Broken // Simon "Ghost" Riley x Reader

Broken Part 16

Amnesia.
Memory loss.

The doctor told them that they were expecting severe psychological damage but it still hit him like a rock when you looked at him with those fear filled eyes and couldn't remember him.

Price almost needed to drag him out of your room because his boots felt like they were glued to the floor as disbelief and confusion filled his mind. How could he remember everything and to you, he was just a stranger? Now, when he finally accepted that you stirred something deep inside of him and that he cared about you, while you couldn't even remember his name?

"She'll need time. This needs to go at her pace or it only could get worse. We'll assign her to one of our best therapists to guide her through this, but she won't be the only one who needs to work on this. I'll make sure that your team will get appointments too, at least once a month, to understand the situations."

They were told to keep their distance until you approached them, just to make it easier for you to get back into your old life. Listen, don't tell. Just answering questions that concerned your general life, nothing about the incident. And so, he gave you time. Drowned himself in paperwork and training to keep his body and mind busy.

It took you two weeks until you agreed to talk to one of them, Price being your first choice. And he did like he was told to, providing you with general information about your life before the incident. Sitting down on a chair at the end of your bed, Price waited for your questions with a soft smile on his lips.

You remembered that smile.

"So, I'm a solider."
"Yes, one of the best, if you ask me. Sergeant at Task Force 141, under my command."
"Who else?"
"To name the important ones, Sergeant Johnny "Soap" MacTavish, Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick and Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley."
"Simon? The guy who was here the night I woke up?"
"Correct."
"Why was he here? Are we...?"
"No. But he cares about you, we all do."

Price didn't say more about Ghost, not wanting to put you through another big whirlwind of emotions when you had to focus on more important things than something so confusing and overwhelming as the situation between the two of you.

But it still affected you. The thought of your Lieutenant sitting by your side every day while your body recovered.

"Tell me more about them."

And he did. He told you everything you wanted to know about Soap and Gaz, even told you about some moments you shared together at the base he heard about or witnessed.
"You've been difficult sometimes." He chuckled. "Always up to keep everyone on their feet when Soap got bored and wanted to pull another prank on someone else. Got you in trouble a few times."

You chuckled a little as you tried to remember anything but nothing came back to your memory. A few seconds of silence followed before you looked down on your hands and asked "And Simon? How is he?"
"Different. Quiet, reserved. More the introverted, logic type of guy."
"Why was he here?"
"Y/N, I told you. He cares and I don't think this is the time nor am I the person to go any further."
"So, there was something?"
"Something."

Another minute of silence followed and Price could only guess what was going on inside of your mind. He decided that this would've been enough for one day and got up from his chair, his hands resting on the end of your bed for a few seconds before he spoke.
"Listen. Meet the others, when you're ready. Start with Johnny and Kyle. Come back to us, if you feel like it. No obligations, just returning to your room and who knows, maybe it'll help."

And he was right.

After your little chat you decided to meet with Soap the next day and, of course, he was prepared for this. For each single question he had more than just one story prepared or some pictures on his phone he was eager to show you. Some of them made you sad that you couldn't remember anything of it, some of them made you happy that it seemed that you found something like a family in this unit.
He helped you, a lot. You asked him to come by more often and he did, just like small parts of your memory.

You were sitting in the jeep as he took you back to the base with your few belongings stuffed in a small bag on the backseats as you looked at him.
"Remember that day we wrapped everything in Price's office with pink wrapping paper?"
He couldn't help but laugh as he remembered the whole office covered with the pink paper, even the walls and he floor.

"Yeah, I do. It got us in a lot of troub... Wait? You remember?"
You joined in to his laughter and nodded strongly. "I do. Thanks to you."
"That's great, Y/N! What else do you remember?"
"Casual stuff. Breakfasts, training, reading books in my bed. Nothing big."
"But you remember, lass." One of his hands found yours on your lap and squeezed it tightly as he kept his eyes on the road in front of him. "That's good. The rest will come."
You squeezed his hand back with a soft smile. "Yeah."

Slowly, the laughter died down and was followed by an awkward silence as he kept holding your hand, brushing his thumb over your skin.
"May I ask you a question?" His voice was low, like he wasn't sure if it would be smart to keep going. You had an idea where this was going, but you still nodded with a deep sigh leaving your body.
"I don't remember him."

Another minute of silence followed before he pulled his hand back on to the steering wheel to park the car inside of the base and turn the engine off.
"You should meet him. Just... Let him know that you try."

Both of your eyes got drawn towards a door being opened as a tall figure stepped outside and lit up a cigarette in his mouth. Sleep deprived eyes, surrounded by dark circles, peeked out of a black balaclava but didn't meet yours as the owner immediately turned and walked away from the building and towards a small shack in the distance.