Who are you? Those words startled Eddie. He was expecting a rampage. That he would've been able to handle, but this, this was much worse. How could she to know who he was? maybe she was angrier than he thought.
"What do you mean?" Eddie asked.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked. She was being awfully nice to him. It didn't sound like her at all. Was this her way of getting back at him?
"Yeah, you can tell me why you're pretending you don't know me," he said. She looked even more confused.
"I'm not..."
"Eddie!" he heard Fabian call from around the corner. "Wait, I..." He paused when he saw Patricia standing there. "Oh, never mind."
"Fabian, can you tell me what's going on?" Patricia asked.
"Oh so you can remember Fabian, but you don't remember me?"
"How can I remember someone I don't know?" she said. "I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong girl." Eddie stepped back shocked. She really didn't remember him? But how could it be? Unless...
"Eddie, we should go," Fabian urged. "I'll..."
"No, I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what's going on," Eddie said.
"Patricia?" someone called from inside the apartment. "What's going on out there?" That someone appeared at the door next to Patricia. That someone put their arm around her. That someone was a guy.
"Hello Fabian, its good to see you again,' he said. He glanced at Eddie. "And who do we have here?"
"His name is Eddie apparently," Patricia told him. The man stared him down for a moment.
"Patty, why don't you go inside," he said. Patty? I'll be in in a minute. She nodded without argument, shutting the door behind her. Edie looked after her sad and confused.
"So you're Eddie Miller," he said. "Fabian has told me a lot about you."
"That's funny," Eddie said. "Because he has told me very little about you." Fabian rolled his eyes. "Who are you exactly?"
"I'm her boyfriend, of course," he said. Eddie thought he detected a hint of smugness in her voice. "Look Eddie, I hope there are no hard feelings." He stuck out his hand for Eddie to shake but she ignored it.
"Lets go," Eddie told Fabian walking away. "You have some explaining to do."
Fabian took Eddie to a coffee shop down the street. They sat there for a while drinking hot chocolate. Fabian let Eddie think over what had just happened.
"How does she not remember me?" Eddie asked. "Is it because of..."
"The accident?" Fabian nodded. "By the time the ambulance got her to the hospital, she'd lost a lot of blood. We thought we were going to lose her. We almost did. She was in a coma for a week."
"And when she came out of it? Eddie asked although he felt he knew what was coming.
"She couldn't remember anything," Fabian said sadly. "Not me, not herself, or anyone, or anything we did at Anubis. The doctor said her memory would come back with time and with our help. And it did..."
"That doesn't explain why she doesn't remember me," Eddie said angrily.
"When she came out of her coma the doctors were worried about how frail her state of mind would be," he said. "So we agreed, me, Nina, Amber and Alfie did, that it would be best not to tell her anything that would put her in any danger.
"So you decided not to tell her about me?" Eddie almost shouted.
"It was not an easy decision, trust me" Fabian said defensively. "But we didn't know where you were, when you were coming back or...or even if you were alive."
"So you're saying its my fault?" Eddie demanded.
"No, of course not. I'm just saying that we didn't want to confuse her anymore than she already was. She'd probably think we were crazy. I mean, what were we supposed to tell her? 'Hey Patricia, I know you don't remember him, but your boyfriend is in hiding from the people responsible for your accident'"
"You sound like Patricia," Eddie said sadly.
"Yeah, well someone has to," Fabian said.
"What do you mean?"
"After she got out of the hospital, she was a different person. She wasn't mean, sassy Patricia anymore. She was this nice, careful Patricia."
"That must've been nice for a change."
"It was actually kind of painful to watch her as this whole new person."
"You're telling me," Eddie said remembering how nice she'd been to him. "I'd wondered where her attitude had gone. I was shocked to not see her argue with that guy." They were quiet for a moment. 'How did she meet him?"
"She had to go to physical therapy for a while. They ran into each other at one of the sessions. They actually hit it off."
"Just what I wanted to hear," Eddie said glumly.
"I'm sorry Eddie but if I'm being honest he was kind of good for her."
"Fabian, you're really not helping."
