“And where are you? Which country?”
“Which country? England, of course. What’s going on.” He turns back to Zara. “Why aren’t you pregnant? Did I miss the birth?” he asks again.
“Would you give me a minute, Jack?” the doctor asks. Jack nods, his frightened eyes looking around the room. My heart breaks when his gaze passes me by without even a flicker of recognition. “Would everyone mind stepping outside while Nurse Carter takes Jack’s vitals?” Emma squeezes my hand and l let her lead me into the corridor with them, Zara following.
“Why does he think it’s 2017?” Emma asks once we’ve been led along the corridor and into a relatives’ waiting room.
“It seems the head injury has caused some short-term memory loss. What baby is he referring to?” Dr. Lewis asks.
“Jacob, his son. He’s almost three,” Zara replies. “I’m Jacob’s mother.” Dr. Lewis nods in understanding.
“Will his memory come back?” I ask quietly, terrified to hear the answer.
“As the head injury heals, there is every chance he will regain his memories. The most important thing is to allow him to remember things himself. Obviously, he will need to know about his son, and that he is indeed in America and not England. But overloading him with information on the missing three years of his life will cause him confusion. He won’t know what are memories and what are things he’s merely being told. As hard as it will be, he needs to remember what he can by himself.”
I feel like I’m going to throw up. Jack has no idea who I am, and I’m not going to be able to tell him. “How long will it take for him to remember?” I ask desperately.
“There is no way of knowing. It could be days, or weeks, or even longer. I’m sorry.” He smiles sympathetically at me. “The best thing you can all do for Jack is be there for him. He’s going to be confused and scared until he figures this out.”
“So we should lie to him?” Emma asks, her gaze flicking between me and Zara.
“Just let him take things at his own pace. Everything he knows has changed. If he’s overloaded with information, his memories might never return.”
“Thank you, Dr. Lewis,” Phil says, shaking his hand.
“I should get back to him. He’ll wonder where I’ve gone,” Zara announces as she makes for the door. Stopping, she turns around. “I think I should be the one to tell him about Jacob. He thinks we’re together, after all.” She’s gone before anyone can respond. Exhausted, I slump onto the worn leather sofa that’s pushed against the wall. Dropping my head in my hands, silent tears fall down my cheeks. In the space of ten minutes, I’ve gone from the highs of seeing Jack wake up, to the depths of despair at knowing he has no idea who I am or what we’ve shared over the past few weeks.
“I should go,” I say as I stand and wipe away my tears.
“Go?” Emma asks, surprised. “Go where?”
“Home. Jack has no idea who I am.”
“But he loves you.”
“He loves Zara. I’m nobody to him.” My voice breaks, and I swallow down the golf ball-sized lump in my throat. “Zara wants to be with him, Emma. That’s what she came here for, to get him back. Now she’s going to get her wish.”
“And you’re just going to stand by and let her? I thought you loved him?” She sounds annoyed. I know how much she dislikes Zara.
“I do love him… but I can’t tell him. He thinks he’s happy with Zara and she’s going to take full advantage of that.” I sit down heavily on the sofa.
“Then you have to make him fall in love with you again, Aria.” She sits down next to me and takes my hand. “I’veneverseen him as happy as he is when he’s with you. I knew as soon as I saw you two together… I knew he’d fallen in love with you.” Fresh tears streak down my face and she pulls me into a hug. “Please don’t give up on him,” she whispers. I want so badly to say I won’t, but I know Zara isn’t going to play fair. How can I stand by and watch them be together? It’s going to break my heart. Can I really make him fall in love with me all over again? I have no idea, but thinking about a life without him in it is too painful to comprehend.
Jack
Dazed and confused, I drop my head onto the pillow as the nurse leaves the room. My head is pounding, and I wish it would stop so I can pull my thoughts together. Something is wrong. Why isn’t Zara pregnant? Did she have the baby and I missed the birth? Did something happen to the baby? Panic begins to set in, and I sit up, reaching for the call button the nurse told me about. Before I can press it, the door swings open and Zara walks in.
“Zara,” I say, relief rushing through me. “What’s going on? Where is everyone?”
She sits on the bed next to me and takes my hand in hers. “You had an accident, Jack. You hit your head.”
“Were you… were you hurt too? The baby?” My eyes drop to her flat stomach and I furrow my brows in confusion.
“No. I’m fine. But when you fell and hit your head, you lost your memory.”
I laugh. “If I lost my memory, Zara, how come I remember you?”
“You’re remembering things from three years ago, Jack. I had the baby. Jacob’s almost three.”