His heart beat was erratic in his chest as he walked into the medical wing, the same time as the day before, and the day before that, and so on. He might as well be torturing himself.
He clutched the daisies in his hand, trying his best to pull any optimism he had left forward.
Letting the doors slide open, he immediately walks in to see Dr. Cho.
"It's going to be a tough day, Pietro," she said with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I think something good will happen today," he tried to laugh. "I can feel it!"
He refused to look in her eyes after his statement, unable to handle the pity sent his way.
He slowly walked over to one of the medical rooms, peeking through the door to see a girl, his girl, heavily focused on a sudoku book.
Gently, he knocked on the door, whispering her name.
She glanced up at him, whispering her own name back to him.
"Is that," she hesitated, eyebrows furrowed. "Is that my name?"
Pietro then knew it truly was going to be a tough day.
"Yes," His voice cracked. "That is your beautiful name."
She blushed at the comment, waving for him to walk further in. This at least was a relief. Most days everyone scared her.
"You must be the one who brings me all of these flowers!" She cheered with a smile, looking to the many vases around the room.
"I am!" This time it was his turn to blush. "My hope is that they might help some. You used to love flowers."
"I did, didn't I?" She slowly took the daisies from his hand, staring at them in wonder. He could see that she was starting to dissociate and pulled the chair in the corner closer to her bed. The scraping noise pulled her from her day dream and she smiled once more. "I'm sorry, what did you say my name was?"
He announced her full name to her, swallowing a lump in his throat.
She hummed in response, bringing her hand to rest on her cheek, "are you sure?"
"I swear to you." He hoped the phrase could job her memory. That she would recognize how much that statement meant to the two of them.
"Its not what my brain is telling me."
He raised his eyebrows in interest, slowly placing his hand on top of her own. "What is it your brain thinks?"
"I keep hearing..." She paused, staring at their hands. "Moya lyubov'? But I don't even know what it means."
"My love!" Pietro sobbed, translating the phrase. "That's something moya lyubov'! A nickname!"
"A nickname?" She smiles, "that's so sweet! Is it something everyone would call me? Or just you?"
"Mine for you, my love." Silent tears fell from his eyes as he clutched one of her hands into both of his.
"You really meant something to me, huh?" She asked staring into his eyes.
"I think I did." He responded. "I know that you meant everything to me."
"Meant?" She asked with a quiet sniff, her eyes getting glassy. "I'm not sure what happened to me, but I'm trying to get better. I'm so sorry."
"Hey, hey," he rushed forward, carefully wiping away her tears as they fell. "You still mean absolutely everything to me, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing that happened to you is your fault," he assured her in a stern tone.
Anger started to build in the pit of his stomach as he remembered the grudge he was holding.
'No!' He thought, 'Steve had no way of knowing! How could he have known they were walking into a trap?'
Even as he fought the feeling, it lingered in his soul. He needed someone to blame, Steve would have to do for right now.
His eyes focused on her lips as she began whispering her own name, repeatedly and quickly.
"That's my name." The sentence was a statement but she looked to Pietro for confirmation.
"Yes, my love." He raised her hand in his, pressing it to his cheek, desperate for her touch.
"It's mine," she whispered to herself, staring out the tall windows.
"Do you want to sit up here, next to me? I could use some help with my sudoku."
Pietro felt his heart race at her question.
"I would love nothing more." He refused to let the tears escape his eyes. Carefully he climbed into the hospital bed next to her, tentively placing his arms around her shoulders.
She would giggle into his shoulder as he tried to help with the puzzle. It was becoming clear that he did not know how to play sudoku.
"One day, I'm going to wake and I'm going to remember everything. Everything I've ever loved about you." She looked directly into his eyes as she spoke.
And he believed her.
