Chapter 23
I overheard laughter coming from Charlie's room.
It had been a solid hour that had passed since I had left her room.
Not wanting to be away any longer, I knew it was time to go back.
Just as I was about to enter, Charlie's mother as well as mine existed.
"Drew, there you are. Can we talk to you for a moment?" Charlie's mother asked.
"Sure thing," I agreed, walking us a little bit away from the door.
Stopping us, Charlie's mother placed her hand on my arm.
"Oh honey, you need to exhale. Breathe. She is alive and is going to make it." She said.
I nodded, understanding her words truly.
"We are so grateful she found her way back to us. Although circumstances are different, we are so lucky." She added.
"I know we are." I responded.
She gave me a sad smile before speaking.
"I know you may not agree with what I am about to ask you, but I would really appreciate you understanding."
"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.
"I don't want you to be upset about this, and it isn't to hurt you in any way. We just think it best that we don't discuss what occurred to Wesley just yet. She is so sensitive right now and anything that will upset her will negatively affect her." Her mother said.
"I get where you are coming from, but we can't lie to her. It isn't right. And Charlie will see through all our bullshit. We can't do it." I told her point blank.
Charlie was not an idiot.
She would know something is up and I refused to lie to her.
"Drew, this isn't to upset her or to scheme in any way. We are doing this because it will benefit her. She will not heal with any excess stress and you know it. She asked where Wesley was and I took the liberty as her mother and told her that he was away and does not know about the accident." She said.
I bobbed my head, "I don't agree with that. She is much stronger than you think."
"You don't have to agree with me, Drew. I'm her mother." She stated, glaring at me defensively.
"And I'm her fiancé, Brenda." I replied just as protective.
We were both wanting the best for Charlie, but had two completely different viewpoints.
"Drew, honey. You know that Brenda isn't trying to upset you in any way. She wants to do what's best for Charlie, sweetie. And upsetting her isn't the answer right now, not when she needs to heal." My mother stated, placing her arm on mine, trying to soothe me.
I fixated my attention to Brenda, knowing that she was coming from a place of concern.
"We will tell her, son. Just not at this moment. She needs to regain her strength." Brenda stated pulling me in for a hug.
Hugging her back tightly, I agreed, even when I didn't necessarily.
Everyone seemed to have exited the room at once, saying their goodbyes and that they would be back tomorrow.
After saying goodbye, it was just me left standing outside her door.
I mentally prepared myself.
After about a minute of regaining some sense of composure, I went back into the room and found Charlie softly asleep.
Not wanting to wake her, I quietly shut the door.
"Where'd you go off to?" I heard her say as I turned around.
"I didn't wake you did I?" I asked, walking over to the chair beside her bed.
She shook her head, "You didn't. Was just resting my eyes for a second. I'm tired but I don't want to go to sleep. Not when I just woke up."
I nodded my head and grabbed her hand. Placing it in mine, I focused in on her reaction, to see if she thought anything of it.
Noticing how nonchalant the gesture had been, I took it as a sign that she truly didn't remember.
"I know everyone that left is up to something. I'm not an idiot. Now I know that something happened to me and you guys aren't telling me something." She began to say before gripping onto my hand tighter.
"I know you better than anyone else. Your face has it written all over. You're trying to protect me, but from what?" She asked.
Feeling my jaw clench, I didn't want to lie to her. I wouldn't.
I sighed, "You must know by now that you're not 19. In fact, you're much older."
She nodded her head, "Yes, I figured out that much. I know I'm not remembering a big chunk of my life due to what happened. The fire, at your house."
"Yeah, the fire. You saved my sisters life. Her and her friends." I began to say, voice shaking just at the mere thought.
It would haunt me forever.
"Hey, stop tormenting yourself. Was it your fault?" She asked confused.
I shook my head immediately, "Hell no. Far from it. It was a stupid mistake from the kids. I was hundreds of miles away."
"Well okay then, stop beating yourself up about it. If I went and saved your sister, I would go and do it a million times over again. Even if it meant losing my memory." She added.
I knew she would, but I would never allow another opportunity of that to happen, not ever.
"You gathered that much, huh?" I asked.
"That I'm having some form of amnesia? Yeah, it isn't hard to put two and two together." She added, squeezing my hand.
I gave her a soft smile. Her hair had brushed through, looking long and full of life.
She looked gorgeous.
"Want to fill me in on what I missed?" She asked, snapping me out of my gaze.
"Since you've been asleep? Not much, other than us being here every day." I replied.
"Not that silly. From when I was 19 til now. Seems as if nothing changed between me you, Blake, and Ethan." She replied shooting me a small smile.
Nothing had changed with us 4, but everything had changed between me and her, and Blake and Ethan.
"Ethan and Blake got married, had a baby boy named Clay who is absolutely obsessed with you," I told her, waiting to see her reaction.
She let the information process before responding, "They had a baby?" She asked in disbelief.
I nodded my head.
She had no recollection of Clay.
That just about broke my heart.
The amount of love she has for that kid.
