Over an hour later after visiting Corey with Zaiden, Sophie finally got permission to see Aaron after all the fuss that had been caused.
Carefully walking into his hospital room, she felt a wave of awkwardness fall over her at the sight she was faced with.
Aaron was not alone in his hospital bed but instead Carla was laid beside him, cuddled in his embrace.
"Sorry, I was just checking to see if you were okay..." Sophie trailed off and her voice captured Aaron's attention.
Looking over at him, he gave her a tired smile.
"You look like absolute shit." Was the next thing she said causing him to instantly laugh.
"Thanks... Soph. Just what I needed to hear."
"You're welcome." She grinned back at him before making her way over to his side.
As Sophie approached to pull him into a hug, Carla finally moved, clearly not wanting to step foot near Sophie after what had happened.
"How are the other two?" Aaron then asked as they pulled apart and Sophie took a seat on the side of the bed.
"Corey's alright... he got out the least hurt I think." Sophie looked at Aaron's broken arm alongside his bandaged head.
"No fucking surprise." Aaron remarked, a comment which Sophie purposely ignored.
"But Jack... I don't know. I can't get in touch with Jess and I've been bugging the nurses but they can't tell me anything."
"He got hit pretty hard." Aaron now sounded worried, remembering how his car had done many flips before landing on the roof. "But he's a strong twat, he trusts those cars more than most people, so I'm sure they've got his back too." He tried to lighten the mood causing Sophie to smile.
Drifting her attention over to his small table where some food was laid out, she pulled a face of disgust.
"Do you want me to get you more food? This hospital stuff is shit." She began picking at what was on the table. "And what the hell is this? It looks..." Sophie was suddenly cut off by Carla.
"I got that." She responded sounding bitter.
"Oh... shit, sorry." Sophie bit down on her bottom lip and not even daring to look at Aaron. "Maybe I'll leave you both to it. I interrupted anyway. I'm glad you're okay."
Finally turning her attention to Aaron, she was pulled into yet another hug before hovering in his arms for a few moments.
"I'll speak to you later." Aaron smiled back at her as she got up and began making her way to the door.
"Yeah, get some rest." Was the last thing Sophie said before leaving the room and making her way down the corridor trying to forget everything she had seen the moment she walked into that hospital room.
Hovering outside the rooms for a little while longer she continued to try and call Jess over and over but still had no response. She then moved on to pester the nurses for a while longer before doing laps around the hospital before finally being stopped by Zaiden who was leaving.
"If I hear anything, I'll let you know. Okay?" He placed his hands reassuringly on her shoulders.
"Okay." She nodded her head, yet still feeling sick with worry.
Not only was she worried about Jack, she was also worried about Jess being alone.
"And don't kill Carla while I'm gone. Please?"
Zaiden's warning eyes caused Sophie to respond with a mischievous grin.
"Seriously Soph, be nice and go and see Corey. He needs your company."
Nodding her head, Sophie then pulled Zaiden in for a hug, saying her goodbyes before making her way back down to Corey's room.
Hovering in the doorway, he moved his attention from his phone and looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers in a soft gaze.
"How's Harris?" He asked, knowing exactly where Sophie had been without even having to ask.
"He's fine." She responded, clearly not wanting to go into much detail on it.
"But how are you now?" She asked, even though it had only been a few hours since she had seen him last.
Watching Sophie walk further into the room, Corey placed his phone onto the table beside him.
"I'm alright, shattered though."
There were a few moments of silence while Sophie didn't say anything but just looked at him. Her eyes were locked on his and there was nothing awkward at all about this moment.
"Do you wanna stay?" Corey finally asked, as Sophie looked from the hospital bed to him, taking a good guess on what she was waiting for.
Letting a smile form across her face, she nodded her head.
"Yeah."
Stretching out his arm, he then shuffled over and allowed space for her beside him. As she climbed up onto the bed and fell back into his arm, he relaxed it around her shoulder.
In this moment, she felt all the tension disappear from her body as she just relaxed back into him. This whole evening had been a complete whirlwind and even though she was still panicking over Jack and Jess and still aggravated over the whole Carla situation, she was happy to have some reassurance and she was actually getting it from Corey.
