After being kissed by the handsome stranger, Bailey wonders who he is. His endearing words were nice but she has no idea why he's saying them to her. Is he her boyfriend, fiancé, husband?? She has no clue..She has a pounding headache and it's too hard for her to think right now. Her body is in pain and her throat is drier than the Sahara Desert.
"Bailey, what did you say? Aye Doc, what's wrong with her? What the hell going on?" The man asks, offended by her words.
"W-who are you? I have no idea who you are." She says panicking, slowly trying to sit up.
"Mr. Payne, I understand that you are hurt by her words but please allow me to check on her. She's been through a lot and seems to have forgotten who you are." Doctor Bennett says and uses his light to look into Bailey's eyes. "Okay, Bailey.. I'm Doctor Bennett and I'm just going to ask you a few questions to check your memory."
"What is this?" The doctor asks, pointing at his watch.
"A watch."
"And this?" He asks, holding up a pen.
"A pen."
"Okay Bailey, that's good. You're here with me today..where?"
"The hospital." Bailey says slowly.
"Who is this man? And him?" Doctor Bennett asks while pointing to Jamal and Josiah.
"That's my dad, Jamal, and I don't know him."
"You've got to be kidding me right now! How does she not know me but knows the answer to all of the questions you've asked her??.. Come on now baby, it's me Josiah! Your boyfriend." Josiah scoffs, rubbing his temples.
"We're going to get her a CT scan immediately just to make sure her brain is okay. She'll be back soon. NURSES, lets get on that right now!" Doctor Bennett yells outside the door.
Moments later, Bailey is taken into a room where the CT scan is performed on her brain. Once she's finished, they return her to her room so that Doctor Bennett can explain the results to her and her family.
"Bailey, your CT scan shows that your brain is perfectly fine. You're just having short term memory loss that will return as time goes on. Your long term memory is still there so I'd suggest you go on with your normal routine. You've healed enough to go home and I'll give you something for the pain. As for your memory, it's just a waiting game. There's nothing we can do to help with that. I'd suggest that you don't try to think too hard because it may cause you to have headaches. Just take it easy and everything will be normal again. Mr. Miller, you can take your daughter home as soon as I give her one last checkup and get her discharge papers." Doctor Bennett explains, showing Bailey the picture from her CT scan.
"Okay, thank you so much. I was wondering how did I end up here? How long have I been here? I can't really remember much. The last thing I remember is driving to Wendy's."
"Babygirl, you had a terrible car accident and you've been here for weeks. You were in a coma..I'm so glad you're awake.. I have someone I want you to meet. This is your baby sister, Jerrica. I've been so busy caring for her since your mother left her with me that I hadn't gotten around to telling you that she was born. I apologize for that. " Jamal smiles, holding a baby.
Baby Jerrica stares at Bailey for a minute before finally being held by her sister. Jerrica places a soft kiss on her cheek and says "mwuah."
"Awww hi pretty girl." Bailey smiles as she winces from the pain. "Daddy, what's her full name?"
"Jerrica D'Maya Miller. Named after..." Jamal trails and Bailey fills in the sentence with tears flowing from her eyes. "Jerrico.. you named her after my brother."
After seeing her younger sister, Bailey realized how much time has passed. It's been almost a year since her brother's death and the wound is still fresh. It seems like since he died, things keep going wrong in her life and every time she takes one step forward, she's pushed ten steps back. Hopefully things change for the better soon because she's nearing her breaking point.
Bailey gives her sister back to Jamal and receives her checkup from Doctor Bennett. After he clears her to go home, she signs her discharge papers and is rolled outside in a wheelchair.
"Bailey, do you want to get in the car with me?" Josiah asks her with a soft smile.
"No, I want my dad to take me home."
"Well about that... Mr. Miller, Bailey was planning on moving in with me the day of the accident. All of her things are already moved into my house so I was thinking I should be the one to take her to our home."
Jamal ignores Josiah and helps Bailey into his car then buckles Jerrica in her car seat.
"I need to talk to my daughter. Start driving and we'll trail you there." He says, getting into his car.
Bailey looks at her father and already knows the speech she's about to get so she just remains silent.
"Bailey Denise Miller, I know you don't remember him right now and call yourself in love but little girl, you know how I feel about shacking up! Y'all should not be living together unless you're married! I have no idea what you were thinking when you agreed to move in with him but you need to find your own place. I don't mean to think the worst but if he hurts you then where will you go? Why are you not living in your own place?" Jamal lectures loudly.
"Daddy, honestly I don't remember. I've never been the type to let a man care for me because you've taught me to never do that. If I agreed, it had to be for a good reason. I'm sure I'll remember eventually but as of now, I'll just have to live with him."
"You can come live with me. There's plenty of room and I can keep an eye on you. You don't even remember him."
"I can't do that. My life is here now, so please just stop yelling. My head is already killing me.. I'll remember him soon. He's obviously a good man if he's my boyfriend. He'll just have to give me time to remember.. I'm an adult and you raised me right. Just trust me! Once I remember everything, I'll rethink my decision if necessary. " Bailey says, letting Josiah help her out of the car when they pull up to the house.
"Okay Babygirl, I trust you. I'll let you be an adult.. should I come in and help you get settled?" Jamal asks, giving Jerrica her Cheeto Puffs.
"No thank you, I'll be fine. I just want to sleep."
Bailey hugs her dad and sister then they say a prayer before he leaves to go back to his hotel. Josiah helps her into the house and she stares at him awkwardly.
"Baby, do you need anything? I'm happy you're awake and getting better." Josiah asks, helping her into the bed.
"I'm fine, I'm just going to sleep. Um do you mind calling me my name until I um remember you again?"
"Okay Bailey. Call me if you need anything."
Bailey sees the hurt in his eyes before he turns and leaves the room. She can tell that he really loves her but this is all new for her and it'll take time. She just hopes it happens sooner than later because if he is a good man, she doesn't want to lose him over not being able to remember him.