“Come on, might as well see if he remembers his favorite drinking buddies.” Arnie smirked at Rory and Rose.
I followed the three of them to Fisher’s room.
“More visitors. Pretend like you recognize them.” Arnie teased Fisher as we filed into his room.
I stood behind Rory and Rose as they paused at the foot of his bed. I could only see bits and pieces of him.
His bandaged face.
His casted arm.
“Rory and Rose,” he said in a rather weak voice.
It didn’t matter how weak his voice was; it still did things to my crazy heart.
“Ding. Ding. Ding.” Arnie gave Fisher a slow clap. “Two for two, Bro.”
“No more motorcycle for you,” Rose said as she moved to one side of his bed while Rory inched closer on the other side of the bed, leaving me in clear sight.
He knew them, so he would know me. I was quite certain of it. I gave him a small smile.
He smiled back. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Please tell me we haven’t met. I fear I’ve already made too many people feel insignificant today,” Fisher said.
Rory and Rose exchanged a look.
“How has your brain misfired so badly that the hottest women in your life are just … poof … gone?” Arnie shook his head at Fisher.
Fisher narrowed his gaze, as if doing so increased his chance of recognizing me, as if it were his eyes’ fault and not his brain’s fault.
“This is Reese, my daughter,” Rory said. “But you haven’t seen her in years, so don’t stress. She lived with me in your basement for a few months. And she worked with you for less than … what?” She glanced at me. “A few months?”
I nodded. It was all I could do. Of course Angie was crying. When the man you love （loved） didn’t recognize you, it wasn’t a great feeling.
“She just graduated from nursing school in Michigan. She’s going to get her master’s starting next year. Midwifery. She’s going to deliver babies.”
Fisher returned a slight nod. “Congratulations.”
I cleared the thick emotion from my throat. I think only Rose sensed my true level of emotions. “Thanks,” I managed to say. “I’m really happy to see that you’re okay.”
“Yeah. That’s what they tell me. I don’t remember the accident either.”
“The doctors think his memory loss is probably temporary,” Arnie said.
I knew it could be temporary. Or it could last a long time. Or it could be permanent. The brain was hard to predict.
“I hope so.” Fisher stared out the window for a few seconds. “That um … woman was really upset. My fiancée?”
Oh my gosh …
That woman. He reduced Angie to “that woman.” I was never an Angie fan, but I also wasn’t a monster. I felt her pain. He didn’t ask me to marry him, but I felt total devastation at his lack of recognition. I could only imagine how Angie must have felt.
“Well…” I returned a nervous laugh, feeling Rose’s gaze on me “…I’m sure it must be heartbreaking to be a stranger to the one you love most.”
Fisher’s brow tightened into lines of wrinkles. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“We’ll let you get some rest.” Rory leaned down and kissed the side of his head. I wanted to be that close to him.