Wanting to Remember,Trying to Forget(21)

“We can never say with these things. It may take ten days, ten years. She may never regain her memory. You can all go in and see her now but please bear her situation in mind. She doesn’t know who any of you are so don’t force it. Don’t bombard her with questions or information. Take it slow. Keep your conversations general and relaxed.”

Max’s stomach twisted into a tight ball. “When will she be able to go home?”

“We have to keep her here a few more days for tests. I’ve scheduled an appointment with a psychologist tomorrow. When she’s discharged, surround her with familiar things; photos, places she liked. All of those things could jog her memory.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Max nodded and began walking to Danny’s room with the rest of them in tow.

“Hey,” Max said to announce his presence.

Danny looked up and gave a nervous smile. “Hi.”

“May we come in? There’s a few people who are really excited to see you.”

“Sure.”

Max walked in first. “This is Lauren, your boss. She’s like a mother to both of us.”

Lauren leaned over and hugged her. Amber did the same. Although Danny accepted the hugs, she did not look comfortable and pulled away first.

“This is Amber, your very good friend from college. And this is Charlie.” Max smiled. “He’s technically my friend ’cause you guys don’t…really…let’s leave it there.”

Charlie nodded a greeting but remained quiet.

“And you are?” Danny asked, her hazel eyes looking up at him expectantly.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Max.”

“My fiancé?”

His eyes widened. “Well…we’re not really engaged,” he admitted sheepishly. “Amber just told the doctor that so he would let me see you.”

“But you guys are dating,” Charlie put in quickly.

“Charlie!” Max shot him a warning look.

“What?” Charlie asked innocently. “She’s living with you, Max. She would find out eventually.”

“We’re living together?” Danny asked, her body tensing.

“Yes…but don’t listen to Charlie…he—”

“He’s being insensitive again,” Amber added. “The doctor said we shouldn’t bombard you with information so Max wanted to wait until you were more comfortable around him before he told you all this, but Charlie can’t keep his big mouth shut.”

Max noticed the quick wink Amber gave Charlie and his temper flared.

“How are you feeling, dear?” Lauren asked, hoping to ease the tension that had settled in the room.

“I’m okay, I guess. Still in a bit of pain but it’s not too bad. It feels a bit strange, all of you in here. I’m not really sure what to say.” She smiled nervously. “So I work for you?”

Lauren nodded.

“What exactly do I do?”

“Well, we work at Banners and Coopers, the biggest publishing house in California. You usually review and edit literary work before it’s published but we were looking into publishing certain self-help books and magazines. It’s not really our style but it seems quite lucrative. It was your idea, actually.”

Max waited for Danny to be engrossed in the conversation before he looked at Charlie and nodded towards the door. Charlie took the hint and walked outside. Amber followed and Max closed the door behind them.

“What the fuck are you two trying to pull?”

Charlie shrugged. “I saw an opportunity and I went for it.”

“What opportunity?”

“You’ve been in love with Danny for years and now you have a chance to see what could happen. She doesn’t remember that you guys were just friends. You have to take advantage of this.”

Max’s hands immediately compressed into tight fists. “You’re telling me to take advantage of my best friend who is suffering from severe head trauma. Are you fucking kidding me? That’s sick! She has amnesia and you want me to lie to her and pretend to be her boyfriend. I see why she hates you now, Charlie. She has been through the worst experience of her entire life and the first thing you say to her, the first words that leave your mouth are a fucking lie!”

“Charlie’s right, Max.”

He shut his eyes. “No, Amber. Not you, too. Charlie I can understand, but Danny is your friend too. You can’t expect—”

Amber reached out and touched his arm. “Max, everyone knows how you feel about Danny. Everyone except Danny. You can spend the rest of your life wondering or you can take this opportunity and show her how great you guys could be together.”

“It’s not an opportunity!” Max bellowed. “This idea is so fucking twisted.”

“I was only trying to help,” Charlie said.

