CHAPTER SIX #2
"That's okay."
"There isn't a right or wrong answer."
"Take your time."
Melissa shook her head frantically.
"...Why?
Her voice cracked.
"Why can't I remember?"
The woman beside her gently reached up, brushing damp strands of hair away from Melissa's face.
"I'm your mom."
Melissa looked at her again. Really looked. Searching every feature. Every wrinkle. Every expression. Trying desperately to feel something familiar. Anything. Nothing came.
"...Mom?"
The woman nodded, tears streaming freely now.
"Yes."
A shaky smile broke across her face.
"I'm your mom."
Melissa immediately burst into tears.
"I'm sorry."
She sobbed.
"I'm so sorry."
Her shoulders shook violently.
"I don't remember you."
Her mother leaned forward carefully, wrapping her arms around Melissa as gently as the monitors would allow.
"You don't have to apologize."
She kissed the top of Melissa's head.
"You don't have to remember me today."
Her own voice broke.
"I'm just..."
She closed her eyes tightly.
"...I'm just so grateful you're alive." Melissa cried against her shoulder. Unable to stop. The doctor quietly gave them a moment before speaking again.
"You were involved in a serious motor vehicle accident."
Melissa slowly pulled back. Her eyes drifted downward. Only now did she notice the thick bandages wrapped securely around her abdomen beneath the hospital gown. She hesitated. Then gently rested trembling fingertips against them.
"...What happened?"
The room became quiet. Her mother looked toward the doctor. The doctor looked back at her. Neither seemed to know where to begin. Then— A sudden flash. Rain splattering against a windshield. Bright headlights.
The screech of tires. A pair of familiar blue eyes. Melissa gasped. Her breathing caught.
"...John."
The name escaped before she could stop it. Her mother immediately smiled through her tears.
"You remember him?"
Melissa nodded almost instantly.
"Yes."
Another memory flickered. His hand reaching for hers. His voice saying her name. The warmth of his smile.
"...Where is he?"
Fear suddenly flooded her expression.
"Is he okay?"
Her mother squeezed her hand reassuringly. "He's awake."
Melissa closed her eyes in relief.
"He woke up earlier this morning."
A tear slipped quietly down her cheek.
"...He's been asking for you."
Melissa smiled for the first time since opening her eyes. Small. Fragile. But real.
"...Can I see him?"
Her mother looked toward the doctor. The doctor smiled gently.
"We'll see."
He checked Melissa's monitors before looking back at her.
"But first..."
He pulled a chair beside her bed.
"I think we should spend a little time figuring out what else you remember."
Melissa nodded quietly. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around her mother's hand.
As she stared out the hospital window...
She couldn't shake the strange feeling that something important was still missing.
Something everyone in the room knew... But no one was ready to tell her.
Outside... The morning sun continued climbing over Chicago.
Inside Room 314... Melissa West was beginning her life all over again.
Morning sunlight poured gently through Amanda's bedroom window.
Dust drifted lazily through the golden light.
Everything was exactly where she'd left it the night before.
Except... Nothing felt the same. Her blush-colored prom dress still hung from the closet door.
The tag remained attached. The shoes she'd spent weeks picking out sat neatly beside it.
Waiting for a night that never happened.
Amanda sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed.
She hadn't changed out of her oversized sweatshirt.
She hadn't brushed her hair. She hadn't slept.
She simply stared at the opposite wall. Thinking about Melissa.
Thinking about the hospital. Thinking about all the things she'd never had the chance to say.
Her phone vibrated beside her. A familiar number lit up the screen. Amanda frowned. She answered cautiously.
"...Hello?"
Silence. Then...
"...Amanda."
Amanda immediately recognized the voice. She sat upright.
"...Mrs. West?"
Her heart leaped.
"How's Melissa?"
There was a pause. Long enough that Amanda's smile slowly began to fade. Finally... Melissa's mother spoke.
"She's awake."
Relief washed over Amanda instantly. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"Oh..."
She smiled.
"Thank goodness." Another silence.
Then...
"But..."
Amanda's smile disappeared.
"...What?"
Mrs. West struggled to continue.
"She has amnesia."
Amanda blinked.
"...What?"
Her voice barely rose above a whisper. "The doctors said..."
Mrs. West sniffled.
"...she remembers pieces of her life."
Amanda listened without breathing.
"She remembers John."
A pause.
"She remembers that I'm her mother."
Another pause.
"But..."
Amanda already knew. Before the words were spoken... Somehow... She already knew.
"...She doesn't remember you."
The room became impossibly quiet. Amanda stared at the floor. Unable to think. Unable to feel. Unable to understand.
"...She..."
Her lips trembled.
"...doesn't remember me?"
"No."
