Demian Wren took a long drag from the cigarette he was holding as he stared across the table at the six other men nursing their drinks. The meeting with Max Salvatore had riled up some people and ruffled a few feathers. Especially Christian who was still yapping on about something everyone had stopped listening to.
"The bastard! How could he dismiss me like that? He's so lucky we're business partners or else I would end him."
"That's the only part where we agree on." Demian stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray, half hoping Christian would shut up and allow them push on to pressing matters.
"He's a proud fucker." Christian spat out. "I really will end him."
"We can focus on ending him if we actually focus on the reason for this meeting Christian." Demian said slowly with a tight lipped smile.
"Yes of course, apologies gentlemen."
Demian cleared his throat, "Max isn't looking like he's going to deliver on this particular gold mine." A series of 'Hear Hear' went round the table, "I don't know how best to proceed with this because there's only so far i can dip my feet into his pond before he tears my limb to shreds."
"He's a pussy. I don't know why anyone should be scared of him" Christian laughed at his own words.
"Definitely not a pussy you want to fuck with and you're a fool not to be scared of Maxwell Salvatore, a big fool." Demian replied erasing Christian's smile. "We can only wait for him to flop and drown himself then..."
Relighting another cigarette, Demian took a long drag into his screaming lungs. "We never let him resurface."
°°°
"She's coming to."
"Someone page a doctor."
"Squeeze my hand if you can hear me." Heather squeezed only because she wanted the voices to quiet down.
"She's conscious, her vitals look fine. We just need her to open her eyes."
"Heather can you hear me?" I wish I couldn't
"I need you to squeeze my hands twice for yes and once for no alright?" Heather squeezed multiple times praying someone interpreted it as 'Shut the fuck up!!'
"That's a nice grip you've got, all you need to do now is open your eyes." Heather tried for a couple of seconds before her eye lids gave way to stabbing pain.
Heather hissed at the blinding light, shielding her face with her hands.
"You've been asleep for a while so it'll take time to adjust." Heather squinted her eyes at the nurse who was smiling widely, there were several nurses actually; some unhooking her from some machines and others double checking her vitals.
"The doctor will be here shortly to ask you a few questions."
Heather nodded, she didn't understand what was happening, how did she get here? "Uhmm, do you know what happened to me?"
The nurses smile turned down a notch as worry clouded her eyes, "You had an accident, a horse attacked you"
"A horse?" Heather frowned in confusion. "I've never seen or touched a horse in my life."
The nurses shared a look then resumed what they were doing. "That's okay, the doctor will be here soon and I'm sure he'll be able to answer all your questions."
"I have none, I'm just wondering how I got attacked by a horse. Can I be discharged soon? I have to get back to work?"
The doctor walked in just as Heather sat up, "Woah there, you can't be sitting up right now, you need to rest."
"Rest?" Heather looked at them like they were crazy, "It's just an accident, I really need to get back to work."
"It wasn't just an accident." The doctor explained calmly, "You suffered a nasty concussion from the blow you received to the head, we had to put you in an induced coma to further examine and treat you."
Heather was gobsmacked. "You're joking right? How long have I been here?"
"Five days."
"Can I get discharged soon? I need to get to Crosby Street today."
"Crosby Street?" The doctor asked bemused.
"Yes Crosby Street, you know, the one in New York."
"Where do you think you are?" The doctor wrote rapidly on his notepad.
"New York of course, where else would I be?"
"I see." The doctor adjusted his glasses with a tiny smile. "This isn't New York, you're in Texas."
"Texas?!" Heather gasped. "That's half way across the world."
"You need to relax and wait until your test results come out." The doctor flipped his notepad shut. "Other than that your vitals look good, you should be discharged soon. Is there anyone you would like to call?"
"Yes, my wife Renee."
°°°
Fiona sat with Shelby in the waiting room, they were both waiting for the doctor who went in to check on Heather. Shelby's legs were shaking from nervousness, the tension was too much to even hold up conversation which Fiona secretly enjoyed. The matter of Zina was still hanging in the air and she would either have to tell the truth or say a big fat lie.
"Family of Heather Salvatore." A nurse called out.
Everyone jumped up but allowed Shelby rush forward first. "We're here, how is she?"
"The doctor will see you now, only one person can go in."
Shelby followed the nurses direction to a Doctor Myers office. A soft 'come in' followed after her knock.
