Fearless

101

Colby's POV

As soon as I stepped out of the nursery I burst into tears. Tonight was supposed to be her night. It was supposed to be a good night, but now it was just a huge nightmare. I pulled my phone out as I cried and walked into the bedroom.

She would be okay. She wasn't hurting. She was just confused. She was okay.

I dialed the number for her doctor and sat on the bed. It was late so she probably wouldn't be at the office right now. "Fuck." I groaned when it sent me to voicemail. I just shook my head and hung up. I'd have to call back in the morning.

It couldn't wait though, I needed to know that she would be okay.

I looked over to see Cora's phone sitting on her nightstand, she had Meghan's number. Maybe she could help. I grabbed it and unlocked it, then went to her contacts and scrolled until I got to Meghan's name.

"Hey Cora!" She yelled happily, "hey it's actually Colby." I said and tried to keep my voice steady, "oh, hey is everything alright?" She asked as the music that was playing on her end got quieter. "Not really." I said honestly and ruffled my hair with my hand. "Oh my god what happened?" She gasped out as I took a deep breath.

"Cora hit her head, and she's experiencing short term memory loss. It's bad Meghan..do you know anything about that?" I asked as my voice got thicker with each word. "Of course I do, how short are we talking?" She asked and I sat up. "Every few minutes. It's like she forgets the conversation she just had." I said and looked up to see Cora in the doorway holding Mia and frowning.

"Hold on Meghan." I said and put the phone down. "Hey, you okay?" I asked her as she bit her lip, "where is everyone?" She asked and looked up at me, "at the concert." I said quietly as she nodded slowly, "but like..where's dad and Michelle and Stephanie. Dad called me and told me they were on their way." She said and worried her lip with her teeth. "They are on their way. You were going to tire Mia out before they got here." I lied and she nodded before turning and going back to the nursery. I took a deep breath then brought the phone to my ear again.

"Okay, how did she hit her head?" Meghan asked as I played with my helix piercing anxiously. "I have no idea. All I know is that she was unconscious when I came into the room. Let me explain. Her dad is dating this woman and we invited her and her daughter for Thanksgiving. Well her daughter tried to come onto me and long story short Cora hit her." I said and sighed as Cora stood in the doorway.

"Hold on." I said to Meghan and smiled at Cora, "what's wrong love?" I asked and she looked around, "have you heard from my dad? Or have you seen him? He's supposed to be on the way. I think he's mad at me." She said and bit her lip. "He's not mad at you baby girl, he's on his way still. Why don't you try to tire Mia out before they get here?" I asked and she nodded, then turned around again. I sighed and brought the phone back to my ear.

"Damn...that's really short." She said with a sigh as I closed my eyes against the tears that were forming. "Anyways, Cora's dad wanted the two girls to talk it out. We all sat in the living room waiting for them to come out, but after a few minutes Cora was screaming for us." I said and opened my eyes, bringing my hand up to my hair and anxiously playing with it.

"When we came into the room Cora was unconscious against the wall as the other girl just stood there smiling. She must have pushed her or something but I don't know. I don't think we will ever know since even Cora doesn't remember." I said and frowned. I should have went into the room with them, to keep it civil, but I think it would have been worse if I were there.

It was killing me not knowing what happened though.

"Okay well it all depends on how hard she hit her head, the short term memory loss could last anywhere from a couple minutes to a couple months depending on the injury. I assume she couldn't have hit her head hard enough for the memories to be gone for months but it could be a couple days." She said and my heart dropped.

She was so excited for Mia's first Thanksgiving and now she might not even really be there for it.

"Don't freak out though Colby, because it also could just be a couple hours of this. She could wake up and remember everything, it's really hard to tell. You just have to stay patient. I know you can do that." She said and I nodded,

"I just hate seeing her so lost. She keeps getting freaked out about her dad not being around." I said and brought my head down into my hands. "I know it's upsetting, but she's been through worse. She doesn't know what's going on so when she's upset she's only upset for a minute and it's almost like it never happened. You could break up with her right now and she would be crying for one minute and then be totally fine the next. The brain is a strange thing, but you just have to keep being patient. You can do this Colby." She said and I nodded.

"Thanks Meghan. I'm gonna go check on her, I'll keep you updated." I said with a sigh and closed my eyes again. "Okay, if you have any more questions don't be a stranger, call me any time." She said and I nodded, "will do, thanks Meghan." I said again then hung up.

Cora hadn't come back in which made me assume her dad and Michelle were back in the room with her. I took a deep breath and called Sam, "hey dude what's up?" He answered and I felt tears form in my eyes again.

"Brother?" He asked after a few seconds of silence. "Um..are you guys on your way home?" I asked trying to keep my voice level. "Yeah, is everything alright?" He asked and I shook my head, "not really. Let me know when all of you get here, and stay outside, I have to explain something to you guys." I said and wiped my face as fresh tears coated my cheeks. "You're scaring me, is Cora okay?" He asked and I shook my head, "I'll explain when you guys get here." I said and closed my eyes tightly, trying to force myself to stop crying. She wasn't dead. She was right here, just confused for right now. She was fine.

"Okay. We are a few minutes out. I'll tell the others to wait outside." He said and I nodded, "thanks man." I said then hung up.

I wiped my face one more time before walking back into the nursery. Cora was smiling down at Mia as Cora's dad and Michelle talked quietly. When I walked in Cora looked up, "are you okay?" She asked and frowned then looked over at dad and Michelle,

"oh! You guys are here. Where did Stephanie go? I know I have to apologize." She said and frowned as I came over, "how's your headache?" I asked, ignoring her questions. She shrugged, "my head hurts a little." She said and looked down at Mia again. "Do you remember anything?" I asked her and her face screwed up a little, "what do you mean?" She asked and I shook my head as Mia fussed in her arms.

"Nothing." I said and she frowned, "what's going on? Are you okay?" She asked and put her hand on my cheek, caressing it gently, as she rocked Mia with her other arm.

"I'm okay. You look tired, maybe we should get you to bed." I said gently and she shook her head, "not until I talk to my dad, I think he's mad at me." She said and her dad walked up, "I'm not mad at you, squirt. I'm not mad at all." He said and grabbed both sides of her head and kissed her forehead. "Oh..okay." She said quietly as I grabbed Mia from her.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket as I laid Mia in her crib. When I pulled it out, it showed Sam calling me.  "Hey." I said and looked up at Cora as she talked to her dad. "Hey, we are here. Come out when you're ready." He said and I nodded, "give me a minute." I said and then hung up.

"Where are we going?" Cora asked as I grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom. "We are going to bed." I said gently as I opened the door to the bedroom. "What about my dad? We are supposed to talk to him and the girls." She asked as I sat her on the bed. "Don't worry about that, he said he wants you to get some rest." I said and pushed her down gently so she would be laying. "Oh, okay." She whispered as I pulled the blankets over her. "Goodnight, baby girl." I said and kissed her head. "I love you." She said with a small smile as she closed her eyes. "I love you too," I said and kissed her head again.

I quickly wrote a little note that said 'your dad wanted you to get some sleep, he's not mad at you.' Then stuck it on her phone for when she would try to get up in a few minutes.

I took a deep breath and made my way downstairs to tell everyone the news.