"Does this hurt?" Sophie pressed her finger into his chest.
"Fuck yes Soph it does." He grabbed her hand in his to prevent her from doing it again.
"What about this?" She laughed, doing it again yet in another spot.
"Stop you little shit." He laughed along with her and in that moment when she looked up at him with her nosed scrunched up, in a way that made his body fill with butterflies, his hands cupped her face as he pressed his lips to hers.
Kissing him back, Sophie let her hands run up the side of his neck, doing everything to keep him close with no attempt of touching carefully where he may be bruised.
However, after a good few minutes Sophie finally pulled away, resting her head on his chest that was still rising and falling from his heavy breathing.
"You need to sleep." She mumbled, as her lips pressed to his bare skin, causing Corey to sigh before wrapping his arms around her and appreciating her just being here.
*
continued...
Jess had been ushered out of the room promptly after it became clear that there were more issues with Jack than they had originally realised. He seemed to remember the crash yet other than that, he couldn't remember anything after being the age of nineteen.
The doctors had immediately began doing tests to check for any brain damage that could have caused the memory loss yet when there showed no physical issues, they sat Jess down to explain what was going on.
"We did some tests and there wasn't any obvious brain damage that could be causing the amnesia." The doctor began to explain, while Jess was sat watching him intently. "However, we believe that he is suffering with something known as psychogenic amnesia, situation-specific to be more precise. This is a type of amnesia that doesn't seem to be due to an identifiable brain disease but instead can be caused by a traumatic event like your husband experienced."
Jess was staring at the doctor and trying to take everything in but just the mention of the word 'amnesia' had her feeling sick.
"We can't be certain on anything yet but there is a chance that Jack will recall his memories and there are therapies that can help guide him in this process. However, you have to prepare for the worst in case it's more serious and he loses those memories for good."
"He could get the memories back though?" Jess' heart picked up as she suddenly jumped on the only positive that had come out of this conversation.
She was grasping onto the small bit of hope the doctor was providing her with and not wanting to lose it.
"Yes, there is a chance but you also need to be aware that this type of amnesia occurs alongside post-traumatic stress so he is likely to have it whether he recalls his memories or not." The doctor continued to explain, as Jess continued to scrunch her hands together in her lap. "It's an anxiety disorder and can be extremely stressful to deal with... effecting many aspects of a person's life. He will need a lot of support and care which we can provide but it is also necessary at home."
Jess wanted to snap back and claim that of course he would get the support at home, taking the doctor's comment a bit too personally as though he doubted it. However, she managed to stop herself and just nod her head.
"So what now? Are you going to tell him what's going on because he is in there clueless!" Jess stressed, trying to remain strong and hold back the tears yet feeling as though she could break down.
The terrifying thought of the amnesia was not leaving her mind. The sickening thought that her husband still thought he was a nineteen-year-old boy and had completely forgotten seven years of his life.
He didn't know he had children. He didn't know anything about his adult life. He had lost a huge part of his identity.
"We will tell him but it has to be done carefully or it can be extremely stressful. It may take some time for him to get his head around it or he may always be in doubt but the therapy should hopefully be beneficial in that aspect."
Nodding her head, Jess bit down onto her bottom lip, swallowing back the tears before speaking up once again.
"Can I do anything to help... to try and help him recall his memories?"
Jess felt helpless, as though she was leaving Jack in the hands of strangers. His memories were precious and she hated the fact that they were going to be messed around with by strangers. She had been a huge part of his life and knew him better than anyone; she wanted to be the person to help him remember.
"Maybe seeing his children at some point would be worth a try too. They are a huge part of any parent's life so could trigger something in him." The doctor suggested and Jess was a bit apprehensive, that of which he caught on with. "It doesn't have to be anything too much... just a small hello... it might get him thinking."
Jess wasn't sure what she thought of the idea but the fact that Jack didn't have a clue that he was a dad of four beautiful children, killed. Therefore, if there was a possibility that seeing them could help recall his memory of them, she was willing to try it.
**