I See Sparks Fly Whenever You Smile

Brook

Rian and I sat in the chapel together for a little longer. For the most part we actually sat in silence, but it was still comforting to have each other.

When we realized it was getting late, we decided to head back to Alex’s room. Like I had with Jenn, I stopped as soon as I got outside the door and heard his voice.

“You’re going to have to go in there sooner or later, Brook,” Rian said.

“I know that,” I nodded. “I just have to be ready.”

“Well, be ready. He wants to talk to you.”

I took a deep breath and was about to step into the room when I heard someone call my name. I turned around to fin done of Alex’s nurses, Nancy, walking towards me.

“How are you doing, Sweetheart?” she asked, giving me a hug and shooting a smile at Rian.

Most of the nurses Alex had so far were nice, but Nancy was my favorite. She was an older woman who definitely loved her job. I could tell she really cared about her patients and their loved ones. I don’t know why, and maybe I was making it up in my own head, but it seemed like had had favorited

Alex and myself just a bit.

“I’m okay, Nancy,” I replied as she let me go.

“You should be more than okay, my girl. I hear Alex is awake.”

I nodded. “I’d be better if he remembered any of us.”

She smiled at me sadly. “Oh, that’s a minor detail,” she shrugged. “He’ll be good as new before you know it.”

She was awfully positive for someone who must have been a lot of tragedy.

“Thanks,” I smiled back at her.

“So, are you still staying tonight?”

“Oh. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

I’d gotten so used to just staying at the hospital each night, it never dawned on me that it could change now that Alex was awake.

“As long as he’s okay with it, I’m okay with it,” Nancy said as she started to walk in the room.

I grabbed her arm to stop her. “Could you ask him?”

“No,” Rian finally spoke up and the nurse and I looked up at him. “You have to talk to him yourself.”

I opened my mouth to protest but Nurse Nancy nodded. “He’s right, Brook. You should talk with him.”

Rian nudged me to the door. “Come on. I’ll be by your side the whole time.”

“Okay,” I caved, again really grateful for Rian’s patience with me.

“Hi Alex,” Nurse Nancy said as she walked into the room, introducing herself and explaining she was there to quickly take his vital signs. When she was finished, she let him know she’s be back in a few hours and if he needed anything before that just to hit the nurse’s call button beside his bed.

She smiled at me as she slipped out of the room, whispering “good luck” as she went by.

“Alex,” Rian said, moving closer to the bed, pulling my hand along with him.

“Hey… Rian…” he said carefully, unsure he had the right name.
Rian nodded. “This is-“

“Brook,” Alex interrupted. “I remember from the pictures. Hi,” he smiled at me.

“Hi,” I replied back, squeezing Rian’s hand tightly. I was so nervous and I didn’t know how not to be.

“Listen. Brook’s been spending the night with you since you’ve been in here so you’re not alone,” Rian explained.

“Thank you,” he looked over at me again.

“Y-You’re welcome,” I replied, giving him a shaky smile.

Rian squeezed my hand this time, urging me to keep going.

“I, um-“ I took a deep breath and tried to will my nerves away. “I’m willing to stay again tonight. But if you’re not okay with that, I totally understand.”

Alex shook his head. “No, of course I would like for you to stay. Who’d want to spend the night alone in a hospital?”

“Great,” Rian looked over at me and smiled proudly. “Alex, you have a good night and try to get some rest. Brook, I’ll see you in the morning. You try and get some rest as well,” he said, kissing the top of
my head before trying to quickly leave the room.

“I’m going to walk him out and say goodnight to Jack. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Alex nodded. “Sure.”

I quickly ran out of the room after Rian.

“Seriously?” he huffed when I caught up to him.

“I know. I know. I just need a quick confidence boost that I can handle this.”

Rian laughed and placed his hands on my shoulders. “You can handle this. Just remember it’s only
Alex. He’s the same guy. He just-“

“Doesn’t remember.” I finished his sentence.

“Right,” Rian nodded. “But you’re going to help him remember.”

“I am?”

“Yes. He’s interested in you. There’s something going on in his head making him want to see you and talk to you.”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged.

“Brook, I spent hours in that room, talking with him before and he still did not seem completely
confident to call me by my name. He saw you in a picture and knew exactly who you were without hesitation.”

