Stevie spent the next three days rather upset regarding her husbands new found state of mind. In fact, she was so distraught, she decided it was best that they didn't even see one another until his doctors explained to both of them what was happening.
Lindsey couldn't recall anything beyond the year 1974... He was twenty- five. So in his mind, he was living in a tiny apartment, with a mattress on the floor, making music.
It was hard for both of them to grasp for different reasons. Stevie was suddenly yearning for her husband, who was physically there but not mentally. She needed him, but it felt like she had already lost him.
And Lindsey couldn't believe they'd actually gotten married and shared a small basketball team of children, even though he had yet to see any of them.
The kids figured they'd let Stevie speak to him before they just bombarded him, so they waited until she was ready.
"I don't like these." She was up on crutches for the second time in the last couple of days.
She didn't want help, but she didn't want to lay in bed any longer either... she also didn't want to depend on those, but it was her only option so complaining was the only solution.
"It's only until your ankle heels, which will be in no time at all." Harper was on one side of her and her nurse was on the other side, helping her travel down the hallway to his room.
She was still slightly embarrassed about the entire situation a couple of days earlier... how he basically called her old, even if it wasn't intentional. But so old he couldn't recognize her...?
The part of her that had been married to him for so long was annoyed, but she also felt bad... but still very annoyed. He called her sixty, which was younger than she actually was, but she thought he could have given her a little more leeway and guessed fifty- five... max.
"He knows I'm coming, right?" She was nervous- first time in forever she'd been anxious to be in his presence.
But she'd found herself putting on mascara, braiding her hair the night before so it was curled and spraying a little perfume... He hadn't seen her in forty years, she wanted to be a little more presentable then she was the other day.
"We talked about it." Her nurse had been overly supportive- really encouraging her to speak with him before either of them were discharged to head home. "And he's excited to see you." Just the tone in her voice told the older woman that she was stretching the truth just a tad.
It wasn't that he didn't want her to come in, but it was weird... It was really weird. She knew him like the back of her hand, but he didn't even know himself at that stage in his life. He had lines on his face he didn't recognize, scars on his hands he didn't have before, and gray hair... the gray hair was the worst part, probably.
She chuckled lightly, knowing full and well that he hadn't said that. "I've cried over that man for three days, so it feels like we're both stuck in the 70's." She mumbled, which caused Harper to giggle quietly.
"I'll be right out here whenever you're ready." Her daughter kissed the top of her head lightly, before she took a seat in the hall and let the nurse guide her in.
All five of the kids were curious and ready to see their father, but at the same time, they were cautious. It was one thing to only remember Stevie young, but he didn't have a single clue who his children were. He wouldn't have recognized them at the grocery store and probably didn't feel any emotion towards them at the time.
So that was difficult for them, very much so.
"Thank you, sweet girl." She winked lightly as she headed through the open door at the pace of a snail.
