“Actually, I’ll call for an Uber, we can do this another time.”
“Don’t go! Please,” Rain exclaimed, and a desperate look crossed his face. “Please, Allegra, two years have passed since we last saw each other. I’m aware you’ve got memory loss, but it means a lot you’re here.”
Unsure, I sent Shotgun a sideways glance, and he nodded. “Stay and talk, you came for a reason, sweetheart.”
“Just don’t forget, I remember nothing. Everything is blank. Hell, I don’t even know my favourite food, for crying out loud!”
“Chicken tacos, with quesadillas and chicken savoury rice with a beef burrito,” Shotgun replied, and I laughed.
“Seriously?”
He shrugged. “Yup. You liked Italian and Chinese too, but Mexican was always your go-to. And you hate pizza.”
“Wow, really?” I asked, moving towards him. Shotgun held out a hand to help me over some glass.
“Yeah, you can’t stand pizza.”
“Damn. And my cousins have been telling me I love it and I’ve been eating it,” I growled out.
Shotgun and Rain laughed.
“Did you enjoy it?”
I shrugged a little sheepishly. “Honestly, yes.”
“Learn something new every day. Gotta admit, it’s a clean palate for you foodwise,” Rain said as we walked out.
“Rain, everything for me is a blank slate. Music, TV, movies, books, clothing. I literally remember nothing. But I recall facts like WW2, 9/11, and similar things. Amnesia is damn weird.”
“Retrograde amnesia confounds even the best medical minds. It has no rhyme or rhythm. It’s now been a couple of weeks since the accident, and you’ve remembered nothing?” Rain asked as we hit the porch.
“No. The doctors think the longer I go without a memory, the less likely they’ll return. Which is huge fun when someone says, hey do you remember? Nope, I genuinely don’t.” I managed to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
“Has to be hard, relying on everyone else to give you information,” Rain soothed.
“You’ve no idea. I’ve heard my family’s side of things, but that’s one-sided. I don’t know yours and Shotgun’s,” I said, gazing at them both.
“Well, I was a prick and dismissed your fears. Instead of listening to your worries, I ignored them and was a general asshole,” Shotgun stated.
I laughed, and Rain smiled. “That was honest.”
“True, but you were also a bitch. Neither of us talked to each other; we talked past each other. If we’d communicated better… who knows?” Shotgun admitted.
“True,” I mused.
“Yeah. You didn’t understand why I had to stay and fight, and I didn’t recognise your fears and needs. We were both atfault,” Shotgun continued. “Worse, I attacked with threats of a lawyer. It gutted me knowing what I’d said and how wrong I was. You want the truth, Allegra? I was scared too; you’d given me and Rain our dream, and now Fury and his bunch of cunts threatened that. Selfishly, my fear of losing our life together caused me to lash out.”
“I wish I could remember what was said on both sides. But I can’t. I know what my family says. Nana says you both loved me, that I blossomed with your care and attention, but I’m looking at you both, and there’s nothing. No memory, no feeling. Am I attracted to you? Probably Rain more than you, Shotgun, even though I think you’re gorgeous. Maybe there’s a part of me that, deep down, despite the memory loss, recognises the blow you dealt.”
“That’s fair.” Shotgun held my gaze before holding his hands out. “Where do we go from here?”
“Well, you need to meet the children,” I suggested, and both men stiffened.
“Twins?” Rain breathed. “Don’t say quints!”
I offered Rain a confused frown. That was random.
“Quintuplet,” Rain stated, pointing at himself.
