Thank you everyone for your kind reviews! Remember, rate and review. Angst galore in this chapter, ye be warned.
And I've been wrong, I've been down...
-This Is How You Remind Me; Nickelback
Rapunzel's eyes watered whenever she tried to breathe. The air was filled with the scent of bleach and antiseptic but somehow it couldn't mask the stench of sickness. She hated hospitals. Hated it ever since she had to spend one week here, tending to her mother who suffered from an unfortunate miscarriage. I remembered how much I wanted to take her and go home, the blond thought.
Yet here she was, pacing the floors, waiting for the Overland family to finish their visit before she would be allowed in. Her hands trembled as she gripped her scarf tightly. She hadn't seen the looks on Jack's parents and sister's face since they were here before her but she dreaded them all the same. She wondered if they would hate her for what she had done to their son.
It had been one week since Jack's fall and only today did she get the call that he had awoke. Rapunzel had been pacing the floors for almost one hour. She knew she looked like a total nervous wreck.
She was just about to circuit pass the water cooler again when the doorknob turned. She ducked her head down, unable to meet them in the eye as she trailed in the room. Rapunzel heard the steady thump, thump, thump of Jack's heart echoing in the room and somehow she felt calmer.
His eyes were closed but when he heard her enter, they opened; a mixture of wariness and puzzlement.
"How are you feeling, Jack?" she asked cautiously.
He gave her a polite smile but there was something strange about it. It tugged at her subconscious like a neglected child and she frowned.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking," he replied in the same infuriating tone.
A thought than struck her. Maybe he's mad at me? She sat down on the bed, biting her lower lip.
"Thank goodness you're well, Jack, I would have beaten myself up if anything bad ever happened," she took a deep breath. This is it; it was time to address the white elephant in the room.
"I'm so sorry for what I put you through Jack," she blurted. "It was just- I didn't know a-and- "
"Excuse me, miss," Jack interrupted, his polite but confused smile still in place. "I think you have me confused with someone else, I've never met you before."
His statement made her stop her torrent of apologies. She gave an uneasy laugh.
"Look, Jack, I know you're mad at me and it is my fault but you didn't have to hit below the belt-"
"I'm sorry, miss, I really have no idea who you are," he insisted. "If you want, I can ask the nurse this man you're seeking," he answered helpfully.
Rapunzel felt the breath escape from her, as if she had been punched in the gut. She could see the look on his face. He wasn't pretending. Jack really didn't know who she was.
She stumbled away from him, muttering apologies under her breath. She closed his room door and literally ran down the hallway. A mummer of voices made her pull up short. His parents! She thought. They'll know what's happening to him.
The blonde all but tripped into the waiting room, her eyes wide and panicked. "What's wrong with him?" she exclaimed. She was confronted with three pairs of similar brown eyes with varying emotions. Andrew Overland, lithe and slender like his son was giving her an impassive look. Sarah and Emma Overland, spitting images of one another were both glaring openly at her.
"He lost his memory, that's what," Emma answered and Rapunzel had never heard that much bitterness in the young girl's tone. Her mother was no better.
"He can't even remember us," she said in a broken voice. Mr. Overland wrapped his arm around her. At least he gave her a compassionate look.
"H-He doesn't even remember me, either," she confessed.
"Good."
Mrs. Overland's response was like a slap to her face and Rapunzel gave her a befuddled look.
"The more he doesn't remember how his own girlfriend caused him to fall into a lake, the better," she replied, her usually warm eyes were hard as iron. Beneath them, she could see the pain and motherly protection. Rapunzel felt miserable. Pathetic. Wretched.
She wanted to ask them what would happen now. She wanted to ask them if there was anything she could do. She wanted to apologize. But instead, all she whispered was, "How?"
"His head collided against a rock and he suffered a concussion," Mr. Overland answered kindly.
"And nobody told me?" Rapunzel asked, her expression the epitome of hurt.
He shrugged; weary lines around his mouth when he frowned. "We just found out today, too."
Rapunzel moved her leaden limbs back towards Jack's room. "I have to help him, I h-have too-"
"You can help him by staying away," Emma replied, blocking her path.
She was taken aback. Telling her that she was wrong was one thing, but telling her to stay away would be another.
"Emma, please, I n-never meant it, I have t-to see t-to him a-and-"
"She's right," Mrs. Overland added, unflinching.
"Maybe you should leave him." And never come back. The words weren't said, but the implication hung heavy in the air.
Rapunzel nodded her thoughts sluggish. She felt as if she were in a dream. A horrible, twisted, cruel dream. Jack couldn't possibly forget about her. She would wake up and shake of this terrible nightmare and later, she and Jack would go out and watch a movie, maybe even have lunch at their favorite café. But one glance at their faces told her this wasn't made up. This was real and Jack had lost his memories.
She could feel Emma's glare on her back when she existed the room. Muffled sobs followed but she was beyond caring. She was beyond feeling.
