Remember Amnesia?
The sky is crimson as the sun's golden rays leave disappear under the horizon. Ahead, the road is empty, and it seems as though we have the deserted stretch of the old bumpy road to ourselves. Patches of fields and houses fly in and out of our vision as my day's old truck rumbled down the bumpy road. The air smelled of the manure heaped onto the fields that day, but my brain seemed to be sending the signal to my nose to filter it out because the only thing I could smell was her mysteriously intriguing smell that always filled my lungs; making my heart race, my palms sweat, my stomach churn without warning, and my tongue tie itself in a knot. Lea has been my best friend since as long as I can remember. We grew up together, and she's been there for as long as I can remember. Lea is also the prettiest girl in school. No, she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. No, she's the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world. But she isn't just pretty; she's smart- smarter than anyone I know. And, just amazing in every way possible. And here she is…next to me…a sweating, stammering, idiot with a truck that could break down at any moment, and leave us stranded five miles from her house with cows and all their splendor surrounding us on all sides.
I look over at her. Just a quick glance. I can't help but smile because her feet are dangling out the window blocking the side view mirror, and her hair is tangling itself into a jungle as she leans back in the seat with her head tilted so the wind can enjoy her in all her glory. She catches me.
"What?" she says with a smile stretching across her face.
"You're going to get bugs stuck between your toes," was all I managed.
The smile doesn't leave her face though, and before I could react she yanked her feet back in and leaped across the seat and kissed me. This wasn't how she normally kissed me. She usually teased me- making fun, until at last she would kiss my cheek and apologize even though she didn't need to. When I was sick, she'd make me soup and kiss my forehead and tell me I felt hot even though I couldn't possibly keep cool under the circumstances. This was completely different. Her fingers laced behind my head, pulling my hair, she pulls me closer and our lips press together tight. She does it again and again, and I realize I hadn't been breathing. She pulls away, and our eyes meet. Her eyes dart for just a moment out windshield, and they pop to the size of tennis balls, but I was still too dazed to comprehend anything.
"Stop!" she yells, but by then it was too late. I feel my body fly forward as my feet slam on the breaks with all my might. A deer darts from the road. Everything is moving in hyper speed, far too fast for me to understand. One snap shot after is snapped and left for me to grasp as time flies past us in a blur. My seatbelt reaches it maximum length, and I reach its limit. My upper body's momentum pushes my torso forward, and the airbag deploys. My hands hurry into the air to knock back the nuisance and I tear at my seatbelt in anguish until I am at last free. I kick the door open, and time finally slows and freezes. I run as fast as I can, but I can't get to Lea fast enough. Her limp body is lifeless and sprawled out across the road some twenty feet from the truck. I reach her, and throw myself to the ground.
"LEA?! LEA! LEA!!!"
My heart never ran so fast. This, by far, was the hardest my stomach ever turned. No sweat ran through the crevices of my hands. My blood ran cold. Gently, I reach under her back, and lift her into my arms.
The softest sound reaches me over the ringing in my ears. She moans softly in pain. I fear for the worst. I look desperately around us for some sign of help. There has to be a house around the field nearby. I hope. I take off running. Had I been running under any other circumstances, I'm sure I would have been in pain. I feel nothing. My body is numb, and all I need to do is get her better.
I can see the house. There are shouts coming from all directions.
"Call an ambulance!"
"Someone's hurt!"
I reach them, and my mouth runs ten miles faster than my brain, but they seem to understand. We need help. The seconds tick away until an ambulance finally arrives. Time picked up again, and everything after this seemed to be a blur, but at least I could see everything, and understand most of what was going on. One of the ambulance guys took her from me, and set her in the stretcher. I climbed up in after them.
"I don't know if you can come along," a timid looking guy tries to reason with me.
"I don't think so, Pal. DRIVE." I watch her as the minutes tick by. The whole tim I hold her hand, and we arrive at the hospital.
They pull the stretcher out and run her into the building; I run along side until we get in. The whole time the doctors are yelling for what she needs. They tell me she'll have all she needs, and all I can do is call up our folks and wait. I call them, and they rush over. We sit in the waiting room and the minutes tick by. A nurse comes in and out to update us and assure us that our Lea will live to see another day. Finally, she comes out and asks to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Lopton alone. I protest immediately. Anything they can know, I should too.
"He is part of the family," Mrs. Lopton states, practically dismissing the nurse, obviously she saw no problem. The nurse agrees, and leads us closer to Lea.
Just as I begin to become relieved that she is okay, the nurse stops me racing into the room.
"There is something you should know," she says, turning to the other two. Immediately, my stomach starts to churn.
"She hit her head pretty good. She has a concussion, and she couldn't tell us her name, birthday, or what year it was. The doctors believe she is suffering from amnesia." The room begins to spin. Lea won't remember me. I dash in with the others behind me. Her eyes meet mine, but her face doesn't light up like it did. She stares at me curiously.
"Hello," she says as though we were being introduced for the very first time.
"Uhm…Hi" I look back cautiously to her parents. Martha gives me an encouraging nod, and I try again.
"Lea?" I try. Her face contorts as she concentrates.
"I'm Leah. I'm Leah Sara Lopton," she says, looking quite accomplished.
"I know you are, Sweetheart," I say back trying to choke back my tears. She smiles, completely confused and lost. I feel so sorry. This never would have happened, if I hadn't let her hang out the damn window.
"Oh, what's wrong?" she pleas; her voice completely innocent and sincere.
"I'm just so glad to see you," I say dumbfounded as the tears stream down my face. I couldn't possibly imagine anything more to say.
"I'm glad to see you too," she follows my lead blindly, not remembering anything about me. She couldn't possibly feel anything for me…not like she did. Just an hour or two ago, I was the happiest person in the world…for just a moment. Now that moment was gone; but I could feel my heart pounding faster again just thinking about it. I won't let her walk through the world not knowing who she is…or was at least.
I move toward her, and her face reddens just slightly. Could she possibly be embarrassed in front of me? No, never. That's crazy. It's supposed to be the other way around…
That's when it hit me. I had to be the crazy, spontaneous one. I had to show her what she meant to me. I wasn't about to lose her. She'll remember. This could only be temporary, and I'd just have to make her soup and kiss her forehead until everything clicked back into place.
"Will she get better?" I ask without turning around.
"She may. She may have to relearn everything in her life. She may never be the same again," the nurse explains. I hear Martha sobbing, and I know Joe is comforting his wife just behind me. I would be Lea's Joe, and she would be my Martha. I would fix her. I know I could. I move next to her bed, and kneel beside her. I lift her hands up into mine, and look at her blushing face, now trying to hide from me. I smile. I couldn't help it. I felt ridiculous knowing what I was about to do; knowing she'd have laughed at me…or maybe things would have been different…maybe she'd have kissed me again like she did.
"My name is Cameron Johnathon Thomas," I kiss her hand with ease. I don't even know what nervous is anymore. It's not a word I'm familiar with.
"You don't know me know me right now because you don't remember. We're only seventeen, but I'm madly in love with you. I'm going to make sure you remember everything. I promise. Okay?"