Page 70 of Undoing

Cass was freaking out. No one had told Rebecca they were married, and Cass had followed their lead even though her gut told her not to. As they walked the hallway toward an exam room, Cass desperately searched for an explanation she could give Rebecca without the shit hitting the proverbial fan. If this were what pushed Rebecca over the edge and caused permanent memory loss, Cass would fucking lose her mind.

Rebecca was still trying to figure out why they called her Mrs. Giles. She didn’t even know a Gil… She stopped abruptly. “Is your last name Giles? Are we married?!”

Cass winced at the volume level of Rebecca’s voice in the quiet area. She turned to look at Rebecca. “Yes. And yeah, we are.”

“And you didn’t think — no one thought — to tell me?”

“Um, if you two could go right in here, please,” the young woman said timidly, trying to usher them into an exam room. “I’ll tell the PA you need a couple of minutes.” She hurried out, leaving Cass and Rebecca alone.

“Becca…”

“How long?”

Cass sighed. She hated seeing Rebecca pissed, especially at her. But even more, she didn’t want Rebecca to stress herself out. “Almost three years.”

“And… it’s legal? We’re really, truly married? I’m Rebecca Giles?”

“Rebecca Cuinn-Giles, yes. We are legally, lovingly married.”

Lovingly. Rebecca studied Cass and saw nothing but sincerity. Still, Rebecca was beyond annoyed that this kind of information was kept from her. “Why would everyone keep this from me? Don’t you think I deserved to know?”

“Yeah, babe, I did. God, I wanted to tell you.” Cass scrubbed her face in frustration, then hoisted Rebecca up onto the exam table and stood in front of her. “I’ve told you before that my number one priority is your welfare and recovery, Becca, so I followed Aunt Wills’s lead with how much I could say and when. Maybe I made a mistake. But I have no clue how to navigate something like this, so I’m doing my best.”

“Y-you didn’t fight for me. If we’re married, why didn’t you fight for me to go home with you?”

Cass’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Is that what you think? Becca, my heart fucking shatters every time I go into that house alone. But you didn’t know me — you still don’t, not really. And I wasn’t about to force you to do something you weren’t comfortable with. If I had done that, if I had treated you like she treated you… what incentive would you have to regain your memories?” She feathered her fingers across Rebecca’s cheek. “I want you to remember me, Becca. To remember us. And I need you to know that showing up every single day with some lame excuse to be there is me fighting for you. That’s me making sure you know I’m here and always will be.”

Rebecca couldn’t argue with anything Cass just said to her. Hell, she couldn’t even be mad. How could she when this whole situation was fucked up? Besides, the feel of Cass’s fingers on her skin, the look in Cass’s eyes, and how close her lips were made Rebecca forget what she was supposed to be upset about. The close proximity compelled Rebecca to lean in. Unfortunately, that caused the paper on the exam table to crinkle, startling them both. One snicker from Rebecca set off peals of laughter from both.

Neither heard the knock at the door.

“Good morning, Rebecca.” Dr. Lima rounded her desk and settled in. “Cass, it’s good to see you,” she said before turning her focus back on Rebecca. “How are you feeling?”

Rebecca’s leg bounced with nerves, her hands fidgeting in her lap. Getting her stitches out was a piece of cake. Especially since all she could think was; I’m married to Cass. This was the hard part, though. Having to sit down with the doctor and hear the results of the biopsy.

“I’m good. Um, I still get headaches, but they’re less frequent and don’t last as long.”

“That’s a positive result.”

Dr. Lima wrote notes as she listened. There wasn’t much of an expression on her face, and that frustrated Cass. She didn’t even look away when Dr. Lima caught her staring.

“And has there been any improvement with your amnesia?”

Rebecca glanced between Dr. Lima and Cass. Cass looked as though she was trying to read the doctor’s mind. The doctor looked as though her mind was a steel vault. It was almost comical.

“Not really. My memory is… still gone.”

Dr. Lima frowned. “That’s not ideal.”

“No kidding,” Cass scoffed. She jumped slightly when she felt Rebecca’s hand on her thigh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. Do we know what is causing the amnesia?”

“Hang on, please,” Rebecca interrupted. “Could we start with the biopsy results? My head starts to hurt when I’m stressed, and this dread hanging over me isn’t helping.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, Becca.”

Rebecca shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I want to know the answer to your question, too. Let’s just get this biopsy thing over with first. Dr. Lima?”

Dr. Lima nodded and pulled her keyboard closer. After a few keystrokes, she nodded again. “The results of your biopsy came back negative. The tumor was benign.”

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