Hi guys! :)
Notes: For BadePrompts final challenge.
Prompt: (S)he didn't tell you, did (s)he? + It's psychosomatic
Beta-read by: seeroftruth
"You're thinking about her again."
Beck looked up from his hands. Andre was standing in front of him, hands in his pockets. Worn expressions were on both their faces.
"Can you blame me?" was all he asked, straightening up from his hunched position and leaning his head back on the cool, hard wall.
Andre shook his head. "Nah, man. But you've got to stop doing this to yourself."
A look of irritation crossed Beck's face, where moments before showed a deceptive calm. "Do what? I'm fine."
His best friend sighed and sat down next to him, and he felt the irritation subside. It was only concern, after all; it wasn't a reprimand.
"Came to see her?" asked Andre.
"Yeah."
"How'd that go?"
"Okay." It took a while for Beck to elaborate. "She called the nurse and threw her orange at me."
"Ah," Andre mused. "At least it wasn't the whole tray this time."
His smile was infectious, and a chuckle escaped Beck's lips. "I guess you could say things are looking up."
Andre nodded and patted his friend on the back. "Hang in there, Beck. She'll remember you." And with that, he stood up. "Tori's waiting for me in the car. We'll be back tomorrow. Are you sure you don't need a ride home? Maybe some rest will do you good."
Maybe it will, Beck agreed, but he couldn't make himself stand up. "No thanks, man. I'm good."
"You know, that was just a polite way of saying you need a shower. Maybe she keeps throwing things at you because you reek."
Beck looked down on himself, and saw that he was still wearing the same clothes he had on two days ago. Doubt it, but it won't hurt to try. "Point taken." Finally, he stood up. "I'll just tell Jade I'll be right back."
"Alright. Meet you in the car." Andre waved off.
Beck walked along the stale smelling, fluorescent lit corridor, towards his girlfriend's room. When he reached it, he didn't bother to knock. The door was open a crack, and he could see that she was sleeping. Nonetheless, he entered the room.
His stomach dropped, as it always did when he saw her in this state: head bandaged, wires stuck to her steadily moving chest. I did this to her, he thought, if only I had…
He was reaching for her hand, and it was too late to stop himself when he noticed. Jade's hand twitched, but she remained asleep. She always was a heavy sleeper. He could jump up and down her mattress and she wouldn't even fidget. Not that he would (now - another time and he would freely do so). He looked at his hands; he washed them sometime in the two days since they got here, but he could still feel the heat of her blood trickling down his palm. He shuddered and told himself to stop remembering. She's safe now, and that's all that matters.
"I'm going out for a bit, babe," he whispered. "Try not to miss me."
"I won't," she answered back,and Beck looked up to see her smirk with her eyes still softly closed. "I've been practicing my aim."
Despite the venom in her words, he couldn't stop himself from grinning ever so widely. "That's my girl."
"Get out."
"As you wish."
"Don't come back."
"Ah uh. You only get one wish," he chided as he started to walk out of the room.
She wanted to say more, but the meds in her system told her to go back to sleep.
"Beck, how much longer do we have to go through these god forsaken woods?"
Her tone was scathing, but it just made Beck chuckle. "You love these 'god forsaken' woods. It's your favorite place next to the cemetery, remember?"
"Not when I'm blindfolded!" she hissed. "I'm missing out on the creepiness and I hate that."
"You didn't hate the idea a while ago," he pointed out as he pushed a branch back so they could pass. "In fact, I recall you saying that you love the dark."
"I also recall you saying we were almost there. In what dimension would that be?"
"This one," he said as they stopped walking. He took off her blindfold, and when Jade was about to say something he turned her around. They were in the clear, the woods behind them. The grass covered the ground all the way to the edge of the lake.
"You like it?" He asked as he put the blindfold in the basket Jade wasn't aware they brought.
She looked around. It was dark, yet not at all. The moon seemed to have cooperated, and it illuminated the lakeside brilliantly. "How far did we have to walk to get here?" she asked, fiddling with the edge of her shirt. She was beginning to see where this was going.
"Not much," Beck answered. He was setting up the picnic he'd prepared for them on a blanket a few steps away from her. "We went around in circles for a while 'cause I couldn't figure out the path I made in the dark."
"I'll have to get rid of that path," Jade said as she turned around and saw the spread. Her eyes went wide and her face went hot. So she was right.
He still didn't look up from what he was doing, so he couldn't see the horror stricken face his girlfriend had on. "Why would you do that?"
"So nobody would find your body once I'm done with it." She wanted to stop him, stop this, from happening.
Beck looked up then, and that's when he saw her panicked expression. "Woah, what's wrong, babe?"
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Uh," he looked back at the picnic he prepared.
"You know what I think?" she asked, but didn't give him time to answer as she walked right up to him, "I think you're about to propose!" Her fingers were jabbing at his chest, her tone very, very accusatory.
"What? Pfft. Me?" Beck scoffed. "Propose? Here? That is so cheesy. Why would I propose here?"
"Are you?" She ground out, her face a few deadly inches away from his.
He looked around for something to distract her with. "Hey, is that a frog?"
