Chapter 254
Chapter 255
Julian’s POV
Amber’s frantic behavior had me worried, but if she wanted to check on Mom so badly, I didn’t see any reason
to deny her. So I stepped back as she stood up, and then I followed her out into the hallway and down to the
waiting room.
Amber was moving quickly, but I stayed in time. When we entered the room, Penny and Blake were already in
there. They jumped, surprised to see us coming in, in such a rush.
“Everything okay?” Penny asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
Amber wasn’t answering. Instead, she went straight to Mom. She checked all of her vitals, then her IV, and
finally her chart. When she lowered the chart back to the foot of the bed, she rubbed her forehead, like she had a
headache brewing.
“Amber?” I asked.
“ I just don’t understand,” she said. “She doesn’t seem any different p>
Penny and Blake shared a glance.
“That’s a good thing, right?” Penny asked.
It should have been, certainly. At least that’s what I thought. Penny and Blake too, if I could judge by the new
concern on their faces, looking at Amber.
None of us could really understand what was going on with her. She just wasn’t making sense today.
“ I could have sworn… last night… that she woke up,” Amber said cautiously.
“She didn’t,” I said. “You would have called me.” I thought I understood what was happening now. I
approached her and gently touched her arm. “I found you asleep this morning, Amber. Maybe you were just
lucid dreaming that she woke up. You were exhausted last night. You could have fallen asleep p>
It made perfect sense to me. When I’d left with Alice, Amber had barely been able to keep her eyes open. If she
had fallen asleep, she could have easily dreamed that Mom had woken up, but that didn’t make it real, even if it
felt that way to Amber.
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Chapter 255
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“Maybe,” Amber said, but didn’t seem fully convinced. She looked to Penny and Blake. “I’m sorry to have worried you. Everything is fine with Gloria p>
She glanced at me next and I knew without her saying so that she wanted me to follow her. Together we walked out of Mom’s room and through the waiting room to return to her office. There, she continued to rub her forehead, with both hands this time.
“Headache?” I asked.
“My head is throbbing,” she replied.
“Here,” I said. “Allow me.
With my gentle coaxing, Amber moved her hands aside and I replaced hers with my own. While keeping my thumbs on her forehead, rubbing small circles on her skin, I combed my fingers into her hair to rub there as well, giving her a full head massage.
Her eyes fluttered closed at once and she sighed.
“Good?” I asked.
She hummed her assent, which was as nice a compliment as I could have received. Rendering her wordless was
everything.
When she seemed pliant, I removed my hands and then helped her sit down on the couch.
She seemed more relaxed now, but still troubled. As I sat beside her on the couch, I asked her, “What was the last thing you remember from last night p>
She was quiet a minute, frowning. Then she said, “When you left. I don’t really remember anything after that… But I just have the worst feeling, like something happened and I’m forgetting. Ug, my head is so cloudy p>
I was quiet a moment, then I glanced at the computer monitor, which was still showing the video feed from Mom’s room. Penny and Blake were standing at Mom’s bedside, talking to each other, probably about how
strange Amber was acting.
I didn’t want to disbelieve Amber, but I still thought what she experienced must have been a dream. Everything
seemed okay this morning, except for her strange feeling.