Remember This✔

Chapter Forty-Eight

The next few days are painful and long. Molly spends her afternoons by Charlie's side either reading a book or watching television on the screen against the far back wall. She hates leaving him but at night she has to. At home she pretends that she's alright to avoid questions but she's just waiting to sleep so she can wake up and go back to him. After hearing about Charlie Alan called her and Molly reluctantly agreed to meet with him. She meets with him on the park that he took her to all those months ago, it's a lot colder than it was back then but the families are still out. It's News Years Eve and celebrating the new year is the last thing on her mind.

"I heard they're bringing him out of the coma tomorrow," Alan says. "That's good news."

"Yeah," Molly says.

"But you're worried about his memory?"

Molly nods. "What if he doesn't know who I am? Or Sam, or Jaz?"

"He'll know who you are, Molly, I have faith in that. The connection you two have goes far beyond physical memory."

"I want to believe that," she whispers. "But I've been doing research and-"

"Stop," Alan says, turning to stare at her seriously. "The internet won't help you, you'll just scare yourself. No one knows what will happen until he wakes up. And even if he doesn't recognize you at first then that doesn't mean he won't."

"I know it can be temporary," she says. "But I don't think I could bear it. I could take his speech being slurred or his personality changing but the one thing that I couldn't take is him looking at me like I'm a stranger. I'm not strong enough for that."

Alan smiles suddenly and turns his head. "A few months back when you were in hospital, Charlie came to see you. I questioned him on his motives and told him to back off and you know what he said to me?"

"What?"

"He said that you're not a glass vase and you're strong enough to tell him to get lost yourself."

Molly smiles. "That sounds like him."

"My point is that even while you were in hospital he believed in your strength. He saw it a lot sooner than me and even yourself. You're gonna make it through this, I promise you."

She nods, wiping underneath her eye. "If I lost him, if he had died. . ." She shakes her head, not being able to finish. "Death comes for everyone around me but never me. I'm always left behind."

"Not this time," Alan says. "I don't even think death himself could put someone through that amount of pain. Charlie is going to be fine and you're going to live a life together. A long one. That's all you need to focus on okay?"

"Okay."

It's not as easy as that but she pretends it will be. As they walk back to the hospital she is paranoid of every car that drives past, every man that runs across the street, every stranger that so much as glances at her. She doesn't feel safe anywhere, the only place she can relax is by Charlie's side. She's craving that safety as she walks into the hospital room but he already has company. Aubrey is at the other side of the bed and she stands up awkwardly.

"Hey," she says. "Uh. . . Samantha said it'd be okay if I sat with him. I could leave."

Molly takes her jacket off and folds it around her arm. "No, it's fine. I could use the company."

Aubrey smiles and sits back down. Her dark, curled hair is thick with spray and her face is coloured with make up. She looks like she's about to go clubbing. It's New Year's Eve so she probably is.

"Where is she?" Molly asks.

"She's gone to get Jasmine from your house and then they're having dinner. She said she'd be a couple of hours."