On the seventh day of observation, after every test had been passed, I was finally allowed to go home. As we were leaving, I finally caught the doctor's nametag as he was never actually introduced to me. Doctor Bryant
"I'll drive you and Azuriah back to your foster family's place, but I don't think I'll be able to stay. I don't have enough credibility yet to get any more time off of work," Mark explained as we were leaving.
"I understand," I said, hearing in his voice how hesitant he was to leave. "Don't worry, I'll be alright."
"I'll take good care of him," Azuriah added helpfully. We talked a while longer before arriving at an ancient-looking three story house and saying our goodbyes.
"Come on," Azuriah said, leading me up the drive. It felt strange knowing this was where I lived but not recognizing it. I thought for a moment that there must be some mistake, the house was much too big to be where I lived. But I trusted Azuriah and tossed the thought aside.
Azuriah knocked on the door and it was answered by an intimidating, broad-shouldered man with well kept dark blond hair. A disquieting feeling settled in my stomach and I shifted a bit so I stood partially blocked by Azuriah and laced my fingers through his.
Azuriah looked down at my curiously but turned back to the man when I kept my gaze pointedly towards the ground.
"Right," the man said before Azuriah had even opened his mouth. "I suppose you'd best come inside."
We followed him into the house and I took a moment to glance around before tugging on Azuriah's sleeve to quietly get his attention. Once again, he looked down at me curiously.
"I don't like it here," I murmured quietly enough that only he heard. "There's something… unsettling about it. Don't leave me alone, I don't want to be here without you."
Azuriah looked confused but he nodded anyway. When he agreed I relaxed a bit.
"I won't, we'll just go up to your room to get some of your things and you can stay with me for a while, okay?" his hand tightened around mine reassuringly and I nodded.
I was directed to my bedroom and I went upstairs to try to gather my things, leaving Azuriah with who was most likely my foster father.
When I went into my room, I put a few sets of clothes into the backpack I found lying on the bed, unsure of how long I would be away. I also took the only recreational reading book in sight: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. If at least one good thing comes of all of this, it's that I'll be able to experience all of my favorite books for the first time again.
On the floor, where I had apparently not bothered to pick them up, there were papers, books and notebooks scattered around where they had been swept off of the desk, along with a desk lamp.
Why would I knock all of this onto the floor? I wondered. No use dwelling on it now, though. I threw my backpack over my shoulder and made my way back down the stairs.
By the time I had made it to the second floor I could hear arguing downstairs. I slowed my pace to listen as I descended.
"He's lost his memories! He can't stay here with you when you didn't even care enough to be with him while he was in the hospital!" Azuriah snapped stubbornly.
"Well how was I to know he had developed amnesia?" my foster father replied calmly. He looked like he was about to go on when Azuriah interrupted.
"Oh, I don't know, how about visiting once in a while? He was unconscious for two weeks!"
"Yes, and he's been gone for three. What's he been doing all this time? Gallivanting around with you like he always seems to be, I suppose," the man responded spitefully.
Now halfway down the staircase, I sped up to a normal pace and made myself known.
"Am I interrupting something?" Oddly enough, I found their argument rather amusing. A smile played at the corners of my mouth as I went on. "Because if I am I can go back upstairs."
"Smug bastard," Azuriah said with a fond smirk. "Come on, we're leaving."
Ignoring the protests of my foster father, I strode forward and we were out the door.
The walk to Azuriah's house was about 30 minutes, and I didn't mind, but I had found out that the only form of winter jacket I had was the gray jacket I was wearing that, Azuriah informed me, I wore during every season anyway, including summer, so it wasn't exactly warm. About halfway to his house, after asking me several times if I was alright, he gave me a "For God's sake, Rowyn," and took of his coat. He threw it over my head and, nearly tripping, I had to stop. Apparently I was unaware that I had been shivering.
"Hey!" I protested indignantly, taking the coat off of me.
"You're obviously freezing, and rightly so. It's nearly December, just put it on," he said reasonably and I sighed.
"Only because if I argue we'll standing in the cold for no good reason," I said, taking my backpack off to put his jacket on. Obviously it was too big for me, but I wore it anyway. A letterman jacket, interesting. At least I know what high school we go to now, on the back was the blue and gold crest for LHS, Laurel High School. The jacket itself was blue with gold piping, so the school colors were obvious. Laurel, Maryland. Strange how I'm only just remembering where I live and it doesn't feel like the fact has much significance, like I've never really been bothered to think about it much before. I felt as if I hardly even knew it before I lost my memories.
Azuriah had picked my backpack up off of the ground and when I tried to take it back he insisted on carrying it because "It isn't that far a walk anyway," and a flash of something stirred in me. A memory? I stopped to get my bearings.
