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Chapter Three: Silas

"Silas!" Dr. Lawrence calls to me.

I stop walking once I'm far enough away that Annika can't hear us. "You said that she would be okay."

"I also said that the brain is not an exact science. Sometimes due to this kind of trauma to the brain one can experience some memory lost—"

"Some memory loss!" I yell, interrupting her. "Jesus Christ. She lost almost eight years! She hated me growing up. I was an asshole. The last day that she remembers is three days before our first date." We fell hard and fast for each other. How can she not remember any of it? "Three more days of memory would change everything! If she would just remember our first date... she would..."

"The injury can cause confusion, memory loss. But all of this is within the realm of normal and may not be permanent."

"MAY?!" Am I supposed to put all my eggs in a 'may' basket?

"With retrograde amnesia, it takes away recent memories but keeps the old. It can come back. But if it hasn't after two years, then it will most likely not ever come back."

"With where her memories stop, she hates me."

"They say that the line between love and hate is thin. They are both driven by passion. You need to remind her why she fell for you." Our story will trigger something. I know it will. I'll bring her back to me.

I walk past her, texting her family that she is awake but that I need to speak to them before they can see her. I don't know what to say to Annika. I don't know how to be the friend she needs through this and not her husband that I am.

I enter her room again. She is playing with her engagement ring. "You feeling any better?"

"My head feels better... Si, I'm really sorry I don't remember anything." I laugh at that, Si.

"It's not your fault. None of this is your fault... You haven't called me Si in years." Not since our first date. "Our... your family is on the way." I sit down in the chair next to her bed. I am keeping my distance so as not to scare her again.

"Are your parents coming?" I am an only child. Growing up, it was always just them and me. But she was always like a daughter to them.

"My dad will come by when you are ready. But Annika, I don't know how to tell you this, but um... My mom died two years ago." Her face breaks. She may have disliked me growing up, but my mom was like a second mom to her. She turns away from me, trying to hide the fact that she is crying.

"Silas, I'm so sorry." Our moms were best friends. They met at the first-grade open house for her, her brother, and my class. Her brother Jamie became my best friend growing up and still is to this day. It's kind of crazy. They are Irish twins. He is only ten months older than her. He was born in September, and she was born in June the following year. My birthday is in between them in December. "What happened?"

"She got breast cancer again." She had cancer when I was little. I hate that we lost her so young. I hate that Annika doesn't remember her last years. The last thing she said to her. I give her a minute before speaking. "I know this is a lot to take in, but do you have any questions?"

She clears her throat, wipes under her eyes with her shaking thumbs. She looks back at me, smiling. "Are we happy?"

I smile back at her. "We are very happy. I know this is probably hard for you to believe, but you are the love of my life. There is no end of this earth that I wouldn't go for you."

"When did we start dating?" She reaches out for my hand. When I take it, it feels like I can breathe again. All the pressure that built in my chest has been released. I won't let go till I have to.