Chapter 2
Bleep… bleep… bleep… bleep.
The constant bleeping was the only thing he could focus on in the dark void he drifted in. The calm and regular bleeping made the time pass by within the darkness. It was soothing.
Bleep… bleep… bleep.
Relaxed. That was what he was. No weights were attached to him, just easy and zero gravity.
He almost jumped when the darkness around him suddenly started clearing. The light was blinding. He wished to block it out, but found his arm suddenly weighed more than before. As much as he tried to lift his arm, he couldn't move it. It was too heavy.
A groan left his lips and the light around him took shapes. He found himself staring at a white ceiling before his gaze wandered down, finding three figures in front of him.
"It's so good to see you." The unknown blonde woman standing by his brother spoke.
"You've no clue of how long we've been waiting for you to wake up, man." Wes said, smiling wide at him.
"Soul," a man wearing a white robe spoke up. "You're in the hospital. You were in a motorcycle accident."
A motorcycle accident? He couldn't recall hitting a motorcycle. Last thing he remembered… it was… what was it?
"Did I..:" his voice hoarser than he expected. "… did I hit him?"
"No you didn't. You were rear-ended by a traffic light," the blonde woman explained.
Now he got it. She was dressed quite informally in her hoodie and leggings for someone of her profession.
"Did you…" he breathed heavily. "… did you get him?"
The woman raised her eyebrow questioningly at him. "What do you mean?"
His eyelids were heavy with fatigue or the drugs they might've given him while he was passed out. "You know… get him in court. You're my lawyer, right?"
Wes's eyes widened and he turned to the woman next to him. Her face paled as if she'd seen a ghost. She suddenly grabbed the frame of the bed and supported herself on it as if she had tripped.
"Maka." Wes grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"I- I need to sit down." Wes helpfully guided her to the chair by his side as she rubbed her hand over her chest.
"Say you're kidding, Soul. You do know who she is," Wes said firmly as he glared at him, rubbing the woman's back.
"She's my lawyer, right?" he repeated.
"Stop messing around, damn it!" Wes hollered. He flinched at his brother's booming voice and unreasonable rage. Wes never got angry. Not like this without a reason. Certainly not to this degree. And why was she even supposed to know her? He didn't remember meeting her and her face didn't ring a bell.
"Mr. Evans keep your voice down. This is a hospital and if you're unable to comply I'll have to excuse you." The man who had to be his doctor said.
The woman's eyes turned glossy and she looked toward the side as she kept on rubbing her chest almost as if she's hurt herself. "Just stop." It was barely a whisper, but his brother cooled down and lowered his gaze in shame. "Soul," she turned her head toward him, staring at him with tears going down her cheeks. "I'm not your lawyer."
Now it was his time to get confused.
She raised her left hand and on her ring finger were one simple silver band and a princess-cut engagement ring with diamonds decorating the band. A knot in his stomach formed before she even opened her mouth. "I'm your wife."
He had a wife? He had never even met this woman! This couldn't be possible! He couldn't remember going to Death Vegas and getting drunk and marrying some girl! This― this just wasn't possible!
He felt sick to the core. Bile turned in his stomach and the world around him spun like no other.
"Hey! Hey! Soul, calm down." Wes spoke through the haze of dizziness and the throbbing of his racing heart in his ears. He clutched his chest as he breathed heavily. Shit. He was sweating. Drowning in his sweat and body beaming with heat. Had the room turned into a freaking sauna?
"Soul, I'm here." A pair of tiny hands cupped his face and steered his gaze to the woman's green eyes. "Listen to me, you're having an anxiety attack. Focus on me and name five things you―"
"Get away from me." He pushed her away.
A pressure on his nose and mouth was added and wind travelled into his mouth. He clutched onto the object and breathed heavily, finding the tingling in his fingers reducing and the beating of his heart slowing down. Before he knew it, he was relaxed.
What even was that?
"This took an interesting turn." The man in the white robe spoke as he stood beside him a metal cylinder which the tube to his mask was attached to. "Soul, we will give you a moment to take all of this in. I'll have a nurse come by and check on you. Mr. Evans and Mrs. Albarn, we'll talk outside."
The woman wiped a tear from her cheek before she exited the room in a hurry with his brother close behind her.
The doctor gestured toward his mouth. "Breathe into it until you feel better. Then you can call on a nurse using the red button on the night stand." Before the door even clicked shut the shouting from the woman began.
…
He was wearing a ring. A wedding ring. A simple silver band. It was nothing like his father's white gold wedding band. It was cheap. He imagined when he got married, he would get something fancier and not a simple silver ring.
