"What?" Dr. Warhol asked, alarmed, as Trey left the room. The doctor instantly went to check up on Elena, who couldn't stop thinking of the man that had just left. Who was that? But before she could think about him any further, the doctor flicked a tiny flashlight in her eyes. Terra hesitantly left the room, knowing that her other child, well what felt like her other one, needed her, too. Collin understood and let her go, keeping their mind link open so she could know what went on in the room as the doctor tended to Elena.
"Elena, do you know where you are right now?" He asked, turning off the flashlight and putting it back in his white coat front pocket.
She looked around the white room. "Um, in a hospital room?"
"Yes, that's correct. Do you remember how you got here?"
Elena thought about it, tried to dig deep in the recesses of her mind. All she remembered was getting ready for her first day of her senior year in college. She shook her head, which hurt. . . a lot. Geez, what happened to her?
As if reading her mind, the doctor informed, "You were in an accident. You got hit by a car."
Hit by a car? Whoa. 'Thank goodness I'm still alive,' she thought. "Well that explains why my head hurts." Elena replied, reaching up to rub her head softly.
"Well, your head did take a pretty bad hit. Are you feeling nauseated or dizzy?" The doctor asked.
"No."
"That's good. Like I told your family. . ." The doctor repeated to her what he told everyone else about her predicament coming into the hospital; her concussion, small bruises, high fever, the tests. As he did so, Terra walked in and stood next to her mate and child, with Warren and Hannah not too far away. Hannah reached out for Elena's hand, and held it tightly as she noticed Elena's worried face as the doctor continued to speak.
"Now, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. Then I promise, I won't bother you again for the rest of the day, okay?" He said, smiling, trying to make a joke.
She smiled back. "Okay." But she still held on to Hannah's and now, Terra's hand tightly.
"Can you state your full name for me?"
"Elena Jane Mitchell."
"When's your birthday?"
"September 23rd."
"And how old are you?"
"Twenty."
The doctor paused for a second. "Elena, can you tell me today's date?"
She thought about this for a second. "Um, August 22nd?"
Everyone's faces fell. She knew that must mean it was no longer August 22nd.
"Ellie, honey, it's May 29th." Terra informed her, trying to hold back tears, trying to be strong for her little girl.
She gasped. May 29th? That meant she graduated not too long ago! And she couldn't remember it. Any of it.
Elena let go of both Hannah's and Terra's hands. "What?! No. I-It can't be. . . But how- I. . ." Was all she could say as she cupped her head as tried to remember vigorously the last 9 months of her life. But she couldn't. She didn't understand why this was happening to her. Gone. Just like that. And will she ever get it back? She was getting worked up; her behavior becoming erratic.
The doctor sensed this, rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "Okay. I think that's enough for today. I'll leave you alone now, Elena. I'll send in for someone a little bit later to change your bandage." He turned to face everyone else. "Everybody, please come with me. Let's let her rest." Dr. Warhol said, leading them all out the door despite the small protests from Terra and Hannah.
Elena rested her head on the pillow as everyone hurried out of the room, her mind reeling from the doctor's confession of her accident to her realization of her memory loss.
9 months.
Her mind was blank for a timeline of 9 months. She couldn't believe it.
'Okay, think, Elena! Think. What is the last thing you can remember?' She asked herself. She closed her eyes.
She remembered waking up bright and early for her morning jog the day before her first day of senior year of college. She got up, showered, got dressed, prepped her camera, because she loved to take pictures on her jog. Then, she was out the door.
She felt the warm, summer breeze on her skin as she jogged around the block of her apartment complex, the one she shared with Hannah, and then all the way to her favorite spot, the park. She managed to snap a couple of pictures of the trees and of people around her before the hot dog stand caught her eye in her camera lens. She pulled away from her camera and pondered.
Oh, what the heck? She jogged enough to earn her this one little treat, right? She reached the stand and asked the vendor for one hot dog with ketchup and mustard on it and sauerkraut and relish on the side.
"Here you go, miss." The vendor said, sweetly.
"Thank you." She replied, as she handed him two dollars for the hot dog.
She turned around to head home and as soon as she was about to take a bite of her food, she felt a hard body bump into her. The electric shock of the bump made her drop the hot dog and almost made her fall over if two strong arms didn't wrap around her waist to catch her; the exchange almost happening in slow motion.
Her hands rested on his chest to steady herself; their bodies would have been flushed against each other if her camera wasn't around her neck. "Hey, why don't you watch where you're. . ." Her voice trailed off as she looked up, like really high up, at the face of the person. . . or statue of a man, more like, who broke her fall. He had short cropped hair, black as night, golden tan skin, beautiful, big pink lips and. . . bags under his eyes? Very hollow eyes, at that. You can see the pain etched in them but she started to see a light spark through them once again. Was it because of her, perhaps?
He looked tired, worn down, but that didn't make him any less handsome. Slight stubble adorned his jaw. Oh, how she wanted to reach up and lick that jaw. ". . . going." She managed to say, as she took herself out of her trance.
The beautiful man laughed as he looked down at her, bringing life to his once hollowed eyes, their breathing syncing together. "My apologies. But it's not everyday you can say you've been touched by an angel." The low baritone of his voice sounded melodic to her ears and made her stomach do back flips, and her nether regions do. . . other things.
She cackled. "Nice one. Does that line usually work for you?"
He smirked. "I don't know. You tell me, you're the one with your hands still on my chest."
