When you were mine

Chapter 24

I vow to fiercely love you in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once in a lifetime love. And to always know in the deepest part of my soul that no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find our way back to each other. -Leo from the vow
Damon's POV
I wasn't sure how much time had passed before dad sat down next to me.
"Are you okay?" Dad asked me. "No sarcasm." He told me after a moment.
"No. I'm not okay." I wasn't. And I wasn't sure how I could learn to function with everything that had happened. With everything that was happening.
"Jake said you went to go visit Paisley an hour ago. How did that go?" Dad asked gently and I didn't say anything for a while.
"I think she wants to get back together with her boyfriend." I admitted.
"Who?" Dad tilted his head.
"Pierce. I don't blame her, after everything she's gone through since Bri with me..." I trailed off.
"You've got it all wrong. You're the one who's life was turned upside down. She was going through that before you came into the picture. And put off all the girls I've seen you with, you've never looked at anyone of them the way you looked at her. And she looked at you the same way." I nodded my head. Princess. Don't call me that! I don't know anything! You're my doctor.
"She thought I was her doctor." I admitted and dad tilted his head.
"Why would she think something like that?" Dad asked.
"I don't know." And that was bothering the heck out of me.
"Pierce isn't threatening her? She isn't trying to protect you or anything is she?" It wouldn't surprise me if she was but something told me that that wasn't it. That she wasn't just protecting me, there was more to the story. The way they held hands, the way she looked at him, the way she acted like it was completely normal for her to act this way around him. And that was one of the scariest things. A pair of feet stopped infront of me and when I looked up it was Paisley's doctor.
"We should probably talk." I nodded and stood up, not even bothering to say goodbye to my dad. I followed her into an empty room where she closed the door.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We ran all of our test results to see if any damage was done to any of your friends." My stomach churned. Bad news. She had bad news.
"How bad is it?" I demanded.
"It's Paisley. During the explosion or her time whilst she was kidnapped, she hit her head." I relaxed. A bump on the head.
"But she's okay right?" I asked. She had to be okay. She had to be.
"Not exactly. There was some internal bleeding which lead to retrograde amnesia. We doubt that she'll recover." What?
"Huh?" What she said just did not make sense to my non-medical brain whatsoever.
"I told you." She said blankly.
"Please translate that to English." She sighed.
"We asked Paisley what day she thought it was. She said that its August the 11th in 2012." But it was 2016.
"But that was four years ago." I mumbled.
"Retrograde amnesia is when you forget things that occurred before the amnesia. They could be things like events, or people or time periods or anything." My hands began to shake and I felt like I couldn't breathe.
"Are you telling me that she doesn't remember the past four years?" I asked and my voice wavered.
"Yes." The doctor admitted.
"But that means she doesn't remember me." I whispered.
"Yes." I swayed on my feet.
"You're wrong." I determined and she sighed.
"I wouldn't diagnose her with this unless I was positive." I shook my head.
"No. You've got it wrong. Run the tests again." I demanded.
"I already have. I'm positive that this is her diagnosis. I'm sorry, I know this must come as a shock to you but-" I shook my head.
"No. You're lying. This is a joke. Robert set this up or something. This isn't real." I whispered and stumbled back.
"You need to calm down-" she began to tell me but I shook my head. Then I bolted. I couldn't think of anything else to do other than be sure. So I ran home. I ran back through the halls looking like a psychopath and then skittered into her room. Thankfully pierce wasn't here.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded.
"Tell me it's not true. That you're protecting us or that this is a lie." I begged.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied.
"I'm going to list some things and I want you to tell me if any of them ring a bell alright? This is very important." Whether it was out of fear or pity I didn't know, but she nodded her head and my heart raced.
"Pie." I'd start off with smaller things.
"It's a food, not very good though." She admitted.
"Alright then a gas station that sells pie that you love."
"Nope." I forced myself to remain calm.
"Alright then what about the nickname princess?" I asked.
"That's weird. Personally I prefer darling." My eye twitched at that comment.
"Miracle falls?" I asked.
"Where?" She looked confused
"Nora?" She knew her baby right?
"Who?" Apparently not.
"Damon?" Maybe she'd remember me.
"Oh I know that one!" She exclaimed, and I felt myself relax.
"Good so you know who-" she interrupted.
"Ian Somerhalder is so hot." And my heart sunk. The vampire diaries.
"Robert?" I asked.
"He's a family friend. He's really nice." Paisley admitted.
"What date is it?" I asked her.
"August 12th 2012." She answered.
"It's 2016." I whispered and she laughed.
"That's funny." I shook my head.
"No. It isn't. That's not a joke. I wouldn't joke about something like that. You should know that." I backed away slowly.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked her quietly.
"Well I thought you were my doctor. But now you're some random person who's actually kinda sad looking. You look like you've been through a lot." Paisley observed. Wonderful.
"Do you recognise the name Damon Stone?" I asked.
"No. I don't." I took a shuddering breath. The doctor wasn't lying. This was real. This wasn't a nightmare, this was my reality now. Paisley didn't remember me. Or our child. Or her friends. Or what we've been through. She didn't remember any of it. And I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. Because now she could go on without the baggage that Robert had placed on her. Now she could have a normal life. Now she could be happy. Really happy. But that also meant that I'd have to let her go. And the idea of letting her go made me want to shatter and obliterate into a billion pieces. It would mean that she would be with Pierce and I would be a single dad. It would mean that she would forget her friends and they would have to go on with the memory of her. It would mean that she would be loving a complete and total lie. And I wasn't sure if she'd be better off with the lie or with the truth. So I just backed away slowly.
"I'll come back later." A lie. I might just run. Run until I couldn't run anymore. Then I'd collapse and when I woke I would do it all again. As Paisley stared at me with that blank look, I felt myself breaking. As she looked at me like I was a stranger, I felt myself shatter.
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Hey guys! This is the last chapter and I really hope you enjoyed this book. I'm gonna take a break for a couple weeks, plan out all the things for the next one and also I have fun leaving you in suspense. Last time I ended the book with Paisley being pregnant and this time she doesn't have any memories. I want to thank everyone that has voted and commented every time it makes me smile. The next book will be called the time I had with you, the title is fitting and yeah and I'll put up a chapter called the time I had with you when the book is up. Thank you so much for reading and sticking with these characters, I hope you had as much fun reading these books as I have had writing them. Anyway thanks for reading!
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