I sighed. “Okay.” I didn’t want to read too much into what Rian was saying.

“Are you going to be okay? Why don’t you just come back to the hotel if you’re that worried?”

“I’m not. I’ll be fine. If he wants me here, I am not going anywhere. I’m just nervous, you know? What do we talk about?”

“He’s going to ask you a lot of questions. That’s what he did with us. The doctors told him to just keep talking to familiar people. Eventually something is going to trigger his memories. And obviously, that’s going to be you.”

“Why me?”

Rian rolled his eyes. “Really? Why you? You’re the love of his life. The one person he loves the most in this world. His best friend. His soul mate. His-“

“Okay,” I laughed, cutting Rian off. “I get it.”

“You got this,” he encouraged me, pulling me into a hug.

“No pressure.” I replied when he released me.

“You’ll be fine,” he repeated, glancing at his phone that buzzed with another text from who I assumed was one of the guys waiting with the cab to take them to the hotel.

“Go. I’ll be fine,” I assured him.

“Call me if you need me,” he offered as he started walking to the exit.

I spent a little more time than necessary saying goodnight to Jack and Jenn. And after getting a pep talk similar to Rian’s from them, I was ready to handle some time alone with Alex. At least I thought I was ready.

When I got back to the room, he was under the covers and laying back against his pillows, looking up at the TV. The main light in the room was off but the lamp next to the bed was still on.

“Hey,” he pepped up when he saw me.

I smiled. “Hey,” I sat down in the chair next to his bed. “How are you feeling?”

He sat up a little. “Okay. I think. My head feels sort of fuzzy. And I’m a bit tired. Which if funny seeing as I’ve been asleep, pretty much, for a few days.”

“Why don’t you get some sleep then?” I suggested, reaching for the switch on the lamp.

“Not yet,” he said quickly.

“Oh?”

“Well- I’ve had some time with my parents and my friends. I’d like some time with you, too,” he explained.

“Okay…” I said slowly, sitting back in the chair.

He was silent for a few moments.

“So…” I finally said after the silence started to feel a bit awkward.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I’m just trying to figure out what to say.”

I nodded. “Well. What did you talk about with the guys?”

“Lots of stuff,” he shrugged.

“So,” I kicked my legs up and rested them on the edge of the bed. “I’ve got nowhere to go.”

“Okay,” he laughed “Well, just to recap- we used to be a couple, right?”

I nodded slowly- those words hit me like a bus. “Yeah.”

“And now we’re just friends?”

“Um…” I took a deep breath. “Truthfully. The whole idea of us not being a couple is so new, I’m not exactly sure what we are.”

“Why did we break up?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I overreacted. It’s a bit of a long story. It was definitely a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

“Is there, maybe, something else we could talk about? This is a bit uncomfortable.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. How long were we together?”

“Actually, just two days ago would have been one year since we went on our first date?”

“Wow.”

I nodded. “It wasn’t until a few months after that we became an actual couple though.”

“Why did it take so long?”

“You were on tour with your band in Japan and Canada. We took it slow- got to know each other talking over the phone, texts and video chat.”

He nodded. “How did we meet?”

I laughed slightly, considering for only a moment to change the story, since –unfortunately- he wouldn’t know any different for the time being

I told him the story – the whole story- and he was quite amused by it as I expected he would be. By the end I’d noticed he’d been yawning and suggested we both try and get some sleep.

“Okay,” he agreed. “But one last question.”

“What’s that?”

“What kind of a guy am I?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Yanno, am I a good guy? Funny? Shy?”

“You’re definitely not shy,” I laughed.

“I didn’t think so. I figured to be a lead singer of a band I’d have to be rather outgoing.”

I smiled. “You’re a great guy, Alex. One of the best actually.”

“But am I funny?” he asked again.

I nodded. “Yes. A big part of the reason I fell in love with you was because you could always make me laugh. We’d have so much fun together-the kind of fun I’d never have on my own because I’m sort of a boring, old lady. But you sure pulled out the young, wild child in me.

Alex smiled. “The guys tell me we made a pretty great couple.”

I nodded. “We did.”

He suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable as he asked his next question. “Was I in love with you?”

I smiled, despite the tears suddenly stinging my eyes. “Very much.”

“Do you think I’m still in love with you?”

“I hope so.”