A Perfect Ten

by Linda Kage

  “We told him he’s had concerned friends here, worried about him, and he wants to meet you. All of you.”

  Noel and I shared a glance. Excitement glittered in his eyes, and I knew my own stomach fluttered with anticipation. I couldn’t wait to get back into his room. Nodding together, we turned back to Oren’s parents.

  “Of course,” Noel answered immediately. “I’ll get the gang gathered, no problem.”

  Within a couple hours, we had everyone back at the hospital. “Okay, so...” Noel rubbed his hands together as he took control of the group. “I think we’ve agreed that it’s too soon to tell him he’s married unless he remembers, but, uh...everything else is fair game. If he asks about something, we can tell him whatever he wants to know.”

  Though only Pick, and possibly Eva had known Oren and I were married before the accident, they all knew now.

  “Sounds good.” Pick placed his hand on the small of Eva’s back. “Let’s go see our boy.”

  En masse, we started for his room. I wondered fleetingly if so many strangers at once would overwhelm him, but I also knew everyone would take it easy on him. When we reached the door where Phil was standing to welcome us inside, I stalled and latched on to Noel’s arm.

  He glanced at me and walked me a few steps away before murmuring, “What’s wrong?”

  Worry filtered through me. “What if I can’t do this? What if I can’t keep it together and I just...I start crying again? I don’t want to upset him or—”

  “Caroline.” Noel smiled and kissed my forehead. “If you want to see your husband, then come on. I know you. Once we get in that room, you’ll do whatever you have to do to keep it together.”

  His not-so-pep talk made my lips quiver with a half smile. But then I straightened my spine and nodded. Though my nerves were wrenched with worry, I clutched his hand as he led me into the room behind everyone else.

  Oren was awake and sitting up in bed. Half his face was still bandaged, but he looked so much better, alert and conscious with color in his face.

  His gaze darted warily over everyone as we filed into his room. “Whoa,” he finally murmured, as if overcome. “There’s a lot of you.”

  At his side, his mother took his hand. “These are your closest friends,” she said. “They’ve been here every day, worried about you.”

  Once again, Oren looked sick with dread. He didn’t recognize any of us. But he swept out a hand with a big, encompassing wave and gave a shaky, “Hey.”

  None of us answered. I think we were in shock that he was treating us like complete strangers.

  “We’ll let you talk to your friends, then.” Brenda sent him a bolstering smile as she stood. “If you need anything, we’ll be right outside.”

  He gave a jerky, nervous nod and followed her from the room with his gaze as if he didn’t want her to leave him alone in here with us. Then he blew out a breath and glanced at us again.

  “Okay, this is strange,” Pick spoke up. “Ten’s usually the one to crack a dirty joke whenever we need some comic relief.”

  While everyone else let out a quiet laugh, Oren shook his head, confused. “Who’s Ten?”

  Silence answered him, which only made him shift on his bed, looking even more uncomfortable. Finally, my brother said, “You are, buddy. That’s what we call you?”

  I hovered against Noel’s side, clinging to his arm because I so badly wanted to go to Oren and just hug him and soothe his unease. He looked so alone in that bed. Alone and lost.

  “You do?” Oren murmured, sounding confused. He shook his head. “Why do you...oh. Because of the Tenning part. Got it.” Glancing around at us again, and not even pausing at me—which stung every time his gaze flittered over me—he added, “Am I not still friends with any of my high school classmates?”

  “I’ve never met any of them,” Noel answered. “And I’ve probably known you the longest out of everyone here. You and I met freshman year of college. We were dormitory roommates for a semester. Then we got an apartment together until about a year ago.”

  Oren nodded. “So none of you ever knew Zoey either, then?”

  The name caused us to freeze. By now, everyone knew who his sister was and that she’d died, but since we had a Zoey in our group as well, it was strange to hear him say the name.

  Noel finally shook his head. “Uh, no. No, sorry, we never got to meet your sister.”

  “Oh.” Deflated by that, Oren glanced down at his hands.

  “So...” Noel went on, determined to clear the uncomfortable tension from the air. “You’ve probably known Hamilton here the second longest, for about two years when he joined the football team with us.”