She threw her hands up. "I knew it! God! Beck we've talked about this a million times, remember?"
He gave in. "Yes, we have, and it still doesn't make any sense to me. Why can't I marry the woman I love?"
"Because marriages ruin everything!"
"What will it ruin?" Beck asked, his voice rising.
"Everything!" Jade shouted. "Just - ugh. I'm done talking about this." And with that, she started to walk off.
Beck followed her "I'm not! Jade! Come on!"
She broke into a run. She was not going to let him do this to her. To them. The idea of marriage has ruined many things in her life, and she's not about to let it ruin this one.
Her vision was getting blurry, but she didn't stop to dry her eyes. Stubborn. He is oh, so stubborn. How many times have we been over this and yet, here he is. Again. God he can be so—
She stepped into a crack, and she lost her footing. Suddenly, her body went crashing down, but not before her head hit a low branch.
The dark night turned pitch black.
"Ms. West."
The authoritative voice brought her back from her sleep. Jade looked up at the man, and she was surprised to see that Beck wasn't anywhere in sight.
A moment of panic seized her. "Where's Beck?"
Surprise registered in the doctor's face. "You remember now?"
Crap. She looked at him, and then around the room. Thankfully, they were alone. "What are you talking about?"
"You hit your head rather nastily, and we were afraid you had lost your memory. But the test results are back and there was no evidence of anything that could cause that. I'm glad you remember things now."
She didn't forget anything. She wanted to, and so she pretended she did. For the first few days she was here she feigned amnesia. It was much easier to deal with than the proposal bit.
"I don't remember anything," she fibbed, her eyebrows knitting. Might as well use those acting lessons in Hollywood Arts. "I don't know what I'm saying."
The doctor looked perplexed, and he assumed Jade was merely confused. "It's too good to be true, I guess. But this is progress. On a subconscious level you could already recall things that your conscious self is not yet ready to handle."
"I thought you were a medical doctor, not a psychiatrist," Jade hissed.
"Well, I…"
"Don't tell anybody about this."
"But surely you'd want them to know that—"
"Are you me now, too?" The look on her face told him to drop it. "No. I'll be the one to tell them."
He eyed her strangely. "Alright." And after checking her charts at the foot of her bed and finding nothing of alarm, he left.
They've been staring at each other for what felt like ages.
"You still don't know who I am?" he asked.
She sighed. "I'm beginning to get an idea."
His eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah. You're a very irritating, persistent person who won't leave a sick girl alone."
And just like that, the light left his eyes. Soon it was clouded - by grief or anger she couldn't place. "I was just asking."
"And I was just answering," she shot back.
"I see you didn't forget how to be mean."
She was reaching for her pudding cup, and he took it as a queue to leave. He stood up and raised his hands in defense. "Alright, I'm going."
"You couldn't have gone any sooner."
With one last look her way, he went out the door. As he was about to exit the corridor, he ran into Jade's doctor.
"Hey, Mr. Oliver. How was your bedside date with Ms. West?"
The look he gave the man told him not to pry.
"Could have gone better?"
"You could say that."
The doctor looked confused. "I thought you'd be happy about this."
"What, my girlfriend not remembering my name? How could I be happy about that?"
"Oh, my. She didn't tell you, did she?"
Beck cocked his head. "Tell me what?" He saw the doctor hesitate, and it got him all the more curious. "You can tell me."
The doctor sighed and gave in. "This morning, I though she recovered her memory…"
"Why'd you think that?"
"She was looking for you."
At that his heart raced, but confusion soon took over. "So she does remember me?"
"In a way," the doctor agreed. "I fear her case is psychosomatic: self induced, probably due to a trauma of some sort."
Beck felt his chest tighten.
"The good news is it's easier to cure," he continued, "no permanent damages— hey!"
The door to Jade's room swung open, and Beck came rushing in.
"What do you think you're doi—"
She was cut off by a kiss. Her eyes were wide and it took all her might to push Beck off of her.
"I know that you remembered me, Jade," he started, but Jade look too enraged to let him finish. "Hear me out. Please?"
When she didn't answer, he continued.
"I'm so sorry. I never should have pulled what I did. I'll try to understand your reasons, but know that I may not agree with them. I love you, and I want you by me for the rest of our lives. Marriage is the way I could see it happening."
"It's not the only way-" she fired, but he held up his hand.
"And I want to know what other ways you have in mind. These past few days have been hell for me, all because you don't remember my name. I don't want to not be a part of your life, Jade, and it scares me to think that one day I won't be. I want that guarantee."
"Marriage isn't a guarantee. If it was, there'd be no divorce," she pointed out.
He was silent for a moment. Finally, he was starting to understand.
"I'll never divorce you."
"You won't have a chance to."
"Just saying," he said as he raised his hands in defense. "If we'll ever get married…"
"We won't."
"I'll never leave you, Jade."
Her look was stern; she seemed unfazed, but her eyes were glistening.
"I'll make you a deal," Beck said enthusiastically, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Jade's ear. "No more proposals for marriage…"
She wanted to sigh with relief, but she held it in for what he was about to say next.
"If you promise to remember me again."
The smile she gave him was warm. "Who said I forgot?"
