The next three days dragged in an endless array of anxiety-laced seconds, minutes, and hours for me. Zac had asked me to give him space. I knew he probably preferred to be left alone. But I couldn't help but obsess over those faint lines of tally mark scars that ran ever so discreetly along the tats on his forearms.

Like a madwoman, I called and texted multiple times each day. To check on him. To let the idiot know I was beside myself with worry. I kept thinking about the toll that our recent revelations regarding his dad's true nature might take on his mental and emotional state.

Hey, baby. Thinking of you.

Was Zac hurting himself again?

Miss you.

When he stopped coming to class, I contacted my dad to inquire if his surveillance team had picked up any worrisome activity. I wanted to make sure that my boyfriend was alive since he wasn't responding to any of my messages. My dad assured me that Zac seemed to be okay.

It took every shred of willpower to stop myself from driving over to Zac's studio. There was nothing more I wanted than to kick down his door and see with my own damn eyes that my man was really okay. At present, my love for Zac burned brighter than ever, but his feelings for me felt decidedly dimmed. Faded. Nonexistent. It unnerved me. I didn't dare say or text the L-word to him anymore. I held back out of self-preservation. I was afraid that maybe he no longer felt the same way about me.

Everything okay? Please talk to me, Zac. I'm really worried about you.

He didn't respond until the third day.

dont worry im good

At least, he was alive. I tried to focus on my schoolwork. It helped to have both Nat and Amari back in my life. I updated them as much as I could—without compromising my dad's investigation, of course—on my life and the sorry state of my relationship with Zac.

The next morning, I was jolted awake by the sound of my ringtone. Zac was calling me.

I nearly toppled out of bed as I lunged for my phone. "Hello?"

"Hey..."

His voice sounded raspy and broken from the other end. Like he had been crying or something. My heart ached for him.

"Damn. It's so nice to hear your voice, babygirl."

Babygirl.

I relaxed slightly. "What's up, baby?"

In low, hesitant tones, he asked, "Can I... come over and take you to school today?"

His words sounded like music to my ears. My heart sang. "Yes, of course! I've missed you so much these past few days. You have no fucking idea."

"I know, baby. Me, too. I'm so sorry for ghosting you. I've just been feeling really... down."

Softly, I reassured him, "It's okay, baby. I understand."

"I've missed you like crazy, too. Can't wait to see you."

Eagerly, I asked, "Are you heading over right now?"

"Yep. I plan to leave my place in about five minutes. See you soon."

As we hung up, it felt like a ten ton load had been lifted from my chest.

After almost an hour, though, Zac still hadn't arrived at my house. I texted him.

Are you almost here, baby?

He messaged back.

sorry couldnt find my keys!!! almost there

At this rate, we were going to be late for first hour, but I didn't mind. I'd wait for a lifetime for this beautiful boy of mine.

However, forty minutes later, his black BMW still hadn't pulled into my driveway. I called him. He didn't pick up. I texted him a slew of messages.

Dude, where are you?

We're going to miss second hour. Get your ass over here!

If you don't respond in five minutes, I'm driving myself to school!

I waited for another ten minutes before determining with a disheartened sigh that Zac was probably ignoring me again. He simply wasn't coming. Jerk.

Why did he bail on me?

What changed his mind at the last minute?

I was a tad annoyed that he hadn't even bothered to cancel on me, but, mostly, I felt confused. Earlier, he sounded excited to see me on the phone. I wondered briefly if something bad had happened to Zac. I wrinkled my nose and brushed aside that thought. Apparently, exiling me from his life for three days hadn't been a long enough time for him to recover. I figured Zac just needed more time to process his shit.

If the guy wanted space, then I'd give it to him. At least, school would be a welcome distraction from fixating over my stupid boyfriend for the next few hours. My nerves needed a break. Hopefully, he'd be more willing to talk later in the evening.

I tried not to cry as I drove myself to school.

After sixth hour, I slogged my way back to my car in the parking lot. My phone began to vibrate in the pocket of my school blazer. I pulled it out to check the caller ID.

Huh. It was my dad. This couldn't be good.

Why was he calling me?

I picked up. "Hey, dad."

"Cate."

His tone sounded urgent. Shit.

"There's something I need to tell you."

