I opened the bathroom door and my dad was standing there. He had a concerned but pleasant smile on his face. He was in bare feet and wore maroon pajamas with a big pocket on the shirt. I wondered why you would need pockets on a pair of PJ's. His hair was a bit messed up and he was naturally casual compared to when I saw him last wearing a suite. His dark brown eyes sparkled at me in the light escaping from the bathroom.
"How are you feeling, son?" he said.
"Well, I think I am better, dad, but I was really dizzy when I started to get out of bed. I think the shower water has helped wake me up. My head injury looks pretty gross, though. I was careful not to get that wet", I replied.
He walked left down the hallway, and I proceeded to follow him. For some reason I noticed he was a little shorter than me.
"Hey dad, your shorter than me, right?", I said trying to make conversation.
"Oh yeah, Cole. Your a big guy. I am actually not that short. I am about 6 foot and a half inch, but you are 6 foot 2. Your mother and I can't figure out where that came from. Most of the folks in our family are taller than average, but not that tall."
I pondered about that a while. I guess I was not that wacked-out different. My dad was only an inch and a half shorter than me. It seems that with each generation people are getting taller, anyway. He mentioned mom. I wondered where she was.
"So dad, where's mom?" I said
"She went out running. She likes to do that before breakfast and before getting ready for work. I really am not that keen on her doing it because it's still rather dark and I wonder if it is safe for a large number of reasons. She is stubborn though. The sun is just coming up now. She says she likes to experience sun rise on her runs, so she actually changes her running times with the advancing of the seasons so she can see the sun rise. Of course, in the winter she can't really do that because she would then be late for work, but this time of year she just needs to get up early. I think you will see her after a bit", he chuckled. "Certainly you will remember her. You two are pretty close".
I looked around the kitchen and it looked pretty typical. There was a large refrigerator near the sink, which had brushed stainless fixtures. Overhead cabinets looked to be maple wood, stained light in color. There were cheerful, colorful curtains over a window at the sink. The floor was tan colored tile and the kitchen table was black. A pantry area was behind an opened door next to the refrigerator, and there was a dishwasher under that cabinet to the left of the sink.
Dad moved around the kitchen over by the sink and near the refrigerator.
"Cole, do you feel like eating something, now? I think it would be good for you to do that. It might give you more strength", he said after he turned around and looked at me. He showed definite concern.
"Yeah, I think I should". I just stood there, awkwardly not knowing what I should do.
"Cole, why don't you just sit down, and I'll take care of it", he said. "You usually like Cheerios and eggs. Does that sound good for you?
"Yeah, sure. I guess I am starting to feel a little hungry" , I said.
I noticed the top of my right hand that was still sore from where I was fed intravenously in the hospital. There was a bruise where the needle entered my vein. I pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down with my arms resting on the table. I looked at my hands. They seemed ok except for where that needle went in.
Dad got out a frying pan and eggs, and then cracked several of them and put them in the pan once the pan was buttered up and hot. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a box of Cheerios, and a bowl. He stuck that on the table in front of me and then opened the fridge and placed a carton of milk in front of me.
"Eat as much as you want, Cole.", he chuckled. "You're a growing boy", he smiled at me.
"Yeah, dad", I demurred. "The eggs and butter smell good"
"Yeah, Cole, you actually eat a lot of eggs. You told me once that it was the perfect food , and especially for when you are weight training. We have always made sure we had plenty of them for you. I think sometimes you even eat them raw mixed up in milk, or something. Some people think its bad because of the cholesterol, and to eat so many eggs but I think recently the medical people are saying that egg cholesterol is actually not so bad compared to other sources of cholesterol. I think you told me that, Cole"
"Really?, I said that". I looked at him as he had turned away from the stove to face me.
"Yeah"
"Dad, I really don't think I know myself very well" I started to fumble with my hands and felt a little sorry for myself.
"I guess I am pretty much a mess", I continued. "I don't know why I am interested in weight training or why I wanted to climb that stupid rock wall or whatever it was I fell from."
"Cole, your mother and I really love you very much. Both of us feel really lucky to have both you and your sister and we will do whatever we can to help you through life, if you want the help. The reason I say 'if you want the help' is because sometimes you want to do things on your own, and thats normal and fine for a 15 year old", he said.