Not to mention the woman he married. Who the heck had he even married? He certainly doesn't remember meeting her. She couldn't be a friend of the family. If she was, he should've seen her at one of the many dinner parties his parents enjoyed throwing. Perhaps a classmate in law school? The class had been huge. She could've been one of the many people.
Why had he even married her? What had happened to Anya? He remembered being in a relationship with her. In, what he thought was a stable relationship which would last forever. Their parents were close and they got along well. He adored her much and engagement had been on his mind when they went off to the same collage and rented an apartment together. He was ready to share the rest of his life with her.
What had happened?
He couldn't even recall what happened with them, how he got to this place and, a motorcycle accident? He wouldn't even get on a motorcycle. His mother would kill him if he even went close to one with the mortality rate in motorcycle accidents. He could barely even recognize himself in his behaviour.
Who even was he anymore?
A knock on the door and it cracked open, revealing Wes. "Hey bro." He entered and closed the door behind him.
"Hey," he answered.
"How are you feeling?" Wes took a seat on the chair by his bed.
"Good." But was he really? He was in the hospital for a reason.
"Good." Wes nodded approvingly. "That's really good."
Silence stretched between them. So many questions drifted in his mind and he didn't know where to start. Everything seemed so… different.
But his brother was the first one to break the silence. "I sent Maka back home."
"Who?"
"Your wife. Her name is Maka Albarn."
Maka Albarn. The name didn't ring any bells either.
Wes leaned forward and rested his elbows on the mattress. "No fooling around now, Soul. I'm dead serious. Tell me the truth. Do you really not remember Maka?"
"I've no clue who she is."
Wes lowered his head for a moment in defeat before he looked back at Soul, wearing a smile faker than plastic. "Okay." He nodded. "Okay. Now we know for sure."
"What even happened?"
"With Maka? Doctor Frank sent her home and let me fill you in on what have happened. As you might imagine, she's quite devastated at the―"
Soul shook his head. "Not about her. He said I was in a motorcycle accident. Why would I be on a motorcycle?"
"Oh." Disappointment dripped from the one syllable. "From what I know, you took Maka out on a lunch date and when you would head back, your helmet got stolen, but you decided to drive anyway. By a traffic light, a car rear-ended you and you hit your head quite hard on the concrete. The doctor also told me Maka saved your life by sitting in front of you. Her body shielded you from what they knew was certain death."
So he had been the one to drive. "Do I even have a license to drive the thing?"
Wes nodded. "Yes. You own your own bike too. Maka took it to get it repaired so it would be fixed when you got out. You love that bike a lot."
"Since when did I even become a biker?"
"You were taking your license when you met Maka."
"What age is that?"
"Nineteen."
Nineteen. Then he was a sophomore in college. How could he even think about getting a motorcycle license? He didn't have time for that in his first months of college, so how could he even manage to study law and take a license at the same time? Unless…
"Let me guess," Soul laughed drily. "I don't have a law degree?"
"Spot on."
His lips tightened and he acknowledged the fact. Wasn't he supposed to join his father's company and become one of the company's lawyers? They were both supposed to work in their father's company, but when Wes started his own, he was still supposed to work at their father's company.
"Why?" he voiced.
"You changed your mind."
Soul snorted. "I changed my mind?"
"You changed your mind," Wes confirmed.
Changed. That seemed to be the explanation for everything. His whole life had changed. He married some girl he didn't know, he drove around on bikes without a helmet and he quit law school just because he 'changed his mind'. Nobody changed their mind on law school. His future was perfectly set up for him to follow in his family's successful footsteps. And he 'changed his mind'. It was ridiculous!
"But you do have a bachelor's in music specialising in the piano."
"What?"
"You've a bachelor's in―"
"I heard what you said," he said a little too harshly for his liking.
So he quit a career in law and instead he wanted to study music. Last time he even touched a piano was in sophomore year in high school, and then it had only been a hobby. Never in his wildest dream could he picture himself actually trying to make a living on a degree in music.
"You own a recording studio. You make your living recording band's songs," Wes added.
"So I'm working in a dying field."
"I wouldn't call it a dying field." Wes shook his head. "It's more like… you're competing with the modern digital choices. But there are still people going to your studio to get their things recorded."
"But I can barely afford the bills, right?"
"You're not the main breadwinner if I say so." Wes patted his shoulder and smiled wide toward him. "But you married really well. Maka has a master's in business analytics and she's my partner in my company. She's hard-working and a great stock analyst. She has a heart of gold and let me tell you, your love is strong and unlike any other relationship."
