CHAPTER FORRTEEN

Michelle felt like she was half awake a short time later. "I remember this room, I remember these walls. I remember this bed. I remember it all."

Michelle sensed she was dreaming. She couldn't understand it. But, somehow, she found her memory. The puzzle was coming together. Her head was filling, as her memory, which had been scared and was hiding, came rushing back. Thoughts of all the people, all the fun, and especially all the love, rushed into her mind.

When she awoke, though, she couldn't remember dreaming. She merely knew she was awakening from a nap. "That's odd. I don't usually nap in the afternoon."

She began walking downstairs. "Whoa, D.J. really looks nice."

"You guys have to see D.J.'s prom dress, she looks incredible," Michelle heard Stephanie say.

Danny walked backwards in front of D.J., recording her. "Okay, come on baby. Come to papa. All right, work the camera, honey."

"Deej, you're going to have such a special evening with...whatever his name is," Becky said.

"Hi, guys. D.J., you look beautiful," Michelle commented.

Michelle saw Nicky and Alex with her orange rhino. She spoke lovingly, as a mother reminding her child of the rules. "Nicky, Alex, what are you doing with my Rigby? I told you last week you couldn't have him."

"We're busted," Alex said. He didn't know what it meant. But, he'd heard plenty of older kids say it when caught doing something wrong.

"Last week?" Stephanie exclaimed. "Michelle, do you remember something that happened last week?"

Michelle was glad to see Stephanie so excited. But, she also felt quite confused. "Why are you talking with me, Steph?" She spoke quite sadly as she remembered their fight. "You said you were never giong to forgive me."

Stephanie hollered with delight. "She thinks I hate her. Isn't this great?" She didn't have to worry about helping any more. Michelle remembered everything. She was ecstatic as she merrily picked Michelle up and spun.

"Put me down," Michelle commanded. She wasn't used to being twirled so much.

"Wait. Wait. Michelle, come here," Uncle Jesse said. "This may sound a little weird, but I want to put this to the test. What is my favorite comb?"

"He's right. It sounds weird." "Mr. Goodpart."

"Bingo," Jesse exclaimed.

"Michelle, what day do I always vacuum the stairs?" Danny asked.

"Every day," Michelle answered.

Danny looked really excited, too. "That's right, and it was a trick question."

Joey asked something else. "What's the capital of Nevada?"

"This is getting crazy." "I don't know."

"She never knew that. Her memory's back!" proclaimed Joey.

"This is wonderful! All right," Danny shouted.

Michelle was totally clueless. "Is everybody nuts? What's going on?"

D.J. spoke matter-of-factly. "Michelle, you fell off your horse, and hit your head."

"And you couldn't remember who you were or any of us," Aunt Becky added.

Michelle thought for a second. She remembered a horse jumping competition. In fact, as she thought about it, the last thing she clearly recalled was going onto the riding trail there. It did seem peculiar that she would suddenly wake up in her room. Still, she wondered aloud, "How could I forget you guys? You're my family."

Danny picked her up and held her. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that."

Michelle dwelled on what was said as Kimmy entered the house. It made sense, in a way. D.J. was going to her prom. But, that was the weekend after her horse jumping contest. She pondered that as Kimmy announced that Duane's cousin couldn't make it.

"You mean I'm not going to my prom?" D.J. wondered.

Kimmy grinned. She'd managed to find someone.

At that moment, Steve, her former boyfriend, walked in the door. "Come on, Deej, let's get going. I don't want to miss the buffet," he said.

"Steve," D.J. shouted excitedly. They hugged and kissed. "I missed you so much, Steve."

"I missed you, too, D.J.." Steve greeted everyone. "I heard you had a pretty tough week. How are you feeling, Michelle."

Michelle tried to remember how she had felt. She vaguely recalled her head hurting, and being tired. "I'm feeling better. How out of it was I?"

"Oh, pretty out of it," Jesse remarked. "I mean, you were here, sweetheart. But, it was like part of you was missing. So it was like part of all of us was missing. But, we stuck it out and we got through."

Joey spoke confidently. "Just like we always do."

"Just like we always will," Danny said, smiling.

As D.J. and Steve left, Stephanie couldn't decide who to call first. She couldn't recall being more thrilled in her life.

Then, she realized she needed to do one thing first. Standing next to her dad, she put an arm around Michelle. "I apologized once. But, you probably don't remember that." She chuckled. "That's strange. First you don't remember anything for a week. Now, you don't remember not remembering."

"Will I ever remember that week," Michelle wondered somberly.

Danny looked at her and thought a minute. Nicky and Alex wandered into Joey's room as he did. "We're not sure, sweetheart. Sometimes the minutes right before an accident, then the days that one has amnesia, never fully come back."

Stephanie hated to see Michelle unhappy. "But, don't worry, Michelle. After supper, you and I are going upstairs. And, we are going to go through the last week in my diary." She'd written about every detail for herself at first. However, she'd learned several days ago that Michelle might not recall her period of amnesia. So, she recorded everything for her, too.

Michelle looked at Stephanie strangely. People - especially Stephanie - were still acting weird. . "Steph, that's impossible. You never like me reading your diary."

Stephanie grunted as she took Michelle from her dad. The sisters plopped onto the couch. "This is a one-time exception. And, you're only getting this for two reasons. First, you should know what happened, and I want to tell you. Well, except for one really funny thing. I'll let Denise tell you that." "Does she remember her friends now, or just us?"

Michelle noticed the curious look. If she forgot her family, she probably forgot her friends, too. And, memories of family might have come back first. She tried to recall some of her friends.

