Wilson's Hard Lesson (11 page)

As if on cue, Jackson appeared in the doorway. He must have
seen the confusion on Nicole’s face, and he immediately rushed toward her.

“Hey,” he said gently, his eyes running up and down her body
frantically. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?”

“You’re physically fine,” the doctor spoke up, and the two
looked over at him. “You have a few cracked ribs that you will have to be careful
of, and some cuts and a few nasty bruises, but they look like they will heal up
fine as long as you take care of them. We will hold you here for a day more and
conduct another examination after you have had some time to wake up, and then
another before you go home. Is there anything you need to tell me right now?
Any pain?”

Nicole’s head was whirling with questions about what on
earth was going on, but she figured she may as well do her best to answer the
doctor’s questions. She had soreness all over her body, and particularly on her
sides, but she attributed that fact to her broken ribs.

“I think I’m okay,” she said softly. Jackson offered her the
bottle of water he had gone to get, and she offered him a weak smile before she
took it.

“Well, we’ll give you some time to take stock of how you’re
feeling, and then we can make some more conclusions later,” the doctor smiled
at her and gave her a soft pat on the leg.

Nicole was quiet as the nurses filtered out of the room
around her. The doctor looked over her observantly for a moment, and then moved
over to Jackson, who had been standing since he had come back into the room.

“Jackson, I’d like to speak with you outside for a moment,”
Dr. Red said to him, a calm smile on his face as he spoke.

“Oh, sure,” the man nodded. He looked back toward Nicole,
the same concern on his face as had been there all day. “Are you good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nicole answered, her voice carrying a hint
of annoyance, buts he gave him a smile anyway.

“I’ll be right outside,” he assured her. “Just call me in if
you need anything.

Before Nicole could answer him, he was out the door. Nicole
frowned and wondered what on earth he was thinking and why on earth he was so
concerned with her. She vaguely remembered that the doctor hadn’t answered her
question of whether Jackson had been in the car with her when it crashed. She
began to suspect that something very strange was going on here.

Nicole watched with rising apprehension as the two men
chatted under their breaths outside her door. They glanced back in every once
in a while, and she could see the growing look of horror on Jackson’s face.
She, too, became more and more concerned, and she got the feeling that there
was something they weren’t telling her.

After the men had been speaking for quite some time, the man
Jackson rubbed a hand over his face and looked back into the room for a long
moment before he finally nodded, and moved away down the hall. Nicole was
slightly relieved. It had been nice of him to wait with her, but she really did
feel largely uncomfortable with a stranger lingering in her room.

The doctor, however, moved back inside, and sat back down at
her bedside.

“I hope he’s alright,” Nicole said softly. “I know he’s been
hanging out with me for a long time.

“That he has,” the doctor said, a strange note in his voice.

The air was still and quiet for a long moment, and Nicole
felt her heart beating hard in her chest.

“Nicole,” the doctor said, his voice somewhat grave. “I have
some bad news for you.”

Nicole’s heart dropped. She vaguely wiggled her toes and
fingers, and breathed a sigh of relief to know that whatever the news was, she
wasn’t paralyzed.

“Okay,” she said softly. “What’s the deal?”

The doctor looked over at her and gave her an encouraging
smile.

“This is always hard to tell people,” he said. “It’s a rare
occurrence, but not unheard of. You said the year was two thousand eleven,
correct.”

“Yes,” Nicole said hesitantly. “Is that wrong?”

“Yes, it is,” the doctor said, his voice softer and a little
heavier. “The year is two thousand sixteen.”

Nicole felt a hard lump form in her throat and she blinked
several times.

“It seems that the crash has caused you to lose your memory
of the last five years,” he explained, and Nicole struggled to keep her
breathing even.

“Oh,” she breathed out, and blinked at the information she
had received.

Five years. She tried desperately to remember more details
about the crash, but there was nothing. She tried to think of what all could
have happened in the last five years of her life, and her mind raced with
thoughts. She felt overwhelmed, and she worked hard to control her breathing.

“Will I…” Nicole shook her head and took a deep breath.
“Will I ever get my memories back?”

The doctor sighed.

“There’s, unfortunately, no way to tell,” he said honestly.
“Some patients do, and some patients don’t. Head injuries are very
unpredictable. You may experience changes in mood, personality, even food
preference. And we’ll have to keep a very close eye on you in the coming
months. But of course, we should all be very thankful that you seem to, at the
very least, be functioning normally.”

Nicole blinked. She was having a hard time feeling thankful,
but she did realize that it could be a lot worse, and that she could be dead on
the side of the road. The doctor was quiet, and he waited patiently for her to
gather her thoughts.

“Thank you,” Nicole said. “For being so transparent with
me.”

