Sookie

The ride to the hospital was a blur. Paramedics worked frantically on Eric. I just watched in horror, wondering if he would survive. I called Pam from the waiting room and told her that he was in surgery. I also called his aunt.

After several excruciatingly slow hours, the surgeon finally came out and told us that Eric was in the recovery room and stable. We couldn't see him yet because we weren't relatives. I told him that Eric's only living relative was in another state, and that I was his girlfriend, but rules are rules. The most important thing was that Eric was stable and his prognosis was good. I explained to the surgeon about Eric's head injury and amnesia, but he had already retrieved his records and knew about the previous visit to the emergency room.

I asked if he was awake yet, and he was. Pam and I held hands and cried together, relieved that he was going to be okay.

Eric

I woke with the most intense pain I had ever known. A woman was speaking to me and asking on a scale of one to ten, how bad my pain was. I managed to say eight because I didn't want to seem like a pussy, but it was a ten. Within minutes though, it was better and I was out again.

The next time I woke, I was aware of what had happened to me. I remembered that I'd been shot and that Sookie had been there. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a hospital bed. A nurse came over and I asked for Sookie. She asked if Sookie was my wife and I said, "girlfriend." I couldn't believe that she couldn't come in just because of a piece of paper. I sort of went in and out of consciousness for what seemed like a long time, missing Sookie terribly, and then I was asleep.

I knew that Sookie was in the room before I opened my eyes. I could smell her or sense her or something. My first thought was that I would marry her and I never wanted to be apart from her again. I wondered why we weren't married already. Then she could have been with me earlier. I opened my eyes.

"Why aren't we married?"

She started crying and squeezed my hand until it kind of hurt. "I don't know baby. How do you feel?"

"Like I need a wife." And then I was out again, but I knew she was near and so I slept peacefully.

Sookie

They finally moved Eric into a regular room and so I could stay with him. He looked so fragile and I was so overwhelmed with relief and gratitude that he was alive. I pulled a chair up to his bed and held his hand. Pam leaned against the wall and watched him sleep. The nurse spoke to us and explained his condition. He would be kind of in and out for the rest of the night because of the anesthesia, but he was doing well and the surgery went well. As it got late, Pam left and promised to be back in the morning. She had left a message for Eric's aunt letting her know that he would be okay.

I was almost asleep myself when I was awakened by a feeling—like maybe Eric was awake—but his eyes were still closed. I took his hand in mine again as his eyes opened and he asked why we weren't married. I was so grateful that he was awake and talking. I started to cry and asked how he felt and he said something else about being married. I figured he was a little loopy from the drugs. Then he was back to sleep.

The following morning I was back at Cedars by Eric's side. He looked like he'd been run over by a train, but he smiled weakly when I came in the room. "Sookie."

"Hi sweetie. How are you feeling this morning?"

"A little drunk. So, tell me what happened."

"You were shot."

"Oh, I know. Not that. Tell me what happened about all those articles about you and Victor Madden."

I was shocked that he even remembered that. It was as if that conversation hadn't been interrupted by a crazy woman and a bullet. "Oh, okay. A woman at work who hated me planted those stories, and we decided to ignore them because we knew that they were nothing and also because it gave you press for the film." It was dawning on me that he obviously still had amnesia.

"So what was the glitch in our trust that you mentioned?"

I explained in detail all about the silly week-long break up that we'd had and how nothing ever actually happened with me and Victor or with him and Selah. It was a little odd, but he really seemed to want to hear all about our previous relationship. I told him stories until he got tired and then I read or worked on my laptop while he slept. That was how we passed those first few days.

Eric

I was finally well enough to go home. Sookie had moved my stuff back into my apartment and brought over her own things so she could take care of me while I recovered at home. She worked from home mostly the first week, but then I could be on my own most of the day after that. I was pretty bored but I read a lot and watched T.V. Every day I felt a little stronger physically, but I was still frustrated about my confusion and inability to remember anything before I was running down the street when Sookie found me. Every night I would lie awake while she told me stories of how we met and what had happened to us before I lost my memory. The more I learned about her, the more I loved her.

I wanted to make love to her, but was so frustrated because of my recovery. I discovered that the real sex organ is the brain because the mind was willing when the body was not. I had always been healthy and strong and it was bad enough that my memory was impaired. When my body was weak and broken as well, I was very depressed. Having Sookie there was the only thing that got me through that period and I appreciated her even more if that was possible.

Sookie

Physically, Eric's recovery was going well. I could see that he was a little stronger every day. Mentally, I was still extremely worried about him. He showed no signs of regaining his memory whatsoever. I knew how much he loved what he did and how hard he'd worked for it in school and wondered how he could return to it in this state. Would he have to find something else to do? Since his attack, I had been taking care of his bills and I could see that eventually we'd have to depend on my salary alone if he was unable to work, and I knew that would be tough financially, not to mention how his ego would take it. I was careful to never mention money and hoped he wasn't worrying about it.

Eric seemed to want to hear about us all the time. He was curious about how we met and finally got together in college—on graduation day, no less. I slept with him every night but was worried about hurting his shoulder. He wanted to kiss and cuddle still, but I was very careful and always mindful of his stitches. Finally one night I asked if he felt well enough for me to go down on him. Of course he said yes, but I made him promise to interrupt me if he felt any pain. He didn't. He wanted to reciprocate but I told him I wasn't getting anywhere near that shoulder yet. He said that he would have even more of an incentive to get well. We were lying together, holding hands when he asked, "Why aren't we married?"

"You asked me that in the hospital. Do you remember? Right when you were coming out of the anesthesia."

"Yeah, I remember. It made me mad that you couldn't be with me in the recovery room because we weren't married. But, really, why aren't we? Have we ever talked about it?"

"Um…not really. I mean we've discussed that in general we hope to be married some day, have children."

"Both of us?"

"Yeah."

"Then why do we live in separate apartments? We obviously love each other. I love waking up to you every day, having you with me every night. I never want to spend a day without you. Did I always feel like that?"

"I think so. But we are still so young and we have just been so busy getting our careers started. Sometimes it felt like we just didn't have time for each other. But the love has always been there."

"Then let's get married. Yes, we're young, but it sounds like we've loved each other for a long time and it feels solid to me. It makes no sense that we're not married already. Is that what you want? I know it's what I want."

"Yes, I do want it, but sweetie, we shouldn't make any huge decisions like that until you're all better." I meant mentally, but wasn't certain if he got that.

"Okay. Again, more reason to get better faster."