“Stop helping! Because it’s not helping! And there’s just two small details you guys are not taking into consideration. Number one on the list, Danny already has a boyfriend.”

“Richard?” Amber asked with disdain. “You mean the boyfriend who I called eight times and hasn’t been here to see her once, who hasn’t called once to see how she’s doing. He won’t even take my calls anymore. Trust me, Max, Richard is out of the picture.”

Charlie nodded, quite happy with Amber’s response. “Now that we got that out the way, what’s the second thing?”

Max sighed, the hurt showing plainly on his face. “Danny has never and will never feel the same way about me.”

“Never say never, Max.” Amber said, trying to reassure him. “Danny’s feelings for you run deeper than she is willing to admit. She’s stubborn and refuses to acknowledge it.”

Max remembered her words from the day of the accident. “I seriously doubt that. And this is wrong, guys. I can’t trick her into feeling something for me. As much as I want something to happen between us, it shouldn’t happen like this. If she regains her memory and finds out that I’ve been lying to her, she would never forgive me.”

Charlie tapped Max on the shoulder. “I completely understand how you feel, buddy, but ask yourself this. What would you regret more? Losing her, or never having her? Yeah, there’s a chance that she could remember and hate you forever, but there’s also a chance that she could fall in love with you and that love will still be there if she regains her memory. It’s the chance you’ve been waiting for. I agree, the circumstances are not…great, but you need to decide if this is a chance you wanna take.”

Charlie and Amber went back inside, leaving Max alone to consider his options. Charlie made a strong point. He would never get an opportunity like this again. Could he really let this slip by? But if he went through with this, would he be able to live this lie day in and day out? Doing this meant he would have to take advantage of his best friend. She did not remember anything, did not know anyone besides them. She trusted them and he was going to willingly abuse that trust. But if she never remembered, she would never know. The idea was as appealing as it was nerve-wracking.

Max only realized how long he had been out there when he noticed the nurses were already doing their mid-morning rounds. With his mind made up, he walked back into Danny’s room. Amber was talking to her now, filling her in on her college days.

“Wow, it sounds like we had a lot of fun that night.” Danny said with a giggle.

“We did,” Amber conceded. “We hit it off after that, became inseparable.”

Danny smiled and looked at Max. Amber noticed the looks that were exchanged and stood up. “C’mon, guys,” she said to Charlie and Lauren. “Let’s give them some time alone.”

After a few more awkward hugs and kisses, Max was completely alone with her and suddenly he felt tense. That was something he thought he would never feel around Danny but it was all so different and new. He felt like she was a different person and he had taken on a new look on life. The slate had been wiped clean and he had to start rebuilding their relationship from scratch, only this time he could shape it into whatever he wanted it to be.


Danny stared at the man in front of her. He seemed a bit apprehensive, bordering on awkward. She had not noticed how good looking he was earlier, but now with his clean-shaven jaw and his hair neatly combed, she could definitely see why she would have been attracted to him. He had a boyish sort of face which made him look approachable. Top that off with playful brown eyes and fleshy lips and overall he was very appealing to the eye. He had a demeanor about him that seemed almost shy.

“Hi,” Danny said when the silence had stretched on for too long.

He smiled and she noticed that he only had one dimple. It was situated on the perfect spot on his left cheek. Cute, she thought. He was very, very cute. High five, Danny. You have chosen well.

“Hi,” Max replied.

“How are you doing?”

His smile widened, but he still looked a bit uncomfortable. “I’m doing…a lot better than I was yesterday.” He sat down on the bed beside her. “How about you?”

“I’m doing a lot better than I was yesterday, too,” she teased.

He pulled an unimpressed face. “Funny.”

“Lauren and Amber seem nice.”

“They are. Amber takes a little bit of getting used to but once you get past the rude exterior, she’s great.” He was quiet for a while before he said, “This feels weird. I know everything about you and you don’t know anything about me.”