Lost Memories

CHAPTER 3

҉Rose's POV҉

I awoke again with a slight pain in my head, only this time I knew where I was. When my eyes adjusted, I turned to my right to see that guy sleeping in the chair close to my bed. He seemed to be at peace, but his forehead was still creased in stress. It felt like he didn't want to sleep but was forced to because of his tiredness. I didn't want to wake him up, so I took the opportunity to look around the room while he slept.

There was a flower vase sitting on the side table next to the chair the guy was sleeping on. Was it weird that I still didn't know his name? I thought about asking him, but then thought that he might show signs of hurt like last time when I spoke to him. He obviously remembered me, but I hadn't the slightest clue as to who he was. So I just agreed on waiting for him to tell me his name himself, rather than hurting him anymore. Why did I just think that? I thought to myself. I didn't know what it was, but I felt a slight connection towards him. Like I somehow knew him but didn't at the same time.

My internal thoughts were interrupted when the guy shifted in the chair. I looked at him only to see him blink open his eyes and look directly at me. He seemed confused at first, but then his eyes widened at the realisation that I had been awake and he had been sleeping.

"When did you wake up?" he asked with a slight gruff voice. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and I couldn't help but notice how adorable he looked doing that.

"Not too long ago," I told him and he sat up straighter in his chair. "I didn't want to wake you up, so I just stayed quiet."

"Glad to see you haven't changed much, Rose," he said my name so casually.

"You know my name?" Shit! I did it again, I mentally face palmed. Of course he knew my name and me, which would explain why he was here, I told myself.

"Yeah I do," he said seeming more understanding of my situation, but still hurt nonetheless. "And I'm guessing you don't remember my name."

"Umm..." I tried to fake think about his name, even though I was sure my mind would just stay blank, but he saved me the trouble.

"Tyler."

Tyler. Tyler. I mentally repeated his name. Tyler. Nope, didn't ring any bells, although he didn't seem all that alien to me.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't remember you," I said giving him an uncomfortable smile.

"It's okay," he sighed heavily, but returned that same uncomfortable smile. "I guess you'll remember as time passes by."

"Yeah, I guess so."

There was an awkward silence that filled the room, as neither of us knew what to say. I didn't know him well enough to start a conversation out of the blue. But he knew me, and yet he didn't say anything either. I started wondering why, and then it hit me. He probably thought he would freak me out with the amount of information he had on me, when I remembered zilch about him. Yeah, I wasn't a mind reader, but I was always good at guessing what the other person was thinking about through their facial expressions.

Right now, Tyler, or so he said, was showing a mix between confusion and fear. I racked my brain to come up with something to lighten up the tense situation and the thick tension that was lingering in the air of the simple hospital room, but he beat me to it.

"So you won't freak out like last time if I reminded you of today's date again," he said, putting emphasis on the words 'freak out' in a playful way, but continued with a slight concern emanating from his blue eyes, "Would you?"

"No," I said, accepting the fact that I had forgotten a whole year of my life. "I now know that today is the 7th of September, 2015 and not the 5th of August, 2014."

"Actually it's the 8th of September now," he said, lightly chuckling.

"Of course it is," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed that I hadn't noticed the next day had already begun.

"And so that means you have forgotten about a year's worth of memories," he said, his voice slightly wavering, but continued before I could say anything, "I was a part of those memories, which is why you don't remember me."

I stayed silent for a while, absorbing all his words into my brain.

"Well, it does make sense," I said, because that was all I could muster up, after thinking long and hard upon it. It didn't really make sense to me at all, but I couldn't say that to him, or he would try and convince me that he was telling the truth. The first thing that did pop into my mind was that he could just be lying about him knowing me and me knowing him, but then I couldn't say to him that I didn't believe him – which I didn't at that point – because he looked so sad and hurt already. It could all be an act; I thought to myself. But I had lost my memory and I didn't wish to increase his suffering so I said the most logical thing that came into my mind.

"I'm glad it makes sense to you, because –"

"Rose," someone's voice interrupted Tyler. He stopped in mid-sentence and turned to face the door. When he looked back at me, he was mirroring my confused expression. Someone was calling my name, and the voice seemed like it was coming from the hallway outside the room.

"Rose." There it was again.

The voice kept coming closer and closer, and the next moment happened in a blur. Someone came barging in the room and I was enveloped into a tight hug so fast, I didn't even have a chance to look at the person's face.