"Hey, are you alright?" Azuriah asked, sounding concerned.
"Yeah… I'm fine. Just a bit of déjà vu, I think," I responded, shaking my head in an attempt to clear it, but as a result I ended up sending a jolt of pain back into my still-healing injury, making my head spin. I stumbled but Azuriah was quick to catch me and set me right again.
"Be careful, Rowyn," he warned, putting his arm around my waist so I wouldn't fall. "Your injury is going to open back up if you're not."
"I know," I started to say, but then something dawned on me. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"What?" he asked, taken aback.
"Before you caught me, when you took my backpack. You've done that before, you even said the same thing, nearly word for word. You wanted to see if I would remember." It wasn't a question. If we really do know each other as well as everyone seems to think we do, Azuriah should know that I'm clever enough to figure it out.
"Rowyn, I-"
"No, it's fine," I interrupted his apology. "It worked. At least, I think it did. Kind of." I wasn't sure what to make of it, to be honest. I knew I remembered something similar happening before, but the circumstances and details were foggy. Trying to clear it was like trying to pull back layers of cobwebs from the catacombs of my mind.
"Kind of?" Azuriah asked, trying to prompt an explanation. I explained what I could and couldn't remember and he nodded, understanding it better when I used the previously mentioned metaphor.
"I see… well, it's a start," he said, glad that I was making some progress, even if it was minor.
It felt strange to have him steadying me, like having his arm around me was something I would never normally allow, so once I was walking steadily on my own again I edged away from him, just far enough for him to notice and drop his arm to his side. He didn't seem disappointed, he actually looked like he had expected that sort of reaction. So he does know me pretty well, then.
About ten minutes later Azuriah pointed out a house just down the street. Walking up the sidewalk towards the door I got a strange feeling in my stomach that had nothing to do with my present situation. There are very prominent memories that, while I can't remember them, my subconscious seems to. Something about them is giving me the same reaction I had then, it was making me anxious. Anxious, but not exactly uneasy. I could tell already that this was a place I enjoyed spending time at.
Azuriah opened the door and, with theatric gesture, invited me in. I smiled at his theatrics and went inside far enough for him to close the door, shutting out the cold. He dropped my backpack by the door and I took his coat off, having to push up the sleeves first so I could use my hands as the sleeves came down well past my fingertips. Azuriah hung the jacket on the coat rack and led me into the living room.
Sitting on the couch that was in the middle of the room were two girls, both reading thick books, who were exactly identical. When Azuriah and I walked in they both looked up.
"What's Rowyn doing here?" one asked.
"Shouldn't he be at home?" the other finished.
"It's kind of a long story," Azuriah answered cryptically. The story wasn't that long but I figured he had his reasons for claiming it was, and didn't interject.
The twins looked similar to Azuriah in that their facial features were very much alike and their eyes were the same clear, icy blue. Their hair was light too but unlike Azuriah, whose hair is impossibly light blond, theirs was a sandy brown. They must be his little sisters.
"Anyway, just be nice okay? He just got out of the hospital today."
I frowned a bit at that as the twins eyed me warily. I may have just been released from the hospital but I'm not made of glass, I don't need him protecting me from his little sisters.
"I'm fine, Azuriah. Don't make a big deal out it," I told him quietly.
He hesitated, and I couldn't help but wonder what mischief these two got into that could possibly have warranted having to be specifically asked to behave. Eventually, though, he sighed.
"Alright," he agreed. "Sorry, I guess I'm nervous."
"Don't be, I'm fine and I'm sure your sisters won't do anything too drastic," I said with a smirk, earning myself an appreciative laugh from Azuriah.
"You obviously don't know my sisters," he said, laughing.
"Hey!" came two voices from the sofa, and Azuriah tried to stifle his laughter.
"Come on, it was a little funny," he grinned at them as they crossed their arms indignantly.
"So what now?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Well it's Wednesday and my mom works later on Wednesdays, hence why she's not home yet," Azuriah answered. "But it's past 4:30 so she should be home soon. Until then do you guys want to play a game or something?"
Before I could answer the twins simultaneously shouted "Monopoly!" to which Azuriah immediately protested.
"Why not? It could be fun," I said, smiling a bit.
"No, no, no. You haven't played monopoly with them, they're an unbeatable team. I have yet to win against them and I taught them to play when they were, what, seven years old?" Azuriah explained and the twins nodded, confirming the number.
"Okay but this time you have something you didn't have all those other times," I said and he cocked his head to the side questioningly. "You have me." Azuriah laughed and finally agreed to play with us.