"Sorry, I just thought you should know she didn't end up with some psychotic maniac," Fabian said.
"Still not helping!"
"Speaking of psychotic maniacs, were you able to find out anything?"
"I tried but I felt I had to watch everything I did in case they found me. They almost did a couple times."
"How?"
"No idea. I ditched my cell phone and credit card after a month. They mean business Fabian."
"If only we could figure out who they are, it would help us find out what they want."
"They want the locket, that's for sure. What they want it for, that's still a mystery."
"Where is the locket?"
"I can't say, just in case. Don't want to risk anyone finding it."
"This isn't going to turn into another Sibuna thing is it?" Fabian asked.
"No, I'm not going to risk putting anyone in danger again. They came after me. This is my fight."
"You remind me a lot of Eddie..." Fabian said. "Cocky, strong-minded, a little self-centered. Now wonder he and Patricia clicked." Eddie paused.
"His name...is Eddie?" he asked. "Patricia's boyfriend's name is Eddie?!"
"Did I forget to mention that?" Fabian said guiltily.
"Don't you know what this means though?"
"That she likes guys named Eddie?" Fabian guessed not getting what Eddie was trying to say.
"No, you said that he reminded you of me. And his name is Eddie. She remembers!"
"I think she made it pretty clear that she doesn't," Fabian said.
"No, she does remember even if she doesn't realize it. And I'm going to help her remember."
"And how are you going to do that?"
"I have absolutely no idea," Eddie said. "But I will."
"I don't know about this Eddie," Fabian said. He looked down at his watch. "Oh, its getting late. Look, I have to go meet Nina at the train station. She's on spring break from school. Hey, if you need a place to stay, you know you're welcome at my place."
"Thanks, man. I'm going to take some time to think things over," Eddie said. "I'll catch you later." Eddie sat in the coffee shop for a while after Fabian left. he was trying to let it all sink in. For the past year he'd been on the run from people after ancient Egyptian jewelry. He'd stayed out of sight to protect his friends and girlfriend only to come back and find out that she not only didn't remember him, but she'd fallen for someone else. It was a lot for him to handle all at once. He wanted to help Patricia remember who he was but at the same time he knew it wouldn't be safe for her to know until these people were gotten rid of. Eddie knew hew needed to do something, he just wasn't sure what. Well he had to figure out who the creeps after him and he had no idea how to do that. Eddie also knew he couldn't do this by himself, no matter how much he wanted to keep everyone safe. There was only one person who could help him figure out who these people were.
Eddie knocked on a front door hoping for an answer.
"I guess you need that place to stay after all, don't you?" Fabian answered.
"Actually, I need your help with something else too" Eddie said.
"Eddie, if this is about you wanting to help Patricia get her memory back..." Fabian started to say.
"No, I need your help trying to figure out who these people after me are because I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Okay, where do you want to start?"
"I have absolutely no idea," Eddie said.
"Then you've come to the right place." When Eddie walked in he found Nina sitting on the couch.
"He Fabes, good to see you alive and well. Fabes was just telling me about everything."
"Good to see you too Nina," Eddie said. "I know you just got here but if you don't mind, I'll be borrowing your boyfriend for a while."
"I thought Fabian said this wasn't going to turn into a Sibuna thing," Nina smiled.
"It's not, I swear," Eddie said. "I'm just asking for a bit of help. This is still my fight."
Later on, Eddie was in the spare bedroom unpacking. Fabian and Nina had gone out for the night. Fabian had offered to help him unpack but Eddie has just the one bag. He didn't need to carry much while he was away. But Eddie had to make sure his valuable were put away safely. He dug to the bottom of his bag and pulled out a metal box. Opening it he pulled out the only two items it contained. One was the Eye of Horus locket, which Eddie had kept close since he had retrieved it from its hiding spot. The other one was even more precious to him. It was supposed to be a gift, a surprise. It was supposed to be on somebody's hand almost a year ago. An engagement ring.
Author's Note: Well, now that I'm down with school, you can expect an update at least once a week. Will post a preview at least a couple days before. Let me know what you think :)
