NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an Object

I have a hand attack, when the enemy is in the hand collider i will deal damage to the enemy, then want to check which way i am facing taking the boolean from another script on the same object, I try reference the component in the awake function, but when i attack the enemy and it gets to the if statement it says the error about the condition 'playerMovement.facingRight'

Any Advice?

 public class handAttack : MonoBehaviour {
 
     public int damage = 20;
     public float timeBetweenAttacks = 0.50f;
     Rigidbody2D enemyRB;
 
     PlayerMovement playerMovement;
     float timer;
     // Use this for initialization
     void Awake ()
     {
         playerMovement = GetComponent<PlayerMovement>();
     }
     
     // Update is called once per frame
     void Update ()
     {
 
         timer += Time.deltaTime;
 
 
     }
     void ResetAttack()
     {
         timer = 0f;
 
 
     }
     void OnTriggerStay2D (Collider2D other)
     {
         if (Input.GetButton("Fire1") && timer >= timeBetweenAttacks && other.gameObject.CompareTag("Enemy"))
         {
             
             EnemyHealth enemyHealth = other.gameObject.GetComponent<EnemyHealth>();
             
 
             enemyRB = other.gameObject.GetComponent<Rigidbody2D>();
             ResetAttack(); //Allows a 'rate of fire'
             enemyHealth.TakeDamage(damage);
             if(playerMovement.facingRight == true)
             {
                 enemyRB.AddForce(new Vector2(10f, 0f));
             }
             if (playerMovement.facingRight == false)
             {
                 enemyRB.AddForce(new Vector2(-10f, 0f));
             }
         }
     }
 
 }