So he wasn't even contributing to anything. He ran a recording studio that didn't even bring in any money. What had even happened to chasing success and following in his family's footsteps? He really had changed in the past years.
Soul massaged the bridge of his nose. "What year even is it?"
"2017. You're twenty-six."
Wow. Twenty-six? It felt like yesterday he was eighteen and packing up to go to college with Anya. When he had moved his and her stuff into their shared apartment and went shopping for their literature to the courses. Now he was broke with a shitty career and a wife he didn't know.
"How about you rest?" Wes rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "It has been a long day and a lot to take in."
Soul's tingling fingers tightened on the sheet and he nodded slowly. "Yeah. Probably a good idea."
"Good." Wes stood on the spot for a while, words visibly rolling around in his mouth. "I-I'll return tomorrow. I'll take some time off tomorrow and I can bring Maka too."
"Can you bring mom and dad?"
"Mother and father?" Wes's eyes bulged as his voice rose in volume.
Soul raised his eyebrow, not expecting his reaction. "What?"
"N-nothing." Wes shook his head, his blonde hair whipping his face. "I'll bring mother and father too."
A smile stretched on Soul's lips. Now he could finally relax.
…
It didn't work.
She stirred the spoon in the black liquid in her paper cup. It did nothing to warm her numb body.
He didn't remember her. He didn't remember her at all. Worse yet, he got an anxiety attack when he learned he was married to her. She was a stranger to him once again. She… oh fuck. She didn't know how to handle this.
Doctor Frank told her he would be okay. This wasn't okay. This wasn't okay at all. He had lost years of his life. This affected his life a lot. How in the world would she handle this? The love of her life was within her reach, she was able to touch him, but he wasn't him. Soul… her beloved Soul, he didn't know her so… how could he love her?
Tears ran down her cheek and she wiped them away.
The chair in front of her was loudly pulled back. "Didn't I tell you to go home?" Wes said as he took a seat in front of her.
She couldn't. Just the few minutes spent in the hospital room when he woke up was so much to take in. The reality that he didn't remember her was enough to have her world come crumbling down. She couldn't leave. She wanted to be there for Soul, but she didn't know how. She tried to help him through his anxiety attack but… but he pushed her away. His hand might as well been a knife when he shoved her away since it inflicted the same wound in her heart.
"How is he?" she asked.
"Overwhelmed. I gave him a basic rundown of his life and he started getting anxiety at the ending of our conversation." Wes grabbed the coffee cup from her hands and grimaced at it. "It's ice cold. You didn't even touch it."
"You can have it." She looked up at her brother-in-law, or was he just her boss now? She didn't know anymore. "Is it really true he doesn't remember me at all?"
The little happiness that was on Wes's face was sucked out. He shook his head slowly. "I made a lot of hints at you and talked as much as I could about you, but he showed no interest or any signs of remembering anything about you."
"I see." She buried her face in her hands and wiped away new tears escaping her eyes.
"But this is actually good. He's not paralyzed or anything like that. The doctor did say he could start gaining his memories back. He said the mind is complex and unpredictable. Who knows, tomorrow he might remember everything about you."
"I don't know." Her hands slid down to her chin, leaving behind smudges of tears. "What if he doesn't remember me? I mean, am I even married to him now?"
"Of course you're still married to him. Just because he doesn't remember you doesn't mean you're a stranger to him. You're still his wife and if he won't remember you, there's only one choice left."
"What's that?"
A wide smile grew on his face. "You'll just have to make him fall in love with you again."
Make him fall in love with her all over again? It had been difficult the first time, but he had fallen in love with her. He still was the love of her life, stranger or not, he was her life partner. She meant when she said she would be there in sickness or health, oblivion or consciousness, she would help him find his way back home. Back to her. She loved him and she knew he did too. Deep down, there had to be fragments of their love.
There was no other choice, she would make him fall in love with her all over again.
"Yeah." She nodded feeling more determined and better than before. "He's going to fall in love with me again."
…
Before he even finished eating his breakfast the hospital served, a rap on the door and Wes and the woman entered his room.
"Good morning, brother." Wes chipped cheerfully as he slouched down in one of the chairs by his bed. "I take it you slept okay?"
Actually, no. Everything he knew was wrong. His entire world had changed into a disaster. He didn't even know who he was anymore and it had kept him up the whole night. He was Soul Evans, but he couldn't even name anything he remembered that fit with Wes's description of who he was. His chest ached and he spent most of the night rubbing his chest in a poor attempt at soothing it.
Now he had even brought… her with him.
