Truly, Madly, Deeply

I looked through the scrapbook I’ve had been given. There were a bunch of pictures of myself, from when I was just a baby till now. However, I couldn’t recognize this girl. I couldn’t recognize anyone.

“Any luck?” I heard from my doorway.

I shook my head and closed the pretty book. “No.”

My mother sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. “Annabelle, I know this may be hard for you, but don’t push yourself. Just like the doctor said, it will come in time.”

She was only saying this because she had caught me staying up at four in the morning watching home videos of myself. But, I knew she–and everyone else—wanted my memory to come back. They wished that I had never got into that car accident and got amnesia.

“I know,” I said quietly.

She smiled. “Good. Oh, and Garrett is here.”

Garrett was my boyfriend, who loved me very much, but I didn’t love him. I knew it killed him too when I said I didn’t remember him. I wish I did, though. He seemed great, from what I’ve been told.

I walked into my living room and saw him there, wearing a hopeful expression.

“Anything?” he asked, smiling.

I shook my head. His smile was still on his face, but I could tell in his eyes that he was hurting.

“Well, I have something great planned for us today, if it’s okay with you,” he said.

“Sure,” I answered.

—+

“Tada!” Garrett said with his hands in the air.

He took me to a park filled with elderly people. Other than that, it was beautiful. Dozens of flowers were planted across the park. Willow trees shaded many benches everywhere. A long stream was not too far from where we were at, and I could see little fish swimming happily.

“Uh, sorry about the old people…the retirement home took them to a little field trip,” he said awkwardly when I didn’t say anything.

“Oh, they don’t bother me. It’s just…beautiful here.” I picked a daisy from the ground. “Where did you find this place?” I asked amazed.

His face fell. “Y-You don’t remember?”

I bit my lip. This was one of the bad things about having amnesia—you make people feel horrible. Of course, I felt bad about making them feel bad.

He frowned. “It’s where we met…”

We met at the park? This beautiful park? Now, I felt even worse.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright.” He smiled “I had a feeling it wasn’t going to work, but I had a back up plan.”

“Well, what is it?”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s a surprise.” He pointed to a spot next to a tree. “You see that tree? Well, that’s were we met. You tripped on a one of the tree’s roots and fell. And, that’s where I came in and saved you.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Saved me?”

He playfully rolled his eyes again. “Fine, that’s where I picked you up in my arms and took you to my awesome castle, better?”

I smiled. “Lovely.”

“Ok, now let’s get back on track! Close your eyes!”

I closed my eyes. “Don’t run me into a tree, ok?”

“I’ll try not to,” he said playfully as I scoffed.

As he walked me to wherever, I wondered if we were really like this—joking around and having fun. Or, were we worse?

Finally, we stopped. “We’re here.” He let go of my arms. “But, don’t close your eyes,” he added quickly.

“Sure,” I said, sniffing. It smelled like…food? Did he cook or what?

“Ok, you can open your eyes!” he announced.

I was right. He did cook food for me. The table was full of food—good looking ones.

He walked around the table. “I got all your favorite food—pizza, chocolate muffins, Hot Cheeotes, Pop Tarts, that stuff. Then, I have Gatorade and Arizona Fruit Punch. I also made your favorite cake—Cheesecake. I made all of it…ok, maybe, not all.”

I was speechless by what he did. Even though I still couldn’t remember, I thought it was sweet, nice, great, awesome, more than that. He really loved me.

“Nice, huh?” he said, seeing my expression.

I smiled. “More than that. It was really nice of you to do all of this for me, but—”

“Wait! There’s one last thing,” he interrupted and bent down behind the table. He came back up with a stereo and put it on the table.

“Ok, so, you might think this will be cheesy–I promise you, it is—but this has a lot of meaning to us and how I feel about you….so, I thought I’d share it with you, if that made any sense,” he rambled.

He played the PLAY button and instantly, a song came on.

“I'll be your dream
I'll be your wish I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope I'll be your love
Be everything that you need
I'll love you more with every breath
Truly, madly, deeply do
I will be strong I will be faithful
'cause I'm counting on
A new beginning
A reason for living
A deeper meaning, yeah…”

Something clicked in my mind, like the feeling you get when you know you’re forgetting something.

He stopped the music, seeing my expression. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” I smiled. “Garrett, I remember.”

He almost dropped the stereo by my answer. “Y-You remember?”

I nodded while smiling. “Yes, I remember. When I was nine, I broke my leg, something nobody told me yet. When I was fifteen, I hit my head on my dresser, and I got this bump on my head.” I smirked. “And, when we first met, you pointed and laughed at me before helping me up, Mister Prince Charming. Oh, and, this is my favorite song, too.”

He smiled, looking happier since this whole situation happened.

“Garret?”

“Yeah?

“Thank you.”

Garret shook his head and smiled. “No, thank you.”