Stephanie sighed. It was harder to apologize the second time. But, she knew she had to do it. "The second reason . . . " She closed her eyes for a second. "I just haven't been a very good sister. And, I really feel bad about what I said. I'm sorry I wouldn't forgive you. I should never have said anything like that. My behavior after you teased me was far worse than yours."

Michelle hugged Stephanie. "It's okay, Steph. I forgive you for being cranky."

Stephanie smiled as they embraced. "How do kids do this so easily?"

It didn't matter. As they sat on the couch and talked with the rest of the family, Stephanie knew it was behind them for good. The hardest part was figuring out how to describe the last week. Stephanie had gone through so much, it was hard to put it all into a few sentences.

She was interrupted by Nicky and Alex. They called from the second floor bathroom. "Michelle, come quick. You've got to see this."

Michelle ran off excitedly. Had the boys gotten something new while she was out of it?

Stephanie and the others looked at each other for a second. Finally, Stephanie put a hand to her face. "Oh no! The goldfish!"

Stephanie raced upstairs, with the others following her. "They're only three. They heard Michelle remember a couple things. But, they don't understand that she remembers everything."

The fish had been floating upside-down since noon. D.J. had bought it when it was half dead. But, the twins didn't pay attention to that. Alex grabbed the fish out of the bowl as Michelle entered. He shoved it into the palm of Michelle's hand, then used her hand to bat it into the water.

As Stephanie hurried into the bathroom, Michelle exclaimed "are you nuts? You'll kill that goldfish." "They must have run this bubble bath before I woke up."

"You named him Martin," Nicky told her. Danny was now filming the spectacle.

"You won him at the carnival," Alex added. The others entered the bathroom.

Nicky nodded. "And you want to give him a bubble bath."

Michelle splashed around to locate the goldfish. There were tons of bubbles in the tub. Soon, half of them were flying out of it. Michelle put both hands on the tub's bottom. She half stepped in, and half fell.

Splash! Even more water and bubbles flew onto everyone. Now, Alex was in the tub. With another big splash, Nicky joined them. Luckily, nobody hit their heads.

Danny handed the camera to Becky and laid towels all over. He was really happy to have Michelle back, but he still wanted to keep things clean at this impromptu party.

The young voices all seemed to ring out at once. "Hey, where's Martin!" "No shoes in the bathtub!" "I'm getting bubbles in my pockets." "That's my nose, Nicky, not a goldfish!" Stephanie laughed until her sides hurt. Bubbles and water spewed out of the tub. Everyone was getting soaked. Danny tried extra hard to avoid it. But, even his clean, pressed suit was getting messy. To top off the nuttiness, they were having this pool party while fully clothed.

"Hey, wait! There's a goldfish in my hair!" The upset voice was Jesse's. The goldfish itself had been splashed out, and it landed in Jesse formerly perfect hair. Jesse grimaced and squirmed as several people tried to get it out at once. By the time the hands and fish were out, Jesse looked like he'd combed his hair with an egg beater.

Michelle poked her head out and glared at Becky. "Oh, no, Michelle has a huge beard of bubbles!" Stephanie nearly fell over laughing looking at Michelle's beard and Jesse's hair. Tears rolled down Stephanie's face, as her tension fled. Joey retrieved Martin and put him in the bowl.

"Aunt Becky, tell Nicky and Alex that you can't give a fish a bubble bath. I tried it once when I was four, and it doesn't work," Michelle declared.

"Michelle, you remembered that, too," Alex shouted with excitement.

Nicky hugged her. "We were hoping you would."

Joey held the bowl and said, "Michelle's remembered everything for the last fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, boys," Becky told them. "You didn't have to recreate that to bring back her memory."

"You mean they put a fish into a bubble bath on purpose?" Michelle looked around. That was the goofiest thing her family had done yet today. "Whose idea was that?"

Finally down to mere chuckling, Stephanie was able to raise her hand. Alex pointed an accusing finger at her. "It was hers."

Stephanie tried to stifle her giggles. It was impossible. Michelle was the most soaked and bubble-filled of all of them. "Oh, Michelle, I just had to help you, and be a better big sister."

"Yeah, right. By giving a goldfish a bubble bath?" She wiped off her bubble beard. She, too, was giggling now.

Stephanie explained that she simply tried to have fun. "Admit it, it sounds like something you would try, doesn't it?" To Stephanie, it seemed just like one of her sister's crazy schemes. "I could have brought home a mule, you know."

"She also wanted to fly to Auckland with you," Danny told her.

Becky snickered as she added "You think this is bad, Michelle? We almost had goldfish souffle for supper last night." The family got queasy looks.

Jesse nodded slowly. "Yeah, munchkin. She really cares about you."

Michelle thought for a second. "Well, it's crazy. But, I might have done the same thing."

Stephanie grinned. She walked over to Michelle, who got out sopping wet with bubbles galore. She could just hear Michelle asking if that could count as her bath tonight.

"Michelle, I love you so much," Stephanie said happily. "I want to be a great big sister, and help you with everything. I can't promise I'll never get mad. We'll probably get a little crazy sometimes, or do things that annoy each other. We might have some big fights sometimes. But, I can promise that I'll always love you. I'll try never to say anything in anger. But, even if I am mad at you, I'll still be forgiving you and loving you.

"And, Michelle, I know we have our own friends. But, I'd like to do more fun stuff with you than I have been. I want to be a really good friend, too, not just your sister. Okay?"

They embraced. Michelle didn't need the long speech. All she wanted was to know that Stephanie loved her. This was so much better, though. She agreed swiftly. "You got it, dude."

Stephanie sighed contentedly. She didn't know if she deserved it. But, she would certainly take advantage of her second chance. "Have mercy!"