Car Crash

Chapter 6 : Progress

Chapter 6

Later that night...    

Rocky POV

"Rocky, hurts! Rocky!"

My eyes shot open.

"Hurts, Rocky!"

I turned the lamp on beside the bed and looked at Riker. He was sitting up beside me, rubbing his forehead.

"Hurts," he whimpered.

"Again?"

"Hurts!"

"Ok, ok. Let's go get you some medicine. Mom said that the doctors think you might have headaches until your head heals. Remember?"

I took Riker's hand and brought him to the bathroom. And then I realized that he told me his head was hurting. And we didn't teach him that yet.

I poured him some more liquid medicine into a cup and gave it to him. He drank it and handed it back.

"Did you remember how to say a few more words, Rik?"

"Hurts."

"Yeah, I know your head hurts. Can you say anything else?"

"Sleepy."

"Ok, let's go back to bed so you can lay down."

I brought him back to bed. He buried his face into my side. I put my arm around him and started rubbing his back.

"Hurts, Rocky," he whimpered into my side.

"I know, Rik. It'll feel better soon."

"Want water."

"Ok. Stay there and I'll get you some."

I got Riker a cup of water from the bathroom and then brought it back to him. He drank all of it and then hugged me.

I'm really surprised at how he knows a few more words now. But I guess that's a good sign because it means he's remembering.

"Ready for bed?" I asked.

"Cuddles."

"We can cuddle, Rik."

I laid down with Riker in my arms. I felt like he was making such slow progress at first, but now it feels like he's remembering more and more each day. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought.

Morning...

Rocky POV

When I woke up, Riker wasn't beside me anymore. I immediately felt worried. Mom said I need to watch him so he doesn't get into anything dangerous.

I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs because I was guessing that's where he would be. And thank god, he was at the kitchen table, eating breakfast with mom.

"You ok, Rocky?" Mom asked.

"Yeah. Just worried about Riker."

I sat down beside Riker at the table.

"Did you teach him more words or did he remember them?" Mom asked.

"He remembered. Last night he woke me up again because he had a headache. And he told me that it hurt. I didn't have to guess what was wrong."

"He came down here this morning and told me he was hungry."

"Well good. I hope he eventually gets his whole memory back. It'll be weird if he's not the same brother ever again."