“Of course,” the doctor smiled softly. “I try to be
absolutely honest with all my patients.”

Nicole smiled and looked down into her lap. A thought came
to her suddenly, and she looked up at the doctor.

“My family…” she started hesitantly. “Do they know? I mean…
have they come by at all?”

“They have, actually,” the doctor said cheerily. “Your
mother and father stayed here for a couple of days over the weekend, but they
were urged to leave. We assured them that we would contact them if there was
any change. They have been calling regularly to check on your welfare. I’m sure
they’ll be delighted to know you’re finally awake.”

Nicole was glad to know that they had come to visit her, but
it seemed out of character of them to leave her in the hospital with no one to
look out for her.

Then again, a lot of time had passed since she could
remember, and things might have changed since then. She had been twenty-one in
two thousand eleven, so in two thousand six, she would be twenty-six. The
thought was staggering, and she found herself tearing up. She knew that the
doctor was still in the room, and she quickly swiped at her eyes to clear away
the tears that had fallen.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” the doctor said gently.
“And it’s not going to be easy. But you seem like a strong young woman, and
whatever happens, I know that you are capable of living out the rest of your
life very fruitfully.”

Nicole gave the doctor a smile at his words of
encouragement. She looked up, and she noticed that the man, Jackson, had
returned and was pacing upon and down outside the window, looking in on her
every once in a while. It dawned on Nicole that she might very well have met
this man somewhere in the five years that she could not remember.

“Dr. Red?” Nicole asked, gathering up her courage, and he
looked at her expectantly. “Do I…
know
Jackson?”

The older man smiled, but it did not touch his eyes.

“Yes, you do,” he said simply. “I thought it best that he…
reintroduce himself in person.”

“Oh,” Nicole said. She could detect a lot of meaning and
importance in the doctor’s soft words, and she took a deep breath to ready
herself for whatever would happen.

The doctor stood and gave her another smile.

“I won’t be far,” the man said. “And if you ever need
anything, there are always nurses nearby to assist.”

Nicole nodded and gave him a soft smile.

“Okay,” she said. “Thank you.”

The doctor gave her a last smile and moved to leave the
room.

“I’ll be back after a while for your examination,” he said,
and with that, he stepped out of the room.

Before the door could fully shut, Jackson caught it and
stepped back into the room. He looked at Nicole warily, and he took a deep
breath before shutting the door behind him. Nicole finally took the time to get
a better look at him.

He was tall and broad, and his shirt was tight against his
muscled torso. His legs were long, but they filled out the dark jeans he was
wearing, and she suspected that they were muscular as well. His jaw was strong,
as well as his dark brows, and he had an unmistakable air of masculinity about
him. And somehow, Nicole knew that she must know him, and yet she couldn’t for
her entire life remember who he was.

“Hey,” he said, his voice very cautious. He lingered in the
doorway, as if he would frighten her if he moved.

“Hey,” Nicole repeated his words. She felt extremely awkward,
and she didn’t really know how to alleviate the tension that had built up in
the room between them.

“You can sit down if you want,” she said meekly, gesturing
to the chair that he had been occupying when she first woke up.

“Oh, thanks,” Jackson said, and slowly moved over to the
chair.

For a long while, the two were silent. Nicole looked down at
her wrist and fiddled with her bracelet. She looked up for a moment and caught
him watching her, and he looked sharply away.

“Sorry,” he said with a nervous laugh. “It’s just… I… it’s
good to see you awake again.”

His words carried a lot of weight, and Nicole felt a shiver
go down her spine. She could imagine how it must have felt for him to be
watching over a motionless body for such a long time.

“It’s okay,” Nicole said softly.

Another long silence stretched between them, filled only
with the beeping and whirring of the various machines that Nicole was hooked up
to. She was pleased to note that her headache was gone. She reached for the
water bottle that Jackson had brought and took a sip from it, then put it back
down on the table beside her bed.

“So…” Nicole spoke again. “The doctor says that we know one
another.”

Jackson laughed bitterly and shook his head.

“Yeah…” he sighed, and ran a hand over his face. “He told me
that you have no memory of the last five years.”

“Yeah,” Nicole nodded. “I guess we must have met somewhere
in those five years.”

Jackson laughed and nodded. He looked up at her, his eyes
warm and crinkled with his smile.

“Yeah, we did,” he said softly.

Nicole nodded. She looked at him long and hard. She jogged
what memory she did have for even a glimpse or a clue of what he was to her,
but she had nothing. Finally, she shook her head and sighed, rubbing at her
eyes.

“Well, I’ve got nothing,” Nicole said. “So I guess
introductions are in order.”

“I guess so,” Jackson said, his eyes twinkling with many
emotions, but the foremost of them being humor.

