I walked over to Amy and sat down at the end of the bed. "Hey, Amy," I told her. She looked back at me with watchful eyes, and I was surprised when I saw her smile at me.

While smiling softly, she grabbed my hand before I lay back next to her. I blankly stared down at the white covers that we lay on top of, and I held my breath. Then, I sighed loudly before saying quietly to Amy, "So, you were asking about me?"

I looked up at her and smiled. I looked back down at our hands intertwined and heard her say weakly, "Yeah."

I slowly moved my other hand toward her face and delicately brushed it through her hair. She stared back at me, just like she had before, and then she frowned slightly and said in a low, almost whispering voice, "You left me."

I looked deeply into her eyes and tightened my grip around her hand and said, "Well, don't worry. I'm here. I won't leave you again."

"Promise?" She whispered.

I paused and thought about what the nurse was saying a few minutes ago, about me being the only one Amy trusted. I made her feel safe. Did she forget everything that happened, or did she really just not care anymore? I tried putting myself in her position- being held hostage, drugged, and abused. I realized that too much time was passing by, so I finally nodded and said, "I promise."

I felt my heart skip a beat after I promised this to her. I was so thankful to hear her talk to me again. I just stared at her, too awestruck to say anything. I was about to say something, but I heard the door burst open. I sighed and turned around, and Ben was standing there in the doorway holding John, with Anne, George, Ashley, and the nurse standing behind him.

Ben walked into the room with everyone following behind him. I stood up from the bed and stared at everyone over at the doorway. I crossed my arms as I watched them carefully. "Hey, Amy," Ben said quietly, standing in the middle of the room. There was fear in his eyes; it was like he was scared of her.

He walked to the opposite side of the bed, leaned down, and held John out for Amy to take him. Amy just looked at him, confused, but she finally took John. She held him in her lap, but she was looking straight ahead at me with a miserable look on her face. She wasn't paying any attention to John; it was like she didn't realize who he was.

Amy's family and the nurse stood circled around the bed watching her curiously as I tried to figure out what was wrong. "How are you doing, Amy?" Anne asked gently. She walked up to the bed on the side that I was on and stood right beside me over the bed. She looked at Amy, waiting for an answer, but Amy didn't say anything. She was looking back and forth between her mom, me, the nurse, her dad, and Ashley.

I looked at the name tag on the nurse's shirt- Erica. Well, she was definitely American.

Anne looked at George with a worried and concerned expression on her face. She painfully stepped back and walked toward the middle of the room. "Um," she finally spoke, looking

at me, George, and Ashley. "I think we should leave them alone. Let Amy talk to Ben... and see John," she said nervously.

I didn't move. I promised Amy that I wouldn't leave her, but she probably wanted to be alone with Ben now that he was here. Finally, all I did was simply nod, and I followed everyone toward the door. I stopped in the doorway when I heard Amy whisper, "No." I turned around. She tried to sit up, and Ben gripped his hands around Amy's waist, pulling her back. "It's okay, Amy," he told her. I wanted to run back into the room, but I saw the door shut in my face when the nurse closed it and I was standing outside the room, Amy and Ben in there alone with John.

____

Ben bent down on the right side at the front of the bed and looked back at the door. He returned his look back at Amy and said lifelessly, "I love you, Amy." He waited a few seconds, but Amy wasn't even looking at him. He gave up waiting for a response at sat down at the edge of the bed beside her.

John suddenly was squirming in her arms, and Ben held his hands out and offered to take him. As he reached for John, Amy shoved him off weakly and tried to stop him. Ben instantly pulled away, frightened by her response. He looked deeply into her painfilled and angry eyes, and he couldn't even recognize her. He realized that his Amy was gone. This was a completely different person that he was looking at.

