Chapter 15
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Florian
After our pharmacy errand, I take a nap. Unfortunately, when I wake up, I still do not remember the past six weeks.
But I remembered ‘mi amor.’ I grin. That is progress.
A doorbell rings, and I hear voices.
It must be my family. I hurry from my bed.
When I enter the living room, Mateo is speaking to an older, blond man.
“Oh!” Mateo must sense my presence, because he glances behind him. “You’re awake.”
I pad toward him.
The middle-aged blond man looks familiar.
“I am so glad to see you up,” the man says.
“This is Coach Holberg,” Mateo says.
I smile gratefully at him, and Coach Holberg looks ashamed.
“I am sorry to hear about your amnesia, Florian,” Coach Holberg says.
“I am sorry I got hit. I must be inconveniencing you.”
Coach Holberg does not contradict me, and my chest curdles. I step closer to Mateo.
He gives a sort of startled soft inhale as Coach Holberg tells me that the player who hit me has been suspended.
It’s probably a good thing, so that other players are less likely to injure players like me, but I hate that his career has been hurt because of a situation I was in.
“You’re an excellent player,” Coach Holberg tells me, and maybe he can read me better than I think. “I didn’t know that you were in a relationship with Mateo.” Coach Holberg smiles. “I’m glad I asked you to go to the hospital. You must have been beside yourself!”
“I-I was,” Mateo says. For some reason, he looks startled.
“You should have insisted you visit the hospital straight away,” Coach says. “I would have understood.”
“We were trying to keep it quiet,” Mateo says.
“Well, you did an excellent job.”
Mateo nods, but his face looks green. Perhaps it is the light. I look around the apartment to see if one of the bulbs might be casting a clear light instead of my favored golden hued ones.
“We miss you on the team, Florian,” Coach says.
“That is nice.” I hesitate. “I would probably miss it too if I remembered.”
Coach chuckles. “Indeed.” He squares his shoulders. “Well, once you recover your memory—”
“I promise it will be soon. I-I want to remember everything. I do.” I glance at Mateo.
His face looks paler than before, and I sigh. Maybe he’s doubting that I’ll be able to remember. I need to ask him more about our history. Maybe something will trigger me.
“Why don’t you take a few more days off?” Coach tells me. “Then you can start coming into the arena to use the fitness facilities. You can watch the practices and games too.”
“That sounds good.” I nod multiple times.
“I’ll be at work tomorrow,” Mateo promises.
“Fantastic.” Coach shakes his head. “I can’t believe that you’re together.”
I take Mateo’s hand. “Mateo has been wonderful.”
“Good.”
And with that, Coach leaves, and Mateo and I are alone.
“He seems nice,” I say.
“The whole team is nice.”
“I want to know everything about how we met.”
Mateo flinches. “Everything?”
“Yes.”
“Well…” Mateo scratches the back of his neck. “Sure…”
The doorbell rings again, and Mateo brightens.
My family soon fill the apartment. They look far more rested than before.
“Everything was all a blur yesterday,” Annika informs Mateo. “Now I can concentrate.”
“Annika is very smart,” Papa says.
“Are you at university?” Mateo asks.
Annika glances at Mateo. Her eyebrows raise somewhat, and Mateo shrinks.
“I’m sorry, sister. I guess I didn’t speak enough about you to Mateo.” I chuckle helplessly.
“Well,” she says finally. “You also didn’t mention him to me.”
“I didn’t mention him to anyone.” I take Mateo’s hand. “I am sorry, mi amor. I will not make that mistake again. You are very important to me.” He flushes. “You are also important to me, mother. And father. You are also important to me.”
“You are important to me, Florian,” my father says loyally.
“And to me,” my mother coos.
I turn to Annika, my cheeks warm. “And you are…”
“Important to you?” She rolls her eyes, but I am certain she is smiling behind her pressed lips. “Likewise.”
Mateo backs into the kitchen. “I can make tea. Who likes tea?”
I laugh. Mateo is so funny.
“None of us drink tea, mi amor.”
“None of you?” His eyes round, then he blushes and does some sort of laugh.
It’s…
Well, it’s not my favorite laugh. Strictly speaking. But that’s only because Mateo has so many beautiful laughs. There is a nervous sound to this that feels wrong, but he is meeting all my family. They are bound to be overwhelming. Germans are very tall, and we Richters are tall Germans.