“Well, I’ll start, although you remember me,” Nicole
quipped. “I’m Nicole. I’m apparently twenty-six years old, and I don’t remember
the last five years of my life.”

Jackson laughed, and Nicole laughed a little herself. She
couldn’t stop smiling somehow, in spite of the situation that she had just
found herself in.

“I’m Jackson,” he said, starting softly. “I am twenty-eight
years old, and I do remember the last five years of my life… as well as the
last five of yours.”

Jackson’s expression grew somber, and Nicole felt her mood
darken as the situation between them became more serious.

“My full name,” he continued. “Is Jackson Eduardo Martel…
and I am your husband.”

Nicole’s face went pale, and she felt her heart stop. She
opened her mouth to reply to the news, but no words came to her. She looked at
Jackson, and tried to process the news that he had given her. A thousand
questions raced through her mind, and she shook her head, then took a deep
breath.

“How…” Nicole started, but her voice cracked. She cleared
her throat and took a moment to collect herself again.

“How long have we…” she gestured to find the words she was
looking for. “How long have we been together?”

“Five years,” he said, and she heard the dark humor in his
voice. “We dated for a year and a half, we were engaged for six months, and
then we’ve been married for three years.”

He explained all this softly, and looking deep into her eyes.
Nicole processed this information slowly.

“I’m sorry…” Nicole said, shaking her head. “I just… I don’t
remember…”

“Hey, it’s okay…” Jackson said softly, and put his hand
gently on her thigh.

Nicole felt tears trickling in her eyes again, and she trickled.

“Hey, hey…” Jackson murmured. His hands moved to cup her
face, but he stopped short, trepidation flashing in his eyes.

“There’s just so much…” Nicole squeaked through her tears.
“So much that I don’t even remember. I mean I don’t even know who you are… I
didn’t even know I was married…”

Jackson looked at her with deep sadness, and Nicole got a
sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“What?” she asked hesitantly. “What is it?”

“There’s one more important thing,” Jackson said. “It will
probably be pretty shocking.”

“What can be more shocking than finding out you lost five
years of your memory in a car crash, only to wake up and find that you’re
married?” Nicole said with dull humor.

Jackson did not smile, and his eyes flashed with worry. Nicole
felt her stomach slowly begin to sink.

“What is it?” She asked with no small amount of trepidation.

Jackson searched her face with concern, and seemed to
hesitate before going on.

“We just adopted a son,” he said slowly, and Nicole’s eyes
widened to hear the news. “A baby boy. His name is Adam.”

Nicole’s mind whirled. She had never even considered
adoption. At least not that she could remember. She must have made that
decision somewhere in her missing five years. She wondered why she had made the
decision to adopt, but she was hesitant to ask, in fear of getting an answer
that she didn’t want to hear.

“We’ve been going through the process for over a year,” he
explained to her. “It was extremely tough, but it just went through. We’re
supposed to pick him up next weekend.”

Nicole didn’t know what to say. By anyone standards, this
was certainly a triumph. But in her mind, she had not experienced the turmoil
or the strife of the process, so she felt somewhat bad that she could not truly
rejoice in their victory. She also couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that
there was a reason they had decided to adopt rather have their own children.

“That’s…” Nicole smiled weakly and looked up at Jackson.
“That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Jackson said softly.

There was a long, awkward silence that passed between them.

“Did we…” Nicole tried to speak, but her voice cracked. She
turned and took a long drink from her water bottle and put it back on the table
before trying again.

“Did we… you know…” Nicole gestures in the air. “Try for our
own?”

Jackson’s face fell at the question, and Nicole felt
slightly sick at her stomach.

“We did,” he said softly. “We tried for two years. We tried
and tried and then tried again. We got me checked out, and everything was fine
there.”

Nicole was sure that her heart stopped.

“So it’s me,” she said softly. It wasn’t a question, but a
statement.

Jackson looked at her sadly.

“We took you to several doctors,” he explained softly. “A
few said you were perfectly normal and that you should be able to conceive. So
we kept trying, but we just had no luck at all. Finally, we took you to one
doctor across the state. He told us that you had polycystic ovary syndrome… and
it was likely you would never get pregnant.”

“Oh…” Nicole said. She tried to keep herself composed, but
she couldn’t fight the deep sadness and heartbreak that filled her upon hearing
the news.

In spite of her attempts to control her emotions, Nicole
felt tears welling up in her eyes. Her breath started to catch and before too
long, she felt herself dissolve into a fit of crying. She covered her face and
mouth to try to muffle the squeaking sounds she was making, but she could not
seem to stop crying. That news was the final straw for her.

“I know, I know,” Jackson said soothingly, rubbing his hand
up and down along her back.

