I shift in the chair and rub my eyes. “No. I’m fine. I think once I eat something, I’ll be okay.”
“Come on. Let’s go grab something from the café downstairs.”
I nod and go into the restroom to quickly freshen up, splash some water on my face and redo my hair. Luckily there is a small bottle of mouth wash on the sink, so I’m able to get rid of the after taste from the hot dog I had the night before.
We each order a coffee and muffin before taking a seat at one of the tables.
“So, how was last night?”
“It was good. The nurses came in every ninety minutes to check on him, and they ran some tests early this morning to check on the swelling. The nurse said the doctor should be in with the results later this morning when he makes his rounds around eleven.”
She nods and takes a sip of her coffee. “Presley, I want to have an earnest conversation about my son, and I ask that you don’t let emotions cloud your judgment. Think about things logically.”
I don’t think this is a conversation I’m going to enjoy, and I’m almost positive it’s one Robert would not approve of.
“Are you sure you want to give up your dreams to follow him chase a pipe dream? He’s my son and, yes, I want him to be happy, but I don’t want him to take your dreams away from you. Nothing says you two couldn’t have a long-distance relationship and make it work, both of you pursuing your own passions.”
What the hell? “Ma’am with all due respect, I love your son, and I want a life with him. I don’t care where we go as long as we go together. I have never found another person on this planet I connect with the way I connect with him. And quite frankly, if he knew we were even having this conversation, he would be pissed. Your son is in a coma, and I feel as if you’re telling me to leave him.” Shock and fury run deep inside me as I stand from the table and take a deep breath, holding back my tears. “Now, thank-you for breakfast, but I’m going back to be with my fiancé.”
I turn away from her as she calls back to me.
“You’re not his fiancé Presley, not yet.”
Tears sting at my eyes. I wipe the first one away before it has a chance to fall. God, how I wish I could talk to Robert. This would have never happened if he was here right now. I would never feel as if I was a disappointment and unwanted. I don’t know if I will ever be able to look at her the same way.
I make my way back to Robert’s room, I know he can hear me, but I don’t want to cause him any more stress than he’s already under, so I silently cry to myself. Why did everything have to get so wonky? We were perfect. We were carefree just days before and now he’s in a coma, and his mother is not so subtly telling me to take a step back from him and stay the course I had always planned for my life.
Diane comes into his room a couple minutes later. I have nothing to say to her. And I sure as hell don’t want to be in the same room as her. She can sit on the couch against the wall, I’m not giving up my place next to him.
The tension in the room is evident to any outsider, as denoted by the facial expression on the doctor’s face when he comes into the room. “Well, our patient is quite the fighter, and his most recent brain scan shows vast improvement. I think it’s safe to wake him up now. I want you both to keep in mind it will take a couple of hours before he comes too, but I’d say if tomorrow’s test looks even better than today’s, he should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon.”
“Thank-you,” Diane and I say in unison. I’m squeezing Robert’s hand. Come on, baby. Please wake up soon. I need you.
I make it perfectly clear I’m not going anywhere. Diane leaves the room, and I rest my head on the bed. My coffee did little to give me the boost of energy I so desperately needed, and within minutes I’m asleep.
I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but I wake up when I feel someone gently rubbing my head and playing with my hair. A smile forms on my face even before I lift my head because I know Robert’s awake. I pull up and look at him, but the look on his face is absolutely soul-crushing. He jerks back his hand, and the beeping of the machines increases rapidly as he calls out for the nurses.
I’m ushered outside of his room while they page his mother and am instructed to stay out. The look on his face says it all. He has no idea who I am.
*****
I wake up to a splitting headache as I try to recall the last thing I remember. I was on the mound, the other team hit the ball, and then everything went black. I take in my surroundings; it must have been some accident if I wound up in the hospital. I wonder if we won the game. I look down at the bed, and a girl is lying her head on my bed, sleeping peacefully. We’re holding hands. I smile at how devoted Heather is, but I don’t remember her blond being so dark. Oh well, maybe she changed it.
I start playing with her hair, and she begins to stir. She makes the cutest little noises as she stretches. She lifts her head to me, and who the hell is she? She isn’t my girlfriend, and I sure as hell don’t remember ever seeing her.
She looked so happy, and now she’s terrified. What’s going on? I call for the nurses who easily escort her out; she doesn’t fight them, and they give me something to help calm me down. Mom and a doctor enter my room, but I still see the little girl standing in the hall. She looks bewildered and nervous as she peers through the window at me.
“Mom, close the blinds, please I don’t want to see her.” She does as she’s asked.
“Robert, calm down.”
“Mom, who was that, and why are you calling me Robert?”
She doesn’t answer my questions but instead begins talking to the doctor.
“What’s going on?” I feel my heart rate quicken, the beep, beep, beeping of a machine only makes things worse.
“It looks like he may have a case of amnesia. I won't know how bad until we do a few more tests.” He looks at me, “In the meantime, I’m going to ask you a few questions.”
I nod and give him permission.
“What’s your name?”
“Brice Harte.”
The doctor looks at my mom, and I notice her eyes widen ever so slightly.
