Scarlett Johansson | One-Shots (1)

Free Fall Pt. 2

-1 week later-

Scarlett:
It's been a week since my wife's disaster at work. I resulted in bringing in a few of our photos from home including our wedding album. There's only been a few times when I thought we were getting somewhere. For example, she'll sometimes say something I tell her or show her feels familiar. I've gone in to see her every day. I don't care how long it takes, I will get my wife back.

Today, I got permission to bring in some help. I pull us to a stop before we enter Callie's hospital room.

"She has barely any idea who I am. She doesn't know we're married. I doubt she'll recognize you. Just try to stay calm and happy and positive. I can tell she's frustrated and I don't want to make it worse."

"I'll do anything to get her back," Lizzie says.

I take a breath and lead us into the room. Callie looks up from something in her lap. It takes me until I sit in my chair next to her to realize she was looking through our wedding album.

"Callie, I brought a friend," I say softly.

"Hey," Lizzie greets her.

"Hi..." Callie studies Liz's face for a little while. Liz stays silent and patient while the gears seemingly turn behind Cal's eyes. "Do you work for Marvel too? Scarlett was telling me last week that I work for Marvel. A character called Vertigo."

My heart leaps out of my chest. She hasn't called me by my name yet. Now she has.

"I do. I play Scarlet Witch—Wanda Maximoff. You and I have worked very closely these past few years," Lizzie responds.

"Scarlet Witch... Doesn't she have cool powers?"

Lizzie's face lights up. So does mine. "She does. Vertigo too," Liz beams.

"Neat." Callie falls silent for a few seconds. Then she speaks up. "Can I say something?"

"Of course," Liz and I say at the same time.

"It's so weird and scary to not remember anything. Like who I am or how I live."

"I know. But we have hope for you. I can feel it getting better." Liz pats Callie's hand.

"Thank you, Elizabeth."

Both Lizzie and I shoot up and exchange glances.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"How did you know her name?" I ask.

"I-I... I don't know. I just... did."

"What else do you know?"

Callie takes a second to think. "Five years. I don't know what meaning that has but it's been stuck in my head."

I can't help but let a tear fall. I wipe it away and sit on the edge of Callie's bed. "Callie, five years is how long you and I have been married."

-

The few days after Callie expressed a few things she knew, I got determined to get more out of her. I know the memories are there. I just think she needs some motivation. I've been bringing more pictures of us and her and the cast. I brought in Jeremy and Downey because, besides Liz, those two are the ones she's closest to. Callie remembered their faces but not their names. Which is still a step.

Today, I'm here alone but I brought a puzzle. Puzzles are one of her favorite things to do so I'm hoping to talk and do puzzles.

"Hey, I brought a puzzle," I announce when I walk in.

"Oh cool. I think I like puzzles."

"You do," I smile.

She sits up crossed-legged on the bed and I sit next to her. I have a flat foam puzzle board that I put in front of us so the pieces can hold. It's a Marvel-themed puzzle to hopefully jog her memory. After getting set up, I wait for her to say anything. Eventually, she does.

"I work with everyone here," she points out.

"Yes, you do," I agree, so happy she seems to be getting her memory back. "They're your friends."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"We missed our date."

My heart stops again. There is no way she would know about that unless she knew. I never talked about it. "You remember that?"

"Yeah. I don't know what we were going to do but I know we were excited. What were we going to do?"

"Well." I put a piece down in its rightful place. "We had dinner reservations at our favorite restaurant."

"Sounds romantic."

"It always is."

We are silent for a few minutes while Callie figures out some of the edge pieces. I help occasionally but I want her to do it so she can remember.

"We did this a lot, didn't we?"

"Did what?"

"Puzzles."

"Yes, we did. We did them as often as we could. We consider it good bonding time. Puzzles and wine."

I think Callie leans into me a little bit. "I had a fall. I remember falling to the ground from somewhere high. Can you tell me what happened?"

"We were at work. You were about to film a scene where you had to jump out of a helicopter but your harness snapped and you fell from many feet."

Callie absently rubs the back of her head. "Must've been some fall if I completely lost my memory."

"It scared the hell out of me."

"Do we have kids?"

"None but my daughter Rose."

"Rose... Little blonde girl."

"Do you remember what you called her?"

"No. Sorry."

"That's okay. You called her a few things. Rosie was most used. She called you Miss Callie before we got married."

Cal mumbles something I can't hear.

"What was that?"

"My two favorite girls," she repeats a little louder.

"That's what you called us. Me and Rose. Your two favorite girls." I wipe a happy tear away before Callie can see me cry. "Can I hold you?"

"You're my wife. I think that's a given," she chuckles like it's the most normal thing in the world.

I instantly wrap my arms around her and she leans heavily into me. She melts into me like she always did before she forgot who I was. I resist the urge to kiss her because I don't know if we're there yet. Better play it safe. Baby steps.