I had to learn how to play, but soon after we started it was clear that this was a game of statistics and math. Once I had that figured out, it was easy to trick the twins, River and Echo as Azuriah remembered to tell me, into helping me win. I bought every property I landed on, including three of the four train stations and Boardwalk. I traded all of my other properties for the last train station, park place, and the two utilities and nearly bankrupted River. Unfortunately the properties cost me quite bit, but I was careful to not let myself go bankrupt until I was on the side of the board that Azuriah had monopolized and he ended up with all of my properties when he bankrupted me. I served as banker as Azuriah cleaned out his sisters, and I looked up when the front door opened. Mrs. Young came home to find game pieces scattered around and the twins arguing about it being unfair that I helped Azuriah because I'm "smarter than the three of them combined"(Echo's words). I laughed a bit at that.
"It wasn't unfair, you were the ones who gave me the properties I had," I told them reasonably and they frowned. Azuriah was defending me with a broad smile and while they argued I couldn't help but laugh. The three of them were a sight to behold, to say the least. While I laughed, Azuriah looked over at me and his smile brightened.
"What?" I said, still smiling.
"Nothing, I just don't think I've heard you properly laugh before," he said, his broad smile turning a bit shy.
"No?" I asked, laughter subsiding. "How strange. You would think in as long as I've apparently known you, you would have seen me laugh before."
"It's fine, it's sort of how you are, but… it's nice to see you so happy."
Before I had the chance to respond Mrs. Young interrupted, so all I could do was smile in response.
"Hi Rowyn, I didn't know you'd be coming over." She gave Azuriah a pointed look, but obviously wasn't upset. Azuriah gave an indifferent shrug, his smile not faltering.
"Can he stay overnight?" he requested hopefully.
"I can't see why not, now that Charlie's gone back to campus." She gave me a friendly smile and I smiled back. I knew I probably shouldn't stay long, as I wouldn't want to impose, but I don't know where else I would go. I'll figure it out eventually.
"Thank you." It was really the only response to give. She nodded and headed into the kitchen.
"You can sleep on the couch tonight," Azuriah said. I nodded, then laughed when Echo and River challenged us to another round of Monopoly.
"It's like 6:45, there's no way we have time for another game and time to get my homework done. Monopoly takes forever," Azuriah protested.
Homework? That's right, Azuriah said it was Wednesday. I missed three weeks of school, I'll be hopelessly behind in my work. What's the date again? I asked Azuriah but it was Echo who answered, I noticed she was much quieter than her sister.
November 27th, 21 days ago I was admitted into the hospital. 21 days ago, it was November 6th. Why does that date sound familiar? I asked Azuriah.
"What's on November 6th?"
"Kind of a random date, other than the fact that that was the day Jonathan hospitalized you. Why do you ask?"
"It sounds familiar, like something happens that day," I answered. I knew I was being vague but it was hard not to be, as I didn't know what it was either.
"Hang on, let me think…" he opened his mouth again, looking like he realized something important when Echo tilted her head and answered for him again.
"Isn't that your birthday?" she asked quietly.
"Hard to remember that sort of thing with everything that's happened," Azuriah said. "But yeah, that's Rowyn's birthday."
"My birthday… are my birthdays always so grim?"
"From what you've told me, actually, they are. But you tend to be a bit melodramatic." He smiled fondly at that and I couldn't help but smile back. I don't know why, but I like it when he smiles.
"I wasn't sure what to get you so I thought I'd take you somewhere instead, we can go this weekend if you want," he finished.
"I can't see why not," I agreed. "Where?"
"That's a surprise," he grinned.
"I don't like surprises," I told him, but my smile didn't falter.
"You'll like this one," he assured me.
"Get a room," River and Echo said concurrently.
"Shut up," Azuriah and I said fondly, echoing their habit of talking at the same time. He looked over at me and suddenly we were both laughing again.
After dinner he took his homework up to his room and, rather than staying downstairs to play another game with Echo and River, I grabbed my book out of my backpack and followed him.
He set up his homework at his desk and I settled on his bed, opening my book. Every now and again he'd sound confused and I'd sigh theatrically, getting up to help him before going back to my book.
"You know," he said after the third time I got up to help him, "you don't have to help me. You seem pretty interested in your book over there."
"It's fascinating. And I do too have to help you, otherwise you'll never finish. Besides, I sort of like helping you with your homework. There's something oddly satisfying about the fact that you need my help despite you being older than me," I teased. He threw a pen at me and I put my hands up to shield my face, feigning offense.
At around 10 I went back downstairs, with my book, and fell asleep on the couch by 11. When I woke up I found that a blanket had been thrown over me and my book was on the coffee table, page saved.