"I brought your favourite breakfast," she said as she held a brown paper bag toward him. "I thought it would be better than the food the hospital offers."
"That's really thoughtful of you, Maka," Wes praised her.
"Um, thank you," Soul said as he hesitantly accepted the brown bag.
He couldn't lie, but the sound of scrambled eggs and bacon made his mouth water. The hospital had offered some tasteless porridge with a pack of a watered down version of orange juice. Having some real food would definitely help him in this situation.
The brown paper bag rustled as he pulled out the containment and to his disappointment was a sandwich. Slowly he opened up the whole wheat bread slices and found lettuce, tomatoes, cold salmon and some white sauce. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of dill and put the sandwich back on the bag.
"What's wrong?" the woman asked looking too concerned for comfort.
"I'm not that hungry," he answered, avoiding eye contact with her.
"Let me guess," Wes breathed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Smoked salmon sandwich isn't your favourite, right?"
Soul nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman was quick to apologize. "What is your favourite breakfast? I'll make sure to bring it tomorrow."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm okay with eating the hospital food." He couldn't look at her. Her gaze irked him in the wrong way. It was… really creepy looking at her and her eyes just looking at him with so many emotions. He could see concern, worry and― he didn't even want to think about the passionate L-word.
"No, no, no, hold on, bro." Wes took down his shoes from the bedframe and moved close to him. "It's a really generous offer. You know it's rude to turn it down."
"I guess," he reluctantly admitted.
Wes grinned wide as he gently nudged his shoulder with his elbow. "Now come on, out with it. What do you want for breakfast tomorrow?"
His lips tensed. He hated his brother for pushing him toward her like this. "… scrambled eggs with bacon."
"I'll get it for you tomorrow." Even her voice irked him the wrong way! Smooth and carried so much affection he didn't want to be toward him. Why couldn't she be Wes's wife or something!
Wes slowly nodded. "You know what we should do? Let's go out to the hospital's garden. You've been lying around way too much and you could use some fresh air."
Soul grimaced, but he had no choice. Wes started pulling at his arm into a sitting position. He rolled his eyes and before he knew it, he was up on his feet out of the bed. He latched onto Wes when his knees buckled under his weight.
"Wow, easy there," Wes snickered as he held onto Soul.
"Would you want to sit in a wheelchair?" the woman questioned behind him. "I could go and get one."
"Just give me a minute." It just hit him. "Actually, I could use one."
"I'll return shortly," the woman exited the room quickly.
Once they were alone he spoke. "Why did you have to bring her?"
Wes raised his eyebrow quizzically as he held onto Soul. "I didn't bring her. She's here on her own free will. She is your wife after all."
"She's not my wife."
"She is. Believe me, I was there as your witness when you got married."
"She's not my wife," he sneered at his brother. "I don't even know her."
"You do know her. You just forgot all the years you knew her." Wes pulled him close to him and glared at him intensely. "Maka and I remember your relationship with her. Trust me when I say you love her immensely and you would do anything for her. Just because you don't remember her right now doesn't mean your marriage is less real than it was before the accident."
He clenched his jaw. He didn't want to be around her. She creeped him out with all the strong emotions toward him.
"Tell me Soul, why don't you want to be around her?"
Soul looked away from his brother's analysing gaze. "It's… the way she looks."
"Her appearance? I know she's a beauty but―"
"It's not that." Soul backed away from his brother on his al dente noodle legs. "The way she looks at me. She looks at me with this intensity. It's… it really makes me uncomfortable."
"Of course she looks at you with intensity. She's genuinely concerned about your health and she cares about you a lot. You're her husband."
He couldn't wrap his mind around that. How he could move on from Anya when their relationship was in its prime and here he was with some other woman he didn't know. This whole situation was scaring him out more than anything. This… everything was so different.
"Let's just go outside already."
The woman entered the hospital room pushing a wheelchair inside. "I found one."
On unsteady legs, he went over to the wheelchair and took a seat. The woman rolled him out of the hospital room and out of the hospital ward. After what felt like rolling through corridors and corridors, they were finally out of the hospital and in some kind of courtyard with flowers, roses, ponds and benches.
"There's a nice spot." Wes pointed toward a bench right in front of a small pond where ducks and geese were peacefully floating around. The woman rolled him toward the bench and parked him right by it as she and Wes took a seat on it.
Wes wrapped his arms behind his head and sighed with content. "This is nice. Really nice."
It actually was. The hospital room was stiff and dark. It really was refreshing sitting outside and feel the warmth of the sun and the fresh and crisp air. He closed his eyes as the wind caressed his abnormally long hair flickering in the wind.
