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I slowly opened my eyes. My head was pounding, and I ached all over;
I couldn't move at all. I looked to the left of me to find someone slumped on the chair. Whoever it was, they were asleep,
but it was obvious they'd been crying. I tried to sit up and pain shot through my entire body. I winced and lay back down
again. The mystery person stirred and finally straightened up. "
, you're awake. Oh my god, I have to go find
; he's gonna be so happy." I recognised her, but I couldn't put a name to the face. I was about to reply when she opened the
door and shouted down the corridor. She was soon joined by two other girls and four boys. One of the boys stepped forward
and took my hand. "I thought I'd lost you." I looked around in a mixture of confusion and panic. I didn't know these people;
apart from the girl who had been in the room when I first woke up. "
, where am I? What happened?" She sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed the hair out of my eyes. "Don't you remember?"
I shook my head. "You got knocked down by a car nearly a month ago. You've been in hospital since then." I motioned for her
to lean closer, which she did. "Who are all these people?" She bit her lip and turned to the group. "Guys, can we have a minute?"
They all nodded and filed out. Once they were gone, she closed the door and looked at me again. "Who don't you remember?"
"What are you talking about, I don't know any of them." "Honey, you used to go to school with some of them. You saw them all
at the reunion before the accident." My expression remained blank and she continued. "
and
were in your class in high school. So were
and
. You've never met the other two, they're in a band with the boys." "Tell me more about them." "
's the
; the two of you were always getting in trouble for talking too much. You and her had a major falling out before we left school,
and you only started speaking again at the reunion.
's the
; you and her were practically sisters, that's how alike you were. You nearly came to blows once about some guy called Kieran
or something. Is this bringing back any memories?" "I think so. I remember staying over at
's once. Her brother came home early and scared the crap out of us. She was screaming at him, and all he did was laugh." I
smiled at the memories. "What about the boys?" "
was in most of your classes. You made him cry once because you beat him at football. He never did live that down." She paused
to look at my reaction. "That was funny. I miss that, why couldn't I remember it before. What about the other boy?" Her jaw
dropped and I looked at her questioningly. "You really don't remember him?" "Should I?" "That's
. You and him have a long history. And I mean long." She paused again, waiting for me to nod and remember everything. I continued
to look at her blankly. "You dated for a while in high school, but then he found out about something you did, and you didn't
speak for ages." "What did I do?" She told me all about the bet. I gasped and covered my face with my hands. "I didn't really
do that, did I?" "Afraid so." "So what happened?" "You got back together the day before you got knocked down. He's been here
ever since, he wouldn't leave your side." "But I don't remember any of that. I don't remember him." "It's ok, it will come
back to you. There is no way you could forget him, you were so in love with him." I cried into her shoulder, annoyed and frustrated
that I couldn't remember. There was a knock on the door and
poked her head round. "Is it ok to come in now?"
nodded, but then seemed to remember something and called
back. "Don't let
come in." "But you know how worried he was. I can't keep him away." "
, if you don't want him to get hurt, keep him away. She can't remember who he is. She remembers the rest of us, just not him."
's eyes widened in shock as she registered what she had just been told. Unfortunately,
had already walked into the room and caught the end of the conversation. "What's going on here?
?
? Will someone please tell me?" he looked from one to the other, a look of complete confusion on his face. His
eyes were filling with tears and I struggled to remember where I had seen that look before. Suddenly, it struck me. The day
of the accident, when I was lying on the ground, he had that same look on his face. The girls looked at each other and looked
back as I spoke up. "
?" He looked over at me in shock, having almost forgotten I was there. "
, you ok babe? What's going on?" I shrugged and patted the empty space next to me.
and
looked at me as if to say 'what are you doing?' "Chicks, don't look at me like that, ok? I remember." "But a minute ago, you
said..." "I know what I said. I was just tired, I can't believe I couldn't remember before." He looked round and let go of
my hand. "You couldn't remember me? Is that why these two wouldn't let me come in? My own girlfriend couldn't remember me?"
"
, it wasn't like that." "Then how was it? You remembered everyone but me. Do they mean more to you? You're a famous model
now, you don't love me anymore, is that it?" Tears sprang to my eyes as I realised I'd really hurt him - again. I shook my
head and winced as pain shot through me. "I do love you. I never stopped loving you." "You've got a funny way of showing it.
