The Virgin and the Whore

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I waited about five minutes at the restaurant, doodling on napkins before Blake, Tyler's brother in law finally showed up. I got up and went for a manly hug, happy to see my friend.

"Blake, my darling, we have to stop meeting clandestinely like this. If we get caught your wife is going to murder me," I joked, though the possibility of my untimely death by the tiny hands of Mrs Lexi Eaton was still a very plausible outcome if she learned about our nice little meetings—or what they were about, really.

"I'm actually more worried about Josh and Tyler," Blake answered with a snort. Josh was supposedly his best friend.

"Please," I waved the matter away. "Josh's a has-been and Ty-Ty just doesn't get you like I do."

"You gorgeous moron," Blake just replied, chuckling.

I blew him a kiss. He laughed more. "So, what have you got for me," I asked, getting down to business. I had already ordered for us, this wasn't our first time out so I knew the drill. It was nice to hang with Blake and joke around and he was the kind of guy you just got along with, the kind of person you naturally felt at ease with, but we weren't meeting just for the joy of each other's company. If we did, we'd tell other people.

Blake handed me a big envelope and I took out the scans, raising them up to the light to get a better look. Not good. There was shading I didn't remember seeing in the last ones.

"How does it look?" Blake asked.

"Not too good. Not catastrophic, but not amazing either. What did your doctor say?"

Blake sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Same old tune. He wants to open up my brain again and go poking."

"I thought this one was going to be a little more forthcoming. Sorry. We'll find someone else." I dropped my hand with the scans and looked at my friend in the eyes. "How are you feeling? Any more episodes?"

"Twice this last week, which is why I called you. Once I was sitting in class and I suddenly couldn't understand a word the teacher was uttering. It all sounded like gibberish. And two days ago when I woke up and saw Lexi in bed with me, my mind went completely blank and I had absolutely no idea who she was." This made sense. I didn't remember saying he couldn't understand a speech before, but the shading on the scans sort of hinted at that. And the memory lapses were just the usual drill.

"What did you do?"

"Well I'm so freaking whipped, so deep down I think I still know who she is, and it didn't last over a minute so all was good."

I rolled my eyes. That wasn't what I had meant, but of course he just thought about how Lexi dealt with the whole issues. Whipped man.

That got me curious though. "Lexi didn't notice?"

He shrugged. "She says I blank out whenever it happens and I prefer not to tell her that I in fact lose all grasp on my memories. I've worried her enough as it is. The headaches freak her out way too much. I'm not going to add to her worries."

I rolled my eyes. How could a guy so smart be such an idiot sometimes? "I specifically remember her saying she'll be by your side through sickness and health," I reminded the idiot, thinking back to their wedding a couple of months back, "I don't think she'll leave you because of this," I added shaking the scans in emphasis.

"I know she won't. But she'll worry. And I don't want her to worry. I can worry on my own."

"You can't keep this from her. You can't keep this to yourself."