It took her a solid ten minutes to finally regain her breath and develop some clear thoughts. She remembered everything. Everything. Amber couldn’t believe that he’d lied to her like that, with something so serious as that. He was the reason that the accident had occurred; it was all his fault. She couldn’t forgive him. She swore she would never forgive him.
Aidan got back to his flat, completely destroyed. She hated him now, he was sure of it. He’d lost her and he was never going to get her back. He was stupid, so very stupid. He had just wanted what he could never really have.
He sat on the sofa, feeling empty and alone, trying to fill the void with Guinness, for an hour before he finally lost his nerve. He picked up the phone and rung up the hospital.
“Room 204, please,” he said, anxiously gnawing on his nails.
“I’m sorry, sir, but Room 204 isn’t taking calls,” replied the sweet-sounding nurse on the other end, “But if you’d like to leave a message, I’ll make sure it gets there.”
“Thank you so much. Um…can you write it down and just give it to her?” he asked.
“Of course, sir.”
“Alright. Just say, ‘I’m sorry. It isn’t what you think. Please just let me explain. Please.’ That’s it. That’s all I need to say.”
“Okay, sir. I’ll bring it right away.”
“Thank you so much.”
Aidan put his face in his hands, wondering what Amber’s reaction would be. He loved her. He’d spent weeks trying to figure out if he really meant it, but he knew it now. He really, truly loved her. He’d never fallen so quickly or so hard before, but she’d changed him. There was just something about her.
He waited and waited until finally, the phone rang. He picked it up and answered it within milliseconds.
“Hello?” he asked, panicked.
“Aido? You alright, mate?” It was Dean.
Aidan breathed.
“Yeah…well, no.”
“I heard what happened, mate. I’ve been trying to ring you for days. Is she alright?”
“She’s fine, but she hates my guts.”
There was a long pause.
“What’d you fuck up, Aido?”
“I got ahead of myself, Deano. I got drunk, I messed up. She stormed out, got hit. She had amnesia, Dean. I made her think I was her boyfriend. Today, today she remembered everything. She kicked me out.”
“Jesus Christ, Aidan. What the hell made you think that was a good idea?”
“I…I love her, Dean. I really do. I’m not good enough for her. I thought…”
“It doesn’t matter what you thought,” Dean cut him off, “You need to make things right. I love you to death, mate, but that was the stupid thing you have ever done. You’re not treating that girl right. I haven’t even met her yet but from what I’ve heard from you, she deserves more than that.”
“She does. She really does. She deserves much more than me.”
“Get some bloody self-esteem, Aido. You deserve her, and she deserves you. Just fix it, alright?”
“Alright.”
“Listen, mate, I’ve gotta go. Ring me later, okay?”
“Thanks Dean.”
“I’m always here for you, Aido. Just fix things with Amber.”
He hung up.
It took another two uneasy hours before the phone rang again. It was the hospital.
“Amber?” he asked desperately.
“Uh…sorry, Mr. Turner, this is Ms. Sutton at St. Anna’s. Your message was transferred to Room 204, and we have a response for you. She requested that you come down to the hospital for a meeting.”
Aidan sighed with a mixture of relief and fear.
“Thank you. I’ll get over there immediately.”
He hung up the phone and rushed out of the flat.