  “Football?” Oren glanced up, surprised. “I played football? In college?” He shook his head. “I...I wasn’t planning on going out for ball in college.”

  Noel grinned. “No, but I talked you into it. We kicked ass together, too. Won the national championships this year. You were the best wide receiver on the team.”

  “Really?” An awed surprise flooded Oren’s voice as his lips curved into a smile. “That’s pretty cool.”

  “Yeah,” Noel murmured. “And after I got married, you moved in with Hamilton here and his girlfriend—”

  “Blondie,” Zoey blurted before Noel could say her name. “You call me Blondie.” Tears glistened in her eyes as she smiled. “And you like to coax me into cooking you a meal or doing your laundry as often as possible.”

  I wanted to cry all over again because Zoey and Oren had been so close. It had to hurt her, too, to know he’d forgotten the sibling-like tie they’d formed.

  “O...kay,” he said slowly, glancing suspiciously between Quinn and Zoey. “So, I live with both of you? Strange.”

  Guilt crept into Zwinn’s expression as they glanced my way. But it was best not to mention I now lived with them, too.

  Noel stroked my arm to soothe me; his Spidey sense must’ve kicked in, knowing my tear ducts were aching to start opening the floodgates.

  “And Pick is probably the next you met. He works at—actually, he now owns—the bar where we all work.”

  Oren glanced away from Pick to frown at Noel. “Bar? I work in a bar?”

  “The Forbidden Nightclub,” Pick answered. “All of us guys here are bartenders there.”

  Oren squinted. “A bar?” he repeated incredulously and shook his head. “I’m not even old enough to drink and I—I mean...” Probably remembering he was twenty-two now, instead of seventeen, he pressed a hand to his brow, soaking in the news. “Weird,” he murmured.

  He glanced at Eva standing with Pick, so Pick wrapped an arm around her waist. “And this is my soon-to-be wife, even though everyone already calls us married already—”

  “Goddess,” Eva spoke up. “You nicknamed me Goddess.”

  Thinking he’d remember that he really called her Milk Tits, everyone paused, waiting for him to correct her, but he only nodded. “Okay.”

  Pain sliced through me. This might be Oren Tenning lying in this bed, but the Ten part of him was completely gone. And it had been the Ten part I’d fallen in love with. My perfect Ten.

  I shuddered and squeezed Noel’s hand harder. He glanced down at me, his eyes lit with the same worry. His Ten, his best friend, was also gone.

  Mason introduced himself next.

  “And you call me Buttercup.” Reese waved at him with a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We shared an art class last year, and had some good times annoying the hell out of each other.”

  Oren blinked back a confused frown, probably trying to figure out how annoying each other could be considered good times.

  “I’ve probably known you the shortest amount of time,” Asher said. “My first name’s Asher, but you usually call me by my last, which is Hart.”

  It seemed so bizarre that we had to introduce ourselves to him. I wanted to escape this room, I wanted to escape this moment. Oren couldn’t forget us. He just couldn’t.

  “Sounds like I ni
cknamed a lot of people.”

  “You definitely do the nickname thing,” Quinn said. “My first name’s Quinn, but you’ve always called me Ham. And Noel is usually Gam to you.”

  Oren nodded and glanced up at me before turning his gaze to Noel. “So, what did I nickname your wife?”

  “Oh.” Sympathy rushed through Noel’s gaze as he glanced at me. “No. This is actually my sister. Caroline.” He paused briefly, as if waiting to see if that name meant anything to him, but he didn’t even flinch, which totally made me flinch inside. “My wife Aspen’s at home with my younger brothers. But you call her Shakespeare, because she’s an English teacher.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Oren glanced at me, apologizing for mistaking me as Noel’s wife. He started to look away again, but then did a double take. Recognition lit his gaze, and I held my breath, yearning, praying he remembered.

  I think everyone else in the room leaned in as well, holding a collective breath as they hoped for the same thing.

  He pointed at me. “You were the nurse in here yesterday, weren’t you?”

  I sucked in a pained breath and pulled back, trying not to lose it. Noel squeezed my elbow hard, so I blinked rapidly and nodded. “Y-yes. That was me.”