His eyes wandered slowly down her body. She was wearing a large, loose-fitting shirt that was evident under her hospital gown. He winced when he saw the cuts down her legs and all over her arms. He looked at her face- it was pale white, and she had cuts on her forehead, chin, and above her eye. There were dark, bruised- looking spots formed under her eyes, and her lips were chapped.

Ben noticed how she still wasn't looking at him. She was looking straight ahead at the small window in the door. "Amy," he began. "I am so, so sorry. This is all my fault. I- I can't believe I let this happen to you. It's all my fault. I still love you. I love you so much, and that will never change. I hope you understand-"

"I just want to see Ricky," Ben was surprised when Amy interrupted him in a harsh, low voice. Ben felt like a knife had been stabbed through his heart when he heard the hatefulness in her voice. Did Amy really not care about him anymore?

Ben was angry, but mostly he was upset and confused. "Why? He- he doesn't want to see you."

Amy scrunched up her eyes and looked at Ben, bewildered. Angry tears started to fill up in Amy's eyes, and she let John roll over off of her lap and onto the bed. John lay on his back, screaming and crying as he sensed the tension building up in the room.

Amy didn't acknowledge John. She leaned forward and pushed Ben as hard as she could with the little bit of energy that she had. She sat up in the bed, and her face suddenly turned red, like she was becoming dizzy. "I said I want to see Ricky!" She yelled loudly, furiously, despite whether she felt lightheaded or not. Her eyes were spinning and she grabbed hold of the bed, like she was about to fall. Ben backed up and immediately stood up from the bed, frightened by her sudden outrage.

"O- okay," He said, not knowing what else to say as he backed up further.

The door bolted open, and Erica, the nurse, stood there and asked worriedly, "Is everything okay?" All Ben did was shake his head as he walked quickly to the door. He walked out into the hallway, and the nurse watched Ben as he left the room. She looked at Amy, who was sitting up in the bed with her arms folded together across her chest, and then she called out the door, "Ricky!"

__

Ricky's POV

I stood right outside the wooden door, and I couldn't see anything because it was half way closed. Erica opened the door wider and called, "Ricky!" Without hesitating, I pushed forcibly on the door and went into the room, leaving Amy's parents and sister in the hall alone (with Ben).

The nurse walked past me as I was heading for the bed. I turned around, and she had her hand on the door getting ready to shut it. "Her parents will be filling out paper work, but if you need anything," she emphasized. "I'll be at the front desk." She smiled her warm, gentle smile. She turned back around, and her long, blonde hair swept in the air. I waited for the click of the door being shut, and then I slowly stepped towards the bed.

I saw John lying across the bed, halfway hanging off, and I hurried closer. I leaned over and grabbed John, sitting down at the front of the bed beside Amy, holding John in my lap. "Amy, what happened? What happened with Ben?"

She scowled at Ben's name. "I don't want to see him," she said coldly. She motioned towards the doorway, but using her eyes and keeping completely still. "You can go."

A cold shiver ran down my back. Why'd she want me to leave? I just stared at her, astonished. "Why?"

Did she not want me around her anymore? Was she suddenly afraid of me or something? There was a long pause as Amy was staring straight ahead at the wall and finally replied, "Because you don't want to be here.

"What?" I said, confused. She looked back at me, and finally our eyes locked. I gazed into her tortured and puzzled eyes, feeling a cold chill in my heart. How could she think that I wouldn't want to be here? Did Ben tell her that? Maybe she was upset because I told her I wouldn't leave, but I thought she wanted to see Ben. "Of course I want to be here," I said gently. "I wouldn't be anywhere else."

The silence in the room was overwhelming. We sat there, staring at each other, before Amy finally looked at John for the first time. She wrinkled her face and studied him closely. "Is this my baby?"

Of course. I thought to myself. She said it like she forgot that I was even the father of her baby. I had thought that Amy would instantly remember John once she saw him and wouldn't be as confused like she was at the river, but she seemed to be just as confused. In fact, it seemed like she was even more confused. Of course it was her baby. It was our baby. How could she forget that?