Nicole’s body seemed to recognize his touch, even if her
mind didn’t, and she leaned into his touch and allowed him to comfort her. She
was suddenly very glad that he was here, even if she didn’t remember him.

He was quiet as she cried, allowing her to process her grief
and shock in her own way. Nicole had always feared that she would be incapable
of having children, but it seemed that her worst fears had finally come to
fruition. And now she couldn’t even remember it happening.

She vaguely realized that this must have been an incredible
blow for Jackson as well. He had likely expected to have a family with his own
children, with a whole woman who could healthily carry out a pregnancy. He must
have been just as crushed when the doctor had given them the news. She felt
crushed by the weight of her inadequacies, and she felt ashamed of herself for
falling short.

“I- I’m sorry…” Nicole gasped through her sobs.

“No,” Jackson said firmly. “Don’t say that Nicole. This isn’t
your fault.”

Jackson brushed her hands away from her face, and his own
hands took their place. Nicole was shocked nearly out of her tears by the
contact, and she blinked with wide eyes as she looked into his serious dark
gaze.

“This isn’t your fault,” he repeated, softly and much more
gentle. His thumbs began to gently stroke along her cheeks.

Nicole sighed and subconsciously nuzzled into his palms.
There was something about him that just felt right. She felt her body slowly
awaken to his touch, and she felt a soft tingle begin to travel along her skin.
Jackson searched her face with his eyes, and she saw his expression shift from
one of strength and certainty to the same wonder that she was sure was written
on her own face.

They remained that way for a long moment, gazing into each
other’s eyes. Slowly, Jackson withdrew his hands from her face and an
apologetic expression crossed his face.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered, looking down into his lap. “I…
your reaction… it was the same the first time…”

Nicole took in his words, and her heart broke a little for
the man in front of her. Again, she felt as though she had let him down, and
that she was a broken excuse for a woman. First she was infertile, and now she
had memory loss. She was certain that neither of them had signed up for this.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Nicole said, her voice breaking, and
tears trickling down her face. “I know this wasn’t what you signed on for when
you… when you married me…”

Jackson looked up at her with intensity.

“This is exactly what I signed up for,” he said firmly, his
voice trembling with emotion. “In sickness and in health, I… I love you.”

Nicole felt slightly unnerved by the strength of his
emotions, and unbidden she felt a surge of warmth in the pit of her stomach.
She knew it wasn’t the right time or place to be getting hot and bothered, and
she looked down at her lap, feeling embarrassed.

Jackson, too, looked away, and she heard him take a deep
breath to steady himself.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I know this has to be a lot
for you to take in so suddenly. I don’t mean to scare you or anything.”

“I… its fine,” Nicole sighed and rubbed at her eyes. “I
mean, it is a lot… but it’s my life, right?”

Jackson gave her a small smile, and Nicole smiled back.

Nicole had a lot on her mind, and the first thing she wanted
to do now that she had put together a few missing pieces of her life, she
wanted to speak with her parents.

“Do you…” she started, and felt slightly embarrassed. “Do
you have a phone I could borrow?”

Jackson blinked at her, and seemed momentarily dazed by the
change in direction of the conversation.

“Yeah,” he said, blinking and shaking his head a little. “Of
course, here.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone,
reaching over to hand it to her.

“I would give you yours,” he said. “But we lost it in the
wreck, and I haven’t gotten around to getting it replaced.”

“I can imagine not,” Nicole said wryly. She held the phone
in her hand and looked it over. It seemed to be a touchscreen phone, but it was
bigger and sleeker than the ones she remembered. She was sure that technology
had advanced quite a bit in the last five years.

She struggled to activate it for a long moment, a look of
frustration on her face. Jackson watched her for a moment, before he gently
held out his hand for the phone.

“May I?” he said.

Nicole nodded, slightly embarrassed, and turned the phone
back over to him. She watched as he pressed a small, circular button at the
base of the screen, and the phone came to life. He tapped a familiar, phone shaped
icon on the screen, and a number pad appeared.

“Here you go,” he handed the phone back to her.

Nicole’s fingers hovered over the buttons for a moment, and
she bit her lip. She remembered her parents’ number from five years ago, but it
was more than likely it had changed.

“I also have your parents’ number in my contacts,” Jackson
offered kindly. “If you would rather just do that.”

Nicole smiled in relief, and once more gave Jackson the
phone back. He selected another icon, and scrolled through his list of contacts
until they landed on one named Kimberly Mason. Nicole felt a surge of emotion
at seeing her mom’s name. She knew it was ridiculous, but it suddenly seemed
like ages since they had spoken.

Nicole thanked Jackson for his help, and took the phone
back. She selected the call icon, and held the phone to her ear. The phone only
rang once before she got her answer.