Page 26 of Tell Me You Love Me Again

“Uh…nah. Gary sent me some shit to look at for Shan. Noting major.” he said.

I watched as he stuffed his phone in his pocket as the nurse finished up. He didn’t give me any indication prior to that he was up to something, but he’s been off for the past couple of days. I shook the feeling off and sat and waited as the nurse left.

“You good, Snook?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” I gave him a small smile. Moments later, Dr. Mitchell walked into the room with a bright smile on her face.

“Well, good afternoon, Mrs. Hastings. It’s nice to see you up and vibrant,” she stated.

“Thank you.” She went through her clipboard, likely going over notes of my diagnosis.

“Ok, Chiara. I see you were in an accident a little over a month ago. How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I’m feeling okay. The headaches have lightened up, but I do have a question about the amnesia.”

“I’m sure that you do, and I’ll try to answer the questions as best as I can.” Gabe looked over at me and nodded, so I continued with my question.

“I’ve slowly been remembering a few details about my life before the accident, but I can’t seem to remember much regarding my husband or our marriage,” I revealed. I noticed the doctor looked from me to Gabe before she started speaking again.

“Well, it sounds like you have selective amnesia,” she stated.

“What do you mean by selective?” Gabe asked from his seat.

“That means that Chiara’s brain is blocking off memories that weren’t significant enough to remember or traumatic enough to not want to remember,” she informed.

“Wait, so you’re saying that my marriage to my husband wasn’t enough for me to remember?” I asked. I looked at Gabe and saw the hurt flash in his eyes.

“Not at all. What I am saying is that maybe the last encounter you two had before the accident is playing a part in the rest of your memory or details of your relationship.” I was at a loss for words. I couldn’t understand what could be the reason I would be upset with Gabe. He gave me no indications that he was cheating or even that we were unhappy, so I don’t understand.

“Doc, how long will this last?” Gabe asked. I could tell he was getting frustrated with all of this, and I appreciated him still sticking beside me through all of this.

“It varies from patient to patient. Chiara stated she was remembering a few things so her full memory could return at any time.” That was good news. I didn’t know how much longer I could be living like this, not knowing if I was truly happy or not.

“In the meantime, continue to do the things that help you jog your memory, and I want to see you back in four weeks. Do you have any other questions for me?” she asked as she wrote something down on her notepad.

“No. I don’t. I really appreciate you seeing me today.”

“It’s no problem, and hopefully by the time you come back, you’ve made a full recovery.”

“I hope so,” Gabe and I said at the same time.

After gathering my belongings, we went to the front where I made my next appointment, and we were now headed out the door. After I got my appointment, Gabe escorted me out of the office and helped me inside of the truck. My mind was currently all over the place, and I just wanted to get things back to where they were, or at least how I envisioned them.

“You want to go for lunch at Stoney Brook?” he asked. My neck snapped in his direction when he mentioned that place. Outside of Nuni’s, that was my favorite place to eat.

“Sure,” I agreed. Giving him a coy smile, we continued our journey to the restaurant. I was more determined to get back to what I knew me, and my husband were before this stupid ass accident.

***

Lunch was great, and I realized Gabe was truly good for me. I vowed at lunch that I was going to do whatever it takes to get my memory back. Once we finished lunch, he got a call about work. I knew he had a business to run, so I wasn’t going to get in the way of that.

“I think I’m going to go see my parents today. It’s been a minute.” We were back home, and he was getting ready to leave.

“That could do you some good. I know your mom wants to see you,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure my dad does, too,” I countered.

“Yeah, I bet.” I just shook off what he said and allowed him to kiss me before he left the house. Before I left, I grabbed myphone to call Chiquita. It’s been a few days since I heard from her, too.

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