“Where do you go to school?”
“Williams Point High School.”
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“Based on the splitting headache I have, I’d say a baseball accident. Shit! Mom! What day is it? I have to tell coach I decided to join the minors.” I look at the doctor in a panic, “I can still play ball, right?”
“Relax, dear. You’ve only been out for less than a day. You have time. Brice, what’s your girlfriend’s name?” Mom asks quizzically.
“Heather Westport, why? Where is she? Does she know I’m here?”
“And how long have you two been dating?”
“I don’t know. Since July, I think.”
Mom looks at me curiously and then asks to speak with the doctor out in the hall. They open the door, and the strange girl is still there, biting her thumb, waiting, watching. Who is she and why is she here?
*****
Diane and the doctor step into the hall. Diane looks at me and they move down the hall, still not out of earshot.
“The girl he thinks he’s dating is his ex. They broke up in August, right before school started. They dated briefly for a couple of weeks.”
This can't be possible. Does he think he’s still dating Heather?
“It is possible his memory has blocked out certain people for now. It is also possible his memory has switched places, times, and even people around, putting new people in situations they originally weren’t a part of and completely forgetting others.”
“Well, how long does it take to heal from this kind of thing?”
“Unfortunately, the lasting effects of a brain injury are hard to predict?”
“So, is this permanent?” Her eyes glance back to me as I wait with bated breath.
“It’s hard to tell. It’s best to take it one day at a time. Surround him with the people he is most comfortable with, and
maybe something will jog his memory.”
I find my voice and make my way over to them, my arms wrapped tightly around my body in an attempt to hold myself together. “So, you’re saying he has no idea who I am?”
“I’m sorry, miss, but yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. It seems as though anyone tied to Robert is unrecognizable.”
“But he knew he needed to tell Coach about his decision; Robert made that decision.” I’m grasping at straws, but I can't help myself.
“Presley,” Diane says like she’s pitying me.
I don’t need pity; I need someone to fix him.
“Coach still calls him Brice. Not Robert. You heard him the other night. As much as you don’t want to believe it, right now, Robert is gone, along with all his memories which, includes you. You have the opportunity to follow your dream. Turn in your acceptance to South Carolina, pursue what you originally wanted and if you two reconnect again, then you know you two were meant for one another.”
I can't fucking believe what I’m hearing. His mother, my mom’s best friend, is fucking happy her son can't remember me.
“You two were becoming entirely focused on one another. It’s not healthy, Presley.”
I stand there in utter disbelief as she thanks the man who has single-handedly crushed my hopes of everything being okay and goes back into Robert’s room. I get a glimpse of him as the door swings open and slowly closes. He stares at me the same way you would see a random person, no hint of recognition. As the door swings shut, it’s as if it’s closing on our future together as well.
I walk back to the waiting room in a full daze. Nothing matters at this point, and I sit there totally and utterly alone. Gone. He’s gone. My future with him is gone. My heart races. I repeat those words over and over until I’m rocking myself, tears streaming down my face as I try to close my eyes to hold them back, but it’s useless. This is so much worse than a breakup. At least in a breakup, both parties know it ended, and you move forward.
But this, this is a fate worse than death. I have a sea of memories of us, I have a picture of what our future looked like, and he has nothing. He can move on as if nothing happened, because, in his mind, nothing happened, whereas I’m in limbo, watching and wondering if he will remember me. Waiting on a miracle. I’ll have to give up on him to move forward.
The doctor said to surround him with people and things to help him remember, but how can I even be around him if he’s afraid of me? The look on his face gutted me. He was afraid of me. No amount of force can bring his memory back, only time.
I feel a strong, unfamiliar arm around my shoulders; I try to open my eyes, but I can't. It’s not the arm I want holding me, reassuring me everything is going to be okay. It’s not Robert.
“Presley,” his voice sounds deep and gravelly.
Coach? I give into him and cry into his chest, “Tell me it’s a dream. Please, let this all be a dream. Please, help me wake up. I need to wake up.”
He stays quiet and continues to hold me until I hear another voice.
“Shhh, sweet girl. We’re here.”
Liv? She rubs my back in slow circles, my breathing calms enough so I am no longer on the edge of hyperventilating, but my eyes are swollen shut.
“What’s her problem?”
You have got to be fucking kidding me. Heather? My eyes instantly fly open in time to see Liv take a swing at her.
“Who the fuck invited you?” I stand from my chair and shake off Coach’s grip on my arm. “Let go of me,” I snap, and he releases me.
“Enough, Presley!” Diane raises her voice, stopping my advances, and I notice the waiting room is full of our family and friends.
“Wow. Fucking wow! What the hell did I ever do to you, huh? What in the world made you ever question my loyalty to your son to the point you would rather he be with this bitch instead of me?”
I notice my mom flinch, and I laugh to myself. God, today keeps getting better and better. “Mom, did you know Diane didn’t want me to go Arizona with Robert?”
“What?”
“Yea, in fact, she told me I should accept South Carolina, do the long-distance thing, pretty much banking that long-distance relationships don’t work.”
“Diane?”