"Amy, it's our baby," I told her. "John. Don't you remember?"

_____

Amy's POV

He paused, looking at me like he was waiting for an answer. Ricky. Why was Ricky the only person I knew? Why had everyone circled around me, looking all sad? I had come to the conclusion that they were my family, and I stuck to that, but now I was reconsidering it. Ricky had just told me that this creature was our baby. Was he actually the father? How old are we? Are we married?

The only memories I had were of being at that huge house with a bunch of my friends. They tortured us, but after a while, everything seemed so natural and I got used to them sticking me with needles. And sometimes, when they hit me, the pain was actually bearable.

I couldn't remember anything of my life from before that. The only thing I remembered were tiny pieces, but I couldn't even seem to put them together. All I knew, was that this boy- Ricky saved me from drowning.

He saved me from those awful people and from that horrid place. I saw him shoot one of the guys dead, and at that second, I knew he was trying to help me. I don't know why, but Ricky just makes me feel safe. He rescued me, I get that, but it seems like a bigger reason than that. Like there's a bigger picture here that I'm just not seeing.

And then the next confusing piece of the puzzle was this baby that I now knew belonged to both Ricky and me. He must not be my husband because of that Ben dude who just said he loved me. Another conclusion I had was that we were only teenagers. I felt like I was an adult, but I sure didn't look like it. Not that I had looked at myself recently.

My thoughts were interrupted when Ricky said, ""Don't you remember band camp?" Band camp?

It sounded so familiar. Band camp? What about that was so familiar sounding to me? Like I had lived it before? And then, it was like bells had gone off; it sent a ring through my whole body as band camp echoed inside my head. My eyes snapped closed, drowning me in memories.

I was seeing images- but they were vague and dark. A guy was walking up to a girl, an unfamiliar girl who I didn't even know, sitting at a table. Did I know her? The guy that was walking up to her.. who is that? It was Ricky. And in another flash, I saw the same girl with long, brown hair. She was so innocent and helpless, obviously not seeing the bad in the world. The girl was holding an instrument in her lap, while she said, "My lips are a little dry," and then he leaned forward and kissed her.

This faded out and then I saw them sitting on the couch together- it was dark, and she looked really nervous. "We can talk, or we could do this," and he leaned into her again and kissed her longer this time. They pulled away and she bit her lip. "Yeah we could do that. I've never done that before."

"I bet you'd be really good at it," he told her. She looked confused, and then he informed her, "Making out."

Another blackout. "Yeah, what's a few more minutes?" The girl said, but it was mostly like she was saying it to herself. With a satisfied smirk, he moved back and kissed her again- or making out as he had called it. He was kissing her aggressively as he pushed her off to the bed. She looked confused, but she didn't stop it.

He was tugging at her clothes, but within only a second after seeing this, I saw the girl collapsing on a front porch. She dropped her phone. A lady came up to her, and she asked for her mother.

Now she was in the hospital. She was lying back in the bed, talking angrily at a woman who was lying beside her. "I just don't see how this is gonna work. I mean, how do we even know I have a birth canal?"

Then she was in the same room, only this time, there was some guy in there passed out on the floor and two other people sitting in there with her. The same woman was running up to her side.

The images were coming and passing by quicker now. I saw the baby. I saw the baby, and it all seemed so strangely familiar to me. Standing in the corner of the girl was Ricky and he was holding the baby. Then she was standing in a room, talking to a blonde girl.

I saw a house, with things for a baby scattered everywhere. Then there was a daycare. Ricky and the girl talking in the hallway. And then I saw more random images of them, but they went by so quickly for me to tell what they were.

Now the girl was sitting on a bed. Ricky was sitting in the corner in a chair with the baby. "That's a good way to look at life," he explained. "When everything else is bad in our lives, at least we got him."

