Page 11 of Fracture

Lorelei looked up at her cousin and found it impossible not to grin at the look on Karli’s face. “What?” Lorelei laughed.

“That was… Hot as fuck. Is something going on with you two?”

Lorelei shook her head. “No. He’s just helping me. He’s a good guy.”

“He’s a really good guy if he’s going to pick out panties for you and not ask you to model them.”

“I was kind of hoping he would,” Lorelei blurted.

Karli tipped her head back and laughed loudly. “I love it! Okay, yeah, you’re liking this protector thing.”

Lorelei’s mood soured at the thought. “I don’t want a protector.”

“No one does, hun. But sometimes you need someone who’s going to put you above everyone else in the world and make sure you have exactly what you need.”

“Is that what…”

“Cade?”

Lorelei nodded. Details were fuzzy. “Yeah, sorry. Is that what Cade does for you?”

Karli nodded, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality that said she was head over heels for her boyfriend. “He does. When we met… he was the only one I trusted to keep me safe. Sort of like you are with Vinnie.”

“He’s not the… Okay, fine. I don’t know why, though. Are you sure I didn’t know him before?”

Karli shook her head. “He said you never spoke. Adam doesn’t know him. I really don’t think you knew each other. Besides that, if you did, it was in passing and not nearly as well as you knew Adam or me. The connection you feel has to be what the doctor said and because he found you.”

Lorelei nodded, trying to keep all the data together. It was a lot. “I guess.”

“Do you want me to help you get changed?”

Lorelei looked at the clothes and knew there was no way she could do it alone. “Are you sure? Are we that close?”

Karli grinned. “If you’re asking if I’ve ever seen you naked, the answer is yes. But admittedly, it’s been a few decades.”

Lorelei snorted. “I have a feeling it’s too soon to ask Vinnie to help me get my clothes on.”

“You need to ask him to help take them off.”

Lorelei scoffed.

Karli laughed. “You know you were thinking it.”

Lorelei chuckled because yeah, she was.

Karli helped Lorelei get her panties over the cast on her right leg and up to her knees, then held Lorelei steady while she stood and pulled the panties up under her hospital gown. They repeated the process for her shorts.

“How do you want to do this? I don’t think you can make that clasp work,” Karli said.

Lorelei shook her head. “I guess you’re getting a look at my boobs. Sorry, cuz.”

“Is it weird to say I’m thrilled to be able to do this because it means you’re still alive?”

Lorelei smiled at her cousin. Even though she couldn’t remember their past, she knew Karli was a good person. Cade, too. They both refused to go back to Niagara Falls without Lorelei. They got a hotel room near the hospital and were with Lorelei from the beginning of visiting hours to the end. The only time Vinnie left the room was when Karli was with Lorelei.

She wasn’t alone. She had people who were making sure she was okay.

“Stay seated like you are. Lift your gown so I can get the bra around you and secure the clasp. You can try to get it into place.” Karli moved around the bed to the back so Lorelei didn’t have to move again.