After I watched Christian drive off, I got into my car and turned the ignition.  I turned the radio on and backed out my driveway.  I headed toward my intended destination.  I had a good four hours’ drive.  It would be a long one, alone with my thoughts; nothing could be worse when you’re feeling blue.

I had checked into my hotel roughly around one in the afternoon.  It had taken me longer than predicted to get in because I found myself having to pull over for the occasional cry.  As I grabbed a small lunch and brought it back to my room, I decided to pick up my phone and call Christian.

“Amelia?”  I heard Christian say.  “Is everything okay?”

“I just needed to hear your voice.”  I say sheepishly.  I asked him how he was doing; how Aiden had dealt with it all after we had parted ways.  I told him that I was planning on heading to the hospital shortly when I had finished eating.  After a bit more small talk, we professed our love to one another and I hung up, promising that I’d call later tonight for Aiden’s bed time story.

A few days after my arrival, Adam had suffered some complications and they had to induce him into a comatose state.  Something about his brain swelling too much which was quite common with the type of head trauma he had suffered.  His doctors had informed me that it would be for a day or two at the most.  Since my arrival, we hadn’t talked or said much to each other.  I didn’t know what to say to the man that thought he had never done me wrong and expected so much out of me.  I could see that Sarah had been suffering a great deal as well.  As much as I despised her for the home wrecker that she was, I couldn’t completely blame her because it does take two to tango as they say.  Sarah looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks and I’m sure I wasn’t too far off from my observations.  She was worried sick for him and the worst part was that he still thought that she was simply his assistant.  To him, there wasn’t a love interest in this woman that yet existed.  It truly felt bizarre that karma had struck him like a lightening bolt and that, in the fraction of a second, his memory of the pain he had caused me had flown the coop.  Too bad the amnesia couldn’t have been the other way around; I could have used a good dose of it to forget the errors of his ways.

Two days had gone by and Adam was awake but still heavily sedated to help keep the swelling down and his vitals normal.  His breathing tube was still in because the sedatives he was on suppressed some of his breathing function; hence, he still required the assistance of the ventilator.  The doctors told me that it would be another week before he was completely weaned off of the machine and able to breathe on his own.

As each day rolled on by, I became increasingly home sick.  I had lost a bit of weight despite the fact that I was eating.  It had been almost two weeks since I had left Port Hope and everything in me was screaming for me to just get in the car and drive back home, despite the constant reassurances from both Christian and Aiden, that they were both okay.  I knew they missed me terribly as I did them.  I got used to spending hours on end on the phone with both of them.  We even picked up the habit of sitting down and watching one TV show together.  We’d just sit there, not talking, watching the same show as we would have when I was home, talking to each other during commercials and then heading off to bet at the same time.  It was like we followed some of the routine we would have had had I been home.  It eased my home sickness, only temporarily; because it painted a picture of what life living together would most likely be like.  I looked forward to experiencing that day where the rest of our lives awaited us.

By the end of my third week in the city, I was on the verge of losing it.  I knew the doctors had told me that his memory might not come back and they told me that I had a choice to make; to love him or leave him, to be exact.  I had sat down with them and asked the doctors what the odds were that he’d fall into some sort of state if he took me breaking it off with him the worst way.  At that point, I began hounding the doctors on a daily basis so they could educate me onAdamsstatus because all I wanted to do was be able to finish what I had come here to do.  When week five no longer held any hope for me, I wasn’t quite sure what to do.  For a few days now, I had felt sluggish, hot one minute and cold the next.  I knew I hadn’t been eating well since my arrival so I chucked it up to a stress-induced stomach bug of sorts.  I chose to take the weekend and lay low in my hotel, resting up.  By Monday, which was the beginning of my sixth week in the city, I had vowed that if nothing had improved by weeks end, I was telling Adam what had happened between us and Sarah can deal with picking up the pieces of his heart.  I was done living my life according to someone else’s.  It was wearing me down too much.

Friday came much faster than I had thought it would.  My stomach issues seemed to have stayed at bay and I had managed to let Adam know that we needed to talk.

“Amy, Sarah?”  He said as he eyed us both.

“Please don’t call me that Adam.”  I tell him.  His eyes held mine and I saw the look of wonderment toward my sudden hostile tone.  In reality, I had been quite dry the entire time I was there but it appeared like Adam thought that I was just distraught over his state.

“Adam, the car accident you were in caused you to lose bits of your memory.”  I say.

“I know that, Amelia.”  He says.  “What’s going on?”

