Remember Me

Chapter 10

It was late Friday night, Kassi was fast asleep in her room, Rachel was reading in her room, and Brian was sitting in the guest room.

It had been a particularly stressful day at work for Brian and was quiet most of the night, his headache failing to go away. As he was laid in bed mindlessly staring at the ceiling, he heard his phone buzz on the nightstand. He saw it was from Bryan Johnson and normally, he'd answer it, but tonight just wasn't his night.

However, he didn't want to break the nightly routine he had going of looking at a picture or two before bed. It had been about a week since the memory he had and so far nothing else has happened.

Ignoring the message from Johnson, Brian went to his pictures and scrolled through. He stopped on one particular picture of Rachel and Kassi. Rachel had Kassi in her lap, facing her, as the two were laughing hysterically about something. They both looked adorable. He stared at the picture in disbelief. These two beautiful girls were his.

Suddenly the weight of everything came crashing down on him. Tears started to sting his eyes as he looked at the photo of his wife and daughter. The wife and daughter he forgot. The wife and daughter he couldn't even remember. The tears he was so desperately trying to hold back finally fell free and he didn't even bother to stop them. He had forgotten the last five years of his life.

Rachel was still in her room reading when she got up to go grab a water from the kitchen. As she quietly walked down the hallway she heard a noise coming from the guest room. She walked up and pressed her ear to the door and listened. Confusion filled her mind when she heard sniffling. She gently knocked on the door as she opened it, finding Brian sat on the edge of the bed quickly wiping away his tears.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" She asked concerned as she walked further into the room. As soon as she asked him that he couldn't hold back and started crying even harder. It was breaking her heart. She quickly sat next to him on the bed and wrapped her arms around him. Brian leaned into her, burying his face in her shoulder as his own shook from his cries. "Shhhh. It's okay. I'm here baby, it's alright." She whispered kissing his head and rubbing small circles on his back.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw his phone lying there on the bed with the photo of her and Kassi still up.

"I'm so sorry I don't remember you." He cried. "I'm so fucking sorry."

Rachel could feel tears pool in her own eyes. She had never seen him like this before. She could hear his breath hitch in his throat as he clutched tightly onto her t-shirt.

"Baby, it's okay. It's not your fault." She coaxed as she continued to rub his back. "Just breathe."

She could feel her shirt dampening as his tears streamed down onto her shoulder. His cries had softened and he began taking shaky breaths as Rachel gently rocked him side to side. In that moment Brian felt comforted in a way he never even knew he needed.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly after a few minutes, his head still tucked into her shoulder.

"Don't be. It's alright; I've got you." She reassured him. She brought one of her hands up to stroke his hair as he finally started to calm down. Brian closed his eyes and let the last few tears flow down his cheek. "Everything's gonna be okay." She promised after a few moments of silence.

She kissed his head again and held him a little tighter. Brian pulled his head away from her shoulder and looked at her sadly, his eyes now red and puffy.

"Why don't you hate me?" He questioned. "I don't remember you. I forgot you and our daughter. I'm a horrible fucking person." His voice cracking as emotions started to resurface.