"Right now", he continued, "I do think you need a bit of help. You definitely need to get your memory back. The doctors seem to think that will happen. We will just take it one day at a time. I think you are doing pretty well. Don't get discouraged"
Something was starting to burn. I could smell it. My dad turned around and tended to the pan.
"Oh, wow!", he said. "Well, the eggs are ok. It must have been something on the burner. I will switch burner."
He turned the other burner on and moved the pan to it. He laughed.
"Well, you don't want your dad to burn the place down, do you?"
"I looked down at the table and chuckled. Your doing ok, dad".
I started thinking about my situation and it seemed kind of pathetic. How was I going to cope in school? It was strange that I could talk and socialize, but had no memory, or very little memory, of my family or what I did just a few weeks ago.
"Dad, I want to ask you some really stupid questions", I said when I looked back at him and poured my cereal and milk.
"Yeah, go ahead, son. I will have these eggs ready for you in a minute. They are coming along fine."
"For one thing, what is my last name? Believe it or not, I don't even know that!", I said.
"Its, Hammond, son. Your name is Cole Hammond. My name is George and your mom's name is Jillian, but we all call her Jill"
"Are there any more members of our family?, I asked.
"Yes, indeed there is, Cole. You have an older sister, Emily, who is soon to be a freshman in college, but this summer she is doing an internship in Pennsylvania between high school and college", he said.
"Hmmm, well, what state are we in now?", I asked.
"Right now, Cole, you and the rest of us are living in Hawaii. Isn't that cool? I've always wanted to live here and I just moved us here early in the summer and then you started climbing in some of the lava flow structures, fell, and conked your head. Your lucky you did not kill yourself.", he said looking directly at me.
"You know, as I said before, I think you should think about getting rid of that rock climbing gear and not doing that anymore. I guess you were lucky to be alive, but also it could be considered a warning and God gave you another chance".
He came over to me with genuine concern in his face.
"Yeah, well, I don't think I will be doing anything like that soon anyway. I don't even remember how to use the equipment, and I don't want to go through what I have gone through again", I said.
I started eating the cereal. It felt good going down my throat. I was thinking that maybe I might have two bowls of this stuff.
"Hey dad?", I paused a bit not knowing what to say exactly.
"Dad, do you know anything about my social life? Do I have a girlfriend, or guy friends or what? I really was not sure how to ask this question but I needed an answer.
"Sorry, Cole", he said. "I don't know all the details of your personal life at school, but I think you were a loner and did not yet have a girl friend or any serious guy friends for that manner either. Besides, we just moved here, so unfortunately you are going to have to rebuild your friendships."
"Dad, do you remember me as liking girls?" I was still a bit confused about this because I did not understand the behavior of my private male parts. They still seemed to be puffed a bit.
"Cole, you love girls. All your life, as long as I can remember, you always enjoyed looking at pretty girls and you would often point them out to me too. Don't worry. Believe me you love girls, and looking at you I am sure they love you too", he said.
He play punched me in the shoulder.
"OK, but.."
"Cole, but I don't think you ever had a girlfriend, and as far as I know you have never been on a date. I mean its ok. Your 15 and going to be a sophomore. Not everybody has girlfriends right away. Its not a race. I would hope that people don't think your gay if you don't have a close friend of the opposite sex. That would be stupid, but I have not dated in years and maybe things have gotten stupid"
"Am I a dork", I said
My dad started laughing.
"No Cole, you are not a dork, or a nerd, or anything like that. You love girls, but you are shy. I think that may be why you got into weight training. It was an outlet for you rather than putting yourself on the line and starting to date. Kids might be going out on dates and instead of that, you are here lifting weights. I just think you are sensitive and shy. I would not worry about it. I think sensitive and shy people in the end become very kind and caring people from what I can tell from my own life. They make the best friends and partners for life".
"Oh, maybe", I said.
"You know, Cole, I was a shy guy too. I am 38 years old, which isn't that old yet. Your mom is also 38. We found each other in college. I am not sure if either of us did much serious dating in high school. I know I only dated one girl and it was in my senior year. I think your mom may have dated a couple of guys, but neither of us were big party people. We would just like doing fun things together like going skiing or dancing. Getting drunk was not our thing. Some people think that a party is defined by a keg or a punch bowl, or getting high. I am not one of them. You did not seem to be that way either"
"Ok, well..." I said not knowing what else to ask about that.
