If it were up to me, we’d have had the wedding by now. I wanted to do it right away. But as it turns out, planning a wedding isn’t as easy as I thought. Not unless we wanted to have it at Donovan’s Pub or some other place like it.
I now know our first wedding was in a small chapel on the other side of town followed by a reception at the 8thAvenue Rec Hall—the cheapest place in town. Ava didn’t have parents to pay for it, and I’m guessing we didn’t want to burden mine with the entire bill.
So this time, I’m giving her the wedding she deserves. And although I was prepared to take out another loan to do it, turns out we’ve got friends with great connections.
One of Ava’s best friends, Regan, is a Montana. The Montanas have one of the most sought-after wedding venues this side of New York City. And they offered it to us for free. The catch—we had to wait until their next opening or cancellation, which we’ve just found out is when Ava is going to be eight months pregnant. While she’s not thrilled about fitting into a wedding dress at that stage in her pregnancy, we both really want it to happen before the baby comes.
Her other best friend, Maddie, is a florist, so we’re getting all the flowers at cost, saving us a bundle.
My parents gifted us a photographer knowing I’ll need every moment of it recorded in a brand-new photo album—one I’m actually going to want to look at this time. Hopefully until we’re old and gray and surrounded by grandchildren.
And Violet Morrow, the owner of the bakery on McQuaid Circle, has graciously offered to bake our wedding cake for free.
It blows me away how this town seems to be coming together to make this happen. All because I needed a new memory.
“Dr. Criss?” Nina, the front desk nurse, peeks her head through the doors. “Someone is here to see you.”
I push through the doors and see an older man who looks somewhat familiar, though I can’t quite place him. I study him until it comes back to me. “Lt. Colonel Sharp?”
He smiles and steps forward to shake my hand. “Glad to know your memory is as sharp as it used to be.” He thumbs to the hallway that leads into the main part of the hospital. “How about I buy you a cup of cafeteria coffee?”
It’s been a light shift and I’m between patients, so I tell Nina to page me if I’m needed.
I lead him down the hall and into the cafeteria, where he not only buys me coffee, but breakfast as it’s quite early.
“It hasn’t come back,” I say when we settle at a table, knowing the question must be the first thing on his mind. “The only memories I have are from after the accident.”
“Yet here you are working as a physician.” He waves a hand around. “Though I’d say your talent is being wasted here as an emergency physician in a small hospital.”
I scoff. “Well, sir, it’s not like people are beating down the door to hire a doctor with a TBI. Especially not locally where I’ve been concentrating my efforts.”
“Right. The Amnesia Doctor.” He pulls out his phone. “I’ve been following the news stories, you know.” He rattles off the headlines: “Amnesia Doctor performs emergency tracheotomy on the floor of his family’s coffee house… Amnesia Doctor delivers baby in remote cabin in New York… Amnesia Doctor saves small town billionaire from certain death… Amnesia doctor takes a bullet shielding two people from gunman.” Finally he looks up. “I had to come see you for myself, because, damn, Trevor, you’re like a national hero.”
I shake my head. “A lot of good it does me when PRN shifts are all I can get.”
“They just don’t know you like I do. You’re one of the most eager, compassionate, driven, promising young doctors I’ve ever had the pleasure of mentoring. And truth be told, before asking to see you, I spoke to one of your superiors. She validated my assumptions. I get the idea she might also feel your talents are being wasted in the ED.” He pauses, studying me with a contemplative smile. “Are you still interested in cardio?”
“At this point, I’d stab myself in the heart just to be able to fix it.”
His laughter echoes in the large cafeteria. “I know people. I could make some calls on your behalf.”
“I’d appreciate anything you could do, sir.”
“It’s Lance, Trevor. I wasn’t just your superior, we were friends. And now that you’re no longer my subordinate, I think we can be on a first name basis.”
“Okay, Lance. Thank you. But are you sure you want to go vouching for me knowing what I went through? My memory is unlikely to return after all this time.”
“Those articles and a glowing report from your superior are all the proof I need. You impressed all of us back at Landstuhl. They’re still talking about you over there. And I knew you were something special even if you didn’t know it yourself. It’s why I’ve been following your story. You deserve to become everything you’ve been trained for, Trevor. And I’ll damn well do my part to make sure you get it.”
My pager goes off and I stand, wadding up what’s left of my bagel. “Sorry to cut this short, but duty calls. Can we meet later?”
“I’m headed back over the pond this afternoon. But I couldn’t leave without reaching out. Made a trip all the way up here from my home base in Georgia just to see the legend.”
I roll my eyes and toss my trash into a bin. “Stop it.”
He claps a hand on my shoulder. “I knew big things were in store for you then, and I still think so now. Just be patient. Oh, and I hear congratulations are in order. You’re finally going to be a father.”
I smile proudly. “Seven more weeks.”
