Please Don't Forget About Me

Roses Mean Remember

Anna sits by her window, looking out at the beautiful garden. There are patients with their families and friends having lunch together. That should be me with my family, she thinks to herself regretfully. It's for the best though, Pale would fall to pieces if he knew about her Alzheimer's and it could drive him over the edge. She has had numerous missed calls and messages from him, in the end she had to resort to blocking his number. This was never supposed to happen. She was meant to spend the rest of her life with Pale. She made a vow to stay with him in sickness and in health. All these thoughts swim around in her head and her heart breaks knowing that she will probably never see him again. Especially after he receives the divorce papers in the post. Dr Whiston has prescribed a new medication called Razadyne that helps the concentration of acetylcholine in the brain, which leads to better communication between nerve cells. So far for Anna it seems to be working ok, however, the dizziness and the nausea outweigh the positives. She sips her now lukewarm cup of coffee, glancing down at her hand. Her emerald cushion cut engagement ring still sparkles and glistens in the dimly lit room. It was a family heirloom from Pales family. They were shocked at first when he announced that they were getting married, as far as they were concerned Anna was Robbie's grieving girlfriend. Anna and Pale couldn't be bothered to correct them. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and with his family they were still very much in denial about Robbie's sexuality. Anna opens up an album titled Memories in her phone and scrolls through some pictures. Most of them are of Charity, and a few of herself, Robbie and Larry from when they had just bought their apartment together. They were all young, fiercely determined, independent souls trying to navigate their way through this new and exciting city. Anna and Larry had known each other all the way from kindergarten. They are practically brother and sister, inseparable since they were five years old. Robbie met Larry in college, with the latter making a play for Robbie, who promptly knocked him back as he was already in a relationship with an art student called Geoff. The connection was there from day one and as soon as Larry introduced Anna to Robbie, the three were the thickest of thieves. They both took on the protective brotherly roles with Anna, vetting any arsehole who tried to get anywhere near her. Anna and Larry were closer to Robbie than he was to his own family, Anna and Pale wished that Robbie was there to see his best friend and brother married. He would have had a field day if he was alive, especially with being an uncle to Charity. It was another example like Ezra of a life that was cut tragically short. "Anna, how are you feeling today?" Dr Whiston walks into the room, her caring demeanour has been a lifesaver for Anna. Without her and Burtons support there is no way that she would have gotten the confidence to move in here permanently to get the help she so desperately needed. "Not great, I miss my family," she stutters, picking at the skin on her thumb. "I would suggest calling your husband, like Charity said he would probably handle this a lot better than you might think. He could support you," she urges, opening up Anna's file. Anna just shakes her head and remains silent, to her their marriage is over. Pale will sign the papers, they'll get divorced and he will then be free to move on to someone that will be able to remember him. "Okay, as the side effects of this particular medication are too harsh on you, we are going to ween you off this for now and try some different options," Dr Whiston says gently, writing some notes on her file. "What are my other options then?" Anna asks with a blank, emotionless expression on her face. "Well, Acupuncture could definitely be an option, or a change in diet, Omega-3 ..." Dr Whiston carries on explaining the different types of options as Anna's mind slowly drifts far and away.

The wedding of Anna and Pale took place on February 14th, Valentine's Day. Three months since they met on that cold, rainy night in November. Anna was three months pregnant with Charity at the time, Pale had officially moved to New York by then as he didn't want to drag Anna away from everything she knew and loved. He has always been a detached guy when it comes to feelings and emotions, especially where Gail his ex-wife was concerned. With Anna, it was different. She unknowingly opened up a part of him that he never knew existed. To him crying was a sign of weakness, he never cried before he met her. As soon as she announced she was pregnant, they both knew that the baby could easily be Burton's. It didn't matter to Pale, Anna was the love of his life, he wanted to marry and start a family with her.