Intertwined

Trauma

The space around Gaga started to fade. The walls, the nurses, they all were a blur of colors and static movement. Natali quickly navigated them through the sterile hallways, hesitant to speak. Upon entering the room, Gaga stayed pensive in her wheelchair. "He doesn't remember me, Nat."

"He was tired. He suffered severe trauma, you both did. He-"

"-He doesn't remember me." 

Natali felt for her sister. "You need to get some rest. This was a bad idea. You should be resting." Gaga agreed and while Natali cuddled close to her later that evening, Gaga forced her eyes closed to sleep away the pain. 

"Ok, all you do is wave hello, pretend to laugh, oh is that Tom Hanks, oh hello, yes I'll have my people will call your people, yada yada yada-- There will be announcements for commercials and then they will let us know when it's back on and you just smile into the camera like this, pucker your lips and act surprised that there is a camera. Wait, you don't have to do anything with your lips, those are perfect..." Gaga couldn't contain her laughter listening to Bradley dramatized what was expected of her during the award show. 

At his last comment, she blushed and saw him look away embarrassed. She gently touched his arm as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Oh my gosh, stop it! I meant, do you have any advice for presenting the award!" 

Bradley felt the electric burn from her touch and could only smile at the woman he just met. "Oh! That's easy, just read. You'll do fine. I'll make sure if you mess up to mess up even worse, ok?" Gaga retracted her hand realizing she was still touching him. 

She cleared her throat, quietly smiling. "That's so sweet of you."  

Bradley yearned for her touch again and simply placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her up the stairs. "Come on, let me show you backstage." 

Gaga's smile fades as she makes her way backstage, a cold darkness settling in around them. Gaga got chills seeing the emptiness around them. Bradley quickly grabs her shoulders, quickly turning her body. A loud shot rang through the midnight air. 

Gaga sits up, awake, covered in a sheet of sweat. The abrasive movement woke Natali. Before Natali can calm her, "Let's see him again in the morning? Ok? Maybe he was just tired." Natali could only nod, holding her sister tight and praying that their speculations were incorrect. 

The next morning Natali wheels Gaga down the halls of the ICU. Gloria waves them in, but they keep a distance seeing that the same detective she spoke with are now interviewing Bradley. 

"Big fan, Mr. Cooper. We just have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind. Why don'y you just go through the motions of the event that occurred and we'll ask you to fill in some holes for us." 

"Sure, but I'll will tell you what I told my doctors, I was driving and then everything goes blank. I don't remember the accident or what happened or what-" 

A pair of doctors brush by Natali and Gaga entering the room. "Excuse me, we did not approve this interrogation." The detectives flash their badges. "Yes, I understand but not when my patient is suffering from memory loss."

The detective close their notepads. "I'm sorry, memory loss? You're telling me Mr. Cooper, doesn't recall the hold up or any of the events from a few days ago?" Gaga and Natali look from each other to as far as  into the room as they can see.

"That's correct. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave so we can speak with our patient regarding his current status." The detectives pass Gloria their card and brush past Natali and Gaga. "Bradley, I apologize for that interruption. Gloria, I know we're just in the middle of figuring all this out once you realized Bradley showed lack of mental awareness. We just received your scans back from the CT earlier today and we are seeing some damage to your pre-frontal lobe."

Bradley looked from his mother to the doctors seriously, still confused about what had happened. "What does that mean? Will I be able to remember the accident?" The doctors look from Bradley to Gloria. "I did have an accident, right?"

"What's important is that you are recovering beautifully...physically. You had an accident of the sorts and we will keep you for observation until we know more about your current condition. Until you are strong enough and we can disclose more. How does that sound?" Bradley cautiously nodded. "Amnesia is a very interesting thing. I worry telling you about the circumstances of your 'accident' may cause more damage due to its overwhelming nature... at this point in time." Bradley confidently nodded, holding his mother's hand, seeing as this was hurting her and he only wanted to put everyone at ease.

"I trust you doc. I'll be ok, right? I'll remember? I'll go back to normal, right?"

"Only time will tell." Bradley searched for more answers. "You just need to keep your stress down and rest. We'll check in on you shortly. Patience, Bradley." The doctors left, reassuring Gloria with a light smile. 

Gaga's eyes already over flowing with tears. She waves at Natali quietly to move her. Natali removed the breaks from the wheelchair, feeling someone brush past them again. "Excuse me, I'm here to see Bradley Cooper?" The nurse points the tall woman in the direction of Bradley's room. 

Natali wasn't quick enough to move the chair before they heard Bradley greet the new visitor. "Oh thank God, babe, I'm glad you're here." Natali was frozen but felt Gaga try and move her own wheels, snapping Natali into action and take off once again down the cold hallway. Heartbroken. Gaga's body was recovering but the pain she felt in her heart was devastating. Natali helped her back into her bed and Gaga didn't move from her position the entire day. The only change she experienced was the drying of her tears. 

"Oh thank God, babe, I'm glad you're here." Irina and Gloria both looked at each other in confusion and then back at Bradley. "What?" Irina hugged Gloria and then went in for a hug but Bradley kissed her on the lips. "What's with you two? I, you're going to want to sit down for what I'm going to tell you." 

"Bradley, I came as soon as I heard what happened-"

"What happened?" Bradley eagerly asked.

Gloria stepped in. "We aren't talking about the accident, Irina. It's better for us to take it slow in disclosing details from the accident. Hun,  just like the doctor said, just in due time, ok?"

Bradley swallowed the directions and accepted the slow process. "Babe, I have slight memory loss from my accident but other than that, I'm ok. It was touch and go for a while, right ma?" Gloria nodded trying to communicate much more to Irina with her eyes. Bradley shook the odd nature of his condition away and grabbed Irina's hand. "None of that matters now. I'm just so glad you're here."