A sick feeling flooded my stomach. My gut told me that something must have gone terribly wrong. In that moment, all I could think was, Please don't let it be about Zac. Please, please, please...

"What... is it, Dad?"

"One of my men captured some alarming audio this morning while Zachary was driving to school..."

"Yes? And?"

"We believe he was involved in a car accident, Cate. My agent immediately contacted local authorities and emergency responders. Zachary is currently at the Wellesley-Newton Hospital."

The world suddenly turned black. My heart felt as though it stopped beating. I found it rather difficult to breathe.

"Is he... is Zac okay?"

"Doctors say he's still unconscious, but I believe his condition is stable. The hospital has notified his parents. His mother will be flying into Wellesley tonight."

The moment I got off the phone with my dad, I rushed straight to Zac. My thoughts were scrambled. My emotions were a mess. I was surprised that I didn't get into an accident myself on the mad dash over to the hospital. I barely remembered what happened in between. One minute, my Civic was screeching out of the Ashton Wellesley parking lot. The next minute, I was walking into a small hospital room with overly bright fluorescent lighting. It smelled of disinfectant and lifelessness.

Zac was resting on a hospital bed. His beautiful amber eyes were closed as though he was merely sleeping. He was hooked up to various tubes and a heart rate monitor. Bandages darkened with blood were wrapped around his head.

As my tear-filled eyes traveled down his bruised and battered body, I noticed that Zac also had some bandages around his right forearm. The same arm where his tally marks were located. I prayed and prayed and prayed that those injuries had resulted from the accident and not from his own doing.

I pulled up a chair and sat down beside him. Everything felt so surreal. My entire body was in shock. I kept his hand in mine and continually pressed kisses into the center of his palm. I whispered words of encouragement to Zac even though I was pretty sure he couldn't hear me. I stayed with him in the cold, brightly lit hospital room for over an hour, desperately waiting for something good to happen.

Then, one of Zac's fingers twitched.

I gasped when his eyes slowly fluttered open. He looked around in confusion. When his gaze coincided with mine, a smile and flicker of recognition passed across his face. "C-Caterina Donati? What... what the fuck are you doing here?"

I kissed him full on the lips and breathed ecstatically, "Oh, my God, Zac! I'm so happy that you're okay! Hold on, let me go find a nurse or doctor!"

His cheeks burned bright red as he coughed. "Whoa! I'm, uh... happy to see you, too?"

I smiled at him. "I'll be right back, okay, baby? Don't worry. Everything is gonna be okay."

He chuckled awkwardly. Almost nervously? "Damn, Cate... I-I can't believe this is happening right now."

As I turned to go, I couldn't help noticing something strange about Zac's facial expression. For some reason, he looked completely and utterly shell shocked by my presence. Weird.

When Zac's attending physician and nurses arrived, they proceeded to usher me out of the room to conduct a series of tests on him now that he was conscious again.

As I waited in the hallway, opposing forces of relief and trepidation wrestled inside me. I was elated that Zac had awakened so quickly, but also—

Why did he keep looking at me as though we were strangers?

Twenty minutes later, the physician, a petite dark-haired woman who went by Dr. Zhang, stepped out of Zac's room. She pulled me aside for a word. "You said your name is Cate, right? And you claim to be the patient's girlfriend?"

I nodded with bated breath. "Yes, my name is Caterina Donati. I'm Zac's girlfriend. Is Zac gonna be okay, Dr. Zhang?"

She smiled uneasily. "I'm not at liberty to say at this point, but, until we run some more advanced tests on his cognitive functions, I'd like to ask you to refrain from visiting him."

Her words felt like a slap in the face. "Wait, what? Why?"

"I suspect that he might be suffering from some form of post-traumatic retrograde amnesia. Zachary just informed us that he doesn't have a girlfriend."

Blood rushed to my ears. The hallway began to spin. "What?"

Dr. Zhang continued,"I don't mean to pit your word against his word, Cate, since it's notuncommon for patients who suffer head injuries to develop memory loss. However,due to the fact that his cognitive judgment may be impaired at present, for hissafety and protection, I'd like to speak to his parents or legal guardiansbefore opening up visitation rights to outsiders like friends and non-immediatefamily members."