Hey guys! This is my sequel for Wiped Out. While you can certainly read this alone, I do recommend reading Wiped Out first so you know everything that's going on. Thanks so much for all of the encouragement, and special thanks to Krystalslazz for giving me that last push I needed to write this. I hope you all enjoy it! Reviews are always appreciated, each one means a lot to me! Also, I am NOT a doctor, or medically inclined in any way. Anything I've written about Zane and his condition has come out of my imagination, so please don't worry about whether or not it's factually correct. I don't know anything about amnesia. :) Feel free to PM me with with any questions or criticism. Peace!
-S.
Rikki gazed thoughtfully at the delicate ring that encircled the fourth finger on her left hand. It sparkled brightly in the sunlight, reflecting the brilliant blue of the ocean waves from where she sat on the dock. Just over a month had passed since Zane's memory had returned after the accident. Rikki's memories slid back to the incident almost against her will.
Zane had hit his head in a motorbiking accident and had lost his memory, almost losing Rikki in the process. He hadn't remembered her or anything about her, specifically the fact that she was a mermaid. Rikki's pulse picked up as she remembered how she'd almost lost him forever. Somehow, everything had come together in the end. Zane remembered her, and to Rikki's surprise, he had proposed. The last few days had been absolute perfection for the pair.
...Until about a week ago. Rikki's eyebrows knit tightly together as she recalled how it had started. Well, RE-started. She had arrived at Zane's house early in the morning. They'd made plans to go into town together to check out new uniform designs for the cafe. Rikki thought back to how her nightmare had started all over, losing herself in her memories.
Rikki knocked on the door, surprised Zane wasn't waiting for her on the front steps like he usually did. It was exactly 10am, when they had planned to meet. She waited a few seconds, and then pushed the unlocked door open when no one answered it. "Zane?" She called. Zane's father was out of town, as usual. He had a ton of work to catch up on since he'd missed so much after Zane's accident. He was rarely home lately.
Zane didn't answer her call. Rikki walked timidly through the house, looking for her boyfriend. She made her way upstairs and knocked lightly on his bedroom door. "Zane? Are you in there?"
The door wasn't shut tightly and creaked as Rikki pushed it open. There was her boyfriend, sprawled out across his bed. He lay on his stomach, head turned to the side.
"Here you are, sleepy head." Rikki bounced onto the edge of Zane's bed, leaning over him playfully. "Wake up!" She tickled the back of his neck lightly.
Zane gasped and jumped out of the bed quickly, knocking Rikki back into the foot board with a thump. He stood, breathing heavily and staring at Rikki with blank eyes for several seconds. "What are you doing here..." He quickly deflated just slightly, looking around the room with wide eyes. Eventually he paused, closed his eyes tightly, and shook his head hard. When he reopened his eyes they looked more normal. He exhaled, relieved, as they landed on Rikki. "It's you." He breathed.
Zane collapsed into Rikki's arms like a child, curling up in her lap and letting her hold him tightly on the bed.
"Are you ok?" Rikki spoke quietly, trying to hide the amount of panic she'd felt at Zane's slight outburst.
"Rikki, it's you." Zane murmured, his face buried in Rikki's neck.
"Of course it's me." Rikki was growing even more concerned.
Zane pulled his head away from her neck to look her in the eyes. "I was so scared for a minute." He said quietly, sounding completely out of character. "Rikki, just now when I woke up... I didn't know who you were."
Rikki frowned. "You mean..."
"Yeah." Zane buried his face back into Rikki's neck, breathing in the smell of her hair. "It was just like when I had the accident."
"But you know me now." Rikki said slowly.
"It was only for a few seconds." Zane spoke. "One second I thought you were a stranger, and then I knew who you were. It was really scary."
Rikki stroked Zane's hair soothingly, deep in thought. "Did the doctor tell you that might happen?" She asked softly. "I mean, is this something we should be worried about?"
"I feel fine now." Zane said quickly, sitting up. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me." He forced his face into a half smile."I feel much better now." He stood up, climbed off the bed, and walked briskly to his closet to pull out clothes to change into.
Rikki had kept an eye on Zane for the rest of the day, but he seemed normal from then on. At least he had that day. After that first incident only one day passed before it happened again. This time they had been working at the cafe when Zane had an episode.