There she was again- standing by a window with the scrawny, skinny guy that was passed out on the floor at the hospital. The baby was crying. The look on his face was so sad. He was holding her hands while he said, "I love you, Amy. Maybe it's a good thing that I'm going away for this summer. Maybe we'll both find something.. find something that will really be good for the both of us."

Ricky and the girl bumped into each other. They were in her room and he said, "If he cheats on you, then he isn't that great anyway. Maybe he's right, maybe both of you will find something that'll be good this summer. I don't know what that is, but you might."

The girl was being slung down in a truck. Then I saw her lying on the floor of a small room being beaten with a huge metal chain.

The final scene jolted me out of my thoughts and my mind had suddenly turned on from this frightening image, but yet so familiar.

And then it hit me. Oh my gosh! it hit me hard like a knife being plunged through my heart. The girl... the girl was me! And the baby's name was John! He was my baby. He was mine and Ricky Underwood's baby that happened from one single night at band camp!

Sparks were flying throughout my whole entire body, causing a sudden burst of energy. I shot up from where I lay on the bed and yelled, "Oh my god!" as I threw my arms around Ricky's neck. "I remember!" I cried, tears running down my cheeks. "I remember everything!"

Almost all my memories had come back to me, even though some things still confused me. But the memories were coming back to me, which meant I was getting better. The only problem was that I didn't even recognize these memories. I mean, sure, I sort of remembered some of them happening, but they just didn't seem like me- if that makes any sense. But hopefully I could get out of here soon and just go home.

Home. The word sounding surprising to me as it echoed through my mind. What would happen when I got home? What would people say? Would they treat me the same, or would they treat me like some kind of mental patient?

Ricky held me close to him, and I felt completely safe in his strong arms. I pulled away and said, "When can I go home?"

"I think you can go home soon. I'm not sure. Do you want me to go ask?"

"No!" I would've shouted if the soreness in my stomach hadn't caused my voice to squeak. "Just push the button," I pointed to the side of the bed to the button for the nurse. "There's no reason to go ask someone."

"Okay," he said, and I figured he was just obeying because he thought I would freak out otherwise. He pulled his arm back, which was still around my waist, and leaned over to press the button.

The blonde nurse came in the room only a minute after, and I suddenly felt nervous and uncomfortable. I didn't know her, so what reason would I have to trust her? But, weirdly, I felt protecting here with Ricky.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, smiling her too perky and friendly smile.

"Yeah," Ricky muttered casually. "When do you think Amy will be able to get out of here?"

She paused for a second, glancing between Ricky and me, and a tiny confused frown appeared on her face for a second. Noticing that Ricky was staring at her, the friendly smile returned quickly to her face. "Um, I don't know. We still need to run a few tests, but if everything looks okay, then she should be able to go home tomorrow morning. We just want to keep her here over night. There are a couple of questions, though, Ricky, that we need to ask you."

Ricky nodded. "Okay."

I looked behind me, and, seeing a clock, I glanced at the time. I squinted my eyes, and I couldn't make sense of the numbers or time. I couldn't even tell what time it was. How could I forgot something as simple as how to tell time?

Frustrated, I heard myself yell furiously out loud, causing Ricky and the nurse to flash a worried look at me. Tears were pouring down my face quickly like a water fall, and my head was clogging up, and the memories that I'd recalled from earlier were becoming faint and blurry.

I took a deep breath, and I was taken completely by surprise when I felt a pain in my lungs. I begged for the breath to return for me, and they came quickly in huge gasps as I began to hyperventilate.

My eyes blurred and my head was spinning, feeling like it was burning, and I dizzily fell over off the bed. The last thing I felt before passing out was someone grabbing my arms.

____

Ricky's POV

"Oh, no," the nurse shouted and ran over to Amy who was out on the floor, and pulled her up by her arms. She pulled her up onto the bed and pressed the emergency button as she stumbled over to the counter, pulling out a syringe and looking for medicine.

