“Okay.” Nicole watched Blaire as she seemed to pull it together. It took a lot to bring Nicole to tears, but she didn’t blame Blaire one bit. Nicole was doing her best to hide her own internal freak-out. Evie would be okay. She’d be fine.
“I think we have some friends of yours out in the hallway,” Nicole heard the doctor say to Evie. “I’d like to invite them in and maybe we can talk about this together. Would that be okay with you?”
“Yeah, okay,” Evie said as she looked back in their direction. Nicole could really see it now. There was something off about Evie’s voice and not just the tone of it. She was such a polite person. Most of her sentences included some form ofpleaseorthank you. She was never this dry. Dr. Manzo stepped out into the hall and quietly introduced herself. Nicole filled the doctor in on her role in this situation.
“It appears that Yvonne is experiencing some memory loss. This sometimes occurs with head injuries.” Nicole nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. She had to let the doctor speak before she peppered her with questions. “Just to clarify, neither of you are family or her significant other.”
“No,” Blaire said. “She’s an only child and there’s no boyfriend or girlfriend. And—no immediate family either. Everyone passed away. Wait!”
“Yeah?” Nicole urged.
“There was a guy. Shit, I can’t remember his name. Evie grew up on a ranch and the people who owned the place—she made it sound like they were cousins or something. I think Raquelle knows.”
“Okay. Why don’t you come in, introduce yourselves, and we’ll hold off on asking her any questions. Memory loss can be a little scary and very confusing. It’s best if we keep from distressing her any further. How does that sound?”
“We can do that,” Nicole replied before she glanced over at Blaire, who appeared to have pulled it all the way together. She nodded before adding her own confident, “Okay.”
“Good.” Dr. Manzo dipped her chin and motioned for them to head on into room. Just as they were about to start their introductions, Raquelle hurried into the room, flushed and out of breath.
“Here, I’m back. Sorry. Here are your glasses,” Raquelle panted. Nicole wondered for a moment if she ran up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. Dr. Manzo waited until Evie slid the thick pink frames on her face before continuing.
“Is that better?”
Evie blinked, looking around at her captive audience. “Yes. That’s much better.”
“Good. Why don’t you go ahead,” Dr. Manzo said with another dip of her head in Blaire’s direction.
“I’m Blaire. Best friend, roommate, not ride-or-die, but ride-and-never-let you-leave-the-house-in-shoes-that-don’t-really-go-with-your-outfit. I teach AP history at Hope Academy in Harlem. Oh, um. We’ve lived together for four years. It’s been a good four years,” Blaire said with a little laugh. Evie’s lip lifted a bit at the corner, but it was far from a full smile.
“Evie, I’m your agent,” Nicole said. “You have a career as a chef and you cook on a morning show. I’ve been representing you for a little over two years.”
Evie nodded and uttered a quiet “Hello,” but that was it. Nicole could see it in her eyes. Evie had no idea who any of them were.
“And I’m Raquelle. I’m your personal assistant. I do, like, everything you need and I help run your social media accounts. I’m your right hand, really.” The girl was working up to a serious ramble, but Nicole didn’t stop her. “You’re allergic to kiwi, but it won’t kill you. It just makes you sick. You’re mildly allergic to strawberries, but you eat them anyway. Your dirty secret is how much you love Kraft Mac and Cheese. When Fenty Beauty dropped, you requested an extra sample kit just for me and that was the coolest thing ever. Definitely landed you the best-boss-ever award. Oh and you’re a Pisces. Also you just got a new IUD so you don’t have to worry about that for a little while.”
The nurse piped up, giving Evie a warm smile. “These three ladies have been by your side day and night. You’ve got your own fairy godmothers right here.”
“That’s right.” Dr. Manzo gave Evie a little pat on her arm before she turned to the nurse. “I think we should get Miss Buchanan in for another MRI. We’ll definitely want to keep an eye on you for at least a couple more days. I don’t want to get any hopes up, but we’ll try to get you out of here in time for Christmas.”
“You, um—you had a trip planned, but I’ll contact the airline and see if we can get your money reimbursed or get you a flight voucher or something . . .” Raquelle trailed off, withering under Dr. Manzo’s intense focus. Right now the less information they threw at Evie the better.
“Why don’t we get out of their way and then we can check in with Dr. Manzo later,” Nicole said.
“I’d like to stay. If I can,” Blaire said. “I called out for the rest of the week anyway.”
“Me too,” Raquelle added. “I mean Evie’s my boss. This kinda is my work.”
“Can they stay?” Evie said, taking the whole room by surprise. She’d barely said a word.
“Absolutely,” Dr. Manzo replied with a warm smile. “There’s a cafeteria down on three. We’ll send someone by as soon as we’re finished.”
“Okay. I’ll head down with you,” Nicole said. She stepped into the hallway and waited for Blaire to grab her bag before the three of them headed to the elevator. They all stood there in silence, as if they’d made some private pact to wait until they were safe in the elevator before they said another word.
“Fuck,” Nicole said under her breath before saying it again, a little louder. “Fuck!”
“Yeah,” Blaire added.
“So we just wait?” Raquelle asked. Nicole looked over at the twenty-three-year-old. She’d come on as Evie’s assistant two months after she’d signed with Nicole. The three of them had been through a lot together in such a short period of time. A traumatic brain injury was not something she wanted to add to their group bucket list. Nicole let out a short breath, then turned to face them.