Annie's POV

I woke up and realized I was in a hospital room, which was weird because I don't remember ending up here.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Annie! You're awake!" My mom cried as she ran and hugged me tight.

"Annie!" My dad and some woman next to him exclaimed as they hugged me too.

"W-who is she?" I asked as I pointed to the strange girl next to my father.

"Annie," my dad laughed nervously as he wrapped his arm around her waist, "that's Skylar."

"Who?" I asked; this lady was a complete stranger! And why was she and my dad flirting in front of my mother?

"You don't remember?" Mom asked. I shook my head.

"Annie, your father and I—"

"Jules!" I jump and look over to see a tall teenage boy running into the room and hugging me.

When he noticed the look on my face, he asked, "Annie? What's wrong?"

"W-who are you? Is he one of Caleb's friends? And where is Caleb, anyway?" I asked, searching the room for Caleb.

I saw the strange boy look up at my mother, and they both looked like they were crying.

"She doesn't remember the last eight years of her life." Mom said through tears. "She doesn't remember meeting you."

That's when I got really confused. "I don't remember eight years of my life? Of course I don't! I'm only six..." then I looked at myself, and I seemed tall and mature, definitely not a six year old.

My family all looked at me sadly. "How old am I?"

"Fourteen, almost fifteen." The boy said, tears streaming down his face.

"Who are you? And why are you crying?" I asked, which made him cry more. "Am I supposed to know you?"

He knelt down next to my bed and held my hand, which oddly felt nice. "My name is Brennan Donnelly—"

I gasped. "Cool! That's my best friend Katie's name! She said I was going to meet her family soon, last I remember..."

The boy—sorry, Brennan— smiled. "Yeah, that's me. Um, I was a friend of your brother's and your friend too."

"Was? Did you and Caleb get into a fight?" I asked him. Again, my family looked concerned and sad.

"No." Brennan answered, still holding my hand and now rubbing his thumb over it. "Um..." he turned around to face my mother, who nodded.

"What's going on? Is Caleb at like a baseball camp or something?" I asked.

"No, Annie." Brennan squeezed my hand. "You see, um, he died two years ago from today..."

I felt tears sting my eyes. "What? That's a cruel joke! My brother can't be dead, he's perfectly healthy! We all are, right?!"

"No." Brennan said again, which seemed to be the word of the day. "Annie, he had a heart condition go undetected called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And you have osteosarcoma cancer which came back once you fell into a coma a month ago."

Now I was full on crying. I buried my face in his hands, feeling my hair topple off my head.

I reached forward and realized I had a wig on this entire time. I felt my head to feel a little tiny bit of fuzzy hair, but it felt thin and when I removed my hand off my head, a clump of hair was in my palm.

I sobbed and threw the hair on my bed and buried my face in my pillow. Brennan rubbed my back for a bit before I snapped, "Get out!"

"Annie, what—" he said, looking hurt.

"GET OUT!" I screamed, startling him. "ALL OF YOU!" I sobbed more. "Please, I just need to be alone for a while." I said quietly.

Everyone nodded and left the room, leaving me alone to cry.

At first I didn't believe them, but most of those people in the room where my family; why would they lie to me?

And how could I be in a coma for a month and forget eight years of my life? And would there be more bad news to come?

•••

A week later I left the hospital, still not knowing much (since I've apparently lost memory of eight years of my life) but knowing I had cancer and that my brother was dead, according to that Brennan kid.

I didn't entirely trust him, but my family didn't interject and say that he lied, so I was kind of 50-50 about it.

I came back to what seemed to be my new home in a city in Maryland. Our house was huge and so was my room!

And oddly enough, it was filled with horses...like, everywhere.

I crawled into my bed and unlocked my phone with just my fingerprint! Wow, technology is great!

Yes, I don't remember anything about the last eight years, so Hayley had to explain to me what Touch ID was.

It was also weird for me to see her all grown up and mature, because what I last remember is her being a two year old waddling around the house, and she would chase Caleb and I as we laughed around the house.

I walked around my room and saw a string of photos hung up on the wall surrounded by white Christmas-like lights. The pictures were of me and my family and friends from when I was younger up until my current age.

I saw many photos of Caleb and I when we were young, and a few of us two with Hayley.

I also saw pictures of us with Sydney and Luke, who I remember were our best friends and we saw them a lot. I saw a picture of Sydney, Luke, and a few others I could barely recognize in a picture that I guess was from Halloween, because we were all dressed up. Sydney and Luke still look alike, yet so much older.