“Presley, when I told you to accept South Carolina, it wasn’t so you two would break up. I would never want that for either of you. You make him better. You’ve caused him to grow up, and I’m so thankful for you.”
“I call bullshit, and you know it.”
“Enough!” Gramps raises his voice and causes me to jump.
I’ve never heard him yell before unless he was yelling at the cattle.
“Presley, peanut, I know you’re hurting, and this is a lot to take in right now, but Heather is here for a reason I’m sure will be made very clear in a little bit. Now everyone’s tempers are running hot, and I think it’s best we all calm down. Liv, take Presley to the restroom and help her clean up. Heather if you so much as look at my grandbaby the wrong way, I will end you. Diane, obviously, there is a much bigger picture Presley has not been privy too, and you will explain to us all later. But for now, why don’t you explain why you called us all here.”
I feel Liv’s hand on my back as she nudges me gently towards the restroom. I don’t want to go, I want to hear what Diane says, but what’s the point? I’ve been demoted from girlfriend to stranger.
Trey leans down and whispers he’ll fill us in, and I feel my feet start to move. This is all a bad dream. One I am so desperate to wake up from.
I make my way into the restroom and look at my face. Tears have carved out a roadmap on my cheeks, and my eyes are swollen and puffy. There is no helping me.
Liv calls out of the restroom and says something to Trey, and she’s back to me in seconds.
“Now, we can't have you looking like some scary creature when your man sees you for the first time.”
“Liv, he’s not my man,” I say entirely deflated.
“Bullshit. He is your man. And you are his woman, he just needs to be reminded. We are gonna make him remember you, and if he doesn’t, then we’re gonna help him fall head over heels in love with you again.”
There’s a knock on the door. Trey passes something to Liv and the door closes again.
“Liv, you should have seen his face. He had no idea who I was, and he thinks he’s dating Heather.”
She places two ice cubes under my eyes and tells me to rub them in a circular motion while she fixes my hair. She sprinkles water on it and squeezes it to help give it some texture. I sit in silence while she works her magic, applying mascara, blush, and a soft pink lip gloss. She steps back to admire her work.
“You look beautiful, sweetie.”
I look in the mirror and give her credit for the miracle she was able to pull off.
“Liv, how am I going to face him again? How am I going to pass him in the halls, and not get excited at seeing him? He was my world. Maybe Diane was right. Maybe we were too dependent on each other. Maybe I should go to South Carolina and try to move forward with my life.”
“And maybe you should grow a pair of balls and put up a fight for your man. You’re not alone in this Pres. Trey, Coach, me, hell even Marcus, we all have your back, and together we will bring Robert back. It’s just gonna take some time. He’s still there. He’s just buried down deep right now.”
As we exit the restroom, the waiting room is empty except for Trey who gives me a tight squeeze, and I’m thankful for him right now.
“Diane wants all of us to go into Robert’s room. She wants to see who he remembers and who he doesn’t. Pres, she filled us in on everything, including the conversation she had with you this morning. It’s not what you think. She loves you, but she’s trying to think rationally.”
“Well, he doesn’t remember me, so I’m not sure why I’m going in.”
Liv gives me a little squeeze and walks me down the hall back towards Robert’s room.
Diane gives me a sma
ll smile when she sees me, but right now, I don’t trust anything from her is genuine.
“Remember, Heather, you will go in last,” she says.
Heather is all smiles and I want to kick the stupid grin off of her face. Mom takes my hand; we are sandwiched between Coach and Liv as we enter Robert’s room.
“Honey, do you recognize any of these people?” Diane’s voice is calm and relaxed, I’m sure it’s to help Robert feel safe with this new reality he is dealing with.
“This is ridiculous, Mom. Of course I know these people. Mr. and Mrs. Keller, Marcus, Coach, Liv, and Trey.” He points to each person as he goes around the room.
“And what about the other two?”
“I don’t know. The mom looks familiar, like someone from a picture you have.
Diane smiles a little; maybe Liv’s right, maybe Brice has Robert buried way down deep.
“And what about her?”
“Nope. I don’t know her besides from the fact she was sleeping in my room.”
I force back my tears as my heart breaks again, and Liv tightly grips my hand. He doesn’t remember me. Diane opens the door and in walks Heather all smiles and bouncy. I want to close my eyes against the onslaught of emotion, but I force them open.
“There’s my ballplayer. You scared me. I’m so happy you’re okay.” Heather makes her way over to his bed, runs her hand down the side of his face and across his jawline.
“God, I’ve missed you.”
The smile he gives her is my smile. The one he gives when he is genuinely happy about something.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up, but, hospitals—yuck.”
“It’s fine. You’re here now.” He pulls her closer to him and she quickly cups his jaw and kisses him passionately, letting out a disgusting moan.
I can't watch this. I can't breathe. I can't watch her take what’s mine. I refuse to sit here and watch Heather mock our relationship as if it were nothing.
As I step outside of his room, I hear Liv yell at him.
“You’re a fucking moron! Here, use this. And don’t fucking touch her. You’ve probably already caught something.”
Tag You're Mine Page 16