Small Things

Chapter Ten

It only takes about ten minutes to reach the hospital, but the drive felt like it took an hour. On the ride there I keep replaying my conversation with Mitch in my head. What could be going on? I avoid trying to think of what could be wrong because I know my mind will spin much worse ideas. I try to tell myself that this is just somehow all apart of Sophia's match making plans, but I know deep down it's not.

            When I walk into the lobby I am greeted by a sobbing Sophia and very stern faced Mitch. Sophia runs up to me and hugs me tightly. I return the hug and don't let go, I don't know what's going on, but clearly she needs this.

            "Mitch what is going on? Why are we here, where is Erik?" I try to hide the panic in my voice for Sophia's sake, but I'm sure it was still noticeable.

            "Erik was in an accident on the way home. He was t-boned by a pick up on a back road. It took a while before anyone found them because both drivers were knocked unconscious during the crash."

            "Oh my! Is Erik okay? How about the other driver?" My words come out in such a rush they sound like one long word.

            "Physically he is okay, his left arm is broken, but they already had that taken care of before we arrived. However he took quite the blow to the head during the accident."

            "So does he just have a killer headache like I did?"

            "Emma, I wish I could say it was the same as yours, but it's a lot worse." Mitch avoids making eye contact with me and Sophia continues to sob in my arms.

            "What is a lot worse supposed to mean?" My stomach starts to knot up; I really don't think I want to hear the answer. I am already silently blaming myself for whatever is wrong with him. I should have let me go home earlier or kept him at my apartment longer. One minute either way could have prevented whatever is wrong with him.

            "Emma come with me, I think it is easier to explain if you see for yourself."

            "Can we let Sophia calm down before we go?" She was already starting to sob lighter. I'm not really sure if it is actually because she is calming down or because she is running out of tears.

            "I'm fine; I can pull it together to go in there." She sits up and wipes her eyes and nose with a tissue. Mitch leads the way as Sophia and I follow behind holding hands, I give her hand a squeeze to reassure her it will all be okay. Even though I really can't say that, because I still don't know what is going on, but I hope everything will be okay. When we arrive at the door way I take a deep breath before entering to attempt to calm myself a little.

            When we enter Erik is in the bed with the head tilted up, there is numerous wires attached to him. There is a middle aged man in a white lab coat to his left; I am assuming this is his doctor. He shines a light in both of Erik's eyes and asks him to follow his finger. When the doctor is done Erik faces forward in bed and makes eye contact with me. His arm is in sling which doesn't surprise me since Mitch said he broke it, what does surprise me is how bruised and cut up he looks. I was not prepared for that. This is all my fault I shouldn't have kept him out so late or I should have made him drink some coffee before sending him home. I am the reason he is hurt this bad!

            "Emma! What took you so long to get here babe?" Erik motions for me to sit on bed with him. He wraps his right arm around me and plants a kiss on my lips. "Emma who are those two over there? They got here a while ago and that girl has been crying the whole time. Babe I'm so glad you're here, I already feel better with you by my side." This time he kisses my forehead. What the hell is going on? I can't bring myself to form any words I just look around the room. Sophia rushes out of the room, Mitch stays leaning against the door.

            "Erik, I'm going to take your wife outside and explain everything that is going on. You should try to get some rest, you need it." The doctor gives me a sympathetic look as he talks. He must be able to see the confusion across my face, hopefully he can explain all of this.

            "Hurry back Emma, I love you." Am I on that TV show where they prank people because this cannot be happening in real life? Or can it?

            I follow the doctor out of the room and Mitch is behind me. We head to the waiting room and find Sophia again.

            "Emma, please take a sit." The doctor motions to the spot next to Sophia. I sit down and this time she grabs my hand. Mitch takes a sit on the other side of her.

            "Emma, I'm Dr. Letly and I'm your hus...Erik's doctor. I have had the pleasure of getting to work with Mitch on occasion and..."

            "I'm not his wife! Why does he think I am his wife? Is this some cruel joke because its not funny." I am glad that we are not in with Erik because it came out very harshly.

            "We know that Emma. " Dr. Letly has so much understanding in his eyes.

            "Then why does Erik think I am?" Everyone keeps looking at me with sad eyes.

            "Erik took quite the impact to his head. Such an impact can cause a variety of damage and symptoms. It varies from patient to patient. It is very common to have some memory loss with this type of injury."

            "But I was never his wife?" Maybe this is all just a bad dream? That would explain all of it. I try to shake my head a little bit to see if it will wake me up.

            "We all know that. However you were the last person to spend time with him and from my understanding you were out on a date from what Mitch has told me. Now it is not very common but sometime in these situations the brain will latch onto the last person they spent meaningful time with. Sometimes in these cases the brain will fill in extra details to help fill in the voids. This is what is happening with Erik, in his mind you are his wife and this is his brains way of dealing with the trauma."

            "Okay I guess that makes sense in its own way... But why doesn't he remember Mitch and Sophia?" I look over at them. They do not seem surprised by this information we are hearing; I am guessing Dr. Letly has already told them all of this.

            "It would appear he has modeled your relationship off of theirs. He doesn't think he knows them because he has replaced the two of them with the two of you. He remembers everything else from his life and slowly the pieces will start to fall back together as his brain heals. You can think of it as the brains way of protecting itself while it's healing."         

            "How long will it take for him to remember everything?" My head is spinning with all of this information. This isn't a bad dream, it's a nightmare. Except it's not a nightmare so there is no way out of it.

            "It varies from patient to patient from a few days to a few months, sometimes longer. The handful of times I've seen this happen it tends to go smoother if you go along with what he thinks is real. Since he doesn't remember Mitch and Sophia you could suggest that they are your brother and sister and that would explain why they are staying with you."

            "You're telling me I need to move into their house and pretend to be his wife, possibly for months or longer?" If the circumstances were different I might be excited about the idea.

Small Things is now published on Amazon and due to that I can only keep a small amount of the book on here. If you have enjoyed it so far please head over to amazon to finish it! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZPBM641/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=small+things+desiree+mitchell&qid=1572307006&sr=8-1

            "Yes Emma that would be the best thing in this case. I know it's asking a lot of you." Dr. Letly folds his hands together in his lap.

            "I need a minute."  I practically run for the door, I need some fresh air, or maybe I'll be sick.