Page 4 of Forget Me Not

She continued on to tell me how they lived together and how it was technically his place, so now, on top of losing her boyfriend and best friend in one, she was homeless. I’m pretty sure she said the entire thing in one breath, too. She was a mess, and she still is most of the time. In what was the most spontaneous decision in my life, I offered her my spare bedroom, helped her move her stuff out that night and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

When Theo heard the story of how we met and then actually met Demi, he declared her a walking disaster. When she flooded our apartment because she fell asleep on the couch after turning on the bath, this became even more true. Then when we hadto live with Theo for two weeks while they fixed the damages, and she managed to clog both his toilets and break his TV, she officially earned her nickname, Doomsday, because she destroys everything she touches. She can’t even argue it at this point.

Agreeing to meet at my apartment, I leave first and head to my car while Theo waits for Gabby. The sound of a heart monitor flatlining and the orders of the code team as they work fills my ears as I pass by a room. I can’t help my eyes being drawn to the patient as the code team performs CPR. He looks young, maybe a year or two younger than me. On the outside, I can’t see any obvious injuries besides a black eye. But you quickly learn that it’s the injuries you can’t see that are the most terrifying.

I quickly turn away, leaving the team to their jobs. I could stay to see the outcome, but part of me doesn’t want to know. I’m not on shift anymore and there would be nothing I could do, so for the moment, ignorance is bliss.

I make my way to my car and begin the drive home. It’s not too far of a distance to my apartment from the hospital. About twenty minutes, give or take, depending on traffic. The second I open the door, I hear Demi’s completely off-key voice as she sings along to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift. Not sure what type of mood she’s in to be blasting old Taylor, but then again, you never know what to expect with Demi.

“Hey,” I shout over the music as I come around the corner and enter the kitchen.

Our apartment is nice for the price we pay for it. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small living area, and a decent-sized kitchen that Demi has declared hers and hers only. She’s a current waitress and an aspiring chef. Plus, all I know how to make is pasta, so I don’t argue about it.

“Shit,” Demi yells as she turns around and sees me. The tray she is holding slips from her hands. “No, my cookies!” She dives to the floor and somehow manages to catch the tray that I nowsee holding some sort of cookies, with only two of them falling onto the floor.

She carefully stands up and places the tray on the counter, pauses the music from her phone, and then turns to me with fire in her eyes.

“Why is it that you always seem to sneak up on me? Not only did you almost give me a heart attack, but you killed two of my cookies.” She frowns, looking at the two cookies broken on the floor. I wish I could say I was shocked by the fact that Demi was referring to her cookies as living things, but I’m not in the slightest.

“I didn’t sneak up on you, you had music blasting so loud you didn’t hear me,” I say, amused by the whole situation. Demi just looks at me expectantly, knowing that I know exactly what she wants to hear.

“I’m very sorry I killed your cookies. It was an accident. May they rest in peace,” I say, struggling to keep a serious face. She eyes me up and down as if she’s judging if I’m being sincere or not. I’m sure she knows I’m not, but she nods her head anyway and smiles.

“Apology accepted. Now how was work?” she says cheerfully.

“It was fine. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I’m exhausted, but Theo insisted on going to Carl’s, so he and Gabby are on their way here now.”

The words barely leave my mouth before our front door bursts open and Theo shouts, “I’m home, bitches.”

“Alvin!” Demi shouts, letting out an excited squeal. He groans at the nickname as he makes his way into the kitchen where we are, Gabby following closely behind him. After Theo started calling Demi Doomsday, she decided he needed an equally horrible nickname. So naturally since he was already named after one chipmunk, she decided to call him another one’s name.

“We’ve talked about that nickname, Doomsday,” Theo says, reaching for one of the cookies off the tray on the counter.

“We’ve talked about THAT nickname, Alvin,” Demi replies, smacking his arm away before he can grab one. “Back off. My babies aren’t ready yet.”

“She’s still referring to food as if it’s alive?” Theo looks at me, only for Demi to slap him across the top of his head before I have a chance to respond.

“Keep talking about me like I’m not here and you’ll never get any of my food again,” she says, her tone sickly sweet. Theo relents, looking as though he’s just been scolded and sits on the barstool at the counter.

“Alright, ladies. You have forty-five minutes and then we are out of here, I want to be at Carl’s by ten.” Theo claps his hands together, ordering us around is nothing new to him. “Doomsday, you’re in charge.” He smiles brightly.

Theo, always prepared, changed into jeans and a button-down at the hospital, so he’s completely ready. Not that where we are going requires more than a T-shirt, but with Theo, everything is an event. He moves to go sit on the couch, turning on the TV and making himself at home.

“You, go shower. When was the last time you even washed your hair?” Demi points at me but continues talking before I have a chance to respond. “Never mind, I decided I don’t want to know. Gabby, you’re with me, I have a perfect outfit for you.” She smiles sweetly and grabs Gabby’s hand leading her toward her bedroom. “Alvin, touch my cookies and die,” she shouts as she walks past him.

He doesn’t acknowledge her, keeping his eyes locked on his phone as a sitcom plays on the TV in the background. I shake my head as I make my way to my bedroom to get clothes, wondering how I managed to find the best people in the world and make them my best friends. For a moment, I feel happy. But it onlylasts a single moment until I see the worn leather journal sitting on my nightstand, and my stomach sinks.

Sadness. Guilt. Anger. They all come back to the forefront, making me forget I was happy even for a second as I remember that that journal and the words in it are the only things that I have left of her. I grab the journal and shove it in my nightstand drawer and let the feeling of emptiness take over. Happiness is overrated anyway.

CHAPTER

TWO

Logan

The bar is packed. Carl’s is technically always crowded, but apparently everyone had a case of the Mondays because tonight, there’s barely any room to stand, let alone sit. Luckily, just as we walk in, the people in the booth closest to the door are getting up to leave. Demi takes it upon herself to not so gracefully dive into the booth before anyone else can, and we follow in after her.

Carl’s is one of those places that nobody talks about, but once you find it, you never want to leave. About two weeks into our first year of residency, Theo was asked to meet here for a date with a guy he met on a dating app. The next day he showed up to work bragging about how he’d fallen in love. Not with the guy, he was an asshole, but with the bar.

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