"This must be relaxing for you," the woman spoke.
"Hmm," he answered without opening his eyes.
"A beautiful sunny day in Death City indeed."
His eyes suddenly snapped open and he stared at his brother. "We're in Death City."
"Yeah, you moved here to attend University of Death City when you dropped out of law school," Wes explained as if it wasn't a big deal at all.
He buried his face in his hands, feeling his fingers staring to tingle.
"Calm down." A large hand comfortingly rubbed on his back. "Do you want your meds?"
"W-what?" he panted as his fingers dug into his skin.
"Your anxiety medication. I talked to Stein and it's okay to combine with your painkillers," the woman said from the other side of Wes.
"No." He shook his head, breathing heavily. "I-I'm just a little… out of breath."
"Just breathe, bro." Wes soothingly said as he kept on rubbing his back. "Slow and easy."
He followed Wes's instructions as he focused on the slow strokes of his hand on his back, feeling every individual finger running over his shoulder blade. Soon he found the tension in his muscles relaxing and the tingling in his fingers disappearing.
"You feeling better?" Wes asked.
Soul nodded, keeping his head between his legs as he breathed slowly.
So… Death City. He wasn't in Los Angeles where he studied to become a lawyer. He remembered his brother had moved to Death City where he started his company. It made more sense now how his brother could leave late in the evening and return early in the morning. It was because he was in Death City.
A typical ringtone rang in the air and Soul sat straight up, finding Wes pulling out his phone from his pocket. "Damn it." He stood up from his seat and Soul's eyes bulged out with surprise.
"Wes." Soul growled. "Don't."
"I have to take this," Wes excused himself and wandered off when he answered his phone.
Soul tensed as he was left alone with the woman for the first time. His hands gripped his pants and he cursed mentally at his brother for abandoning him with her. His stomach lurched when he saw her from the corner of his eye scooting over to Wes's abandoned set right beside him.
"I know you don't remember me anymore, but my name is Maka Albarn. I'm your wife."
He could feel her hot burning gaze on him and it sent chills down his spine. "Um, I'm Soul."
He'd no clue how to even talk to her. It was so surreal. He didn't even know her. He couldn't just jump into the… the partner role and pretend like he didn't miss Anya. He couldn't do that.
"It's nice to meet you." Her much smaller and warm hand placed on his resting on the wheelchair's armrest. He gulped and pulled his hand away from hers.
Why couldn't someone have written a book about how to handle a stranger who is also your wife? There were plenty of drunken random marriages happening in Death Vegas, someone should've thought about writing a book on how to handle this situation. He had no interest at even being married to this woman and she certainly was really into him. This… this was just too much for him.
"I know this must be really weird and new for you. Waking up and not remembering years of your life and finding out you're married to someone you don't know." She turned fully toward him and their knees almost brushed. "But I want you to know the years I spent with you were the best ones in my life, and I'm positive it was for you too."
"What is it you want?" he asked as he kept his gaze fixed on the geese swimming in the pond. He was not going to look at her.
"I want you to come home with me." He looked at her. Her eyes were less hot with strong emotions more like… determination? "Tomorrow you're going to get discharged from the hospital. I want you to come home with me. Back to our life together."
"Why would I do that? I don't know you."
"Because we're married and we live together."
"People get married for all kinds of different reasons."
"Oh really? Like what?"
"Like reduced taxes or a green card."
A small smile spread on her face. "I'm born and raised in Death City."
"You get what I mean."
"But we are in love. You loved me just as much as I love you. We got married because we love each other and we want to spend our lives together."
"How do I know that?"
The syllable in her mouth disappeared and she closed her mouth. She reached for him and her fingertips brushed against his forearm. "I know I don't have any evidence with me other than my love for you, but please, promise me you will stay open to the idea. I'll bring evidence to you as soon as possible."
His eyes drifted to her cautious fingertips touching his skin before he looked up, into her pleading eyes. "I'm not promising anything," he sighed. "But I guess, I will at least look at your evidence."
A wide smile spread on her face and she gave his arm a quick squeeze before her hand slithered away. "Thank you."
"Well," Wes exhaled loudly as he returned to them, pocketing his phone and took a seat by Maka. "Can I talk to you in private?"
The woman gazed toward him as if she wanted his permission. He rolled his eyes. "You can go," he said.
"I'll be back." His fingers feathered over his forearm before she stood up on the bench. Wes and Maka went away from her.
…
"What is it?" Maka asked Wes when they rounded a bush.
