Remember Me
Waking Up
I woke to a light tapping at my door. The clock on the side table read 5 am, on a Saturday. Maybe if I would have fell asleep they might have left. But the knocking continued. I shivered out of the covers and put on the robe I had left lying on the ground the night before. The window was open, letting in an icy breeze, but my forehead and neck were glistening with sweat. The bad dreams had been coming back again. I was sitting in the middle of an empty room and I was surrounded by everything I had ever lost. Then I woke up. Another knock interrupted my thoughts and I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. The hall floor was cold in my bare feet as I walked to the front of the house. When I turned the door handle, I was greeted by two men in army uniforms and a black car against the curb.
“Can I help you?” I asked, wrapping myself further in my robe to keep the November air out.
“Miss Hamilton?” One of the men, barely twenty, proceeded to question. When I nodded, his mouth creased to a straight line.
“We need you to come with us if you would please. You've done nothing wrong, someone has just asked to see you.” Said the other man, this one older and far less emotional. I invited them in and went to the bedroom to change. I quickly threw on a faded blue shirt advertising some old rock band and some gray sweats that were lying in the bottom of my closet. When I emerged, we left the house. They explained to me everything that was happening on the way to the hospital.
“So he doesn't remember anything that’s happened to him these past four years? Does he even know what’s just happened to him?” I sobbed.
“No miss. We were hoping that he would remember something soon. But all he’s been doing is asking for you. As for what happened, he thinks he was just in an automobile accident or something of that sort.”
“But,” I tried to protest. “I haven’t seen him in years.” The man offered me a good luck and walked me to the top floor of the hospital.
The room was filled with beeping machines and flowers. His body was threaded with IV’s and stitching that scarred most of the side of his face. He still smiled when I walked in.
“Hey baby.” I could hear the effects that the medicines had been having on his voice, and I managed to fake a smile. He pointed me towards the seat next to the bed and grabbed my hand.
“Hey J-“ At that moment a little girl came running through the door and jumped up into the bed. She looked, puzzled, at our hands. Her mother jogged in a second later with puffy eyes. She looked at me sitting next to the bed and crossed through the room to the window.
“I thought it wasn't true.” She sunk down into herself and leaned into the window, her voice shaky. “Is it true?” She looked into my eyes, a few streams leaving hers. I looked down and heard her breath catch in her throat.
“And who are you, little cutie?” the blue-eyed-boy in the hospital bed asked to the little child snuggling into one of his sides. She giggled and my throat swelled up.
“This is Jessie. Your daughter.” I managed to whisper. I looked at the woman watching from the other side of the room. My hand moved from his to my lap. “And that’s your wife. You just can’t remember because you were in a really bad accident. It erased part of your memory.”
He shook his head. “That's not true.” he said, louder than normal. “That can’t be true because I promised I would never love anyone but you. “
I stood up, gathering myself. A tear ran down my cheek.
“Yes. But you did.”
“Can I help you?” I asked, wrapping myself further in my robe to keep the November air out.
“Miss Hamilton?” One of the men, barely twenty, proceeded to question. When I nodded, his mouth creased to a straight line.
“We need you to come with us if you would please. You've done nothing wrong, someone has just asked to see you.” Said the other man, this one older and far less emotional. I invited them in and went to the bedroom to change. I quickly threw on a faded blue shirt advertising some old rock band and some gray sweats that were lying in the bottom of my closet. When I emerged, we left the house. They explained to me everything that was happening on the way to the hospital.
“So he doesn't remember anything that’s happened to him these past four years? Does he even know what’s just happened to him?” I sobbed.
“No miss. We were hoping that he would remember something soon. But all he’s been doing is asking for you. As for what happened, he thinks he was just in an automobile accident or something of that sort.”
“But,” I tried to protest. “I haven’t seen him in years.” The man offered me a good luck and walked me to the top floor of the hospital.
The room was filled with beeping machines and flowers. His body was threaded with IV’s and stitching that scarred most of the side of his face. He still smiled when I walked in.
“Hey baby.” I could hear the effects that the medicines had been having on his voice, and I managed to fake a smile. He pointed me towards the seat next to the bed and grabbed my hand.
“Hey J-“ At that moment a little girl came running through the door and jumped up into the bed. She looked, puzzled, at our hands. Her mother jogged in a second later with puffy eyes. She looked at me sitting next to the bed and crossed through the room to the window.
“I thought it wasn't true.” She sunk down into herself and leaned into the window, her voice shaky. “Is it true?” She looked into my eyes, a few streams leaving hers. I looked down and heard her breath catch in her throat.
“And who are you, little cutie?” the blue-eyed-boy in the hospital bed asked to the little child snuggling into one of his sides. She giggled and my throat swelled up.
“This is Jessie. Your daughter.” I managed to whisper. I looked at the woman watching from the other side of the room. My hand moved from his to my lap. “And that’s your wife. You just can’t remember because you were in a really bad accident. It erased part of your memory.”
He shook his head. “That's not true.” he said, louder than normal. “That can’t be true because I promised I would never love anyone but you. “
I stood up, gathering myself. A tear ran down my cheek.
“Yes. But you did.”