Promises Forgotten
Chapter 36

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

My eyes fluttered open and I was greeted by a blank, white ceiling. My brow furrowed and I blinked a couple times, trying to think about how I got here. Lifting my hands, I could see the tubes coming out of my arm and hooked up to machines next to me. The memory flashes of b***d covering my hand, and my heart sped up with the beeping matching it.

A nurse came in and smiled at me. “You’re awake! That’s wonderful!”

“Where is she?”

The nurse looked at me, confused. “Where is who? Your mother is here…”

“No no. A woman, she was with me. Where is she? Is she okay?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know who…”

My voice rose. “What the f**k do you mean you don’t know who? She f*****g took a god damn bullet for me! Where is she? Just tell me where she is and I’ll f*****g replace her myself.”

“Sir, you didn’t come in with anyone. Your parents flew you in…”

“Flew me in? Where am I?”

The nurse looked at me nervously. “You’re in New York…”

“What?” I roared.

The door opened and my mother and father walked in. My eyes narrowed.

“I’m glad you’re awake.” My mother said sweetly.

“What the hell did you do? Where the hell is the woman that was with me?”

The two of them stopped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, sweetheart. We flew you in…”

“After I was f*****g shot at! She f*****g saved my life. A life that was threatened because of Dad’s f*****g idiot choices. What the hell is going on?”

They looked at each other. “You hit your head pretty hard.”

“I didn’t hit it that f*****g hard! Tell me you didn’t just f*****g leave her in Greece. Tell me you didn’t.”

“That’s not…”

My nostrils flared. “The f*****g Italian Mafia, Dad. Seriously? I know you were f*****g around in the grey area but the Italian Mafia? Dad, they tried to send a message by killing me. They would have as well if Evie wasn’t there. You would only have Adrian to take over the company!”

“Son, don’t talk to me about business when you keep running away from taking over!”

“I will when it f*****g risks people’s lives, Dad! It could have been Adrian! Or Mother! What then? You’re willing to f**k with your family? If I take over, I’m cleaning all the f*****g shit out. You better start now, ‘cause the moment I step up, I will destroy it all.”

My father was pissed, his face bright red. “Years of work that I built and helped put this family in the number one spot!”

“By f*****g with the Mafia? Seriously? I need to get back. I need to go back. She saved me. I need…”

My mother came forward and pressed her hand on my chest. “No, you still had a concussion and you’re badly bruised. You aren’t going anywhere.”

“I can’t f*****g leave her. I don’t give a shit. Move, Mother. I’ll call for the plane to refuel and head back. I need to replace her. I’ll bring her back and then I am going to step into the company and take down whatever the hell you’ve done to Grandfather’s company.”

“You will do no such thing.” My father’s voice boomed over the room.

My mother looked from me to him worriedly. He left the room and slammed the door behind him. I shook my head.

“Mother, I have to go back. I need to make sure she is okay. I need to bring her home.”

She shook her head. “I won’t go against your father, you know that. I’m sure the girl will be fine.”

“Mother, you don’t understand. She’s…”

The door slammed open and a doctor with another nurse came in. My father followed. The doctor looked from me to my father. My eyes narrowed and I looked at my father. The nurse had brought in a tray with a syringe in it.

“Harold?” My mother left my side and went to him.

“He will destroy everything I have built, Claudia.”

She sighed and nodded. I started to shake my head and watched the doctor grab the syringe.

“Are you sure you would like…” He looked at my father.

“Do it. Now. I already paid you. Just do your job.”

I started moving away from the doctor, but he took my arm and put the syringe in the IV line.

“What is it?”

“It’s a muscle relaxant.”

He finished emptying the amount into my IV and already my arm was feeling numb. “I don’t need this. I’m fine. What I need to do is go…”

“How long does it take to work?” My father talked over me, speaking to the doctor.

“The relaxant will kick in quickly, but it’s not known how much or how little he will remember when he wakes up with this dose.”

My eyes widened in horror. “What the f**k did you do to me? Dad…what the f**k…”

My body started feeling heavier and my heart was racing in panic.

“This specific relaxant, when given in large doses, causes memory loss. I’m sorry son, but I can’t take the risk.”

“No. No no no no. What the f**k! What have you done!” I screamed at him and tried to take out the IV. My arms barely wanted to move, though.

