I Forgot // Olli Määttä

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"Guys, I don't really think this was necessary," I say, looking around to find two of the three guys that brought me here, sitting and watching.

"They said you tore a ligament in your knee, how can that not be necessary?" Sid points out. 

"Why are you still here?" Olli mutters, not soft enough for me not to hear it. "I told you to go before she wake up." Sidney shrugs, sending a glance over at me. 

"Because I care enough to stay." 

"You shouldn't care as much as I do, she is my love, and only mine." 

"I'm not anyone's," I pipe up, and they both turn to me. "But Sidney, I...I do love Olli." 

"Oh, so now you hate me? Great, that's just fabulous." He stands up and storms out past a nurse, who sends him a weird look. 

"Was he bothering you?" She asks me without looking at Olli. I nod and shrug. 

"Yeah, but he's gone now." I try to shift under the hospital blanket, wincing. "W-what happened to me?"

"You tore your patellar tendon, as well as the Iliotibial band in your right leg." I look at her blankly. "Two muscles in your knee, dear. You're going to have to need crutches until the surgery, and I wanted to ask you another question."

"Shoot."

"Have you had injuries relating to your knees in the past?" I blow out a long breath. 

"Yeah, I was, uh, hit by a car and, uh, I was in a wheelchair and on crutches, um, for six months, I think," I explain, trying not to get worked up over the thought of my life-changing injury. She sighs, folding her hands in front of her. 

"This surgery will be much more intensive than the last one, since it's being repaired again, and the injuries are more than minor." She's cut off by a quiet but audible round of Finnish mumbles from Olli, most likely swears. "The surgery will be in about a month or so, but you need to be very careful until then."

"Would I still be able to go on a, um, plane?" I blurt out randomly, silently cursing my commonplace injuries. The nurse looks a little surprised, answering,   

"Yes, but flights over 6 hours could cramp up the muscles and damage them even more."

"Why wait a month?" 

"The doctor is currently away in Germany tending to a series of patients there, and next month is the soonest he'll return." 

"Isn't there anyone else who could perform it?" I question, watching her closely. Somehow she's stayed rather patient with me this whole time. 

"With the type of procedure needed to be done on your leg, no, not here," the nurse says. "The nearest specialist is in Florida, and there's a few more in the midwest."

"Is there one in California?" She nods, and I look over to Olli. 

"My family," I say softly, eyes lighting up. He smiles a bit, and I grin wider than I have in a while.

"You'll be released tomorrow afternoon," the nurse tells me, interrupting our little moment. "Then you can visit whoever you want." I smile brightly at her, and she checks some monitors as I lean back onto the bed. Staring at the white ceiling, I contemplate everything that's happened to me in the past year. 

Car accident, lost memory. I discovered I'd been dating this Finnish cutie for three years. I relearned to walk. I discovered what it's like to cheat on someone, and how it feels to hurt them. I've learned so much in the last 12 months, but I can tell I'm nowhere near finished learning. Not even close.