This is a companion to To Remember. You don't have to read that one to understand this one and vise versa, but it's recommended that you do. I hope you like it.
Nico's forgetting things lately. It's just simple things now, like where something is or what's happening on the ship. Everyone's walking on eggshells around him. We don't want to scare him with our own fears. We're all worried. I'm worried.
Hazel says that Nico's problem probably stems from the trauma of going through Tartarus alone. I agree. I'm not well-versed in this medical stuff, but it seems like a good guess. I just want him to be okay again.
I just hope he can remember.
Oh gods, he's getting worse. He's taken to writing everything down, but he's also taken to misplacing the paper. He's constantly losing things and forgetting everything that's happened before the last five minutes. It's even gotten to where he's forgetting our names. Sure, it's not for long, but Nico's forgetting names. He's forgetting my name.
Nico needs help. I want to help him so badly, I just don't know how. How do you help someone who can't remember anything? I'm trying to be patient and be there to help him remember. It's not going well, though. I'm getting desperate.
I want him to remember.
Nico doesn't even know where we are anymore. We tell him over and over. He just forgets it the minute we say it. He's hard to talk to. It's like talking to a brick wall; he spaces out and doesn't speak for long minutes, then says a single sentence and goes back to silence.
He forgets our names more and more now. It takes him minutes of staring at us to finally get our names, only to get them wrong most of the time. I hate to say it, but I've started crying myself to sleep at night. I want my Nico back.
Please, he has to remember.
The others have just given up. They walk away when he takes to long to recall who they are. They've stopped telling him where we are and who we are. They've just given up. I can't give up though. I'll never give up on him.
I still cry at night. I barely sleep anymore. The tears just don't stop. I try to be quiet, but I know Nico hears me. My Nico would help me, but this isn't my Nico. This is some stranger that shares my bed, yet I can't bring myself to make him leave. Maybe, just maybe, he can find himself. Because I'm not sure I can.
I need him to remember.
He's gone. My Nico is gone. The stranger in my bed is all that's left. The boy in front of me is not Nico. He has the same name and face, but Nico is gone. Gone for good.
He doesn't remember.