Learning to Remember

7. A Deal

As Amelia continued walking, she thought over her situation.  It would be easy to feel disheartened at the lack of information from the appointment she just left, but at least she had made progress. She now knew who her doctor was and she was healing well physically. Things could be a lot worse.

She wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that John had spent enough money to get her a smartphone, but she had to admit that was something else to be thankful for. Without the maps app on the phone, she wouldn't have a clue how to get anywhere. She had also used it to try and search for herself on social media, but without being able to login, she couldn't see anything other than her profile picture, which was just a selfie with her and Archie.

She had used the walk to the office as a way to get to know the city she was in and get a feel for the area. Now that she was headed home, she decided to take the alternative route it had offered. It was just a few minutes difference and this way she could see more of the city. It wasn't a small rural town with only one red light, but it wasn't a huge metropolis either. Online it said there were about 100,000 people who lived in the whole county. She wondered why she had chosen this specific city to move to but could only come up with general guesses.

As the shop door in front of her began to open, she stepped to the left to continue walking and avoid running into whoever came out of it.

"Amelia?"

She turned to look behind her. "Oh, hi John." She said and felt herself blushing for some reason.

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, I actually just came from the doctor. I found a bill and was able to get an appointment today. I haven't had any new memories return but she said I'm healing just fine physically." She reached up and pointed to the gash on her forehead.

"Oh, that's good." He nodded. "I mean, about the cut. Not your memories."

"It's ok, I knew what you meant." She chuckled and turned to see the shop he had just come out of. "Sweet tooth?" She asked him as she realized he had come out of a bakery.

"What? Oh!" He glanced at the bakery and then chuckled. He held up the package in his hands. "Eclairs. My mom's favorite."

"Ah for lunch with your parents this weekend?" She asked with a smile.

"You remembered." He smiled at her.

"There's plenty of room in there for new memories." She knocked on her head lightly as if it were an empty tank and they both laughed. "Well, it was good seeing you. I'll let you go so you can get those refrigerated."

"Oh, OK. Yeah I should probably do that." He took a step back and then glanced around. "Wait, how did you get out here? Did you use a ride-hailing service?"

"No money, remember?" She laughed. "I walked."

"You walked... this far?"

"Not exactly this far, .... " She looked down at her phone to see the time.

"How long have you walked already?" He asked her.

"Oh, not long." She glanced around, not looking at him.

He sighed. "I'm going to pretend I'm not upset that you didn't ask me for a ride and instead just ask if I can at least take you home."

"I didn't want to bother you. I know you said you didn't have too much going on, but I have to take care of myself."

"Yeah, but a forty minute walk through town is..." He stopped and drew in a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I have no right to worry about you or to lecture you. So can I give you a ride home since we're both here and I'm going home anyway?"