Unforgettable (2 page)

 
“What do you need, Baby?”
Baby?
Why is he calling me that?

 
“I really need my phone. I need to call Carrie.”

 
“I’m sorry; I left your bag at home. I already called Carrie, though. She’ll be here a little later. Do you want to use mine?”

 
“Ethan, why are you here? Why were you at my house in the middle of the night? I don’t remember going out with you. I don’t even remember last night.” Thinking about that stirred my feelings of panic. I realized something was amiss.

 
“Where else would I be? I love you. Obviously I’ll stay until we find out you’re all right.”

 
He loves me?
Okay, now I was sure something was wrong. Carrie’s brother is telling me he loves me. We hardly know each other apart from Carrie. For goodness sakes, he’s just out of school.

 
“Ethan, you’re freaking me out. Don’t tell me you love me. That’s just weird. Why were you at my house last night?” Maybe something was wrong with
Ethan
. Yeah, that would make more sense.

 
“What are you talking about? Of course I know you, of course I love you. We live together.” He had gotten up to stand by me and took my hand off of the bed. I couldn’t help it, I jerked it away.

 
I could see the shock and hurt in Ethan’s eyes but I didn’t care. “Stop saying that. We don’t live together. Are you crazy? I. Hardly. Know. You.” I enunciated each word clearly so that he could understand.

 
“I’m calling the doctor. Just calm down.” He turned and left the room. I didn’t know what to think of what Ethan had just said. I think I would know if I was involved with Ethan. Like that could ever happen. Granted, he was one of the best looking men I had ever seen, always had been, but I had known him since he was fourteen. He was Carrie’s little brother. He was like five years younger than me. There was no way I would ever get involved with him. Anyway, I just broke up with John, the cheating scum. It hasn’t even been a month yet. I really needed to talk to Carrie.

 
Just then the door opened and a doctor I didn’t recognize came in followed by Ethan. “Ethan, could I please have some privacy?” He stopped and looked at the doctor before nodding at me and turning around. Once he was gone and the door was shut I looked to the doctor. “I’m sorry about him, he’s my best friend’s little brother.” I shrugged to let him know that Ethan’s behavior was no reflection on me.

 
The doctor gave me a funny look and wrote something down on a clipboard.

 
“What day is it, Juliet?” Huh?

 
He was looking serious. “Um, Thursday, yeah, Thursday. My movie was due back yesterday and I dropped it off before I went grocery shopping.” Whew. It felt good to remember something.

 
“Do you know what month it is?”

 
“July.” Okay, easy questions.

 
“Do you know what year it is?”

 
“2009.” What kind of foolish questions were these?

 
“Juliet, I’m afraid you might have a slight case of amnesia. Do you remember last night at all? Falling and hitting your head?” He was frowning. That can’t be good.

 
“Amnesia? No, I don’t have amnesia, doctor. I don’t remember falling or hitting my head.” My hand automatically went to my temple and I felt the spot that hurt earlier. Wow. There was a lump there. What the heck happened last night?

 
“Juliet, it’s 2011. It’s September 2011. You had an accident last night and hit your head on the concrete. Your friend outside brought you in last night because you were confused and agitated. I know it’s hard but you need to relax and let your body heal. You’ll feel a lot better as soon as the swelling on your brain goes down.”

 
Holy crap! 2011? How could it be 2011? My brain was swollen? Two years of my life are gone? I couldn’t believe it. There had to be some mistake.

 
“Are you sure?” I looked around the room for any sign of the date. Unfortunately, there was no handy calendar hanging on the walls, just ugly pinstriped wallpaper. If only I had my phone.

 
“I’m sure, Juliet. I’ll go get your friend to come back inside.”

 
He went to the door and stepped out. Did I have amnesia? How can that be?
That’s soap opera crap.
I tried to gather myself together. I needed all my wits about me for this. When the door opened it wasn’t the doctor coming, it was Ethan. He looked ashen. Freakishly hot, but ashen.

 
“Ethan, tell me the truth. Is it 2011? Give me your phone.” I knew I sounded panicky, but it was my only hope. I snatched the phone. It took a second to figure out his iPhone, but finally the screen came to life. September 22, 2011. Holy crap!

 
“Yes it is. Listen, I called your mom, she’ll be coming in a few hours. She’s leaving right now. Carrie will be here soon, too. Your neurologist is setting up some more tests and said he’d be back to talk with you shortly. Is there anything I can get for you?”

 
He was looking at me earnestly. I didn’t know what to say to him. “You said we lived together? As roommates or…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. I couldn’t even finish the thought. It seemed all wrong. Surely he couldn’t mean we
lived
together. With sex and …stuff. I would definitely remember that.

 
“We’ve been living together for almost seven months. We’ve been together for about a year and a half. About as long as you’ve had the blog.”

 
“Blog? What blog? How did we get together? I hardly ever even spend any time with you.” The questions were all garbled in my mind. I didn’t know what to ask first.

 
“You write a food blog. It’s very popular. You try foods at restaurants then dissect them, recreate them, and post recipes and stuff. That’s why we went out last night; you wanted to try out the Thai place for new dishes.” He didn’t answer me about our supposed relationship, I noticed.