Zane stood at the blender, making a simple strawberry smoothie for a customer waiting at the counter. Rikki took the boy's money and then turned to Zane, waiting for the drink.
Zane stood at the blender, his eyes suddenly wild. "How did I get here?" He panicked, jamming at the button to make the blender stop screaming. He backed away from the blender as if it were poisonous. "What is all this?" He stared blankly at the carton of strawberries he held in his hands. He dropped it quickly, sending strawberries rolling all over the floor.
"Zane!" Rikki tried to take his hand in hers but he yanked it out of her grasp.
"I don't know you." Zane backed away from her, his eyes wide. He looked around frantically. "Where am I?" His voice became choked. He clumsily pushed his way through the small gate behind the counter and dashed out of the cafe.
"Wait!" Rikki ran after her boyfriend. She found him a mere moment later, sitting on the dock and holding his knees tightly to his chest. "Are you ok?" She said, placing a gentle hand on Zane's back as she sat down beside him.
"No." Was all Zane had said.
The word echoed through Rikki's memory as she sat on the dock. She'd immediately taken Zane to the hospital to be checked out. They didn't know if these memory episodes were normal for a recovering amnesiac, but they didn't want to take the chance on anything serious being wrong. Rikki wasn't allowed to accompany Zane back to the cat scan hall, so she'd excused herself for a bit of fresh air. Now she sat on the dock just up the street from the hospital, looking out over the water and praying her Zane was alright.
Rikki's phone blipped brightly. She quickly flipped it open.
'All done.' The text read. It was from Zane.
Rikki jumped to her feet and hurried back to the hospital.
"Is your father available to speak to, Mr. Bennett?" The nurse asked Zane as Rikki walked up.
"No, he's away on business." Zane spoke up from the hospital bed. He reached for Rikki's hand as she walked in.
"Zane, I'm afraid your head isn't healing quite as well as we'd hoped it would." The nurse said with a regretful expression. She tacked a few x-rays to the metal railing on the wall. "As you can see, the swelling is down and the blood lines are connected." She pointed.
"Yes, I see that." Zane pushed himself to a sitting position on the bed. "But why is my memory flickering in and out on me?"
The nurse exhaled before beginning to speak. "It's very rare Mr. Bennett, but sometimes when someone experiences a major head injury like yours, the blood vessels in the brain will constrict as it heals. Usually, once the brain heals itself the vessels will relax, allowing an adequate amount of blood to pass through." She pointed to the x-ray. "You're blood vessels didn't do so, I'm afraid. They're still terribly tight. In fact, some of them are almost completely constricted."
"What does that mean?" Rikki spoke up.
"Well," The nurse pursed her lips. "It means you may continue to experience these memory black-outs, Mr. Bennett. I can't say much for sure, everyone reacts differently to the lack of blood flow, but the parts of your brain being deprived of blood are the same parts you injured in the accident, the memory receptors. These memory flashes may never happen again, or they may continue off and on for days, months..."
"Years?" Zane interrupted. His voice echoed through the hospital room.
"There's really no way to tell." The nurse said apologetically. "Since the constricted vessels are in your brain it's incredibly risky to do surgery. It's really best for us to try to wait this out and see if you can't heal yourself."
Zane nodded, deep in thought. It was like reliving his worst nightmare, those brief moments when he couldn't remember anything. It was so terrible, all of a sudden he didn't know who anyone was, or where he was. Then, like waking up, everything would come back. It was a sickening sensation, one he wasn't eager to repeat. "Is there anything we can do to prevent it from happening?" He asked. "Anything I can do to help my blood vessels heal?"
"I'm sorry dear," The nurse smiled regretfully. "But this is something we'll just have to wait out. I'll get your paperwork." She let herself out of the room.
Zane dropped back onto his pillow with a sigh. "I thought this whole mess was over." He exhaled.
"So did I." Rikki stared at her hands. She didn't know what to do with this new information.
Zane turned his face to Rikki's. "I'm scared." He said simply, his eyes searching for something in hers.
Rikki looked at Zane with surprise. It wasn't like him to be so... so vulnerable. "It's going to be ok." She entwined her fingers in his, squeezing his hand tightly. "If we could make it through the amnesia we can definitely get through a little aftershock here or there."
"Of course we can." Zane gazed up into the face of the girl he loved, the girl he couldn't wait to marry. "Everything will be fine." He said, trying to convince himself. "It has to be."