Lured into Love (Blossom in Winter #2) - Melanie Martins Page 0,3

coma, but in Manhattan with Mom by my side, stroking my hair and telling me everyone had abandoned me. She and Emma were the only ones left.”

Dr. Nel nods as she reaches for her notebook and pen from her briefcase. “Emma? She’s your best friend, isn’t she?”

“Yes. She’s like a big sister to me. We basically grew up together.”

Dr. Nel keeps nodding and starts writing something down. “And what about Mr. Van Dieren? Where was he?”

I frown at her question, closing my eyes for an instant. Despite that nightmare not being real, the pain I felt, oh jeez, I felt it quite sharply. “He was gone,” I mumble, my eyes still shut. “He was married, and he was gone.”

“Hey…” I feel her hand pressing mine. “Petra.” My eyes open wide. “He’s here. And he’s not going to leave you.” Somehow, as I look into her gaze, I can’t help but feel my heart tightening. Her words don’t reassure me. They sound fake, just like those sweet little lies you tell someone in order to not hurt them.

“My mom said Alex promised her he’d leave me.” I take a much-needed breath. “Abandon me and move on with his life.”

“Your mom doesn’t like him, huh?”

“She hates him,” I correct. “She hates the fact we are together, and she’s firmly against our relationship.”

“It’s not easy for her, I imagine. Your mother has been coming here every single month. Each time she leaves, she cries. She loves you a lot.”

“You know her?” I ask, feigning my surprise.

“Yes. My parents are also from Rotterdam. She’s a very strong lady.”

“Yeah… And very stubborn too.”

Nel lets out a quick chuckle. “She told me the same about you.” I mirror her laugh for a moment, but we keep quiet afterward.

“I can’t live without him.” Shut up, Petra! “I mean, in my dream,” I amend after seeing the astonished look on her face. “It was not the reality I wanted.”

“You mean, you… you ended your life in your dream?”

I nod, not wanting to admit it to myself. And I even confessed it to her. Damn it.

“That’s okay. It means your brain was trying to somehow escape a reality it felt trapped in. I have patients who jumped from bridges in their own dreams. It might have been the reason why you woke up.”

“Please don’t say a word to my mom,” I plead. “She can’t know I’m awake. She can’t know anything.”

“Relax. It’s not up to me to do so. I’m just here to help you.” Nel looks over to the cardiac monitor and continues taking notes, then she reaches for her briefcase again, taking something from it. “Now, let’s check your blood pressure. Shall we?”

Alexander Van Dieren

When I told Roy over the phone that his daughter was awake, he not only said he would cancel all his meetings for the day, but told me in a sobbing voice that he would be here in thirty minutes. I also told him that she was in a consultation with Dr. Nel and to pass by my office before going to see her. While he agreed without hesitation, I have no idea how I am supposed to tell him I’m engaged to his daughter. I know I can’t marry her, and I know perfectly well that I’ve got to move to Singapore now that she is awake.

And yet…

Here I am, a pen between my fingers, trying to figure out how to tell him otherwise. After all, despite what I should or shouldn’t do, being engaged to her feels exactly how it should—so right and natural.

Glancing briefly at my watch, I expect Roy to arrive anytime. Thirty minutes seems quite implausible if he’s coming from Manhattan, but just forty minutes after our call, I hear a knock on my office door. And as I order the person to come in, I see Maria opening the door wide, and then Roy smiling at me with a twinkle in his eye. I mimic his smile and good mood before inviting him to the sitting area. There I take a seat in the armchair, while he sits on the sofa beside me. And as he observes me rolling a pen between my fingers, his glowing face switches into a stern one. “What do I have to know before seeing her?”

He knows me so well. “It’s not that easy…” I tell him.

Blowing out a loud, exasperated breath, Roy starts ruminating. “Did she lose her memory?”

A bit astonished by his question, I say, “Um, no, I don’t think