I'm going home, I can't stay where I'm obviously not wanted." He stormed out and
followed him out, while
looked on in shock. I bit my lip as a searing pain shot through my body and doubled over, clutching my stomach. "
!
, what's wrong? Oh, my god, she's bleeding.
go and find
, tell her to get
down here now.
, go and find a doctor. Go, NOW!" They both ran out of the room, and
came back seconds later with a doctor in tow. I screamed out in pain as they tried to get me to straighten out.
came back a few minutes later with
, but there was no sign of
. "Where is he?" "I'm sorry honey, I couldn't find him. You'll be ok, he'll be back soon. You know what
's like." "Go and find him, please. I want him here. And
, tell him I love him." She nodded and left the room. I was crying freely by now, not so much because of the pain but because
I could have lost
for good. There were now three people in the room and they were having a hard time holding me down.
was holding onto my hand and screaming hysterically at both the nurse and the doctor as I continued writhing in pain. "Can
you hold her still please, this is a delicate procedure, we don't want to have to sedate her." I lay still as
spoke to me, looking up at her with tears in my eyes. "It hurts
." "I know, honey, but
will bring him back." "I want
" I was suddenly aware of another presence in the room and
stepped aside. "It's ok, I'm here. You're gonna be ok, nothing can hurt you now." "I thought you were going home?" "Well,
I was halfway there, but I realised I'd left something behind, so I came back for it. Anyway, I've got my phone now, so I
should be going." "don't be so mean." "Sorry. But seriously, you don't think I'd go home without you, do you? Who'd cook me
dinner?" "Oh, that's it. When I get out of her, you are taking me to the most expensive restaurant I can find. AND, you're
paying." "Ok. Can I borrow £50?" "No!" "How about £25?" "
forget the bloody restaurant. You can cook - and I want a proper meal. No takeaways."
*A week later*
"
, You home?" I walked into the house, expecting to find him sprawled out on the sofa, but he wasn't there. I left my bag by
the door and walked through to the living room, gasping at the sight before my eyes. The table was set out, and there was
a note on the back of one of the chairs. "Welcome back, babe." I spun round to find
stood there with a single rose in his hand. "You did all this for me?" "Well, I did promise." I threw my arms around him and
kissed him. "I love you." "I am pretty great." I glared at him and he laughed. "Joke! Love you too. Now come on, the food's
getting cold." After dinner, we were lying on the sofa watching TV. I noticed him staring at me and rested a hand on his cheek
to get his attention. "What are you thinking about?" "How much I love you." "I love you too. I'm sorry about last week, I
was being an idiot again, wasn't I?" "No, you were just being yourself." "Stop being cheeky!" "Or what?" "I might have to
teach you a lesson you won't forget." "Babe, please. Not in front of the telly." I whacked him softly across the head. "I
wasn't talking about that kind of lesson, you sex obsessed freak." "Can you blame me, with a girlfriend as beautiful as you."
I blushed and looked down. "You never used to do that." "What?" "Blush when I say something nice." "That's cos you never did."
He leaned over and kissed me, gently at first, then pushed me back on the sofa. "Hmm, what's this in aid of?" "We've missed
out on more than a month of this. Call it catching up." I pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it to one side before
turning to kiss him again. There was a cough at the door and we sprang apart. "Sorry guys, the door was open, so I figured
I’d get the others round and we could have a party, but um...evidently, you had plans for a party of your own. I'll
come back later."
sighed and picked his t-shirt up off the floor, pulling it over his head. "No it's ok. You're here now. I'm gonna go find
some music." He ran up the stairs, clearly pissed off that we'd been interrupted. "Sorry, I didn't mean to...you know." "He'll
be ok; he's just sulking cos he didn't get his own way. He'll get over it. It was a nice thought, but do you think you could
call next time, so you don't interrupt my welcome." "Yeah, sure. I was going to, but then I thought 'well, she's just come
out of hospital, she won't really be up to it.' Obviously, I was wrong. He must be good." "
! I'm not telling you that, it's personal."
You don't really need to know what happened at the party. I suppose
it all comes down to the ending, and this one's happy. Well, I'm a sucker for happy endings. We got married later that year,
and the kids followed - a boy
(after my brother) and a girl -
. I've never been happier, and as long as I'm with him, I don't think that will change. I hope it doesn't, because he's part
of me. Nothing hurts like love, but nothing makes you feel as good either. When you've found the one you're meant to be with,
you'll know - just like I did when I walked into that classroom all those years ago and my eyes met his.
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