ on some of my test results, but overall, I won’t die probably?”

The doctor’s mouth curves into an amused grin. “No, not on my watch anyway.”

Ellie exhales sharply. “That’s halfway reassuring.”

Dr. Murray checks the time. “I’ll be back to discharge you tomorrow afternoon, assuming you don’t experience any worsening side effects like more vomiting or having another seizure—so don’t do that if you wanna go home.” He smirks. “The nurse will go over your recovery, restrictions, and scheduling your follow-up before you go.”

“Sounds great. Thank you.” Ellie grins.

Once he leaves, Noah sits on the bed next to her. “What’d I tell you about not being allowed to die on me?”

“At least not tonight.” Ellie snorts. “Did I fall gracefully at least? Oh wait, who won?”

“Uh, no. It was terrifying. I never want to witness that again. And honestly, I dunno. We left right away and none of my family stayed.”

Ellie leans back against the pillow as if she’s fighting to keep her eyes open. “I swear to God, if Marcia Grayson won, I’ll never hear the end of her gloatin’.”

Noah snickers. “Unfortunately, she may win now that you’re gonna be out the rest of the season.”

“What? Why?” The panic in Ellie’s voice makes me sad for her because I know how much she loves racing.

“Recovering from a concussion can take weeks, sometimes months. Plus, you have a huge bump on your skull.” Noah points to her bandage. “It’d be irresponsible to let you compete in this condition.”

The corners of Ellie’s eyes fill with tears, and I wish more than anything that I could scoop her up in my arms and comfort her.

“Are my parents coming?” Ellie asks.

“Yeah, they should be here in a couple hours. They were tryna get ahold of someone to come sit with your aunt.”

Her brows furrow, but I’m not sure which part confused her. I’m quickly realizing I don’t know much about Ellie at all. Like where she lives or who her aunt is.

“I should get back to the campsite to check on Poppy and let you get some rest,” Noah says, but I’m tempted to argue because I don’t want to leave her.

“Okay.” Ellie meets my stare. “Would you be able to stay? At least until my parents get here?”

I’m so taken off guard that my brain freezes for a solid ten seconds.

“Oh, um…yeah. I could do that.”

Noah narrows her eyes at me, secretly telling me this is a bad idea, but I don’t care. Spending quality alone time with Ellie? I can’t pass this up. Plus, if I told her no I’d hurt her feelings.