Page 24 of A Lapse in Time

"Are you up for a little walk?" Noah asked as he shut the car off.

"Yes, that's fine."

It was a good thing I had on comfortable shoes because the first ones I was going to put on wouldn't have been good for walking. There was a slight breeze, but not enough for me to get cold. Near the water, it was always colder, anyway. Noah and I exited the car and walked a few feet to the pathway near the lake. There weren't many people out, which was good.

"Hey, aren't you The Handler?" some random guy asked as we walked.

I looked at him strangely because I had never seen him before. I only knew the name he referred to me as because Noah and my sister told me that was the name people called me when I fought.

"Uh, yeah," I responded.

"Is it possible to get an autograph?" His eyes lit up as he pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

Noah stepped in front of me and kinda pushed me back a little. "Nah, it's not a good time."

The man's chest deflated. "You're right. My bad. It's good to see you out and about."

I stepped around Noah and put my hand on his chest. He looked down at my hand, then into my eyes.

"It's okay, Noah. I can give him an autograph.” He studied my face but then stepped back.

"Hi. Do you have a pen?" I asked the guy.

I never wanted to be rude to people, and this guy seemed to be excited that he saw me. The least I could do was give him an autograph. I just hoped nobody else spotted us and bothered me. The fight had already overwhelmed me.

The guy reached into his pocket and handed me the pen and paper. While I signed, he told me how his daughter was interested in boxing because of me. I almost told him to tell her to do something else, but I held my tongue. That wasn't my place, and my experience wasn't everyone else's.

After a quick picture, the guy left us alone. Noah and I continued to walk until we found a bench to sit on. Luckily, nobody else stopped us.

"Do you want to talk about what happened at the gym?" Noah asked after a few silent seconds had passed.

I could feel Noah looking at me, but I kept my eyes on the water.

"I'm not sure exactly what triggered it, but once I saw that guy get hit in the head, then his side, something hit me. It was like that night all over again. I think I vaguely remembered it."

"That's good!" Noah sounded excited. "Not good as in the fight, but good you remembered something, even if it was a small part."

"Yeah, you are probably right. I realized I don't want to fight again, but I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm so afraid tostep into a ring again, and it bothered me when that man said his daughter wants to fight." The tears resurfaced, thinking about my future, but it didn't send me into a panic like it did at the gym.

Noah grabbed my hand and dipped his finger under my chin with the other hand. I looked into his eyes as more tears fell from mine.

"Like I told you back at the gym, you don't have to worry about that right now. If you never want to fight again, you don't have to. Everything you choose to do from here on out is all up to you. As long as you know that you don't have to go through any of it alone. I have your back one thousand percent. Nobody is making you do anything right now or ever. We all just want you to get acclimated to life as we now know it. I do have a suggestion for you, though."

"What's that?"

"I think you should go to therapy."

There were a lot of emotions I had been feeling since I left the hospital, and I didn't always know how to express them. Plus, I didn't want to dump all of those feelings onto Noah. I already noticed how this all seemed to bother him, even though he tried to hide it. I knew a therapist couldn't help me get my memory back, but I was sure she could help me figure out how to cope with my feelings.

"I think you should go too," I countered. Noah started to say something, but I stopped him. "Before you say no, I know you try to hide your feelings from me sometimes. I know none of this is easy for you, even though so far, things have been going well."

Noah's dark eyes roamed my face. I could tell he wanted to say no, but I knew he wouldn't. In just this short amount of time, Noah had shown that he would do what he could to make me happy.

"As long as you go, I'll go," he finally agreed after a few minutes had passed.

I stuck my other hand out toward him. It wasn't the right way to shake hands, but that didn't matter. Noah placed his hand in mine, and we shook hands.

"Deal," I confirmed before focusing back on the water. "It's all going to work out for us. Our connection is too strong for it not to. From the moment I woke up in that hospital room, I felt a strong pull to you. I knew it was more than a schoolgirl crush. Regardless of whether my brain remembers you, I know my heart does."

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