I felt tears sting my eyes as I scanned more pictures. I saw a lot of pictures of that Brennan kid and I, but I don't remember ever taking them or being in those moments.

I even saw a picture of Brennan and I at Disney World, and it looked pretty recent because I could see my wig on. We were sitting in front of the Epcot ball hugging, him kissing my forehead.

I was a bit confused, but I started putting the pieces together and realized we were dating...oh my gosh, this must be heartbreaking for him! That's why he came to see me at the hospital!

I felt myself continuously sobbing, but I wiped away my tears and turned on my phone.

Once I figured out how to navigate through it, I pressed a button called FaceTime with Brennan's name and it rang a few times before he picked up, his face popping on my screen.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed once his face popped up.

"Annie? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Well, I've apparently been in a coma where I've forgotten eight years, so I didn't know what FaceTime was." I admitted.

Brennan laughed, but then his expression changed. "Why are you crying?"

"Oh!" I wiped away a few tears. "I was staring at some pictures and I put together that we're dating...right?"

He nodded with a small, weak smile. "Yes, we are. But I don't want to force you into that right now, you've got a lot of other things on your plate right now."

"I just wanted to apologize to you, for you know, not remembering meeting you and dating." I said.

"Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault you fell into a coma and had memory loss. I don't blame you." Brennan said.

"Still, I'm sorry. I want to make this work."

"Annie, you're really busy right now. I don't want to continue our relationship just yet when you don't even remember, and you have a lot going on right now." Brennan said, looking sad.

I nodded sadly. "Okay. Talk to you soon."

Right before he hung up, I said, "Wait!"

"What's up?" Brennan asked.

"Even though I don't remember you, I've seen pictures and they all look so...happy. Thanks for the memories." I said with a smile.

He smiled back. "No problem. I've got to go now, bye." He said before hanging up.

I just felt bad for not remembering Brennan, who seemed really nice and like the coolest person ever.

I ran down the hall and shouted Hayley's name so I could figure out which room was hers. She opened the door and ran to me.

"What? Are you okay?" She asked frantically.

"Yes, I'm fine, I just needed to ask you something." I said.

Hayley led me into her room and closed the door behind her. "Ask me whatever you want."

I sat on her bed. "How was Caleb? Had he changed these last eight years...?"

Hayley nodded, looking a little sad. "A little. He was still his funny self, and he occasionally did some pranks, just not as often as when we were younger." We both laughed at the memories of Caleb's silly pranks.

"He was still a baseball player, still best friends with Luke, and he had longer and curlier hair. He was also tall, and his voice got a little deeper and it cracked a lot, which made us all laugh.

"He eventually got to be taller than Mommy. We lived a great and happy life together, you know? And then one day he just got sick and..." Hayley trailed off and began to cry.

I hugged her and started crying too. "I'm so sorry. I really wish I could remember him these past eight years, and I'm really trying, but it's like my brain is blocking me."

"It's okay Annie." Hayley said.

"Can you tell me about Brennan?" I asked.

She smiled. "Brennan is like a big brother to me, and he has been your best friend for eight years.

"You guys met when Katie brought you over to her house. You both instantly connected and Katie even got a little jealous of your friendship, but you guys made it work and were great friends.

"Then Caleb met Brennan, and they hung out a lot too. You started getting jealous, but again you all worked it out and became an inseparable foursome. It was cute, actually.

"Then after you got diagnosed with cancer, you and Brennan grew closer. Long story short, he asked you to be his girlfriend at Epcot a few months ago, and you've been dating ever since." Hayley said.

I smiled through tears. "He seems perfect."

Hayley nodded. "He's perfect for you."

"I wish I could remember him." I said.

Hayley squeezed my hand. "You will soon."

We hugged and stayed hugging for a while; I wish life had more moments like these, ones that I can remember and cherish forever.

•••

A/N: I just rewrote like half this chapter in about 15 minutes so I'm sorry if this sucks.

May is going to be an extremely busy month for me, so I apologize if I won't be on here updating so often. I have solo and ensemble for band, a field trip to Islands of Adventure, preparation for high school band, state tests, etc. It's just gonna be a crazy month.

Also I know the picture doesn't have pictures of Brennan but 🤷‍♀️

I hope you enjoyed this chapter tho! If so please don't forget to vote comment and share because I love your feedback!

Thanks, until next time ;)