My father nodded to the doctor who left with the nurse. Frustration overtaking me, I started to cry. I needed Evie. I needed to make sure she was okay. I needed to replace her. I needed to tell her I loved her. My mother came over to hold my hand, but I shifted it slightly away from her. Eyes sliding closed, I lost consciousness to the drug.

–

I bolted up from the couch. My eyes looked wildly around, unable to focus or comprehend where I was. Finding Stacy, both she and Dr. Walters look shocked. My heart hammered in my chest and I couldn’t breathe. My Evie. Everything. It’s there. I remembered everything. My feet hit the ground and I leaned over, my head between my knees. Emotions overwhelmed me and I started to sob. A scream tore from my throat and I clutched my head, wailing. There was a hand on my back, but I felt no comfort. I took a breath and let out another wail, crying hysterically.

I felt nauseated and I started to retch. Stacy set a bucket down in front of me and I threw up. Coffee and whatever else was left in my stomach from the night before was emptied out. A glass of water appeared and I took it with a shaky hand. My heart started to slow down again, but it was replaced by pain. All the promises, all the moments, lost. All the moments of her after these three years, all of them left scars on my heart. It’s not just my hands shaking now, my whole body was shaking.

For the first time, I looked up and around the room. Everyone; Stacy, Dr. Walter’s, Hamlet holding his med bag, and Gwen, who is holding a water bottle, all of them had tears streaming down their faces.

“Sorry…” My voice croaked and I took another sip of water.

“Zach…” Stacy rubbed my back as she sat next to me.

My voice shook but I asked, “How long was I out?”

“7 hours. It’s now 2:15 p.m.”

I nodded and had another sip of water. The quiet stretched for a while before I saw Dr. Walters grab his notebook and pen.

“I’m assuming you remember?”

Nodding, I took a deep breath. “Everything. I remember it all.” My voice stayed small.

“Do you remember the events leading up to the memory loss?”

“Yes.” My voice cracked. “It was medically induced.”

Stacy’s hand stopped. “What?”

“I remember waking up in the hospital in New York. I was asking for Evie. They f*****g left her in Greece. They only brought me back. I was pissed. I was pissed at my father. It was his fault we were shot at. His dealings with the Mafia and in the Mafia’s territories. I told him I would tear down everything he built related to that.”

“So…”

I lowered my head, placing it in my hands. “They drugged me with a muscle relaxant. They paid a doctor and a nurse.” A silence came over the office as tears streamed down my face. I started to sob again. “My last thoughts were of her. I needed her and I lost her. I f*****g lost her. All the promises. Stace…how…how…” I dissolved into quiet cries.

Stacy wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me to her. I grabbed her shirt and cried into her shoulder. My heart felt like it was tearing into pieces. Whatever was left of it. Taking a deep breath, I let go of Stacy and stood up. I felt weak but walking over to the wall of windows, I looked out over the stormy street. Every time my chest rose and fell, it hurt but I was able to hold back the tears.

After a while, Dr. Walters put down his pen. “This is an interesting addition to my research. I hadn’t come across a medically induced memory loss. It explains why your subconscious knew and was happily willing to provide the memories when the walls were stressed thin.”

“It was as though I was living it again. It wasn’t me looking at it or feeling like I was changing anything. It was just that I was in that moment. I could feel, smell, touch, taste. Everything. It felt like yesterday.” The last sentence I said hushed.

“But you were able to go through all the 6 months?”

I nodded, my hands clasped behind my back.

“It’s good to note that hypnotherapy may work on medically included memory loss. It may expand the research further. Thank you for telling me. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.”

I turned and gave him a small smile. “That’s the easy part. Anger is easy to feel. It’s everything else.” My eyes found Stacy, who is looking at me worriedly. “Everything else is what is painful.”

“How’s the headache? Anything?”

“It’s slight. Maybe a six out of ten. I used to live with it at a seven or eight with medication so it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

He nodded. “I’ll prescribe a higher dosage of Ibuprofen in case it gets worse.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“I may have more questions and a follow up later down the line. Is it alright if I video chat with you?”

Another flash of a smile. “Of course. Whatever you need. I appreciate you and what you have done.”

He chuckled. “For a moment there, I regretted bringing your memories back.”

“No. You’ve given me something back that I couldn’t possible repay. Thank you.” I reached out and shook his hand.

He held mine firm. “If you need anything, I’m happy to help.”

“Thank you.”

I turned to Stacy. “We should head back.”

“The hotel?”

“Back to New York.”