"Hello, I'm Shelby MacLean, for Heather Salvatore."
"Ah yes, My name is Doctor Myers." They shook hands and he offered her a seat which Shelby gladly took.
"How is she?" Shelby jumped right to it.
"I can't say for now because her final results aren't out but her memory is muddled."
"Muddled?"
The doctor sighed and leaned back into his chair. "She thinks she's in New York."
"What does that mean?" Shelby tried to swallow the ball of anxiety in her throat.
"It means the blow she received to the head might have brought on a case of amnesia."
"For how long?" Shelby gripped her bag till her hands went numb.
"You really can't say with amnesia. It could be a day, a week, a month or never."
The 'Never' hung in the air like a warning sign. "Do I get to have hope?"
"What more do we have if not hope?"
"Can I see her?"
"You can but don't expect anything." The doctor smiled apologetically. "Just because we should have hope doesn't mean our expectations will be brought to reality. That's the quickest way for hope to die, mixing it with your expectations of an unknown reality."
°°°
Shelby stood outside Heather's door for a minute trying to gather her bearings, behind this door was a woman she loved who might not even remember her, she knew it would hurt more than anything if Heather looked at her like a stranger regardless of how strained their relationship was.
She knocked softly before stepping in, Heather was standing in front of the window staring out into the view it offered.
"Hello" Shelby cursed when her voice came out squeaky and weak.
Heather turned away from the view to stare at Shelby. "Hi."
"How're you feeling?"
"Weird, like my memories are missing but asides that I'm okay."
"Cool." Shelby replied lamely.
Heather chuckled. "You're cute but do I know you?"
Shelby took deep breaths, her chest felt like it was about to cave in. "Uhmm- uhmm- I-"
"Are you okay?" Heather grabbed Shelby's arm. "You look faint."
"Yea I'm okay." Shelby chuckled nervously. "We do know each other, I just can't wrap my head around the fact that you have amnesia."
"Amnesia huh? I would really love to have my memories back. I feel like I'm stuck in a time frame I shouldn't be in at all."
"You don't remember me at all?" Shelby ignored the doctor's voice ringing in her head.
"No. Unfortunately not."
"Wow, it must be a pretty backward timeline then." Shelby hid the tremor in her voice with a laugh.
"What were we?"
"Were? That sounds like we're a thing of the past when we haven't even battled with the present. You are the woman I love with everything I am, if you don't remember me that's okay but I won't let you walk away from me again."
"That's so sweet Shelby."
"Yeah" It took thirty seconds to register. "Wait, I didn't tell you my name."
"Nope you didn't." Heather said holding back a smile.
"You remember me?"
"How can I forget? That love speech was enough to bring my memories back."
"So... you never forgot in the first place?"
"Uhh- I did." Heather smiled sheepishly. "I lost all my memories I swear."
"You're kidding right? You lied to the entire medical staff checking in on you."
"They're smart, besides if they can't figure out I'm lying then we can sue them."
"That's not it fucking works you- you-"
"I love you too darling."
"Fuck you Heather."
"Anytime my love. You just confessed your love for me so I'm over the moon."
"You faked amnesia so I would confess my love to you?!"
"Most definitely." Heather shrugged. "A woman had to do what a woman had to do."
"I forgot how low you could go to get your way." Shelby let out a sigh of relief through her anger.
"Now that we've got that out of the way." Heather licked her lips and leaned in.
Shelby pushed her hand into Heather's face stopping her halfway. "Nuh uh. You don't get to do something this stupid and get rewarded with a kiss."
"Tell me who has ever done this to get a woman."
"Nobody, because this is what psychotic people do." Shelby smiled. "If amnesia is out of the way then I'm worried about your mental health."
"My mental health is at risk whenever you're involved. How could I stay sane when you're in my space?" Heather gathered Shelby into her arms before she could slip away. "Can I get a kiss now?"
Shelby melted into Heather, giving in to the comfort only she could offer. "If only you knew how much I've wanted to kiss you for days."
Their lips had just brushed when Heather found herself flat on her back.
"You don't get a kiss after the shit you just pulled. I'm going to imagine you have amnesia or I will knock your head so hard you actually have amnesia."
Heather watched the woman she loved blow up over the ruckus she created. "I'd do it over if I had the chance."
Heather dodged the bag hurled in her direction with a loud laugh.