Somehow, Rapunzel had found herself seated in her car, gunning the engines and a minute later, she noticed that she had stopped in front of her house. She tried to recall ever driving away from the hospital but here she was, staring at the wooden door of her modest terrace house.
Mechanically, she went through the motions of unlocking the door and only when she saw her mother's concerned face swimming from the recesses of her numb mind did she let out a sob.
"Rapunzel?" her mother said in alarm, catching her before she could sag onto the carpet. "What's wrong? Are you alright? Did something hurt you?" she could feel cool, dry fingers skimming over her forehead.
Her vision went blurry and for a moment she panicked. The taste her own tears relieved her chaotic thoughts but only marginally. Her ears rang and she felt hot and cold at the same time. Her eyes hurt, her throat clenched and she clutched to her mother with a whimper.
How she had ever choked out the story to Alaine Persinett was beyond her comprehension but her mother just held her close, stroking her hair rhythmically. She was muttering soothing responses but Rapunzel had turned deaf. He's amnesiac because of you, thrummed through her brain, like the constant beating of Jack's heart when she had entered the hospital room. Like his smile and his laugh.
It hurt. It honestly wrenched her gut out and Rapunzel only sobbed harder.
"I-I n-need to g-g-get out of here," she sniffed. "Ich möchte nach Hause gehen," she mumbled. "I want to go home."
Her mother gave her a compassionate and sad smile. "I want to go back too, mein Kind, but that's just the grief talking," she said gently. "You'll change your mind."
Rapunzel wanted to believe so badly, but she knew things had changed.
"It's my fault, mum," she wailed. "If I wasn't so stupid, he would still have his memories."
"Rapunzel," her mother said as she caressed her daughter's long blond hair. "Amnesia doesn't last a lifetime, he'll remember…Just give him some time."
She nodded, hope blooming in her chest. It would all get better.
But it didn't.
A month had passed without any word from the Overland's and every day, she wrestled with her urge to call them and the need to leave them alone. The words that Emma had uttered still stung. Emma was like her own sister, and the two would share their innermost secrets with one another. Since she had no female siblings, she would often come to Rapunzel for comfort and advice.
"I can't take it anymore!" Rapunzel blurted one day. Her outburst startled Mrs. Persinett who looked up from the morning paper. "I can't take not knowing if he's alright."
Understanding flooded her eyes as she faced her daughter with concern. "Do you want me to call the Overland's for you, instead?" she questioned gently. Rapunzel nearly trip in her haste to pass her the phone.
The wait was agonizing but the call went through. Mrs. Persinett asked about the family and why they didn't come over for Taco Fridays anymore. Rapunzel worried her bottom lip as she waited for the moment they would talk about Jack.
"I heard what happened to your son, and we're so sorry," Alaine finally said.
The response was frosty but Mrs. Persinett didn't let it get to her.
"How is he, now? Did he reclaim his memories back?"
On the other end of the line, Sarah Overland gave a tired sigh.
"The doctors said its best that we let him heal by himself, he just remembered yesterday that Emma was his sister and not some random girl following him," the memory made a lump formed in her throat.
"Does he remember what happened?" Alaine's tone was hesitant.
"Hopefully not," Sarah answered bluntly. "Look, Alaine, we've been friends for years, ever since our children were dating. I don't want to begrudge your daughter, but I think it's best if she stayed away from him for now," she bit her lip. "He's been having…recurring nightmares, and sometimes he gets so frustrated that he throws a fit – it even scares me," she admitted, twisting the phone cord nervously.
"I understand, Sarah, you need to heal, but please…Rapunzel was like a daughter to you, don't heap the blame on her when she's suffered too," Mrs. Persinett didn't wait for Sarah's answer and put the phone down.
Rapunzel hovered beside her. "Well?" she demanded nervously.
Alaine grimaced. "It seems Jack's even worse than we thought. He's having nightmares and flashbacks and he can't even remember Emma's name."
All the hope died from her eyes and Alaine watched painfully as her daughter's defenses crumbled before her. She let the girl sit beside her and thought carefully.
"Mein Kind…if I ask you to do something, will you?" she asked, suddenly.
Rapunzel gave a confused look but nodded.
"I want you to go back to Germany. Your father and I will book a college for you there, and you'll stay with Nana, is that okay?"
"Will dad be okay with it?" she asked. Edmund Persinett worked for an electronic company in Japan and was rarely ever home unless it was the holidays.
"I'm sure your father would be fine with it," her mother reassured. "I'll tell him on the phone, he'll understand."
Rapunzel felt like she was carved out of stone. She could hardly breathe. Well, this is what you wanted, isn't it? Her subconscious questioned smarmily.
"Alright," she said softly. "I'll go." Rapunzel gave her mother a weak smile. "Thanks mum. I think it's for the best."
Alaine hugged her daughter, feeling her body tremble slightly.
"Besides, you deserve this after the whole ghastly ordeal," she murmured and her daughter responded with a sigh.