Amnesiac

Thirty Ninth

"Who misses her pink room too much?" I asked Colleen a little innocently as I pushed her wheelchair across the hall of the hospital. Today was her discharge day. Karlos and I were the ones to pick her up from the hospital. Even after a lot of arguments, Marj won over the part that she wants to pay the bills. She scolded Karlos about that, yes.

"ME!" she exclaimed happily. "I miss my room, my dolls, my teddy and my Toy Story poster!"

I laughed at her. "Whoa there, tiger," I said as I pushed open the doors and stopped right where the car was parked. "Come on, Ate Andy will carry you up." I prompt her and put my hands in front of me so she'll just hop on.

"Don't bother, I can do that," Karlos intervened from beside me, "Come on, Leen,"

Colleen pouted and shook her head, "I want Ate!" she exclaimed before charging to my waiting hands and I lifted her up. "We go home already?"

Honestly, we weren't. There was this small party we've organized for Colleen, but it was set up in my apartment. I don't know about Karlos but he preferred setting it up there.

As for Marj and Karlos, there wasn't much of an improvement. My hope for the mother-son relationship restoration was still high, though, but as of now, there wasn't really much of a progress. They didn't even acknowledge each other in breakfast earlier. A part of me tells me that somehow, in Colleen's behalf, there would be. We will never know until we see it.

I buckled Colleen in the backseat while Karlos buckled in the shot gun; I made a bee line to the driver's seat. Pretty much soon, we were rolling through the streets.

My hand was clasped in Karlos' as it rested on the center console. Another corner was turned in, and there was the house being visible. I pulled by the curb and went outside to strap Colleen out of the backseat and bring her in the house.

I twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, "WELCOME BACK COLLEEN!" Liz and Marj screamed.

Colleen flinched at the loud sound when the confetti was shot opened, but you can see from her face that she was happy and filled with excitement. "Wait, but this is not my house," she said, concerned.

Karlos took her from my arms, "This is your Ate Andy's house." he explained. "Pretty, huh?"

"It's big!" she cries out happily, "Wait, who is she?" she asked, pointing to Marj.

The place seemed to be quiet for a little while but Karlos took the obligation to speak, "She's mom," he said, but it was quite obvious that he was addressing Marj just so Colleen will call her mom and not by the first name like how he does.

"I have a mommy?"

The look on Marj's face was undeniably comprehensible. Obviously, she's been hurt that her very own daughter doesn't know her. It reminded me of the way my mom reacted when I woke up from coma and I was overly amnesiac, that I cannot even remember her. Marj did not even bother hiding it.

"Yeah, I am," Marj said and placed a hand on Colleen's little arm.

"Cool!" she exclaimed. "Hi, mommy! But, if she's my mom, why wasn't she there when I was still a little baby? Why just now?"

It was really a killer when an innocent kid asks questions. Like, right now. There's no possible way that I could tell Colleen that her mother left them when she was little in a way that she would absorb it wholly. I mean, okay, the kid has a good memory and understanding but she is still a kid. She cannot grasp everything the way an adult could do.

So, I guess that left Karlos to the only option left: to lie. "Uh, well, mummy worked from somewhere far for a long time," he says, "She just came home now. Aren't you happy that you finally have a mom?"