"I don't understand, why does she only remember me?" I questioned.

"We don't know," the doctor admitted.

"You're doctors, you're supposed to understand," I sighed, stressed. "Can't you just read her brain or something?"

"It doesn't work like that."

I ran a frustrated hand down my face. "Why didn't she remember Reed? If she remembered me she should have remembered Reed too."

"She remembers you and no one else," the doctor said, and I already knew that, I just couldn't accept it.

"Why?" I asked. "Why does she only remember me?"

"We suspect that it's because you were the last face she saw before she fell completely unconscious at the accident, that is correct, right?"

I thought back to the accident, to the short moment when her eyes fluttered open and the moment I recounted those details to the paramedics. "Right."

"Since she only remembers you, you need to take care of her," the doctor told me.

"What?!"

"Just until she regains her memory," the doctor informed me. "If she's made to live with people she doesn't know it won't help her remember anything."

"So you want her to live with me?" I asked.

"Yes."

I let out a long, slow sigh, "for how long? How long would it take for her to regain her memory?"

"A few days," the doctor considered. "Or months, or years. It depends on the patient."

I shut my eyes and explained, "I've only known her for two days."

"But for her," the doctor told me, "you're all she knows."

****

I agreed to take her home with me, but not to my house, to my parents' house.

I wasn't going to take her to my place and live alone with her, that wouldn't work. Even if I was the only person she remembered, I didn't think that would be the proper thing to do. The doctor had also said that constant interaction would be good for her, and since I lived alone there wouldn't be much interaction at my place since I'd be at work most of the day.

"So, tell me," Zara said once we entered the car. "What is our relationship? Like, how do we know each other?" Before I could answer, she said, "are we friends, or are we more than that?"

"I..." I coughed, caught off guard. "We're not more than friends."

"So just friends then?"

"Yeah," I told her. "We're cousins, distant cousins."

That was a lie, but I had no other choice. When I told my parents about Zara, they said to just address her as my cousin, and that was mainly for the sake of Jess, my fiancé. She was extremely overprotective and easily rendered jealous so if I introduced Zara as just a friend who was going to be staying with my family, she would do everything in her power to chase her away, and she needed me to regain her memory. Calling her a distant cousin was also a much simpler explanation if anyone else asked about her.

"Cousins?" Zara considered. "Why would I remember my cousin of all people in the world?"

"I was the last person you saw before you fell unconscious," I explained. "So that's probably the reason."

Zara nodded in understanding, and I couldn't help but notice the pensiveness in her expression.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked, then suddenly remembered the last conversation we'd had when she had told me that the only female I should care about was my fiancé. And yet here I was, taking Zara to my home. But then again, that didn't mean that I cared about her, I simply cared about her well-being, there was a difference.

"I'm okay, I just can't believe how much I can't remember," she told me before opening her window and sticking her head outside. Reflexively, I reached over her and locked the door before telling her to put on her seatbelt. She glanced at me and then grinned, "quite an overprotective cousin you are, Elliot."

Before I could retort, my phone rang. I retrieved it from my pocket and answered, "What's up, Reed?"

"Are you back home yet?" he asked through the line.

"No, why?"

He ignored my question and asked, "Is Zara conscious yet?"

"Yeah, she woke up earlier today," I told him. "Why?"

"I'm sending you my location pin now, come as soon as you can."

He cut the call before I could ask for an explanation, but he sent the pin as he said he would. I opened it and as soon as I saw his location, my heart dropped.

He was at a church, and it wasn't hard to guess why.

I sent him a text, explaining that Zara had lost her memory, and it took him a second to reply but he still said I should bring her.

I glanced at Zara and watched the way the wind blew her hair back, the way she closed her eyes as she relished the feeling of the breeze on her face. It reminded me of the first time I met her when she had been standing at the rear of the pickup with Serena, soaking up the feel of the wind. I remembered that moment, but she didn't, and even though she couldn't remember Serena, Ally, or Faizah, it was only fair that she went to the funeral. She would gain her memory eventually, and I'm sure she would have wanted that.

I told the driver the new location and explained where we were going to Zara.

"A funeral?" She asked. "But... I don't even know who died."

"You will, eventually you'll remember them."

"Was I close to these people?" She asked, and when I nodded she continued, "so I can't go, I'm not even sad. That would be questionable."

"Just act sad."

"Act sad at a funeral?" she questioned then gave me a look. "You're a heartless cousin."

I couldn't help my snicker.

It didn't take us long to arrive at the church, but Zara was as awkward as one could be once she stepped out of the car.

"Can you not walk properly?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"You're so stiff."

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just not every day that I fake emotions at a funeral," she retorted. "This better help me regain my memory."

The church was packed to the brim, and we had to remain standing because of the lack of available seats. Someone was already in the middle of making a speech, and I kept glancing at Zara to read her expression, checking to make sure she was okay. There were three large portraits dedicated to the girls on the altar, and other smaller framed images of them together, including with Zara. She noticed the images as well, because the next time I glanced at her, she was tearing up.

Noticing my attention on her, she looked at me. "They looked fun," she whispered to me.

I offered her a soft smile, "they were."

"And I looked happy with them."

I nodded, "You were."

The lady speaking finished her speech, but just as she put the mic down she gasped, "Zara?"

Zara and I both looked at the woman who, once she was sure it was Zara, approached her and wrapped her arms around her. Two other ladies suddenly came and joined the hug. I imagined they were Serena's, Ally's and Faizah's mothers, what with the similarities they seemed to share with their respective child.

"Oh, you're awake," a lady with blond hair who I imagined was Serena's mother said. "We're so glad you're okay, honey."

"Your friend Reed told us what happened," a red-haired Lady, no doubt Ally's mother, told Zara. "He said you lost your memory?"

A dark-skinned lady who had to be Faizah's mother scolded, "don't say that, it will only stress her. It's like telling someone with dementia they have dementia, they will only deny it and get stressed and upset for the rest of the day."

Zara smiled softly, "it's fine, I already know I lost my memory."

"So you don't remember our girls?" Serena's mother asked her.

Zara glanced at the images on the altar for a long moment but only ended up shaking her head and saying, "I'm sorry, I don't."