Scarlett Johansson | One-Shots (1)

Free Fall Pt. 3

Scarlett:
Another week has gone by since Callie's accident. Of course, I have been in to see her every day. Most of her injuries are better but she still has memory problems. We've only gotten a little bit from her. She occasionally brings up something that she wouldn't know unless told. So, we're all hopeful. Today is a special day. The doctors pretty much told me that if today goes well, I can take Callie home. They didn't say it exactly like that but that's what they meant.

I'm anxious for many reasons. One: I'm praying today goes okay. It needs to go okay. Two: I really want to bring Callie home. Three: the little human I'm bringing today doesn't fully understand what's happening and I'm afraid it'll break her heart. And other reasons.

"Okay, this is the first time I'm bringing her so I don't know what to expect," I mention to Robert as I'm leading us through the hospital to Callie's room.

"Stay positive," he tries.

"Oh, believe me, this is me being positive."

"I believe it." Robby cracks me a smile which I return the best I can.

"Can you take her?"

"Yeah, of course." I hand my young daughter, Rose, off to Robby. He bounces her on his hip with a big smile.

I take a deep breath then lead us through the door. Callie looks up from the computer in her lap.

"Hey, what're you doing?" I ask casually as we walk in.

"Oh, just watching a video."

"What video?"

"Uh, it's titled Birthday Surprise so I figured I'd give it a watch."

"That's a good video," I smile. "Your friend Robby here put it together for you."

"Thanks," she smiles at Robby. Then her attention is turned to the little human in his arms.

"Mommy!" Rose squeals, twisting around in Robby's arms and reaching her hands out towards Callie. It's at this moment that I am praying with everything in me that this goes okay. For the sake of both Callie and Rose.

Callie stares at Rose, gears turning behind her eyes. She sits up and crosses her legs. Robby and I stand where we are and watch the two stare at each other. I gesture for Robby to hand me Rose so he does. With Rose in my arms, I slowly make my way to the chair next to Callie's bed.

"Mommy?" Rose tries again with a little more sadness in her voice. She wraps her arms around my neck while still looking at Callie.

Callie flings her legs over the side of the bed. "You're Rose."

I glance down to see Rose's little smile. All she understands is that "Mommy had a bad accident and doesn't always remember things".

"Can I sit with Mommy?" Rose whispers in my ear.

I happily place Rose on her mother's hospital bed. Rose snuggles against Callie and Callie, thankfully, wraps an arm around her.

"When are you coming home?" Rose asks Callie.

"Oh, I..."

"Soon," I interrupt.

-

"You're free to go. Have a safe trip," the sweet nurse says.

"Thank you for everything," I smile.

With Callie in the passenger seat and Rose spending the day with Lizzie, I drive us home. I'm grateful that everything went well two weeks ago when she first saw Rose. A little while later, we arrive home.

"You described this place but it's bigger in person," Callie says.

"You do know what this place is, right?"

"Yeah. Home."

"That's right. It's home. It's our home. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

I lead Callie inside and watch her scan every inch of the house. The gears are clearly turning behind her eyes as she makes her way inside and looks at the things we have. Callie stays silent until we reach the living room. And each word that comes out of her mouth makes my heart smile a little bit bigger.

She drags her hand along the top of the living room sofa. "Movie nights and puzzles."

Walking into the kitchen next, she touches a stray wine glass on the counter. "Our favorite is red. We drink all types though, we aren't too picky. We have a favorite of all reds but I can't remember what it's called."

I catch her smile as we walk around, me trailing behind her at a comfortable distance.

She passes through the second living room to the hidden room behind it. "A lot of actors don't like watching their own movies but we do. We'd have the cast over to watch. You know, now that I think about it, I don't think we actually liked watching ourselves, I think it was more about watching our friends."

"Yes, it was more about watching each other rather than ourselves," I agree.

We make our way towards the upstairs next. She's silent until we reach the second floor. She reaches for our bedroom's doorknob but freezes.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I don't know." She shakes it off and pushes open the door.

This time, she doesn't say anything. She takes a few minutes to examine the room. I sit on the edge of the bed while she walks around. She goes through the bathroom briefly then reappears in the main room. Still being silent, she heads out to the balcony. I follow her. We stand side-by-side.

"You know," she starts softly. "I only remember snippets of memories or little facts about my life or our life. I want so badly to know my full story."

"We'll get there," I assure her even though I'm not even that sure.

"I hope."

Callie goes silent then looks back out at the city of LA below us. After a minute or so, she takes me by surprise by stepping close and wrapping her arm around my waist with her head resting on my shoulder. Just this simple gesture makes me want to take a chance. So I do.

"I love you," I whisper.

Callie lifts her head from my shoulder and looks at me. A smile slowly forms. "I love you, too."

I don't know if it's because it's been almost two months without her touch and I'm imagining it or what but I swear the space between us is closing. I don't want to jump to conclusions so I stay put just in case. She tangles her fingers with mine and faces me completely.

"There's one thing I've been dying to remember," she purrs.

Now she leans in quicker. She tugs on my hands so I step close enough for us to be pressed together. When there's no more space between us, her lips find mine. I let out a happy breath at the missed feeling. It's like nothing changed. We kiss like we always have. After a moment, she parts her lips enough against mine for our tongues to greet one another. We slowly make out for a little while, not enough to get too intimate, I know we aren't there yet. And that's okay. Just being able to finally kiss my wife is enough to know that everything will be okay.