"That was Lady Arachne. They are willing to invest in your idea." Wes dropped the bomb, resting his hands on his hips as he looked down at his shoes.
"W-what?" Maka stuttered. Happiness overwhelmed her and she laughed happily. This was great! Her first real project she started from scratch on her own, it was finally becoming a reality!
Her laughter died off and the happiness knotted in her stomach. But Soul. This project, she knew it would take time for her project to really take off now when she found an investor. Time she simply didn't have to put on this. Soul needed her more than ever, and she needed him too.
Her marriage was on thin ice and he had explicitly expressed he wasn't interested in her. She heard him and Wes talk. At least the ending of it. He didn't want her and found her unsettling because of her feelings toward him. She didn't want him to be uncomfortable around her. She loved him and she had tried to hold back her feelings, but it was hard. All she wanted was to throw herself at him, run her fingers through his hair and kiss him till she was out of breath, making him promise her to never get hurt like that again.
But she couldn't.
She loved him so much and she desperately needed to make him fall in love with her again. Her project was important to her, but Soul was more important.
But this was an amazing opportunity for her. They were still drowning in student loans and now hefty medical bills would soon come in. Not to forget Soul's recording studio. When Soul was feeling better and wanted to return to work, she had to make sure it stayed above water. She needed the extra money from this project.
She had no choice. She had to be able to juggle both her work and helping Soul out.
Her lips tightened and she stressfully clenched and unclenched her hand. "What are the terms?"
"They are what we discussed, constant communication. They'll be watching you like a hawk how the funds you chose will generate money for us and for the customers." Wes lifted his gaze and grabbed her shoulders. "Since this is your first project, this will either make or break your career. If this goes well, you'll get investors' attentions and be able to start more projects, if not, I think you know how it would end."
She did. It could mean she wouldn't be able to get any projects through. It would mean she would be stuck by her desk and helping Wes get his projects through, but not successfully getting hers through. Her career wouldn't grow anymore if her project failed.
"So what will you do? You can tell them your circumstance and tell them you aren't looking for any investors at the moment instead of losing your reputation and hard work."
Maka shook her head slowly. "I can't back out of this now. They have agreed and I can't disappoint them now. I really need the money from this project."
"I know it must be hard to deal with all the bills, but I can help you and pay for the hospital bill."
She shook her head. "No. I can't ask you to do that." She braced herself and offered a short smile. "He's my husband. He's my responsibility. It's just a little bit rough at the moment, but I can handle it."
"If you say so. The offer is always on the table." He offered an encouraging smile and squeezed her shoulder before he let her go. "If you're going to work on this project, you need to get back to the company. Arachne wants to sign the contract."
"Now?"
"Now."
"But what about Soul? I can't just leave him now."
"Don't worry about him. Our parents will arrive around noon to take care of him."
Maka's eyes fluttered with confusion. "His parents? He hasn't talked to them in years."
Wes nodded. "I know, but he asked me to get them here. I can't just tell him he's not talking to them and keep them away from him when he wants to see them."
"Okay," Maka breathed. "So I'm going to officially meet his parents too."
Wes patted her on her back. "You gotta dress to impress. Our folks are… picky."
"No kidding."
"Come on, we better return to Soul."
Maka nodded.
Meeting the parents, huh.
…
"My poor little boy!" His mother rushed over to him and launched toward him the moment she saw him. She threw her arms around his head and hugged him tightly.
Soul hugged his mother and rejoiced in the feeling of her embrace. Over his shoulder he saw his father joining right behind her and smiled softly toward him. "Mother, father,"
"Hi son." His father greeted as he placed his hand on his, rubbing the back of it with his thumb.
His mother pulled away but her hands remained on his shoulders. "How are you feeling, dear?"
"Good. The doctor said my health is good except for the memory loss."
"That's great honey." His mother beamed and rubbed his shoulder. "When will the doctor discharge you?"
"Tomorrow," Wes answered from behind them as he entered the hospital room. "Doctor Frank sees no point in keeping him here. The best care he can receive is returning to his normal routines and return for a check-up a couple weeks later."
"That's good, honey." His mother kept on gushing and smiling wide. "Your father and I could find a place to rent and you could move in with us."
"And I could take some time off work," his father Alistair pitched in.
"Mother, father, with all due respect, the Doctor said Soul needed to return to his normal routine. His normal routine is with his wife Maka," Wes spoke as he went up to the hospital bed.
"But you said he doesn't remember her. I'm sure he would be more comfortable living with us than a stranger he doesn't know anything about," his mother Kathrine said.
"He knows her. He just needs time with her to remember her."