  He looked between me and Noel before murmuring, “Oh. Okay, then.”

  I wasn’t going to make it. I needed to curl into a ball and weep somewhere. Soon. I caught Zoey’s eyes and her face dissolved into misery. She had to bury her face in Quinn’s shoulder to hide her tears.

  I lifted my chin to hold strong, but I don’t know how I made it.

  That was a breaking point for everyone, it seemed.

  “We should probably let you rest,” Asher murmured, looking as sad as I’d ever seen him.

  “Okay.” Oren, on the other hand, appeared relieved to see us go.

  Noel tugged me against him hard, knowing how close to the edge I was. We all glanced toward the door, but then Eva muttered, “Damn it. I know you don’t remember me, but I’m going to hug you goodbye, anyway.”

  “Uh...” Oren pulled back, his eyes going wide as she stalked toward him with a determined arch in her eyebrows. Then he said, “Okay.”

  I watched enviously as Eva wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. He even hugged her back with one arm. Then she stamped a quick kiss to his cheek. I longed so hard to go to him, too, to melt into his arms and just hold the love of my life.

  Reese glanced at me, winked, and then darted away from Mason. “Well, I want a hug, too, then.”

  So, she hugged him, and he let her, giving her another one-armed hug back. When she pulled away, she looked directly at me. “Next?”

  Zoey reached out and nudged me forward. I stumbled, but caught my feet and lifted my gaze. Oren watched me, letting me step toward him without protest.

  I was going to hug him. Oh God. How was I going to stop after a reasonable amount of time and be expected to let go? How was I going to stop with just one hug?

  But I leaned toward him, anyway, scared out of my mind that I wouldn’t be able to hold myself together.

  My arms went around him and they nearly wept with relief, so happy to be enfolding Oren’s familiar mass. He didn’t smell like Oren, though; he smelled like sterile hospital antiseptics. It helped to remind me that he was no longer mine, and I began to pull away.

  Except Oren turned his face toward me so that my hair dragged across his nose as I moved back. He sucked in a startled breath and looked up at me with wide eyes.

  I froze, gaping back. He blinked repeatedly, looking utterly confused.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked slowly, afraid to believe I’d actually triggered something.

  Noel moved in closer. “Did you remember something?”

  Hell, I think the entire room moved closer. Suddenly everyone was right there, their eyes bright and eager.

  “I...” Oren kept staring at me before he shook his head. “Sorry, I just had this strange feeling. You smelled—I mean—” He shook his hands as if the ideas in his head were preposterous. “Sorry,” he finally murmured, looking absolutely embarrassed as his cheeks reddened.

  “No, don’t be sorry,” Eva demanded. “Just tell us what you remembered already.”

  Oren pulled back, obviously startled by the impatience in her voice. But then his gaze drifted back to me, and my stomach coiled with all kinds of things. Need, hope, anticipation, love.

  Squinting as if desperately trying to remember, he said, “Did we...?”

  “Did we what?” I urged softly.

  Again, he shook his head. But then he blew out an incredulous kind of sniff and asked, “Did we ever climb up the side of a building together and sit on top to look at...stars?”

  Immediate tears filled my eyes. I covered my mouth with both hands and muffled out the answer. “Yes. Yes, we did.”

  But that only seemed to confuse him more. “The old movie theater?”

  I bobbed my head up and down.

  And he shook his. “But why would I take you there?” A nervous laugh rumbled from his chest. “I only go there to be alone. I have never taken anyone there.” His eyes suddenly flickered with realization. He glanced at Noel. “Oh, hell. She’s not just your sister, is she?”

  Noel grinned proudly. “No. No, she’s not.”

  Oren returned his gaze to me. He stared as if trying to read me from the inside out. My heart ticked away at a crazy speed, so happy he’d remembered sitting on the theater roof with me.

  “Amazing,” Quinn murmured. “Smell is the sense most closely associated with memory because the olfactory bulb is part of the limbic system, but wow. I’ve never actually seen it work like this before.”

  With a sigh, Oren rolled his eyes. “What a fucking biology nerd.”

  A grin spread across my face. He remembered biology was Quinn’s specialty. He remembered...

