Come Alive

“Mornin’ Jack!” The stranger coming into his room had pancakes so Jack accepted it for the time being, “How ya feelin’ today, buddy?”

As he handed Jack the plate of food and a Starbucks cup, Jack couldn’t help but feel like he knew this guy—especially after Jack took a sip of his coffee to find it to be his exact order. The other man sat down in the chair to Jack’s left and put his feet up on the bed before setting to work on his own breakfast. “Uh, sorry… but should I know you?” Jack sighed as he picked up his fork, keeping his eyes on the stranger.

“Damn. I was hoping you’d remember. My name’s Alex and you saved my life.” Alex only looked up from his plate briefly before continuing with a full mouth, “I’ve been sitting here in this chair for the past three days and today’s New Year’s Eve and I’m hoping that you get released. I’m kind of sick of these four walls and I’m willing to bet you are too.”

Jack nodded, “Makes sense…”

“No it doesn’t, don’t lie.” Alex laughed, “Don’t worry, I know more about you than you realize, and you’re confused as fuck right now. And you probably will be until these doctors figure out what’s wrong with you. Wanna hear about yesterday? I promise I’m not as creepy as this sounds…”
Again Jack nodded, more slowly than before, but nonetheless he agreed to let Alex talk. Whoever this man was, he was making Jack happy. And spending a confusing amount of time in a hospital was enough to make anyone lose a bit of their happiness.

***

The doctor pulled the last tube from Jack’s arm, finally disconnecting him from the last monitor, “Alright, Jack, you’re good to go!”

Jack smiled and sat up in the bed, “Thank everything.”

“You have to come back in a few days for more testing, though. That’s the deal I made with Alex. We still don’t know what’s wrong with your memory. However, you’re physically perfect.”

“Well I’ve always been physically perfect,” Jack joked as he motioned to his body, “Flawless physique and all.”

Alex choked on a laugh from his seat in the windowsill, “Yeah, that’s what we’ll call it.”
The doctor laughed slightly, “I’ll see you soon, okay?” Jack nodded and the doctor left the room, leaving Jack and Alex to gather Jack’s things and head out of the building.

“Uh, Alex?” Jack said as the two walked out into the hospital’s parking lot, “I, uh, I don’t know where I live.”

“Yeah I’ve been thinking about that. I even tried to text people on your phone to figure out where you lived, but I bet you didn’t know that there was no phone found at the scene of the shooting, did you?”

Jack groaned, “No I remember leaving it at my house that day. Like I remember thinking that I’d only be gone for a few minutes.” The two were walking along the street at this point, “Funny how I can remember that.”

“Stop being so damn depressive, we’re going back to my apartment. You need to shower anyway.” Alex smiled and put his arm out to hail a cab, “I’m liking this ‘acting normal’ thing. I haven’t taken a cab in who knows how long…” Alex’s voice was wandering off and Jack wanted to pry a little to see where Alex’s head was going, but the backseat of a taxi didn’t seem like the right place.

After a ten-minute car ride, Jack found himself being led into one of the nicest apartments he’d ever seen in his life. Hell, it was a small house filled with expensive everything. “It’s not that great, Jack. Quit your gaping.” Alex said over his shoulder as he turned the light on in his kitchen and grabbed a soda from his fridge, “Do you want anything?”

Jack shook his head, dumbly staring at the intricate artwork on the walls and the modern leather couches surrounding a fantastic television with the—

“Jack.” Alex shook Jack’s shoulder, drawing his attention back to the man he was with, “Dude, please.
It’s really not that amazing don’t freak out over it. Please.”

“Sorry man, I’m not used to this. I mean, it’s beautiful here what the hell do you mean it’s not that great.” Jack laughed and followed Alex into the open living room.

Alex smiled at him, “This? This shit isn’t beauty.”

Jack, unsure of how to respond to that, just sat down on the corner of one of the armchairs. Alex watched him from his side of the room, taking sips from his drink every so often. After a silence long enough to get Jack uncomfortable, Alex cleared his throat, “Right, well, it’s nearly 2. Why don’t you go shower and get cleaned up and shit. I wanna go out tonight—bring the new year in right and all.”

Jack nodded quietly, as much as he liked this Alex guy for being beyond friendly and nice and funny and cute and caring, there was still something about him that intimidated Jack to no extent. Alex led Jack to the bathroom and showed him where everything was and how to work the shower, “I’ll find you some clothes and leave them in my room,” he motioned to a door down the hall, “Then I guess we can go get some dinner and find a party or something to go to later? Sound good to you?” Jack nodded and crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for Alex to close the bathroom door. “Why’re you being so quiet? C’mon, bro, I thought we got over this whole awkward ‘I don’t know you’ shit… Wait, you remember who I am, right?”

Jack nodded hurriedly, “Yeah, yeah that’s not it. I’m fine. …Thanks for being so nice to me.” Jack wasn’t so sure why he was being so shy around this guy. Jack was never shy.

Alex laughed, “Uh huh. Okay, Jack. Your shower’s gonna get cold, go clean yourself you smell bad.” And with that he slammed the door shut, leaving Jack alone in a stranger’s bathroom.