Differences | Demi Lovato

8

Demi

The nurse came to get me about an hour later, saying that Wilmer was awake, and that the doctor wanted to talk to both of us. When I walked into Wilmer's room, he barely looked at me, his eyes trained on his hands.

"Ah, Mrs. Lovato." The doctor said, shaking my hand. "I understand this is a bit of a shock, but there is good news. Wilmer, your brain is responding beautifully to the healing process, arise from the memory loss, of course. At the end of the day, barring any unforeseen results of the tests we are going to do, I think you'll be okay to go home."

Wilmer raised one eyebrow at him. "And by home you mean...?"

"Our house." I murmured, looking at him. "Our home."

"The best chance of you regaining your memory is by you going back to your old routine. At any point, your memory could be triggered again. Try watching old home movies, or looking at pictures. I would say it's best to avoid any major stressors, so until we know how deep Mr. Valderrama's memory is hidden, I would avoid his contact with the children. I've seen this a few times, and it leaves a long lasting impact on them."

"Okay." I said, rubbing my face. "And how long until... I mean, will he remember?"

"Right now, we don't know. But, we're being optimistic. I'll come by in about an hour, after you've both gotten some food in you, and we'll begin testing."

He walked out, and Wilmer and I sat in silence for a few minutes. Then, his hands came up to press against his forehead. "This is a disaster."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and leaned forward, putting my hand on his thigh. "We're gonna get through this Wilmer."

"How can you even say that?" I flinched, not used to Wilmer taking that accusatory tone with me. "I don't even know who you are!"

"I know." I said gently, and bit my lip. "But you have to trust that you did when you could remember me. You trusted me enough to want to spend the rest of your life with me. You trusted me enough to have two children with. You will remember, but it'll take time."

He shook his head and leaned back against the pillows. "Maybe I should just get a hotel room or something."

"You have to keep your normal routine."

"If I want to remember."

I froze, raising my head to look at him. "Don't you?"

"I don't know... Were we happy?"

"Yes." I whispered, my voice shaking with the fear that he might not want me. "You pushed me out when you found out about the brain tumor, but after that... we were more in love than ever."

He slowly shook his head and sighed. "You don't know how confusing this is."

"I know I don't... You just need to know that I love you. I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt you." I bit my lip and reached over, intertwining our fingers together. "And I'm going to help you through this. Just meet me halfway. If you don't remember anything, and you still want to leave, I won't stop you. Just try, for the sake of the old Wilmer."

He nodded once and swallowed, his hand not putting any pressure around mine. "Okay."

~*~

"So this is our house." I said softly, as we pulled up the driveway. Wilmer had been discharged, so now it was time to leave the safety of the hospital and come home, where it was just me and Wilmer.

"It's nice."

We got out of the car and Wilmer's head was awn a swivel as we walked through the big oak front doors, looking at all of the art and pictures that decorated the walls. One caught his attention, and I watched with baited breath as he examined the picture of us on our wedding day on the wall.