Love, Lies, and Other Ties

Chapter Forty

Liam's POV:

"Hey, it's Car, can you come see me at Tracy's house later this evening? I will be there around six if you can. I need to talk to you. Thanks..." were the words I kept reading over and over on my screen. I just simply replied, "Okay", and now I am sitting here waiting for six o'clock to be here so I can go see her. I am hoping that she doesn't say that she never wants to see me anymore. I would never forgive myself for everything I have put her through.

The doctor's say that my mom's brain activity has been steadily increasing the last few days and they believe she will wake up soon. She will be so disappointed in me for the way I treated Car. My mom has always looked at her as a second daughter and at this point, she may pick Carter's side over mine and I wouldn't blame her one bit.

At 5:15, my phone rang and it was Kay. I almost didn't answer it but I knew she was at the hospital with my dad to sit with my mom. I decided to answer in case something happened to my mother.

"Hello?" I said

"Liam! It's about Mom!"

>>>>><<<<<

Carter's POV:

I looked at my phone once more and sighed. It was now 7:15 and Liam was no where in sight. I tried texting and calling him to no avail. I kept feeling my heart breaking little by little at the fact that he didn't want to come and see me after he tried so hard to get me to talk to him and Kay. I even called Kay and she didn't answer. Was I worried? Yes. Was there anything I could do? No. I had no idea where they even were.

I was exhausted. I still got tired quickly since my stamina still wasn't totally regained. I looked at the time once more and decided I would just head to bed early. There was no point in staying up when I had no one who wanted to see me. I changed into a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt of Liam's and crawled into bed.

>>>>><<<<<

"Hey Car! What are you doing?" Liam asked me while we stood in the hallway at school when we were in the 6th grade.

"Um... walking to class?" I posed this as a question because I thought it was obvious as to what I was doing. He knew my schedule just as well as I did so he knew where I was headed. He seemed nervous but I wasn't sure why.

"Oh... cool. So, I was wondering if you would wanna meet me at our spot this evening at about 7 o'clock? I have something I wanna talk to you about that is important," he said as he looked everywhere other than my face.

"Sure! I will be there at 7!" I said as I walked off. Before I could completely walk away, he grabbed my hand and held it while looking in my eyes for just a few seconds. He always did this but for some reason it felt different this time but I could pinpoint the reason he was acting so off.

Later that evening, I got dressed in my favorite turquoise sundress and left to go to the field that we had deemed "our place". I wondered what he could have to tell me but had no idea. I love Liam and want to tell him so bad. We say "love you" all the time but that is always in a friendly way and I loved him so much more than that. Maybe I should tell him tonight.

I looked at my watch and saw it was exactly 7 o'clock and I got a rush of adrenaline through me at the thought of telling Liam that I loved him. I made up my mind. Tonight is the night. I waited a little longer and checked my watch again. It was 7:30 and my feet were getting tired, I found the fallen tree we would sit on and sat down to wait. The next time I checked my watch, it was 8:15. He's not coming. I decided to sullenly walk home and ask him about it tomorrow.

>>>>><<<<<

I woke up slightly sweating and realized that it was dark outside still. I rolled over and checked the time on my phone and realized it was 3 in the morning. I didn't eat dinner. I decided to go downstairs and see what was made and heat some up or make a sandwich. Something quick so I could go back to bed. I still get exhausted easily which should improve throughout the week of regular activities.

I was almost to the kitchen when I realized that the light was on meaning someone was already up. I went in and saw Tracy leaning against the counter in her fluffy pink bathrobe and drinking a cup of what I assumed was tea. She was staring into space and looked like like she hadn't even heard me come in the room.

"Hey, Trace," I said which caused her to jump and hold her hand over her heart. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you but you looked like you were a little preoccupied with thinking too hard," I giggled out.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I was actually thinking about your mom and how much I missed her. I wish she could see where you are now. She would be so proud of who you are and how strong you're becoming." I smiled at her and it brought a tear to my eye.

"Thank you, Tracy. You're one of the only connections I still have to her. I wish she was still here. I miss her so much."

"I miss her, too, sweetie. I promised I would watch out for you and I never break a promise. Anyway, you passed out early and I didn't want to wake you. Would you like some tea and some soup we had for dinner?" I shook my head yes and she got to work on my tea.

"I've actually been thinking about my mom and really just about my past. Recently, I had a lot of memories pop back up that it seems I forgot. Is there a reason I would have amnesia without having an injury to explain it?"

"Well, sometimes if something really emotional happened, like losing your mother that you were very close to, your brain can create a sort of block and you can forget things that surrounded the event. You can lose anything from a few hours to a few years if it was debilitating enough. With how close you were to your mother and how horrible your father was to you, I suspect that everything was so traumatic for you that your mind put a block around those memories before and even some after she passed," she explained.

"Huh, that makes sense. I also just remembered that Liam left about a year before my mom died and he was my best friend and the love of my life. He never told me he was leaving. We were supposed to meet at our special spot but he never came. I was going to tell him that I was in love with him. I'm guessing that also contributed to my trauma."

"Ah, yes. The mafia took his family to Italy for awhile," she said absentmindedly and then she stopped and looked at me with big eyes in surprise. "I mean..."

"You knew about the mafia?" I asked in total shock.

"Of course I do, honey. Me, Carla and Karin were best friends growing up and... and Luke, Liam's father, is my cousin."