Amnesia

Three days later, Luke walked back through the doors of the hospital to see Ainsley. After he stormed out of her room out of anger the day of her accident, Ainsley told her parents that she didn’t want Luke near her until she got out. Once Luke got wind of what Ainsley had said about him (obviously her mom told him), Luke explained everything to Martha and Jeremy, and apologized continuously about losing his temper and flipping out on their daughter. They understood and wanted Ainsley to see him again now that she was finally settling down in her hospital room and more things were coming back to her. She wasn’t as stressed out about not remember numerous things and she was in better spirits since she and Luke last talked, claimed her mother. That’s why this time around at the hospital, Ainsley’s mom was with Luke.

“I’m not going to stay in there with you two, so you can talk to her about everything,” Martha began as she led Luke to Ainsley’s hospital room. “But I will let her know that I wanted you here.”

Luke felt his stomach tie in knots as he nodded his head. He felt nervous and his palms started to sweat, as if he was going to the principal’s office for tripping someone in the hallway or for purposefully flooding the urinal. He knew Ainsley wasn’t going to be happy with him there, but he needed to apologize to her and explain himself to her, and hopefully try and mend their half-missing relationship.

Ainsley’s mother opened the door of her daughter’s hospital room, and she walked in, with Luke at her side like a lost puppy. Once Ainsley heard them enter the room, she turned to look at them. She smiled at her mom, and then her smile faded once she saw Luke standing awkwardly next to her. Her hair was pulled back and the cuts on her face seemed to be healing, but her leg and arm were still in casts as they rested on pillows and blankets that were stacked on top of one another. And just being able to see her made Luke smile.

“We came to see you,” Martha smiled as she held a bag of cookies. “And I baked some cookies this morning.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Ainsley said with a small smile as she attempted to sit up a bit in her hospital bed. She looked at Luke, her mouth turning into a flat line. “Hi.”

“Hi, Ainsley,” Luke said quietly as he looked at her, his smile quickly vanishing. She didn’t look as miserable as she did three days ago. Her face was a little bit brighter, she was seeming to be showing a little more emotion than she had the day of the accident, but seeing her wrapped in casts and bandages still made Luke want to cringe.

“I brought Luke with me today so you two can talk,” Martha commented as she set the bag of cookies down on the table next to Ainsley’s bed. I’m going to go walk around a bit and I’ll come back later.”

Ainsley looked from her mother and then at Luke without uttering a word. Luke could read the look on Ainsley’s face; it was her usual why-are-you-doing-this-to-me face that Luke knew oh so well from a lot of personal experience. Ainsley always made that face when he made her watch a movie that she hated, or when he would make fun of her and wouldn’t stop even after she told him to.

And secretly, he loved that face.

After Martha exited the room, Luke slowly grabbed a chair and drug it to the side of Ainsley’s bed, just as he had done three days ago. He sat down and scratched the back of his neck. “I promise I won’t storm out this time. I’m sorry.”

Ainsley nodded her head. “I’m still mad at you, but I am slightly sorry as well.”

Luke let out a quiet laugh as he looked at Ainsley’s stern face. She glared at him. “What?”

“I always love when you’re being a smartass to me,” he answered. “I think it’s cute.”

She cracked a smile, but Luke saw discomfort written all over her face. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “And I know that face you gave your mom when she walked out. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking, Claire.”

Her face scrunched together and she tilted her head to the side. “Why are you calling me by my middle name?”

Luke let out a quiet sigh. “It’s a long story. I started calling you that whenever you would do something stupid or when I would make fun of you. And you always hated it, which is another reason why I did it. It all started because one day you and I were walking in the woods and there was this huge tree root sticking out of the ground, and you tripped on it and completely wiped out. And I don’t know why I thought it would be funny to call you by your middle name, but after I did that day it just stuck.”

“That sounds rude,” she chuckled as she looked down at her hands. “But it’s still kind of funny.”

Luke cleared his throat as he sat up in his chair, not knowing what to say next. After a few moments of silence he spoke up. “So, when do you get out of the hospital?”

“Since the main issues are my leg and arm, he said I can leave next week, but I just have to be careful,” she sighed as she picked at a piece of thread on her blanket that was covering her torso. “And I have to use a wheelchair. My parents said that they’ll have me sleep downstairs so I don’t have to worry about the stairs.”

“That’s good,” he nodded. “Maybe once you get out we can do some things together. I can take you to the movies and we can go out for dinner. Or I can just come over to your house and we can watch movies. We do that a lot.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Ainsley sighed as she shrugged one of her shoulders. She began to look uneasy again. “Can I ask you a question?”

Luke nodded his head again. “Sure.”

“And you can’t get mad at me,” she said as she looked up at him. Her eyes were gentle, yet the look on her face told Luke that she wasn’t going to deliver the best of news.

“Okay,” was all he could manage as he felt his heart pounding in his chest.

“Can we just take things slow?” she asked quietly as she put her focus back on the strand of thread that she was pulling at. “I don’t know anything about you still, or our relationship. Just don’t push anything on me. It’s starting to scare me.”

Luke felt a lump form in his throat. He could see where she was coming from but he also didn’t think that she would feel that way. He was hoping that she would be open to going on dates with him and spending a lot of time with him like they used to. It was hard to understand how she was so confused and weirded out by him, and it felt like someone reached into his chest and tore his heart out.

“You just want to be…” he started, trying not to show how hurt he was as he said the next word. “Friends?”

“I mean, yeah,” she nodded. “I don’t want you thinking I’m your girlfriend. It’s weird to me that way. I have no idea who you are.”

“Okay,” was all Luke could manage as he felt his heart sink and his eyes start to sting.

“I mean, I like hearing about our memories and stuff,” Ainsley commented. “I just don’t want to really think about them in a boyfriend-girlfriend perspective.”

“You don’t have to keep explaining yourself,” Luke said through his teeth, and he really wanted to tell her to stop pushing the knife in deeper. “I get it.”

“You’re mad,” she said quietly as she stared at him with sadness in her eyes. “I didn’t want you to be mad at me.”

“I’m going to be honest, Ainsley,” he shrugged. “I am hurt, and it is going to take a few days to get over it, but I’ll try to understand. We can be…friends.”

Ainsley nodded her head and smiled softly. “Thank you, Luke.”

And even though Luke was upset and mad about their previous conversation, seeing Ainsley smile brought a smile back to his face. “You’re welcome, Ainsley.”