Noticing he no longer had his hands around her waist tightly, she immediately took her hands off of him as if she had been burned by fire and she may as well have been; he was so warm, she didn't want to leave his embrace.
She gasped. Could it be? Her parents told her the signs of finding your mate. Warmth. Electricity. Your wolf instantly connecting with theirs. But sadly, she didn't have a wolf. She was just a human.
He laughed a beautiful laugh at her action. "Hey, let me buy you another one." He gestured to the hot dog on the ground.
She smiled and nodded. "Okay." They made their way back to the hot dog stand.
"I'm Elena, by the way." She extended her hand out to him.
And he was all to eager to receive it. "Beautiful name. Nice to meet you, Elena. I'm-"
But before he could finish his statement, like a dream sequence, everything turned to black and sleep overtook her.
* * *
Once they were all outside, Dr. Warhol began to speak again. "She is a little frazzled right now. It's a lot to take in. It's best if we just leave her be for now. We don't want to give her anymore added stress than the retrograde amnesia has already caused."
"Retrograde amnesia?" Terra asked, worriedly.
He sighed. "Yes. It means she can't remember the last, what, 9 months of her life but she can still form and remember new memories. With the type of head trauma she received, she is very lucky. In most cases, some people cannot remember the last decade or so of their life and cannot be able to form or remember new memories." He explained.
"Will she be able to regain her old memories back?" Collin asked. He was holding Terra tightly, trying to comfort her and himself with the warmth of her body.
"She may," he reassured. "But, I have to warn you. This won't be an easy process for her or either of you, for that matter. She may start to feel frustrated and/or depressed at the fact that. . ." Dr. Warhol's voice began to fade as Terra's ears began to ring, heart sinking in her stomach. She felt like she was going to faint. She leaned on her mate and held on to him even closer than before as the ringing in her ears stopped. She needed to be strong for her baby girl. "The key is to be there for her, not to over exert her, not to stress her out, let the injury heal fully. "
"And how long before she remembers, do you think, doc?" Warren interjected, as he rubbed small circles on his sister's back to comfort her.
"Now that's hard to say. It could take up to a few weeks, months, even years before she regains her full memories. Any little thing can trigger it. But don't worry. Good thing is, is that she seems to have a strong support system to back her up." He smiled, then all of a sudden his pager beeped. "Excuse me, I have to take this. And please tell her mate this isn't his fault. These things happen after a traumatic experience. He needs to be there for her now more than ever." And with that, he left to tend to his next patient.
* * *
Elena woke up with a start as she tried to recall the memory that had popped into her head. Was that a memory or was that just a figment of her imagination. Did she just conjure that up to comfort herself or did it happen in real life?
"Fuck," she mumbled out loud, holding her head in her hands, breathing deeply.
That's when Hannah woke up, not realizing she had dozed off until she heard Elena curse out loud. "Elena? What's wrong?"
Elena jumped before realizing it was Hannah. "Oh sorry, Han. I thought I was alone." Hannah was still drowsy from her nap, and traces of makeup were still on her face, but it didn't make her look any less radiant under the light of the lamp at Elena's hospital bedside.
"No worries. But are you okay?" Hannah asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'm fine. Or at least I think I'm fine. I don't know. I don't know what has happened for the last 9 months, apparently and who knows if I'll ever remember it again. And if I do, who's to say it'll even stick in my mind. I just hate that this is all happening. I mean, not only am I a defective wolf, but apparently I have a defective memory as well. I just can't win."
Hannah's heart broke looking at her best friend going through this. She knew she did not deserve this. "Okay, El, no. Don't say that. You are not defective." She rested both her hands on each shoulder to try to comfort Elena.
"It's just not fair, Han. When will I finally be happy?" That's when Elena broke down, tear after tear streaming down her face. Hannah sat on the bed, bringing her in close, hugging her with so much love and good energy, it almost made Elena stop crying but she couldn't. She had too much pain in her heart to keep bottled in.
"Hey you know what, you will. You will be happy, El. I know it doesn't seem like it now. But this is just another obstacle you have to overcome and you will. I know it's easy for me to say because I'm not in your shoes but I have your back. Always. You don't have to suffer alone ever. It's time to think positive." She pulled away to look into her eyes. "You're stronger than any of us here, El."
Elena couldn't help but smile through her tears. She really did reach the jackpot of best friends. "Now, how did I get so lucky to have you in my life?"
"I have no idea. Maybe with the same luck I got to have you in my life." Hannah smiled as Elena laughed, tears at a standstill. She always did know how to make Elena feel better. And she was right. She will overcome this. Pity party was over. It happened and now it's time to move forward. And everything happens for a reason, doesn't it?
She wiped away her tears and let out a big sigh. "You're right, Han. It's time to think positively. I will not let this get to me. If anything I will let this drive me to finally be content with my life. I'm done feeling sorry for myself."
"Atta girl! You are not defective or worthless or less than just because you go through shit, you know? If anything, you become better than ever and no one will be able to reach your level, not even your mate." As the word mate left her mouth she instantly regretted it. Her face became serious, only for a second, but it was enough for Elena to catch.
Before she could stop herself, she said, "Tell me about him." She was curious. She thought about him, his face so sad and worn out when he found out she couldn't remember him, but what an alluring face that was.
Hannah sighed, looking off to the side. She sat down on the bed, contemplating her next words before she looked at Elena again. "His name is Trey."