A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words [ON HOLD]

Chapter 5: Megan's POV

        I left Nester Regional Hospital after John woke up and drove home. Once I had parked my car in the driveway, I walked into the house and put my keys on the kitchen window sill.

        “Hey Megan!” Mom walked into the kitchen with a basket of clean, folded laundry on her hip. “Marie just called and she said John woke up finally; isn’t that wonderful?”

        The large grin that had been spread across her face vanished when she saw me with red eyes.

        “What’s wrong dear? Aren’t you happy?” Mom frowned and set the basket of laundry onto the dining room table. She walked up to me and put her hands on both of my cheeks. “What’s the matter? Do you want to talk about it?”

        Unable to form words, I shook my head and raced upstairs and into my bedroom. All I wanted right then was to be alone while I cried my heart out. I shut the door behind me and barely managed to stumble over to my bed, which was in the middle of my room, before I broke down crying.

        “John didn’t remember me. John didn’t remember me.” I repeated this over and over again to myself. “Why? . . . Why did John only forget the two years with me? Why not just one week or the last year? Why did he have to forget the memories of me?” My body shook as I wept harder and harder.

        I don’t know how long I cried for but after what seemed like an eternity, I heard a knock on my door. I sniffled and croaked out, “Hello?”

        Mom walked in and I could see tears in her eyes. I expected her to say something right away but she didn’t. Instead she walked over to me and sat beside me on my bed.  Mom wrapped her arms around me and pulled me to her chest. She rested her head on top of mine and rocked me back and forth.

        “I’m so sorry Megan.” Is all she said and I knew that she knew.

        “Why did this happen to John, Mom? He’s never done anything wrong.” I sobbed.

        “Sometimes bad things happen to good people Megan,” Mom whispered in my ear and slowly rubbed my back. “Maybe something good can come out of this. Or maybe you’re being tested to see if you truly love each other.”

        I had stopped crying by then and thought about my mom’s wise words.

        Were John and I being tested? If we were, I hoped the test wouldn’t last much longer because I missed my boyfriend and my best friend.

        “When I called Marie back just a few minutes ago, she had a wonderful idea how to help John remember.” Mom spoke up after three minutes of silence. I lifted my head to look at her as she continued. “Do you remember the photo album you put together for John’s 18th birthday present last February?” I nodded.

        I had filled it with all of the pictures I had taken of our two years together. John had given me a camera on my 17th birthday last August. He knew how much I loved taking photos but hated taking them on my iPhone, so he bought me the Canon PowerShot Digital Camera and I instantly fell in love with it. I plan on majoring in photography so one day I can become a professional photographer.

        “Well Marie found it open on his bed and thought it would be a great idea if you showed it to him.”

        “But Dr. Heinrich said not to overfill John’s brain with memories.” I said.

        “Then you can show him a picture a day and the story behind it. Before you know it, he’ll have his memories restored and life will go back to normal. Fifty years from now, you and John will tell it as a story with your kids and grandkids surrounding you.”