Mrs. West's answer came softly. Amanda closed her eyes. A tear escaped before she could stop it. She swallowed.
"...Does she remember..."
She struggled to ask.
"...Maria?"
Mrs. West hesitated.
"Some of the cheerleaders."
Amanda nodded slowly.
Amanda looked toward the window.
"...Her dad?"
Mrs. West’s voice broke.
"Before..."
She couldn't finish the sentence. Amanda nodded once more. Quietly. Accepting each answer. One after another.
"...Not me." Mrs. West began crying again.
"I'm so sorry."
Amanda smiled faintly. The kind of smile people gave when they were trying to comfort someone else while quietly breaking themselves.
"It's okay."
Her voice was remarkably steady.
"Really."
She wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince Mrs. West... Or herself. Another silence settled between them. Finally... Mrs. West spoke again.
"...Would you come see her?"
Amanda didn't answer.
Instead... She climbed slowly off her bed. Her feet carried her across the room almost on instinct. She stopped in front of her bookshelf. A small wooden frame rested near the edge. Amanda picked it up carefully.
Two little girls smiled back at her. Their faces were covered in bright blue and yellow paint. One had accidentally painted the other's nose. Both were laughing so hard neither could stand. Amanda gently brushed her thumb across Melissa's smiling face.
"...Amanda?"
Mrs. West's quiet voice pulled her back. Amanda stared at the photograph. Her own voice barely existed.
"...Would it help her?"
Silence. "...Or..."
She swallowed.
"...would I just confuse her even more?"
Mrs. West didn't answer. She couldn't. Amanda understood. Slowly... She placed the photograph back exactly where it belonged.
"Mrs. West..."
She looked down at the floor.
"...Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
Amanda hesitated. Long enough that Mrs. West wondered if she'd changed her mind. Finally...
"...Is she happy?"
The question caught Mrs. West off guard. She looked through the hospital window toward Melissa's room before answering.
"...Not right now."
A pause.
"But..."
She smiled softly.
"John hasn't left her side."
Amanda closed her eyes. A tiny smile appeared.
"...Then..."
Her voice was almost peaceful. "...she isn't alone."
Neither woman spoke for several moments. Amanda quietly wiped away another tear.
"I think..."
She looked once more at the photograph.
"...it's time I stopped trying."
Mrs. West immediately shook her head.
"Amanda—"
Amanda gently interrupted.
"She deserves..."
She smiled sadly.
"...a fresh start."
She looked toward the morning sunlight spilling across her bedroom floor.
"Maybe..."
A deep breath.
"...forgetting me..."
Her voice cracked for the first time.
"...is part of that."
Mrs. West openly sobbed now.
"You two..." She struggled to continue.
"...were like sisters."
Amanda laughed softly through her own tears.
"...I know."
She reached over one final time. Straightening the little picture frame on the shelf. She looked at Melissa's smiling face. Memorizing it. One last time.
"...Tell her..."
The words stopped. Amanda smiled. Then slowly shook her head.
"...No."
She laughed quietly.
"Never mind."
Another tear slipped down her cheek.
"...She wouldn't remember anyway."
The sentence nearly broke her. She steadied herself against the bookshelf. Then whispered,
"...Take care of her."
A pause.
"...For me."
Mrs. West cried softly on the other end of the line.
"I will."
Her voice trembled. "I promise."
Amanda nodded. Though no one could see.
"...Thank you."
She ended the call. The room became completely silent. No music. No voices. Only the faint chirping of birds outside her bedroom window. Amanda slowly sat back down on the edge of her bed.
Her hands rested quietly in her lap. She stared into nothing. Minutes passed.
The morning sun continued filling the room. Eventually... She whispered the words she'd hoped she'd never have to say.
"...Goodbye...
A tear slipped quietly down her cheek.
"...Mel."
She closed her eyes. And for the first time since they were little girls... Amanda let her best friend go.
Several miles away... Life continued as though nothing had happened. Students hurried across campus beneath the warm spring sun. Backpacks bounced against shoulders.
Laughter drifted through the courtyards. Someone tossed a football across the lawn while music echoed from an open dorm window. The world refused to stop.
Even when someone's world already had.
Inside a small classroom overlooking the campus courtyard, Michael sat at his desk, surrounded by open textbooks and half-finished notes.
He'd spent the last twenty minutes staring at the same biology chapter.
He hadn't read a single word. Every few seconds, his thoughts wandered back to Amanda.
To Melissa. To the accident. To the hospital.
His phone suddenly vibrated against the desk. The screen lit up.
Amanda Calling.
A genuine smile spread across his face. He answered immediately.
"Hey, beautiful."
Silence. Michael's smile faded. He sat up straighter.
"...Amanda?"