First Time | Protector 3.1 | Wattys2017

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Nolan

       Jerome was out of the hospital now, but he still didn't have his memory back yet. At least he was out of the stage where he thought he liked Mae. Thank goodness he was a vlogger. The doctors told us not to overwhelm him with memories, but he was the one who chose to watch the videos.

       Luckily, I was out of school when he was getting released from the hospital, so I was able to come with Ryder and Mae to go pick him up.

       Ryder and Mae stayed in the car so they wouldn't have to pay for parking while I went to go get Jerome. When I walked into his hospital room, he was wearing a change of clothes and was sitting at the edge of the hospital bed, watching a video on his laptop.

       He looked at me and paused the video before smiling. "There's my boo," he said. "....That is what I call you, right? I mean, I've watched basically all the videos and boo was the one I used the most."

       I cracked a smile. "Well, I do hate the nicknames, but I think boo is the only one I could handle."

       Jerome closed his laptop and stood up. "Yeah, I saw that you didn't really like the nicknames. I'm really glad I'm a vlogger. I mean, the videos aren't triggering any memories, but if I do and say the things I normally did in here, it might help."

       "Yeah, hopefully," I said.

       Jerome sighed. "I'm really sorry I can't remember you. I'm trying really hard."

       "I know," I said. "It's fine. I'm just happy you're okay. Now we should get going. Ryder and Mae are waiting in the car."

       We left the hospital and went to Ryder's car, climbing into the backseat. "How are you feeling, Jerome?" Ryder asked.

       "Better," he said. "I'm only a tiny bit sore."

       "Oh, and speaking of, do you think you'll be able to dance in the male solo qualifier?" Ryder asked.

       "The what?"

       Ryder sighed and pulled out of the parking lot. "Right, you don't remember. Okay, so before you came here, I was always the one dancing at the male solo qualifier for the dance studio, D.A.N.C.E but after you moved her, I gave it to you. It's coming up in two weeks."

       "I talked to the doctors yesterday," Mae said. "They said for him to rest for about three more days at home before getting into dancing." She then turned to face Jerome. "That's if you're up to it."

       "I don't know, maybe," Jerome said. "I'll see how I'm feeling in three days. Who's the head of....what's the studio called again?"

       "D.A.N.C.E, and I'm the head," Ryder said.

       "Whaaaaaat?" Jerome asked. "No way, that's so cool. Do I get special privileges then?"

       "No," Ryder said. "And you've already asked me that."

       "Yes, but I can't remember, so stop being mean to me," Jerome said.

       I chuckled softly and Jerome looked over with a confused look. "Sorry, it's just you say that all the time to basically everyone. It's nice that you're still acting like yourself."

       "Well, I am still me," Jerome said. "It's just....part of me is absent."

       When we got to their apartment, I got out of the car and went to the other side to help Jerome out since he was in a bit of pain. When we got inside the apartment, Jerome walked over and sat on the couch, setting his laptop on the coffee table. "Hey, get me a soda, boo?" he asked me.

       "Yeah, sure," I said. Even though I hated the nicknames, I kind of hoped he called me babe instead of boo. Him calling me babe after asking me for a can of soda was normal and I really missed the normal.

       After I got him a can of soda, I sat down beside him. "You know, I've watched every single one of my videos, some more than once, and I was hoping my memory would come back," Jerome said. "But nope. Nothing is working and I hate it."

       "Don't worry, you'll get your memory back," I assured. "Just don't....force yourself to remember everything. It will all come back."

       "I hope," Jerome said. He then noticed something by the door and stood up, walking over to it.

       "What is it?" Mae asked.

       "Just....something," Jerome said. "Nolan, do you happen to know the password on my phone?"

       "Uh, yeah, where is it?" I asked.

       Mae walked over and handed it to me, so I unlocked the phone and handed it over to Jerome. "What are you doing?" I asked.

       "Something," Jerome said before scrolling through his phone. It took a while before he smiled lightly. "Remember our very first conversation? When I asked if you knew any places to bury a body?"

       "Yeah," I said. "I can't really forget it, mainly because you kept calling me your g--"

       "Gay buddy," Jerome finished. 

       "Yeah. Are you looking at the messages?" I asked.

       "Nope."

       "Wait....What?"

       "We text a lot so it would take forever to get to those messages," Jerome said.

       "Then....how did you...."

       Jerome smiled and picked up his shovel resting by the door. "I don't know why, but I think I got a thing for shovels," he said. "Who would have guessed that seeing my shovel would help my memories come back."

       "You....you remember everything?"

       "Not everything," Jerome said. "Some recent things are still blurry, but I remember you. I remember us first talking and texting and I definitely remember our first kiss."

       "You....do?"

       Jerome nodded. "Yeah. And Alan ruining things the first time because he forgot he left cookies in the oven."

       I couldn't believe it. Jerome was actually getting his memory back.

       "Yes!" I said excitingly before wrapping my arms around him, and he hugged me back. "I'm so happy!"

       "I'm happy too," Jerome said. "I could never forget you, babe."

       "Okay, one, don't call me babe," I said. "And two, you kind of did forget me."

       "Don't be rude, I just got most of my memory back," Jerome said. "Oh, and guess what?"

       "What?"

       "Ily bb."

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Shovels are the MVP of this story. They're the true main characters. cx

But yeah, Jerome is still missing a few things from his memory, but at least he now remembers his boo. :D