If Only

If Only Part One

I can't tell if I'm messed up, have memory loss, or if I'm just dreaming. I'm in a hospital. Correction. I'm in a hospital bed. I don't know why I'm here. All I know is that my name's Laura and my favorite TV show is Brooklyn 99. I see a blonde woman come in and she says, "Hi Laura. I'm Stormie."

"H-hi?" I answer.

"Don't be scared. I'm here because you were hurt. I made sure you got here safely. I even rode with you in the ambulance on the way here. I'm a friend of your mom's." she says to me.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I just don't remember anything but my name." I tell her.

"Alright. Well I just spoke with the doctor and he said that since your mom gave me custody of you eight years ago, you can come home with me." she says, slowly walking over to me.

"Okay." is all I say.

Twenty minutes later, Stormie asks if I'm ready to leave. I tell her yes and she helps with my bags. I ask her about her family. She told me about her husband, Mark, her four sons, her daughter, and her daughter's best friend. I guess it's really crowded in her house. She has all of those kids and now she's adding me to the lot.

As we arrive at her house, I see five boys and a girl playing football in the yard.

Man, their house is huge.

When she parks, one of the boys calls a timeout and comes to the large truck. He walks to the passenger side and opens my door. He holds out his hand and I'm hesitant, but I grab his hand after a few seconds and he helps me out. I thank him and he helps me with my bags. I try to take one from him, but he snatches his hand back and says he has it. I decide to not argue with him and walk into the house. I hold the door open for him because his hands are full. He sets my bags down gently on the tile floor then extends his hand for me to shake. I shake his hand as he says, "I'm Ross."

"I'm Laura. It's nice to meet you." is all I say. I silently hope he doesn't ask any personal questions since I dot remember anything. But he doesn't. Thank goodness.

"Laura? That's a pretty name. And I understand why your parents gave you such a pretty name." he says. I can feel my cheeks start to heat up at his comment. He just laughs. "Let me show you your new room before Rydel decides to drag you to the mall." I nod and he takes one of my bags. I take another. He reaches for the last one, but I shoot my hand over to it and grab it before he can.

He takes me upstairs and shows me to a beautiful room. The walls are painted all a different color. The back wall is a soft purple, the wall on the left is a pastel blue, the one on the right is is a pale yellow, and then the front wall is bright green on the bottom half, bright blue on the top with a bright yellow sun painted in the top left corner, and tall sunflowers sticking up from the green. On the right side is a tall tree with a Weaver bird's nest hanging on a middle branch. There is a queen bed pushed against the back wall with a soft blue comforter, lime green pillow cases, and a teal blanket sitting at the foot of the bed. There is a small vanity mirror in the back left corner and a small dresser in the middle of the right wall. It is sitting between two doors. One door is the bathroom and the other is the closet. There is a small nightstand and alarm clock on the back right corner of the room, right next to the bed. I stare in awe at the beautiful room and I guess Ross notices because he starts laughing and says, "Me and Rydel have been working on this room since mom called me and said that you would be moving in. Do you like it? we can re-paint the walls if you'd like."

"No. Don't change anything. It's perfect." I say, turning around to look at him. He lets out a small sigh of relief and asks if I'm hungry. I tell him yes and he takes me downstairs to the kitchen.

When we get there, the other kids I saw in the yard with Ross are all huddled around the fridge. One of them looks up at us and says, "Hi. I'm Rocky." He then smiles and extends his hand for me to shake.

"I'm Laura." I say while shaking his hand.

"That is a beautiful name." This time, it's not Rocky saying anything. Ross isn't either. All of the other people are staring at me. I start to feel a bit nervous. I guess Ross can tell because he comes to my side and grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. I smile up at him and he smiles back. He pulls me closer to his side and begins to speak.

"This is Laura. She's the one who's gonna be living with us. She's obviously a bit shy, so please be nice to her." he says to the rest.

"Does that mean no throwing her in the pool?" one of them asks.

I get a bit scared and move closer to Ross. I don't know why, but I feel safe around him. I just met him, but it feels like I've known him my whole life. "Yes. That does mean you can't throw her in the pool, Riker." he says, looking at the guy who asked the question he was answering. He then looked at me and said, "What do you want?"

"Do you have GoGurt?" I ask.

"I think we do." he says. He lets go of my hand and looks in the fridge until he finds what he's looking for. "Here you go. One GoGurt." he says, and hands me the GoGurt tube.

"Thank you." I say. He takes my hand again and takes me back upstairs. This time, we go to his room. It's not as neat and pretty as mine is, but it's still pretty cool. All the walls are painted a dark blue ad there is a small dresser between two doors. There is a queen bed pushed against the back wall with a dark blue comforter, dark green pillow cases, and a teal blanket sitting at the foot of the bed. There is a desk pushed against the left wall and a small nightstand in the back right corner right next to the bed.