Page 12 of Remember Me

Within half an hour, my mom is here with coffees, pastries, and clean clothes for me. I swear this woman was a ninja in her past life. How she managed to do all that and drive here in thirty minutes is seriously impressive.

Once she’s set everything down, she engulfs me in one of her tight mom hugs to the point I’m struggling to breathe. She’s nearly a foot shorter than me, but she’s as strong as an ox, I’ll give her that. We stand holding each other for a long time; I can’t bear to let go of her. My eyes are squeezed shut so tightly that, when I open them, stars flood my vision. The hope this was a bad dream is long gone. I’m in my own personal nightmare.

After she’s given Wren a hug, my mom moves over to Lottie. I can see she’s battling to keep her emotions at bay, always wanting to be strong for everyone else. She kisses Lottie on the head and takes her hand, leaning in close, she whispers. “You need to fight, sweet girl, my Jake needs you. I fear if he loses you, I’ll lose him in the process. Please, Charlie, I need you to be strong now and fight with everything you have to come back to him. To us.”

She wipes her eyes and moves back over to me. “It’s getting late, I’m going to head back home and check on Bella, ok?”

Nodding, I give her a final squeeze, “Ok, Mom, I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye, Wren, it’s a shame we’re not seeing each other under better circumstances. And Sawyer, you look after her.” Mom raises her eyebrows at him.

“Will do, ma’am,” he says to her as I catch the look of horror on her face at the term.

“Please call me Hannah, I’m way too young to be called ma'am," she scoffs.

“We’ll see you soon, Hannah,” Wren says, pulling my mom in for one last hug before she’s out the door.

“So…what do we do now?” Wren asks before sitting down.

Taking the seat next to her, elbows on my thighs, I turn to look at her. “For now, we wait.”

Chapter 8

Jake

It feels like forever since I last slept in my own bed. The cot the hospital provided is rock hard and small. Honestly: sleeping on the floor would be better. Wren and I were originally going to take it in turns to stay overnight with Lottie, but it seems neither of us are very good at leaving her side. So now we have two cots squeezed into this tiny hospital room. They advised they don’t normally do this, but Wren and I weren’t afraid to throw our names around to get what we wanted when it came to being with our girl.

Right now, Wren and Sawyer have had to go back to their hotel so she can do some work. Life for a wannabe CEO stops for nobody it seems, but she promised me she wouldn’t be long.

While she’s gone, I do the one thing I haven’t done since school—pray. I’ve never believed in God, not since he took my father away from me, but now more than ever, I need him to do me a solid and wake Lottie up.

Taking hold of her hand tightly in mine I shut my eyes and start, “God, I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, and it’s been a long time since I prayed to you, but I need you. My best friend, the love of my life, is in a coma and I need her to wake up. I can’t function without her, man. She’s the peanut butter to my jelly, the ying to my yang, you get the drift. Life is meaningless without her and I’m holding on by a thread. So please, God, help a brother out and bring my girl back to me. Give me a chance to show her how much I love her and need her.” I finish by kissing Lottie’s knuckles and silently cry, wishing it was me instead of her in that bed.

Making myself as comfortable as I can on the cot, I close my eyes and try to get some sleep.

“That’s it, I’m staging an intervention.” I can hear my sister’s dulcet tones as I flit in and out of sleep.

“What are you even doing here?” I ask groggily, refusing to open my eyes for fear of the pity I’ll see in hers.

“I’m here to sit with Charlie for a bit, so you can go and have a shower and a proper sleep. I don’t mean to be rude, brother, but you stink and look like a homeless man. Is that the impression you want to give Charlie when she wakes up? Wren called and told me you haven’t left this place since Charlie was brought in.”

I get up and take a long look in the mirror. Jesus, I’ve aged about 20 years in the space of a week. Maybe Alyssa’s right.

“Plus, it would be great for you to spend some time with Bella. She misses you and she might make you feel close to Charlie?”

Reluctantly, I agree, mainly because I do look like a hobo. I kiss Lottie on the forehead, cheek, and hand before I head toward the door. It’s taking every ounce of willpower I have not to stay by her side, but I know she would lynch me for not taking proper care of myself.

After driving to my place for a shower, power nap, and a change of clothes, I also pack a small bag for the next few days. I’ll admit I do feel refreshed, but there is no way I’m letting my sister know that. Wren has messaged to let me know she’s back at the hospital now and there’s no news, so I should take my time.

While I’m at it, I text the guys and give them an update, along with Kayla. They’ve visited Lottie whilst she’s been here, but with restrictions on how many visitors you can have in the room at one time, it’s made things difficult.

Grabbing my overnight bag from the sofa and my car keys, I make my way over to my mom’s house.

They say dogs are like their owners, and I never believed this to be true, until I met Bella. Not only is her fur almost the exact same color as Lottie’s hair, but she’s also a timid little thing just like my girl, although both of them are getting better. Bella adores my mom, though, she constantly sits with her whilst she knits her little doggie sweaters. Bella jumps down from the couch, her tail whipping back and forth while I stroke her head and rub her ears. I also brought snacks, which I’m hoping will get her to forgive me for not seeing her in so long. It seems to do the trick, and the pup cup I got from Starbucks is demolished in seconds—just like Lottie, she can’t resist a sweet treat.

This is just what I needed. I read somewhere once, dogs can sense when a human is in distress, and it feels like Bella can sense I need her as much as she needs me. We snuggle for a bit before I eventually fall asleep, and I’m woken up by the she-devil that is my sister.

“Where’s Mom and why are you hovering over me like a creeper?” I rasp; my mouth feels like sandpaper.