Page 10 of Love Me Again

"Here, baby." I slide my fingers at the nape of his neck and lift his head carefully so that he could drink through the straw. Cole's eyes meet mine, and heobservesme as he drinks. Something's wrong. Cole isn't looking at me like he usually does. He blinks and lays back down, averting his eyes from me to the doctor.

"What happened to me?" Cole rasps, glancing around the room, perplexed.

"You were involved in a plane crash. Do you recall any of that?" Dr Bennet inquires, and Cole shakes his head slowly. "Okay, follow the light for me." He instructs. Cole follows the light, wincing. "Good. Are you feeling any dizziness or nausea at all, Cole?" Cole shakes his head again.

"My entire body hurts. I feel like I've been hit by a train."

"That's normal after the injuries you've sustained, son." The doctor utters, lifting his hand. "I'm going to check your reflexes. Tell me if you feel this." He adds, running a pen over his palm. Cole nods. "Wiggle your fingers for me?" Cole moves his fingers.

"Excellent. Do you feel this?" He brushes his pen over the bottom of his foot, and he nods. "Try to move your toes for me?" Cole moves his toes, and the doctor smiles, seemingly pleased. "Brilliant. Well, physically speaking, you're healing nicely, Cole. You will experience some discomfort when you pass urine the first couple of times—this is due to your ruptured kidney. One of your lungs was punctured by your broken ribs, and you have a hairline fracture on your skull. You have no idea how incredibly lucky you are to be alive. Someone up there must really love you. I don't know how you managed to fight through given the extent of your injuries, but we're all thrilled to see you up."

"How long have I been in here?" Cole questions looking around the room.

"Eleven days. You were in an induced coma. You've been through quite an ordeal, but you should be up and about in the next six to eight weeks." The doctor says with a smile while he looks at Cole's charts. I move over to Cole's bedside and take his hand into mine. He lifts his eyes to look at me with a frown, then at his hand in mine.

"You scared the hell out of me, baby," I say, and he lifts his gaze to mine again, tugging his hand out of mine.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" He utters, looking at me blankly. I blink at him, look around the room, and laugh a little.

"Cole. Come on, baby, that's not funny," I chuckle, reaching for his hand, but he pulls it away with a deep frown. I look over at the doctor, watching us intently.

"Sweetheart, that's Shayla, your wife. You remember her." His mother tells him, and Cole looks at her and back at me, shaking his head, while his eyes rake over my face.

"Wife? I don't..." Cole mumbles. "I don't have a wife. I don't know her." I take a step back as I gaze into his eyes. No. There's no way. I look back when I feel Josh's hands on my upper arms, steadying me when my step falters.

"Cole, what's the last thing you remember?" The doctor questions moving toward him, and Cole frowns thoughtfully.

"Um, I remember leaving the office and meeting up with Josh and a few of our friends at The Shard--"

"Oh, my God," Josh whispers. "That was four years ago. That's around the time you met--"

"Sophie." Cole glances around the room. "Where is she? Why isn't she here?" He queries, looking at Josh again, who was looking down at me horrified.

"Cole. What year is it?"

Cole blinks, "It's 2016."

"What the hell is happening?" I utter, looking at the doctor, and he sighs, rubbing his forehead pensively.

"It seems Cole is suffering some memory loss."

"Some? He's missing four whole years of his life, Doctor. How could this happen?" His mother questions. I look over at Cole, who was staring vacantly at the wedding band on his finger. I move over to him, and he looks at me, his green eyes narrowed. I reach over and brush my fingers along his jaw.

"Do you really not remember me?" I ask him, and he stares at me and shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't." I search the eyes that once looked at me with love and devotion, and when I see him staring back at me expressionlessly, my vision blurs, and I felt my heart snap and fall at my feet.

Cole watches me as I drearily turn and walk out of the room.

"Shayla." I hear Josh call my name as he comes after me. "Hey, hey, come here. It's okay." I fall into him, and he wraps his arms around me as I gasp, trying to catch my breath.

"Oh God. Josh, he doesn't remember me. How can he not remember me?" I cry. "How could this happen?"

"Shayla." I look over at the doctor, who places a hand on my shoulder. "I understand how devastated you must feel right now."

"Dr Bennet, please tell me this is only temporary, and he will remember again soon, please." I plead, and he sighs and takes his glasses off.

"Sweetheart, head injuries are very unpredictable. It's common that some impairments occur when a patient suffers a head injury. I can't tell you how long it will be before his memory returns, but I'm positive he will gradually start to remember. The swelling of his brain will cause confusion and erratic mood swings or personality changes plus the trauma of the incident--all of these things will have an impact on what he remembers and when." He explains, and I sigh. "I know it's not ideal, but you have to be strong and stick by him through this. The sooner Cole goes back to his old routine, the better it is for him." He adds, and I look over at Cole through the window.

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