Page 23 of A Second Chance

Jason paced the porch, gesturing with his hands, but not saying anything.

“You do realize you’re not talking out loud, right?”

“Yeah…” Those deep brown eyes with flecks of gold glittering in the porch light looked into hers, the sadness there took her breath away. No way she’d let him sway her with that story.

“Go on, then.”

“Do you know why I left town three years ago?”

The question startled her. “Um, no… not really… I heard rumors…”

“I figured. Do you want the truth?”

“Of course.”

“In Afghanistan, about a month before I was scheduled to come home, riding in a convoy of tanks and armored vehicles moving across Kunduz. We ran over an improvised explosive device. I woke up on the ground about four hundred yards away. Since I had my life and all of my extremities still intact, I went back to work…” he paused, and appeared a million miles away in his head.

Not sure she should let him to continue reliving this story. “Why are you telling me this?”

His body shuddered and he was back with her. “I had a hidden injury that no one knew about. Not even me at first. But it affected me… and everyone around me when I came home.”

“How so?” she crossed to the porch swing and sat, letting it sway.

“The headaches,” he began pacing again, “were terrible. They became worse and caused double vision… and the anger and paranoia, then I realized there were things that I didn’t remember…I didn’t handle any of it well.”

“Are you telling me that you don’t remember me at all?” This couldn’t be happening. It was so far-fetched. No way she should buy this…but his dead serious demeanor had her confused.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his eyes back on hers, searching her for a reaction.

“How?” she forced the word out, the tears welled in the corners of her eyes and threatened to fall. Crying in front of him wasn’t an option.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. My diagnosis is a traumatic brain injury. They think it occurred over time with soldiers subjected to the force of repeatedly firing large weapons or near explosions. The force of the IED detonating was probably the straw. But I can’t explain why you are missing from my memory, and it’s killing me.”

“And you still have this brain injury?”

“Technically, yes. People who are a lot smarter than me, say that some of the neuropathways will rebuild around the damaged area. But it’s all a crap shoot. My last scan showed improvement.”

“Have you gotten some memories back?”

“A few. Not in a while. They were sporadic and came in flashes.” He appeared pained by the answer.

“It’s okay. I will not ask you to tell me about them.”

He nodded. “I’d rather have the memory of us back instead.”

That was sweet. She wished he had it back too.

Jason crossed the porch and sat on the swing next to her. “I’m sorry you’ve gone this whole time thinking I’m just some asshole who screwed you and forgot you.”

Oh, he was good. Not convinced by his story, she needed her guard back.

“Can I ask you something?” Jason asked.

“All right.”

“Was I any good?”

“What?” she burst out laughing.

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