"So, continuing with my stupid questions, what do you do for a job, dad?
"I am in marketing of medical equipment and supplies", he said. I usually can work out of my home so that is why I decided to move the family here to Hawaii. I sell to both American and Asian based companies. A different person handles Europe, Africa, and the mid east. I expect to expand into South America, but we shall see. This is largely my own business. I used to work for someone else, but now I am a freelance representative."
"What does that mean", I asked.
"It means I am on my own and I can do what I want, but if I stop working we starve.", he giggled.
He moved over to the eggs on the stove and put them on a plate.
"Ok, Cole, here you go", he put the eggs on the table.
"I have another stupid question for you dad." I said.
"Ok, shoot. and Cole, these are not stupid questions. They are important."
"Dad, how come my head has massive injuries and yet the rest of my body seems pretty bruise free? I would have thought there would be cuts and bruises everywhere."
"Cole, you did not fall that far and basically landed on your noggin. The rest of you did not hit anything. Actually, you are probably thinking of being on a rock face thousands of feet up. Thats not what happened here. You were probably not much higher than the top of our chimney on this house. You were right at the beginning of a climb, I think, and something went wrong. I was not there at the time, but your mom was. She spends a lot of time with you. As I said you two are pretty close."
"Cole, I don't think you should characterize your head injury as massive. It looks bad, but it was easily repaired. You will be fine. We were told that the stitches will just fall out and the scabs will scratch off. The black and blue will go away and your hair will come back. In fact, if you look around the base of your bandages the hair is already coming back. I think tomorrow you should just take the bandages off and let air get to it. The bandages don't really do anything anymore. You can probably shower your head and clean it."
He continued to look at me for a while with a pleasant caring look on his face.
"Actually, Cole", he continued. "I have some stuff for you that will help you restore your memory. I pulled them out last night. Wait a minute"
He walked out of the kitchen into another room off of the kitchen that looked like a den or a living room and went to a cabinet. After opening the cabinet he returned with three binders.
"Ok, Cole, we need to spend some time with these."
He placed the binders on the table. They basically were large photo albums.
"I am going to give you some homework, literally. I think these will jar your memory, and before long I think you will be fine. What I want you to do is take these into your bedroom later and just flip through them. I have always loved to take pictures of family activities and there basically are pictures of you and the family in here for much of your life.", he said.
I opened one of the binders and took a quick look. Sure enough, I saw pictures of myself with my dad and some other kids and an older blonde girl that seemed to be laughing most of the time or at least smiling.
"Who is that girl, I thought you said I did not have a girlfriend?", I said.
"That's not a girlfriend. Thats your sister, Emily. I think she was throwing stuff at you at the time. She's older than you, but your stronger, of course. You guys used to wrestle and horse around. Even though your 15 and she's 18 you would carry her on your shoulders all the time and run races that way trying to get your time down, or you would even run against mom with your sister on your shoulders. Your pretty strong. Your sister is not into running like your mom, but you managed to bring her to the track somehow this way. You told Emily she is part of your track training. You and your mom would run track. Not me. I'm like your sister and don't like running. Nobody is going to carry me on their back." He laughed.
"Emily is pretty", I said.
"Yeah, she sure is", he said. "Both of you guys are nice looking kids, and smart too. We are proud of you."
Just then I heard a fumbling at the door as someone was pulling hard on it and then pushed it inward. A girl with long blonde hair in a ponytail stepped in. She then looked at me with a big smile and large turquoise blue eyes. She was graceful with perfect tanned skin, colorful track shoes, yellow short track shorts, and had a white top. Her eyes just brightened up. It was like her whole face was smiling and she had beautiful shapely legs and graceful arms and a tiny little waist. She must have been one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen, but then I did not remember many people. My mind was sort of blank. Nevertheless, I was definitely getting excited seeing her. I gasped.
She came over to me and gave me a big warm hug and kissed me. My whole body was tingling. I was speechless.
"Uhhh", was all I said.
"Hi Cole!", she said very cheerfully, and kissed me again, and gave me more warm hugs. "I am so happy to see you!"
My dad started laughing out loud and his eyes were practically tearing up.
"Hey Cole", this is your mom, Jillian.