“That’s what it appears, but you seem to have remembered a conversation based on your comment earlier, so that gives me hope that you’ll recover your memories sooner rather than later, although there’s no way of knowing for sure.” Brenda walks back into the room and starts unhooking cords from the machines while the doctor continues, “I’ll have Nurse Brenda take you down for new scans so we canevaluate any recent changes and see how everything looks now that you’re awake. I’ll be in to discuss the findings after reviewing them. In the meantime, I’d like to limit your visitors to one person at a time until further notice.”
As the nurse pushes me out the door, I hear the doctor address Sebastian. “Mr. Dubree, I’d like a word with you and the others before I go.”
On our way to the other room and during testing, my mind swirls with questions and hypothetical situations. What happened between me and Rebecca, and why the fuck was she telling me she’s pregnant? Did I cheat on Cici? I can’t imagine that happening, not to mention why I’d ever want to. Cici is everything to me.
And what’s with Cici being pregnant? No, she’s not just pregnant; she’s about to pop. Who the fuck is the father? Did she cheat on me, or did we break up for some reason? I mean, I knew she was always meant to go back to Bozeman, but I was devising a way to convince her to stay. Hell, in my mind, we were dating one minute, and the next, she’s having a baby. Nothing makes sense, and the more I think about it, the more frustrated I get at not knowing what the hell is happening. Did I seriously forget the last eight months of my life? My mind can’t fathom it.
Only Sebastian is there when I’m brought back to the room, and rather than the stern lecture I’m prepared for, he sits next to the bed and hangs his head, shaking it. “You have no idea how relieved I am that you’re awake. I can’t even begin to explain what these last two weeks were like, wondering when orifyou would wake up. It was hell, man. You can’t scare me like that again.”
He’s right, I can’t imagine it because I was awake only yesterday in my mind. “So how did I end up here since it wasn’t the accident on my birthday?” I was going to ask the nurse but was so caught up in my thoughts that I forgot to bring it up.
“You really need to ask?”
“Yeah, fine. I’m assuming it was racing, but how did it happen?”
“I wasn’t there, but I watched the footage. No more, Eli. I mean it this time.” He looks at me sharply and stays silent until I acquiesce.
My hand flies up. “All right, all right. I’ll stop.” Which seems to appease him for now.
“You were trying to pass a car on the inside, and one moment you were doing fine, and the next you started careening into the center of the track. You must have caught something because your car went flying. Rolled six times before landing upside down. I’ve never seen you drive that aggressively. It was hard to watch. Luckily, there was no fire, and they extracted you without any issues. I made it to the hospital at the same time as the ambulance and saw them wheel you in. It was the worst moment of my life.”
“I’m sorry, Seb. Damn, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“No one ever does. That’s where choices come in. We can discuss that more after you have a couple of days to recover.” He pauses before continuing, “Dammit, I can’t handle losing you, Eli. You’re all the family I have left.”
“I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not trying to make light of the situation, but can you please tell me what the fuck happened to my life the past eight months? Last I remember, I was dating Cici. Now she’s pregnant with someone else’s baby, and I supposedly knocked up Rebecca? What the fuck, man?”
For some reason, he hesitates with a pained expression. When he opens his mouth to answer, the doctor enters before he gets a word out, preventing me once again from getting the answers I’m dying for—or rather living for.
Turns out the remaining swelling is minimal, and other than the fact that I went into a coma for two weeks and lost eight months of my life, there won’t be any lasting effects. They’re keeping me overnight for observation, which is understandable, and they’ll run one more set of scans to ensure everything is normal before I’m released. ButI should be able to go home tomorrow, thank God. The doctor said my memory could return within a few days, and if it doesn’t, there are drugs or therapies I can do to help recall events, but nothing has a high success rate, so hopefully it comes back naturally.
Once the doctor leaves the room, I try again. “Start talking. What did I miss while I was unconscious, or rather what did I forget?”
He hesitates again but only for a moment before the resolve sets in. “A lot. You forgot a fuck ton, and I’m not sure how you’re going to handle this all at once. The doctor said not to stress you out, but I don’t see any other way than to give it to you straight.”
“Then do it. Tell me what the hell happened. I can take it.”
So for the next ten minutes, Sebastian details my life, beginning with the marriage condition of our trust, to asking Cici to marry me only to have her turn me down on New Year’s Eve and go home the next day. He recounts my odd relationship with Rebecca, from being fuck buddies to getting engaged, and finally the last day before the accident when I texted him about Rebecca telling me she was pregnant. The scene that replayed in my mind from earlier must’ve happened then. He assures me she isn’t pregnant, which gives me tremendous relief, but he won’t tell me about Cici’s pregnancy at all, insisting that it’s for her and I to discuss.
According to what I told him, there was no love between Rebecca and me, and until I was forced into marriage, we’d simply been having weekly hookups for sex at various locations. It sounds like she’d never even been to my place until that fateful day. All I can think of is how Cici feels about my relationship with Rebecca and the engagement. How could I do that to her? Fuck, we weren’t even together, though, were we? So maybe she didn’t give a damn. But something tells me that’s not the case—otherwise, why would she be here?
And that’s the million-dollar question. She’s the only thing I care about right now, and if my brother is correct, I never stopped caring.
“Trade places with Cici. I want to talk to her.”
“Is that wise at the moment? She doesn’t know your engagement is a scam. How do you plan to navigate this without telling her about the trust? That was a big sticking point for you, and I don’t know that you should do something you weren’t okay with before. Give your memory time to return and then talk to her when you’re in your right mind.” Sebastian is always the voice of reason, but reasonable is the last thing I’m feeling at the moment.
“I’m not sure how to go about it, but since you’re not giving me anything to go on, I need to find out where she’s at. Why she’s here, whose baby she’s carrying—if it’s mine. Fuck. It’s not helping my stress level to have unanswered questions, and if you’re concerned about my recovery, the doctor said that’s important. Go get her. Please, Sebastian, I need some fucking answers.”
He sighs in acceptance. “All right, but if things go south, you realize it could cause lasting damage.”
“Or something could trigger my memory. I’ll be okay, just send her in and tell the nurses to stay out for a while.”
“Fuck.” He runs his hand through his hair. I can tell he’s torn, but he’ll do it. Sure enough, he stands and shakes his head on the way to the door.
“Hey,” I call out, stopping him. “I’m glad I’m still here, and it doesn’t make it right, but I am sorry I put you through this. It was selfish and unfair to you. I won’t do it again.”
“You better not, because next time might just give me a heart attack, and I think we both have more important things to live for now.” He smirks before he walks out the door.