"But what if he doesn't remember her―"
"Please just stop the bickering." Soul interrupted the fight between his brother and mother. "Just stop it."
"Okay." His mother nodded understandingly. "No fights now. We're family and we're together at last." She placed her hand on his and patted it.
Soul raised his eyebrow. "At last?"
"So!" Wes cleared his throat. "I dropped Maka off at work. She's meeting with a successful investor company she just signed a partnership with."
"Is this the same Maka as in your partner?" his father asked.
Wes nodded. "Yes. I hired her as my intern when she was a freshman in college, but her first summer working at my company she was observing more than the job." Wes's gaze drifted toward Soul and he smiled wide. "It was that summer Soul and Maka met."
Soul wrinkled his nose and he sunk down in his bed.
"I see, so she was more interested in romance rather than work," Alistair commented.
"No." Wes immediately rejected it. "She's a hard-worker and she worked her butt off in order to climb the career ladder on her own. That's why she's my partner."
"Can we please just talk about something else?" Soul groaned with frustration.
It was always about her. He was sick of it! Maka here and Maka there and he was so sick of hearing about her and having her always shoved up in his face! It was like everything that mattered was her. She didn't matter one bit to him and here he was being force-fed all this crap about her every single minute he was awake!
"Okay," Kathrine said and her hand drifted to his, squeezing it. "Are you hungry? We could go out for lunch and eat."
Soul nodded eagerly. "Yes."
…
Morning couldn't come quicker. Once visiting hour started, Wes, his mother and father and her came strolling inside of his hospital room. The woman set a large box filled with stuff on the ground and she handed him the plastic bag.
"Scrambled eggs and bacon. Just like I promised." She smiled gently at him.
"Um, thanks." He pulled out the box from the bag and opened it. The delicious smell of eggs and bacon made his stomach growl and his mouth to water.
"Here you have some utensils." Maka handed him a plastic fork and a knife.
"I don't think we've officially introduced ourselves," his mother said as she went around the bed toward her side with her back straight with the air of authority she usually produced around people outside of their family. "This is my husband Alistair Evans." She gestured to her husband, who nodded his head at the woman in a brief greeting. "And I'm Katherine Evans. Soul and Wes's mother." She offered her hand which the woman took, shaking it firmly.
"Maka Albarn. I'm Soul's wife."
Soul raised his eyebrow. So his parents hadn't met her before?
"That's interesting. You prefer introducing yourself with your maiden name. Is Evans not good enough for you?" Kathrine's voice was sharp as she inspected the woman like she usually did with all his friends. He crossed his fingers the woman would run away with her tails between her legs like some girls he dated did.
"Evans is not my surname. When Soul and I got married, Soul wanted to take on my last name."
"Wait, what?" Soul burst out in surprise. "I'm not Soul Evans?"
Maka's hand slipped from his mother's and she grabbed a hold of the medical journal hanging on his bed and handed it to him. He took it and she was right, at the top of the document was Soul Albarn.
"I have your driver's license too if you want to take a look at it," Maka offered.
He lowered the document and nodded. "Show me."
She was right. There on his driver's license stood the same name. Soul Albarn.
"It was really difficult getting your new driver's license." The mattress sunk as she took a seat on the hospital bed. "You couldn't get it since you had to show identification and they wouldn't accept your old id since it didn't have your new surname."
So… he wasn't actually Soul Evans, but Soul Albarn. He couldn't even picture himself with a different last name. Wasn't the bride supposed to take on the husband's last name? Why on earth would he take her last name? It didn't even sound as good as Evans. Not to mention the status the Evans last name held.
He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to admit this was true. Admit that all of this that had happen was true, but the world of his memories he wanted to cling onto was fracturing for every word that left their mouths. It was so hard wrapping his mind around all of this and yet… he had to do it because the evidence was right there. His name wasn't Evans anymore.
He lowered his driver's license and handed it back to her who placed it back into his wallet, which had a chain. What kind of weird style did he have? Who even had chains attached to their wallets?
"Why did I want your last name?"
"Well," she paused. "You preferred the Albarn name over the Evans name."
"But why? Didn't I say why?"
"Um, you better start eating your eggs before they get cold."
"Oh, right." He nodded.
The breakfast was delicious. He devoured all the food in one go. It felt like centuries ago since he ate food as good as this, and he bet there was some truth to it. That salmon sandwich she'd brought the other day moved his stomach in the wrong way. He couldn't see himself eating it willingly.
"Ah, I see the whole family has gathered." Doctor Frank entered the room. "So you're getting ready to leave us."