"What- what happened?" I stuttered. She was completely fine a few minutes ago. I didn't know what was going on. Two doctors and a nurse, the hag I first met at the front desk, trampled in and rushed around to put an IV into Amy's arm.

I saw Anne frantically standing by the door, bewildered by the screams of everyone coming from the room. The doctor walked quickly up to me like he was pushing me out of the room and said loudly over the commotion that was going on, "You can't be in here. Wait- wait in the waiting room. We'll let you know how she's doing."

He was shoving me out the door, and I looked over his shoulder at Amy. "No! I promised her I'd stay with her!"

"Look, you have to go. It's alright," he said, and that was the last thing I heard before he shut the door in my face, leaving Anne and I standing alone outside the door, the sounds now muffled.

"What happened?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide and starting to turn red.

"I- I don't know," I said quietly, awestruck. "We were just in there talking, and she was completely fine. She had flashbacks and remembered everything. But then she started hyperventilating and it was like she had forgotten everything. Then she passed out on the floor."

Anne and I both looked up when we saw the nurse (the mean shrew that I hate) close the door and join us in the hall. She looked tired, but that wasn't enough to stop her from being the bitch that she is. With an irritated scowl on her face she said in a completely fake comforting voice, "Everything will be fine. Please wait in the waiting room."

"You can't make us-" I began, but I cut off midway when Anne nodded and started walking down the hall with the nurse. I sighed and followed them, even though everything inside me was telling me to run back into the room to be with Amy.

We sat down in the chairs in the waiting room, and I stared straight ahead at the empty front desk, seeing that no one was working up there. There were about eight other people in the waiting room with us, and a little girl was sitting to the left of me smiling.

With Anne looked curiously at me to the right, I looked away from her and down at the little girl. She had long, dark hair that reached to the middle of her back and big, brown eyes. She looked about five or six years old.

"Hi," she said in a quiet, friendly voice. She sounded like she was from America. "I'm Emma."

I tried really hard to smile, but it was probably evident how fake it was. I couldn't find the energy to smile. "Ricky."

"What do you have?"

I looked at her, confused, but I understood immediately what she meant and felt stupid. "I don't have anything." I stared at the golden heart locket she had around her neck and saw the word love on it.

"Oh," she said. "Well I thought you must have something because you look so sad. You're all pale, I thought you had something."

I shook my head. "I don't have anything. It's.. it's my friend," was all I managed to say.

She nodded. "Oh. I've been here for eight months. I want to go home. They keep telling me every day that tomorrow might be the day I go home, but each day I get less and less hopeful thinking that maybe they'll let me leave. My daddy had to go to get psychiatric help so he can't be with me. But I have my mama."

I simply stared at her, shocked by what she just told me. When I heard the nurse calling her name back, she stood up with her mom while quickly saying to me, "I'm about to have a heart transplant."

When she got up, I saw scars all over her arms and legs. She said her dad had to get psychiatric help. Did he do that to her? Why would anyone hurt their daughter who had a heart disease? As the facts sunk in, I felt even more depressed. I had flashbacks of my past, and for some reason it didn't even hurt me like it did before. I felt ten million times sorry for Emma, and I know how awful it must be for her. Especially since she doesn't even seem to realize he hurt her.

Okay, I stopped myself. You don't even know if that's true or not.

But either way, I felt sorry for her. Eight months is a long time to be in the hospital for heart problems. Shrugging the thoughts away, I stared at the ticking clock, sitting impatiently in the chair as I watched everyone being called down the hall except for Anne and me. The minutes dragged by slowly, and at eleven-thirty one (at night, of course) the doctor finally came through the door of the hall and looked at us.

He smiled slightly and said, "You can come see her now."

___

Okay, so sorry for leaving it there. I wanted to keep writing, but I needed to find a place to stop it. So, I hope you liked this chapter! Please review. I'll try to update really soon. Thank you to all my reviewers and everyone. Y'all are awesome :D