 
“What about my job? Did anyone call them and tell them I’m in here? I think I’m supposed to work tonight.” Crap. Thursday nights were busy. This was a bad night to be out.

 
“Juliet, the blog is your job. You haven’t worked at the restaurant for more than a year. When you started getting popular, you started making enough on advertising to quit your job and do the blog full time. You also do a web show. Right now you’re working on a cookbook.” He looked at me for some sign of recognition. Nope.

 
Wait. I haven’t worked at the restaurant for a year? Oh god. Maybe I really do have amnesia. I was finally in charge of my own kitchen, I would never
quit.
I was starting to hyperventilate. I’m writing a cookbook? That’s actually kind of cool if only I could remember it. But wait, back to the important stuff.

 
“We’ve been together for a year and a half?
Together
together? How did that happen? No offence but, you’re young. Too young. You’re just out of school.”

 
“I finished grad school two and a half years ago. I’m a graphic artist at Webster and James, the advertising firm. We started going out last April, after we spent time setting up your website and getting it off the ground. You came to me for some help with the layout. Do you remember that at all?”

 
I shook my head. Didn’t ring a bell. Nope. I couldn’t really see myself doing something on the internet. I’m a chef, a damn good one. That just didn’t seem like me. Going out with a younger guy didn’t seem like me either. Well, not Carrie’s brother, at least. That would be too bizarre. Yucky even.

 
He sighed but didn’t say anything. We just sat there, staring at each other and not talking. I didn’t know what to say, what to ask. I could tell that I was going to go to pieces soon. Nothing was adding up. I didn’t recognize that life as mine.

 
There was a tap on the door and Carrie breezed in smiling. “I fed Lucy, she gobbled up everything, I also fed Fred and Ethel since I wasn’t sure when Ethan was going to go back home. Are you feeling okay?”

 
“Carrie.” I was relieved to have some familiarity. “What did you do to your hair?” It was in shoulder length waves. Carrie had a sleek bob that was at her chin. Hair doesn’t grow overnight.

 
She peered at me strangely. “It’s been like this forever. We were just talking about that the other day, remember? I was going through those magazines to find a new style.”

 
I was shaking my head when Ethan interjected. “She has some kind of amnesia. She thinks it’s 2009. She doesn’t remember me or her blog or even last night.” Ethan looked defeated and said that last sentence in a low tone I could barely hear.

 
“Amnesia? Oh my god! What do you last remember?” Carrie’s eyes had widened outrageously. “You don’t remember your blog? Oh my god, that’s your life! You don’t remember Ethan? You
live
with him. How many fingers am I holding up?” Carrie thrust three fingers at my face.

 
“Carrie, I’m not blind, I just can’t remember some stuff right now.” I scrunched back on the bed and Carrie withdrew her hand.

 
“This is really freaky, Jules. How can you not remember Ethan? You spend practically every free moment with him.” That made me squirm in my bed. It didn’t seem right to be talking about this with Carrie. I felt embarrassed to be connected with her younger brother. I mutely shook my head again.

 
“Ethan, can I have a minute alone with your sister?” He nodded and left the room.

 
“Carrie, I’m losing it right now. I’m not with your brother, there has to be some mistake. I can’t process the fact that I am missing two years of my life. What is going on? Ethan said I don’t work at the restaurant anymore. Why would I quit? Help me! I don’t know what to do.” All my words were running together as I poured my heart out to Carrie. Carrie with longer hair. Oh god, oh god, I need a Xanax. I could feel my panic attack coming on in earnest now. There was going to be no stopping it. My chest was pounding and I was gasping for air.

 
“Oh shit. Hold on, Jules.” She pressed a button on the railing of my bed. “Could someone please come in here? I think Juliet is having an anxiety attack.”

 
“Someone will be right in.” The disembodied voice came from a tiny box next to the button. I noticed this through the haze of my terror. I felt like my heart was beating out of my chest.
Oh no. I’m having a heart attack.

 
The door burst open and a nurse wearing flowered scrubs came into my room. She walked up to my bed and checked something beside me. It was some kind of monitor connected to my arm and finger and I hadn’t even noticed it before.

 
“Take a deep breath and try to relax down. The doctor will be with you in just a moment.” She messed with something and wrote something down on my chart.

 
“I really need a Xanax. I have some in my purse.”

 
“I’m sorry, Juliet, you can’t have any medications until I know what’s going on with your brain.” The doctor from earlier walked in while answering my plea. “You’re just having some anxiety right now, no one could blame you. You’ve had a huge shock. Just try to relax and we’ll get you fixed up in no time.”

 
Easier said than done, but I tried to control my breathing. It was the easiest thing to do right now. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. It didn’t help my heart rate, but at least I felt a tiny bit more in control. A minute later I felt a cool towel rub across my face and I opened my eyes. Ethan had come back in and was holding the towel. He then stuck it behind my neck and I felt a little better almost at once.

 
“Thank you.” I reached up to touch the towel and met Ethan’s fingers. They were cold. “Thank you,” I repeated while looking up at him. It felt strange but also somehow familiar. At this point I would take familiarity wherever I could get it.