Annika studies us both for a moment longer than is comfortable.
“You should call Gina,” I say. “Tell her to come over.”
“Who is Gina?” A line appears in Annika’s forehead. I’ve never noticed it before. Perhaps she is studying too hard.
I must really speak to her about that.
“Gina is my twin sister,” Mateo says. “We live together.”
Mama claps her hands. “Well, then she must come over.”
“Please text her,” I tell Mateo.
“I’m not sure…”
“It will be nice,” Annika says. “We are exceedingly curious.”
Mateo’s hands tremble, but he nods. “Right. Yeah.” Then he takes out his phone and texts her.
I give a relieved smile.
Mateo then gives everyone some of the San Pellegrino in the refrigerator, and we all go to the couch to sit. We look out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. There is not room for all of us, so I put Mateo on my lap as the others clap, and Mateo’s cheeks turn redder and redder.
When the doorbell rings, Mateo leaps up. Shortly after, Gina enters the apartment.
She grins when she sees everyone. “You look like Florian!”
“I know you mentioned you had to leave soon and could only stay a short time,” Mateo tells her.
“Oh, no, the event was cancelled.” Gina sweeps into the living room. “I can stay here all night!”
Mateo’s throat moves.
“Well, not all night. I know you two will want privacy.” She giggles.
I nod solemnly. Gina is very considerate.
“What brings you to Boston?” Papa asks.
“I’m getting a PhD in neuroscience at MIT,” Gina says.
Papa beams. “I have a PhD! So does my wife.”
Mama and Papa squeeze hands.
“We met in graduate school,” Mama explains.
“Annika is writing her master’s thesis now,” Papa says proudly. “She’s studying microbes at Heidelberg University.”
“I’m good at evaluating tiny things that are inconsistent,” Annika says.
Mateo’s throat moves. “You are all very smart.”
“Everyone here is smart,” Gina says. “Mateo needs to know where all the muscles are in the body. He caught someone who had cancer in his back because his pain was not consistent with normal pain patterns.”
“You saved someone’s life!” I exclaim. “Mateo, that is incredible.”
“Well.” Mateo’s cheeks pinken. Mateo’s cheeks are beautiful when they pinken. The highlighter on his face sparkles extra hard. I love him so much. “I told someone to go to the doctor, then a team of doctors and nurses saved his life.”
“But none of it would have happened without you.” I kiss Mateo’s cheek.
Mateo doesn’t want us to kiss on the lips until I regain my memory. It is sad that my memory is being so slow, but part of me is grateful too. I do not remember how to kiss Mateo. French kissing always looks intimidating when I watch movies, even though the people seem to really enjoy it.
I have never enjoyed being French kissed, but since that was only with women, and I am definitely, definitely very, very gay, I am sure it will be different when I kiss someone for real.
I will wait until I remember the skills I must have picked up when Mateo and I had our highly sexual relationship that involved almost no talking. It is impossible to talk when one is French kissing. That much I am certain of.
“You are so happy,” Papa says. “It is so nice to see.”
“I know,” I say.
I should be sad because I have lost my memory. What if I never recover it? Will I never play again?
But all I can feel is giddiness, because now I have Mateo.
“I will be happier when I can remember,” I say.
Papa turns to Gina. “You study neuroscience. Perhaps you can offer some advice for how Florian can heal.”
“Well…” Gina hesitates.
“The doctor said my memory will come back if I am triggered by the right thing,” I say.
“That is hopeful.”
“I already remembered where the remote control for the thermostat is!” I exclaim. “And that I used to call Mateo ‘mi amor’!”
“How excellent,” Mama exclaims.
“You remembered the remote control?” Annika frowns.
She doesn’t finish the rest of the sentence.
Annika is an excellent sister. She knows that it is so embarrassing that I can remember the remote control and its placement and its functions and not remember my incredibly wonderful boyfriend whom I love so much and who loves me.
My shoulders sag.
“Perhaps it would be useful to recreate some of the dates that you and Mateo used to do,” Gina says.
“That is a fantastic idea,” I exclaim.
Gina gives a modest smile.
“That is not necessary.” For some reason Mateo looks worried. Perhaps he thinks it will be too painful to have those dates with me and for me not to remember them.