"Yes, I've gotten some clothes with me so we can go back home," the woman said.
"That's good." Doctor Frank grabbed the journal and went through the documents one last time. "You won't drive a car or a motorcycle until I give you the clear. I've prescribed some painkillers for your head if it starts hurting again and if the pain is out of the ordinary, I want you to contact me immediately." The papers fluttered back on the clipboard and he offered a smile. "And that's it. Just return to your normal routine and regain some normalcy. I'll see you in five to six weeks for a check-up."
"Thank you Doctor Frank for diligently caring for my son." Alistair shook hands with the doctor before Doctor Frank left the room.
"Are you ready to go home?" the woman asked as she grabbed a plastic bag from the box on the ground.
He nodded. "Yeah."
Where he would go was still the question. Going home with her was… unsettling. He just wanted to go home to Los Angeles and live with Anya and forget all of this even happened. All he wanted was to go back to his normal life instead of this mind-bobbling alter reality he found himself stuck in.
"With all due respect, Maka, but I think it's better if we take over from here." Kathrine stepped forward.
"What?" the woman questioned feverously.
"He doesn't know you and I think it would be more… comfortable to be around people who know him."
"You heard what the Doctor said. He needs to return to his normal life. He hasn't lived with you for years. His normal life is with me."
"But that's a life he doesn't remember. He needs to be around people who love him." Alistair said, stepping beside his wife.
"That's funny. You haven't even tried to speak with him in years."
"Just stop with the fighting!" Wes yelled and both parties stopped. "Maka is right. His normal life is with her. If he will ever regain his memories, he has to be in his home with his wife."
"Wesley," Kathrine hissed at his brother.
"Sorry mom, but that's the truth."
"Don't I get a say in this?" Soul asked.
"Of course you do," the woman said and she grabbed the box she had come with and placed it on the hospital bed. "You wanted evidence of our love and I brought it to you."
She didn't bring just one evidence, she brought a lot of evidence. Everything from pictures of them kissing and hugging, texts signed with xoxos and I love yous, voicemails of him saying he would be running late and saying he needed her in such a way that was nothing but deep lust toward her.
He found himself rubbing his chest and his body heating up. There was no way he could not have… you know… L-word her before the accident. All the pile of pictures, messages and voicemails made it so clear he… cared about her before the accident.
"And here you have your wedding vows." She handed him a sheet of paper and he grabbed it.
He raised his eyebrow quizzically. "Why did I write it on a note sheet?"
"You said you were working on a song, but instead it turned into your vows to me," she explained.
At the first row there were notes, but they quickly faded and only words remained.
I vow to fiercely love you forever and beyond.
I promise to always hold you with tenderness and care,
remembering this is once in a lifetime love.
Through rich and poor and all the challenges we face,
we will always find our way back to each other,
"It…" he licked his lips, feeling so parched. "Um… good vow."
"It is." She smiled softly as she pulled out a small stack of photos. "Here're pictures from the wedding."
He accepted the photos. He flipped through the pictures of him at the courthouse with her wearing a veil and him in a simple black vest. Wes smiled wide as he flashed a peace sign and a woman he didn't know, one with long black hair, beside the unknown woman stood a short male with crazy blue hair grinning wide at the camera with tears running down his cheeks.
In the next photo was of them kissing and the next one, he held the same note sheet with his vows as he looked deep into his bride's eyes.
"A court wedding. How original," his mother sighed.
"We wanted to save as much money we could for the honeymoon. A small court wedding with the people who matters to us was what was right for us." Maka said, sending his mother a glare.
Speaking of the people who mattered, he couldn't find a picture with his parents in it. Of course they should've been in his wedding, but he couldn't find them there. Just him, his bride, Wes and the two strangers.
"Do you believe me?" Maka asked eventually.
He placed the photos back on the covers of his bed. "I believe you."
A wide smile spread on Maka's face and she glowed with joy. "So you will come home with me?"
He wrinkled his nose. "I don't know… I still don't know you―"
"What if I move in with you?" Wes quickly pitched it, earning an icy glare from their mother. "If I'm around too, would you be comfortable then?"
He stayed silent.
They did… ugh the word felt so foreign, but they… loved each other before the accident. Quite a lot actually. He could trust her, right? She had been here with him most of the time and always had she just radiated feelings. She loved him alright. She wouldn't do anything creepy, and if she did, his brother would be with him to protect him, right?
In the end, this was the life he had lived. He wasn't together with Anya anymore, he was married to Maka, and he was curious to what his life were like.
He sighed and nodded. "Sure. I'll go with you."