I knew better than to think she remembered anything that happened with us.
If she had no memory of Clay, she sure as hell had no memory of us getting together.
"Well what about you, or me? Did either of us getting married, have kids, divorce?" She asked honestly.
Her words shouldn't have hurt, but they felt like daggers to my chest.
We were to have all of that.
My poor girl had no idea what happened in her life.
I was devastated for her.
"No, love. We never found someone to get married, have any kids with them, anything like that." I responded.
She nodded her head slowly.
She waited a few seconds before responding, "I know something is off with Wesley. Did we never get back together? I figured we would eventually. Maybe not then but if years had passed, did we never find our way back?"
My jaw clenched once again.
I had to tread on this conversation carefully.
Telling her he had died, would have devastated her more so than not remembering her memories.
I couldn't do that to her.
She was strong as hell, but she would have broken down.
"You guys never got back together after that. You moved on, graduated college, and started your own business." I replied.
Although I didn't tell her the truth about Wesley, I hadn't lied to her either.
She traced her finger along my thumb, allowing herself to absorb the information.
"Wow, I must sound pathetic. Its' been years and here I thought Wesley and I had found our way back together." She added.
I wrapped my other hand around hers, "You are not pathetic. You are quite the opposite actually."
She smiled at me, "So has there been any guy I have been with since?" She asked.
I felt my heart thumping hard.
Just as I was about to answer, the nurses came in straight to see Charlie.
"Time for those scans honey. You ready?" A nurse came in stating.
Charlie nodded her head in agreement.
"Go. We'll have plenty of time to talk later." I told her, kissing the back of her hand.
She smiled at the gesture, taken aback from the affection I had given her.
Had Charlie and I not been together, I would have done the same thing and she knew it.
Her reaction took me by a little surprise as well.
"Will you be here when I get back?" She asked still holding onto my hand as the nurse began to wheel her out of the bedroom.
"Of course I will." I told her, shooting her a genuine smile.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but I knew better than to think that only a few minutes had gone by.
I woke up to the sound of a TV.
I realized I had a blanket placed over me and pillows propped under my head.
Glancing over at the bed, I noticed Charlie staring at the television awestricken.
"What time is it?" I asked.
Charlie snapped out of her trance and fixated her attention to me.
"Sh*t. Did I wake you? I'm sorry." She responded lowering the TV.
I sat upright and glanced at the clock, it was 4:15 in the morning.
"No you're fine. I don't even remember falling asleep." I told her.
"We came back an hour after my scans and found you passed out on the sofa bed. You were of course without pillows and blankets so I had them quietly and gently put them for you. I fell asleep for a bit but woke up about an hour ago. Can't seem to fall back asleep," She said shrugging her shoulders.
I walked over to her bed and sat on the edge.
"Did the Doctor come back with any results yet?" I asked, wanting to know whether her brain scans came back in.
She shook her head No.
She glared at me, with an expression that had appreciation and pride.
I gave her a funny look, "You okay?" I asked confused at her sudden reaction.
She bit her lip in excitement.
"You made it," She responded smiling wide.
I felt my eyebrow shoot up, "I made it?" I asked confused.
She pointed to the TV, "You're in the NFL."
I looked at the TV screen and saw sports reporters analyze my performance with stats displayed all over.
Nervous that they would speak about how I had a girlfriend on the broadcast, I grabbed the remote and powered off the TV.
"You really made it for yourself," She added, not believing it.
Squeezing her hand softly, "I did. So did you. We all made it for ourselves."
"What the hell are you still doing here? I get that your best friend gets into an accident, but I'm awake. They said you have an important playoff game coming up next Sunday." She added, taking me by surprise.
"Don't ever think that my work is more important than you. I'd be here with you before anywhere else," I told her.
Smiling at my response she spoke, "And I love you for that, but seriously. I'm okay. Go practice and win those damn games. Preferably the Superbowl, your bestie wants to go to Disney and celebrate."
I let out a breath I hadn't realize I was holding.
"We'll go to Disney, with or without that win. Just get your butt out of this hospital, and that trip is all yours." I told her without hesitation.
I'd take her anywhere she wanted to go.
"Bribing me to stay alive with a trip to Disney?" She asked sarcastically.
Winking at me she responded, "Good thing I love being bribed."
I let out a small chuckle, "Close those pretty eyes of yours. You need to rest."
Sighing, Charlie tugged on my hand so that I'd move closer to her.
"At least come lay beside me," She said, moving the blankets to the side.
Without hesitation, I climbed in the side of the bed, cautious not to hurt or accidently touch anything.
After getting myself situated, I lifted her body so that I was under and the majority of her was either on top or on the other half of the bed.
My muscular build and her petite size fit well on this tiny bed.
Wrapping my arms around her, I finally felt at home again.
I had missed her body wrapped in mine too much.
Squeezing her softly, I relished in the moment.
"Goodnight, Superstar." She whispered quietly.
"Night, beautiful." I responded, kissing the top of her head.
We would take it day by day, and hopefully, with each passing day Charlie would be closer to remembering everything.