ODDS OF LOVE : SEASON ELEVEN

Episode 131

Wednesday March 19 , 2025

Richard moaned in his sleep as he tossed and turned in his hospital bed. In his dreams he was in a dining room with four other men. One White man in a wheelchair. A Black man standing near the man in the chair. Another White man standing by himself.

And a man holding a gun.

He saw the one by him jumping in front of him just as the gunman lifted his gun and pointed it at him.

He saw ..... He saw......

Then he jerked up in the bed , his red and black checked pajamas that Nigel had brought him from what he said was his - their - home and the thin sheets and blanket soaked with sweat. His chest was heaving up and down with frantic breathing. Was that what happened to him ? Was that how he got shot? But who were those men?

He sat up. He felt extremely frustrated right now. And vulnerable. He did not like feeling this way. He wasn't sure exactly who he was as a person but he sensed he was not a vulnerable man. He was a lawyer after all. He had googled his law firm that he was a senior partner at. One of two senior partners according to the website he had found online. He had stared at his partners' pictures on the website and hit a blank spot in his head as well. Just like with everyone else he met. Like the older man who had came to visit last night along with the older woman. The ones who claimed to be his father and stepmother. Andrew and Glory Norland. He had a bookstore in Pennsylvania and was a former lawyer himself. She was a retired social worker who said she was undergoing treatment for cancer. It did not matter what information he learned about these people though. He still could not remember them. Or the one who said he was his brother. Or his own children. The older boy he did not trust. That Niles seemed to be a slimy serpent and he was too disrespectful and rude to Nigel. The other children who had came to see him; the boy Lewis and the cute little girl with pigtails Rebecca and the tall skinny Black boy Richie and the adorable little Black girl Tanisha....... they seemed to be such good children. And they seemed to care so much about Nigel to the point that they were almost protecting him the whole time they all visited him.  He could see his not remembering them hurt but he could not help it.

He couldn't help it. He couldn't even remember his own husband.

Nigel. Who he did not know but he thought he could so easily love. Maybe because he thought he was already falling for him. Or maybe it was the previous feeling already there that was buried currently within himself.

He sighed as the door opened. In walked a business suited Black man in maybe his late thirties. He felt tired. Another visitor he failed to know. Damn his mind. Was he going crazy? What was going on?

" Hello? ," he said in more of a questioning manner than he meant it to be. " Do I know you? "

The man stopped walking quickly and looked shocked. He shook his head. " So it's true. You really lost your memory, Richard. "

Richard smiled faintly. " That is what they tell me. Have you found it ? "

The man laughed out loud. " Same old Richard though. No. But if I do I'll bring it right to you. I'm Jeremiah Duncan. I'm one of your junior partners. Just wanted to check on you before heading to court. How are you? "

Richard leaned back on his pillow. " How much time do you have? "