The Boy I Can't Remember

Chapter 15.

Thank you for 20K! It means the world to me that people actually read this, I'm such an amateur writer that's still learning but all the support has been incredible.
I notice each and every one of you who vote and comment! Enjoy this chapter angels.

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I'm thrilled because it's Friday evening, meaning that it was officially summer holidays. I was chilling in bed watching murder documentaries; the best kind of documentaries and sipping on an iced tea when Ryder opened my door and poked his head in.

"Hey." He says.

I take one of my earphones out of my ear.

"Hey." I smile.

"What are you up to?" He asks.

"Watching Out Of Thin Air."

I can see he's waiting for me to explain further.

"It's a murder documentary, it happened in Iceland." I answer.

I pat the space on my bed next to me and invite him to join me. He shuts the door behind him and lays with me, my bed isn't the biggest so we are extremely close, our shoulders touching. I give him an earphone and move my laptop to the midst of our laps. Within the next ten minutes Ryder is heavily indulged in the documentary, even more than me and I loved watching this type of stuff.

He'd make comments like "This is fucking bizarre," and "So where the hell are the bodies?" all throughout.

It was entertaining actually, watching him watching the documentary.

An hour had passed and the credits starting rolling on the screen.

"What are we watching next?" He asks me enthusiastically.

I snicker, "Ryder, it's 2AM."

"Oh shit, well it's a good thing it's the early hours of Saturday so we don't exactly have to go to sleep anytime soon." He winks.

I power off my laptop, "Too bad I have my doctors appointment at 11."

"Ah, I forgot." He replies and takes the earphone out his ear.

"Say goodbye to these ugly stitches." I say and point right where my nasty wound sat on the right side of my forehead.

"Goodbye fuckers!" He responds.

We both try to muffle our laughter. This is the moment I realised that being with Ryder made me stop overthinking, he had been here for me from the beginning and it's weird because in my mind I've only known him for a week, a freakin' week! When technically we had know each other for six months yet I had not a single memory of him, his face was unfamiliar yet his presence wasn't. I felt like it's been way longer than a week, longer than six months even - of hanging out with him.

Did we have this connection in the past? Did I ever have a crush on him before the accident? It didn't matter though because right now I'm here with him and it felt right.

Ryder jumps out of the bed, "Have an awesome sleep, try not to dream about me too much."

I roll my eyes and almost hit him with a pillow. "I will be dreaming about Idris Elba."

"He's like 50." He exaggerates his age.

"45." I correct him, "Goodnight Ryder."

He leans down and kisses my forehead before leaving to his own bedroom. 'His bedroom' I repeat in my head, I had fallen into a habit of calling the spare bedroom Ryder's and he had only been here for a couple of days. I liked being just across the hall from my romantic interest and it definitely won't be the same when he leaves.

•••
When I woke up in the morning I quickly brushed my hair and teeth and got dressed. Ryder wasn't here, he went over to Will's, which was good that their friendship is back on track. Mom was kind enough to make me a tea and toast before we had to leave for my appointment.

"Thank you again mom" I set my tea down on the coffee table, "For letting Ryder stay here."

My mom ties her thin, golden bronze hair into a low bun. You wouldn't think that she was almost 46 years old, she had the face of a 30 year old and I hope that will be the same for me in thirty years time.

"If you were ever in trouble I'd hope someone would do the same for you." She replies.

I doubt anyone would.

We get to the hospital and in no time I feel uncomfortable tugging at my skin as the nurse pulls the stitches out of my head. Quick and painless but a little uncomfortable. The nurse inspects for any signs of infection but she tells me it has been healing very well.

"Will it scar?" I can't help but ask.

"Possibly. But it'll end up being a faint scar, barely noticeable." The nurse answers.

My mom and I then walk into Dr Nguyen's office and sit down. He asks me questions, a lot of them. Like have I been feeling dizzy, nauseous or anything I should tell him. I remember what happened at the skate park, on my first day back at school when I blacked out and the ambulance came. With my mom sitting next to me I considered if I should say what happened, I just knew she would yell at me once we got home. Her worry turns into anger real fast.

"I blacked out a few days ago." I admit to the doctor.

I can feel my mom's hard stare.

"What happened exactly?" Dr Nguyen asks.

"I started feeling dizzy and I just passed out. Apparently I was convulsing whilst I was out cold." I tell the truth.

"It's likely you suffered a seizure. Common with brain injuries, I'm going to write you a prescription for an anti-convulsant medication." The doctor says.

I don't say a word about that memory flashback I had because it only happened once and it lasted two seconds. It might not ever happen again so what's the point?

I get an MRI scan which made me sweaty, I don't do tight spaces. They made me anxious, I felt trapped for the entire thirty minutes of being in the loud machine. They tell us that they'll call sometime next week for the results. Although I think the results will be good, I feel like I'm healing.

The drive to the pharmacy and then back home is unsettling, there was dead silence between mom and I, she was definitely mad that I didn't tell her about having an apparent seizure. So as soon as she puts the car in park I practically run into the house and upstairs to my room to avoid her. I mean what was I suppose to say? "Oh yeah I wagged class on the first day back to hang out at a skate park and then blacked out and the ambulance was called."  Because that would go down well.

I look at myself in the mirror, closely checking how noticeable my cut was without stitches or a bandage. You could see it but it wasn't too bad, it had closed up. Suddenly Ryder appears in the doorway of my room. I look at him, he has a goofy smile on his face.

"I have a surprise for you." He says.

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Reading your comments about Lily was interesting! So now I want to know who is your favourite character?

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-S