Aaron's Memory

    Ok so this is a short story which, in my mind, is never more than five pages on word. This is also an experiment so please tell me how it goes and if you like it or not. :) 

Copyright 2012

All Rights Reserved

                                                                  Aaron’s memory

 I remember the day I woke up in the hospital. I was clueless as to where I was. It confused me a lot; I was not a guy who got confused very easily. Then, to add to my mounting bewilderment, there was a woman that I vaguely recall knowing.  As I tried to place her the doctor came in.

“Do you remember what happened Aaron?” he asked gently.

“Am I supposed to?” I retorted rudely.  The doctor looked taken aback for a moment until the lady at in the chair at my side suddenly came to life and scolded me,

“Aaron! Be polite!”

“Who are you?” I asked dumbfounded that some random lady would scold me like that.  At my words she blanched. Turning to the doctor she whispered despaired,

“Is it that bad?”

“It would appear so,” the doctor said grimly.  “Although there is a chance that he will get his memory back, it is improbable.”  I watched this whole exchange with uncertainty and then with growing anger.

“Who the hell are you guys to decide what I’m going to do with my life?” I yelled. “It’s not like you’re my mom!” I watched somewhat satisfied as she stuttered, trying to find a comeback to that, yet for some reason I was also guilty, and that mystified me because I didn’t know why I cared.  Before she could get a word in I got annoyed and I bellowed at them both to get out. I didn’t care if they were angry at me. The woman’s shocked expression turned to one of anger, and she went to reprimand me again, but the doctor murmured something in her ear which made her stop; she slowly got out of the chair and exited the room all the while looking at me with a strange expression on her face. It was an emotion I couldn’t place.

I took me a week to recover from the concussion, but it took me a full month to recover from the two broken ribs and my fractured leg, and let me tell you those hurt like crazy.  One of the guys that came to visit me in the hospital picked me up. I found out that we had quite a bit in common, but the biggest thing was that Ethan and I were avid rock climbers. 24 I don’t know how I met Ethan; I just knew that he was one of my best mates.

Right before he dropped me off at my apartment, Ethan asked if I wanted to climb Mount Arapiles, in Victoria’s Tooan State Park, Australia. We were in Natimuk so it would only take about 20 minutes to get there. Luckily enough we got a nice day.  The clouds were giving some poor town in the east rain, but we weren’t having any of it. Setting our climbing harnesses and gear up, I had a strange sense of déjà vu.  I shrugged and continued putting my harness on.

“Let’s climb!” Ethan shouted to me, and he swiftly started scaling the mountain.

“Yep, I’m coming,” I called back distractedly.  I was remembering another time when Ethan had said that. It was coming back to me in flashes.  And… we were horsing around…Ethan pushed me, and I slipped… and I fell. That’s what happened!  The lady in the hospital, she was my mom.  That’s why her reaction to my outburst was so weird. I stood rooted to the ground as realization struck me hard. I understood that I had distanced myself from my family. I needed to make things right.  As Ethan’s voice drifted down the cliff, I woke from my reflection.

“Hey Aaron, are you coming mate?” He shouted.

“I think I’m going to have to stand you up on this one.  I need to go fix something.” I yelled back.

“Alright man, do what you have to do.” I listened as the echoes of his response faded away, and then I jumped into my car. I drove like a madman, but miraculously I didn’t hit anybody. I had one thing on my mind and that was apologizing to my mom. I know that my harsh words in the hospital had hurt her. I remember the expression on her face when she backed out of my hospital room.  It had been pain; pain at losing a son; pain at having a son in the hospital. I hopped out of my car and walked up to the door. Just as I was putting my hand up to knock, the door opened to reveal my mom. She had been talking to my father over her shoulder, but when her eyes traveled to the door, her conversation stopped. I stepped forward and brought my arms around her in a hug. I breathed in her scent; the familiar smell of home; the feel of her favorite sweater on my fingertips was comforting.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered regretfully into the air above her hair.  She just continued patting my back and rubbing soothing circles into it.

“I knew you would come back,” she said when I finally pulled away.  Then came the words that I wanted to hear the most; the words that meant that I was forgiven.

“Welcome back to the family.”  

Finally I was home.