“Well, you are aware of losing the past year of your life, right?”  I ask him.  He nodded.  Good, don’t stop now.  “Has anyone told you what’s happened since then?”  He shook his head.  “I see.”  I pause and look over at Sarah.  “Sarah’s your girlfriend now.”  And he looked at her and then back to me with tears in his eyes.  He was beginning to understand now.

“No.  I’m with you, Amelia.”  He protests.  I shook my head.

“No.  I live in Port Hope now.”  I tell him.  I spare him the nasty details but I tell him what’s gone on in my life since the split.  After an hour of talking things through, I wished him all the luck in the world and I ran out of that hospital vowing to never return.

I had gone back to my hotel and packed my things.  It was safe to point out that I believe the hotel staff really hated to see me go; after all, I had been there for six weeks.  I practically knew my regular service people by their first names!  After leaving a rather substantial tip for the housekeeping ladies, I headed down to the front counter to check out.

“We’re really sorry to see you go, Miss Reed.”  Candy said; the redheaded lady from the front desk that had wished me a ‘great day’ every morning since my arrival.  “I hope you have a great day, now.”  She says one last time as I turned to leave.

“For once Candy, I can say I know I definitely will.”  I pause and smile as she returns my smile.  “I’m going home.”

“Good for you!  I bet you have a great man waiting for you over there that you’ve been missing.  You know, it shows.”  She tells me.

“It does?”  I asked her, now worried about what Christian and Aiden would think when they saw me.  Was I too thin now?  Did I look sick?  Candy nodded.

“You’ve had days where you’ve look ill, to be frank.”  She points out.  “But I’m glad you’re definitely looking better.  The color is in your cheeks this morning and that makes a world of a difference!”

“Well, thanks.”  I look at her and thought her odd to voice so much all of a sudden.  “I have two men to get back to actually and yes, I definitely can’t wait to see them.”

“You take care.”  She starts.  “The valet should have your car out front in a few.”

“Thanks for everything Candy and you take care as well.”  I tell her before turning and walking out the main lobby doors.  When I jumped in my car and drove off, I felt at peace.  Christian was right; I did have to do this.  I made a point to thank him multiple times over, later.

I had given it some thought in calling Christian and telling him that I was coming home but I thought that it would have been better if I surprised him and Aiden.  I stopped by the Home Depot before leaving the city and picked up a few things before continuing on my four hour drive.  I had to hurry and get home.  I had one hell of a night planned; heck, I had one hell of a life planned for us at this point.  What can I say?  I had lots of time to reflect on things while I was away.

I drove up my driveway and parked the car into the garage, making sure that no one was watching.  You know, small town thing.  If one person knew, then everybody knew?  Yeah, well, I wasn’t looking for my plans to get ruined.  I rushed inside in time to use my cell and call Aiden for our regular bedtime date.  It was seven o’clock.  Christian was thankful for these bedtime phone dates because it brought Aiden back to a routine that he desperately needed.

“Hey, little man!”  I tried to sound down in the dumps but I couldn’t hide the smile on my face that I knew something that they didn’t.

“Amelia!”  The little guy cheers!  “What’s the story going to be about tonight?”

“I don’t know.  How about we ask Daddy to pick this time?”  I say.

“Yeah!  Daddy, you start it off.”  Aiden told him and I heard Christian laugh.

“Alright.  I particularly like the one about Princess Mia, fighting the large fire breathing dragon of loneliness, to save her prince charming and his little boy, Prince Aiden.”  He says.

“Sounds like a good one.”  I tell him.  “How about you guys do it and I sit here and listen.”

“Is everything okay, Amelia?”  Aiden asks.

“Everything is perfect.”  I tell them with a slight sniffle but otherwise, a smile plastered on my face.

Christian and I had done our regular nightly thing by sitting down and watching a TV show.  We had talked for a few hours before I told him I was tired and wanted to head off to bed.  After telling him that I loved him, I wished him goodnight and sweet dreams.  I ran upstairs and headed to the spare room.  I quickly covered the furniture and set to work.

I had worked throughout the night but my final product was better than expected.  It was now six o’clock in the morning and I had every wall of this room, covered in a wall-to-wall mural that was firefighter themed.  I was really happy with the way it had turned out.  I haven’t lost my touch with my freehand!  I stared at the burning buildings, the large fire truck and the silhouettes of firefighters.  Aiden was going to flip out when he saw this.  And the furniture is coming tomorrow!  I headed downstairs for a quick bite and then back to my room where I cleaned myself up.  I decided that a short nap wouldn’t hurt.  I set my alarm so that I wouldn’t oversleep and let myself drift off.