Fearless

103

Colby's POV

I woke up in the morning to Mia's cries as I held Cora to my chest. She was still sleeping peacefully which caused my heart to swell. It brought me so much comfort that she was peaceful for even just a moment, with no confusion or fear. I wish I could lay here and watch her all day but Mia needed me right now.

I carefully got out of the bed and laid Cora's head on her pillow. I watched her for another second then turned to go into the nursery.

I went up to Mia and picked her up, "hey princess." I said quietly and kissed her head as I bounced her against my shoulder. She cooed at me as I went to change her before putting a pacifier in her mouth so I could go get a bottle heated up.

When I walked into the kitchen Cora's dad was making pancakes. He looked like he didn't sleep and I didn't really blame him, I would have had a hard time if Cora wasn't in my arms.

"Good morning." I said and he looked up, smiling slightly, "hey Colby. Hi Mia." He said and waved at us.

"I thought I would make her some pancakes." He said quietly and looked down at the pan, "she does love those." I said and bounced Mia as she fussed. "Can you watch her while I go get some milk?" I asked and he smiled as I strapped Mia into her high chair, she watched me cautiously as I backed away and out of the room. "I'll be right back sweetheart," I said and turned to get to the garage. I heard her start to fuss and cry when I got out of her line of sight so I picked up the pace and jogged, grabbing some milk and then coming back.

"It's okay love, I'm here. I'm back." I said and went over to wipe her tears away. Cora's dad was standing in front of her making funny faces at her trying to get her to at least giggle. She eventually looked up at me and reached for my hands, "did you want bananas too?" I asked her and grabbed her hand as she pouted.

"I think she wants Cora." Dad breathed out and I nodded, "I do too.." I said with a sigh and grabbed a banana, "I'm sorry sweetheart, she's sleeping...I know..I miss her too." I said and frowned then started mashing up some bananas for her.

Kat came into the kitchen and sniffled as she looked around. "Hey Kat, can you help me?" I asked and nodded my head to the frozen milk I had set down on the counter. "Yeah, I'll heat it up. Is Cora sleeping?" She asked and grabbed a pot to boil some water. "Yeah, I had to give her one of her pills.." I said and started to feed Mia. She wiggled happily and banged her hands on the tray in front of her. "Is that going to effect the situation?" Dad asked as he flipped more pancakes. "Meghan said it shouldn't." I said and wiped Mia's face with a wet cloth.

Everyone eventually came into the kitchen and had breakfast with us, but Cora was still asleep. I wasn't surprised though, the last time she had to take one of those pills she slept for 14 hours.

I had to go to the airport to pick up my parents, so after Mia was cleaned up I packed her stuff up and headed to the bedroom. I thought about how frantic Cora was about being late at picking up her dad. I missed her snarky attitude so much and it had only been a day. I looked at her sleeping figure and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Please come back to me baby girl." I whispered and leaned down to kiss her head. Mia wiggled in my arms as I stood up. "Let's go get grandma and grandpa." I said and bounced her causing her to giggle.

Sam met me at the bottom of the stairs, "hey." I said and hiked the diaper bag onto my shoulder, "hey, how are you holding up?" He asked and waved at Mia who was watching him with a smile. "Trying to stay positive that she will be alright when she wakes up." I said and rubbed Mia's back. "I hope so too, Kat isn't taking this very well." He said and I nodded, "I know. Tara's right though, this is Cora we are talking about, she's gonna bounce back." I said but not fully believing it. "Yeah. You're right." Sam said with a small smile, "okay I have to go pick up my parents. Call me if she wakes up okay?" I asked and he smiled, patting my back. "You got it brother." He said and I nodded, before leaving the house.

On the way to the airport I decided to give her doctor a call, to see if we could do something to help. "Hey Colby, how are you?" She asked happily on the other end. "I've been better." I said and took a deep breath, "what's going on?" She asked with a more serious tone.

"Cora hit her head yesterday and is having short term memory loss, do you know if there's anything we can do to get her back?" I asked and she sighed, "there's really nothing you could do, but you should probably bring her in to get a scan done. There's always a possibility of that the hemorrhage we patched up being ruptured again. I don't think it would cause memory loss though if it did. How short term are we talking?" She asked as I drove down the road. "Every couple minutes. She doesn't remember hitting her head or any memories after it. The last thing she remembers happened 20 minutes before she actually hit her head." I said as Mia fussed in the backseat.

"It's okay sweetheart." I cooed at her. "Okay, and how is she now?" Dr. Robinson asked, "she's asleep at home, I had to give her one of her pills so she would sleep." I said as I pulled into the airport parking lot. "Okay, well bring her in sometime today and we will get that scan, if she's still having a hard time and you can't get her in then you just have to be patient, try to maybe jog her memory a little, it's gonna be tough but she's definitely tougher." She said and I nodded, "you're right. Okay I'll try to get her in." I said then hung up.

When I opened the door to get Mia she just looked at me and frowned, "I know sweetheart,  I miss mommy too." I said and pulled her out of the car seat and made my way to the terminal. I was really excited to see my parents, and I was hoping my mom would know what to do about the situation.

"Hey Cole!" Dad yelled and came to give me a hug, "hey dad," I said and wrapped my arm around him as best as I could. "Hey there Mia, oh you've gotten so big." He said and pinched Mia's cheek as I hugged mom, "hey Colby, where's Cora?" She asked and I frowned, "She's at home." I said, not wanting to ruin this moment of them with Mia. "She okay?" Dad asked and I shook my head, "we can talk about it in the car." I said and handed mom Mia so she could snuggle her.

When we got in the car I explained everything to them as we made our way down the highway. "So she doesn't remember anything?" Mom gasped out, "not since last night, no. I'm hoping she wakes up and is back to normal, but there are no promises." I said and shook my head, "she's just going to be really confused when she sees you guys, so just be prepared okay?" I asked and they hummed in agreement as my phone rang.

"Hey Sam." I said and heard muffled cries on the other end, "what's going on?" I asked and felt my heart speed up, "Cora's awake and she's freaking out because you and Mia are gone." He said and I frowned, taking a deep breath, "does she remember?" I asked and there was silence on the other side for a minute, "no..no she doesn't" he finally said which made my heart shatter. "Okay, can you put her on the phone?" I asked and then heard movement on the other end.

"Colby where are you!? We are supposed to be talking to my dad and Stephanie." Cora said frantically as I wiped a tear from my cheek. My mom reached over and grabbed my hand giving it a small squeeze. "I talked to your dad, he wanted me to get something from the store." I said trying to keep my voice steady. "You have Mia?" She asked and sniffled, "yeah, I have Mia. We are on the way home." I said and she went silent for a second. "Okay, please hurry, I think dad is mad at me." She said quietly, "he's not mad at you love, he's not mad." I said and she went silent again.

After a few minutes I finally spoke up, "Cora?" I asked and she gasped, "Sam! Do you know where Colby is? We are supposed to talk to my dad." She said and sighed as I choked back a sob. "Oh my god." Mom whispered next to me.

I really wanted her to be back.