  I reached for his arm, unable to help myself. When his gaze laser-beamed to my hand, I stopped and began to pull away, but he caught my wrist and brought it to his nose.

  “But he’s right. I know that smell.” His gaze roved back to my face.

  Tears filled my eyes as Ten slowly began to return to us.

  A knowing glean entered his face. “Come here.” He crooked his finger, beckoning me closer.

  I leaned down, and he asked, “Do you want to build a snowman?”

  I blurted out a happy laugh. He’d quoted a movie for me and done our thing. “Frozen,” I said, naming the movie.

  When his lashes flickered open, a look of awe swept over his face. Then he reached for my hair and gathered a handful to his nose. “Holy shit.” His gaze shot to mine. “You like it best when your hair’s pulled.”

  I gasped and tugged away from him in mortification. “Oren!”

  “Of course,” Eva muttered dryly. “His first memory would be about sex.”

  “Shut it, Milk Tits,” Oren called, never once taking his eyes off me. “I’m trying to get my goddamn memory back here.”

  “You remember.” Tears swamped my face. “You remember everything.”

  Oren gently brushed the droplets off my cheeks. “As if I could ever forget you. You’re my other half. My wife.”

  When Reese cooed, “Aww. That’s so sweet,” from somewhere in the room, Oren scowled. “Now, these other motherfuckers, I’ll gladly forget them.”

  “Hey,” Mason’s offended voice broke in. “That’s not very nice. We hauled our tired asses down here every day this week to not even get to see you most of the time, and this is how you repay us?”

  Ignoring him, Oren tugged me closer. “God, I love you,” he murmured and pressed his forehead to mine, only to mutter, “ouch,” and pull away.

  “Sorry, sorry.” I backed off too, pressing my hand to my mouth because I really was sorry, even though I also wanted to laugh and cry with joy because my Oren was back.

  Ten was back.

  “Jesus.” He winced and prodded his bandage gently. “What the hell happened to me anyway? People are j
ust saying an accident. But they’re not saying what kind. The last thing I remember...” He paused and glanced at Noel. “You were pissed as hell at me, but you still let me tag along to your family picnic. And...we played padiddle on the way there with the boys, but...that’s it.” His eyes flared with horror. “Shit. We weren’t in a car accident, were we?” His gaze roved frantically around the room. “Where’s Colton and Brandt?”

  “They’re fine. They’re home.” Noel set a reassuring hand on Oren’s shoulder. “We all made it to Rainly Park safe and sound. We had a picnic, and then you took Colton and Caroline off to show them the waterfall.”

  Oren nodded, but his brow wrinkled in confusion. “And then...I was bitten by a poisonous snake who...” He lifted his arm and eyed it strangely, “...had some wicked awesome ninja skills that put me in an arm sling and leg cast, and mangled my face?”

  “And then the soil around the waterfall eroded,” I corrected, “when Colton got too close to the edge.”

  “Shit. Did he fall in?”

  “Almost. He caught hold of an old root protruding from the embankment, and you were able to pull him up to safety. But in the process, you fell in.”

  “But the kid’s okay?” Oren asked insistently.

  “Just a scratch or two,” Noel said. “He was pretty upset after you got hurt—thought it was all his fault—so Aspen and Brandt are home with him right now.”

  “Poor kid.” Ten reached for my hand, and I can’t even express how amazing it felt to tangle my fingers with his. When his gaze met mine, he blew out a breath. “So, what about me? Am I going to be okay?” Once again, he touched all the bandages around half his face.

  A smiled bloomed across my face. I knew he was going to be just fine. “Aside from the brain damage, you just have a dislocated shoulder, fractured leg, and some bad scratches.” I paused, drew in a deep breath. “Oh, and the doctor says there will probably be permanent scarring on your face.”

  Oren’s fingers paused on the bandage. “Permanent?”

  I nodded and reached for his hand to pull it away. “I bet scars on you will look sexy.”

  His gaze filled with torment, and I wanted to tell him he’d always be the most handsome man I’d ever known, but Noel spoke up. “The good news is, after you saved my little brother’s life, I’m not pissed at you anymore.”