"So, Cat. Do you live around here?"
"Yeah sort of. Several blocks away. I've lived her for almost all my life."
"Nice. Me too. Maybe a half hour away."
Cat kindly nodded.
"Hey, I don't mean to sound creepy or anything, but you look familiar. And I don't even know how or who you would look like or remind me of."
"I do?" she became nervous.
"Yeah. Have we met before?" he examined her face, though not in a creepy way.
"Uh I don't think probably formally, but I do work at the hospital in mid city."
"Yeah, I go there. Do you know Doctor Napper?"
"I do. I'm on his team."
"Oh, nice! Wait, are you Doctor Valentine?"
"Y-yeah. How did you know?"
"Oh ok, so you worked on my case then. I met the rest of Lane's team except for you, Dr. Valentine, because it was your day off," he explained.
"Please, call me Cat," she said. But she knew the truth. She avoided meeting him that day because she thought she'd never have to meet him.
"Well Cat, like I said to the others, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing your case on me and giving me my vision back. Really, I don't know what I would do without your team."
"Oh, uh, you're welcome," Cat timidly answered.
"So, how long have you been on Lane's team? I've known him almost all my life. I didn't even know he had a new team."
"Oh we're all finishing our residency at the hospital. He requested four people and we showed up. We'll be done soon."
"Well then, congratulations in advance," he smiled.
"Thanks... So um, how are you?"
"I'm alright, thanks for asking," he smiled at her question. He didn't know much about her, but Robbie liked the fact that she was kind to him. So he returned the question. "And how are you?"
"Tired," she sighed.
"I bet. It's amazing what you guys do- save lives. That's really admirable."
Cat sincerely smiled. She couldn't help it.
"All I do is take pictures. I'm a photographer."
"I know," she muttered.
"What?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing. Um… so tell me, what kind of photography do you like to do?"
"Well I'm a little bit of everything, but my favorite thing is taking pictures of nature…" Robbie went on about his photography and how he started and Cat couldn't help but to reminisce when he first told the same story. She was somewhat comforted to recognize how Robbie was the same person then as he was now; still so passionate about what he does, and still the same amazing guy.
"I'm so sorry, I'm just chatting like a train," he blushed.
Cat had never seen Robbie so shy before. She'd seen him blush, but the look in his eyes made her gush delightfully inside.
"No, no it's fine," she giggled. "I, I genuinely enjoyed hearing this about you. I admire how passionate you are about your photography."
"Wow, thanks," he beamed. "Some people just don't get it, you know?"
"I get you," she replied.
This time he really smiled. Something he hadn't done in a while.
"So Doctor, what's your definition of fun?"
"What makes you think I'm a fun person? Let alone have time for fun?" she raised her eyebrow playfully.
"Other than your hair being the obvious reason?" He chuckled.
"Just because I dyed my hair red doesn't mean I have fun," she said non-chalantly.
"Oh it's not real?" He acted surprised.
"No," she teased. "I'm a natural brunette. On my 13th birthday I made it such a big deal that I was a teenager to my mom and I wanted to do one crazy thing. And I chose to dye my hair."
"Why this color?"
"Because red velvet cupcakes are my favorite. And I thought why not?" she giggled.
"Well it's a very pretty color," He said while gently touching her hair. A strand had fallen in front of her face so he took the liberty to tuck it behind her ear. "It looks good on you."
He kept his hand there.
"I guess. I mean I miss my brunette hair sometimes. I don't look so crazy; I look normal. But you know I've grown to love my hair and all it's syntheticness," she giggled.
"You're hair may not be it's natural color, but you're a natural beauty," he winked. Cat couldn't help but blush.
"Does this Mr. Suave move work on every girl you hit on?" she was caught in the moment with his charm; like she had fallen for the first time they met.
"I don't know, you tell me?" he smiled. Their faces were pretty close, Robbie's hand still tucked behind her ear. But before they got lost in the moment, Cat snapped back and moved her head, prompting him to let go of her hair.
The two sat in silence for a few seconds, listening to Martha's steps and feeling the wind blow past their faces. Both seemed like they were in deep thought. Cat obviously was worrying about her interaction with Robbie, while Robbie was internally attempting figuring out why he was having such a strong connection with someone he 'just met'. He really felt like he knew her.
"Say, Cat."
"Yeah?"
"Ever wonder if we've met before?"
You have no idea, she wanted to say. "Yeah, I do."
"Isn't crazy how we can live in the same area, yet we've never met?"
"It's a uh, crazy world," she managed to respond.
Robbie looked at Cat once again, really examined her. "But maybe… we have been in the same place at the same time, standing right in front of each other, but didn't really see each other."
His words sent a chill down Cat's spine. Those were some exact words that she told him one time. Could Robbie really have said that on his own, or was he remembering something? Cat thought.
"Maybe," was all she could say. She was taken aback.
"Or you know, since I have slight amnesia, what if I did know you like at the hospital from previous visits, but now I can't seem to remember because of the amnesia. And you probably see hundreds of people everyday at the hospital so you might not even remember me even before this procedure." "Do you remember anything from that missing month?" Cat wanted to know.
"Honestly? No. I want to. But no. I mean, I get these weird inklings, but I can never distinguish if they're real or just dreams."
"Like what? If you don't mind me asking."
"Like I don't know, conversations with my boss, random feelings, just stuff like that. Nothing really specific yet. It's like everything you look at is déjà vu."
"Oh," she said.
"Yeah. Hey, do you remember anything from that month that you thing was vital for me to remember?" he questioned.
"Afraid I can't say anything important," she did her best to lie. It was hurting her inside, but it was the right thing to do, she thought.
"Oh, what a shame. Well, I wish we could have met before my amnesia kicked in."
"You whaaa?" Cat started to get goose bumps.
"Yeah. You seem like a lovely person that I would have wanted to remember. I mean all I saw was darkness; would've been better to have a pretty face in my mind."
Cat was flabbergasted. Was Robbie trying to tell her something? That he remembers? Because this conversation was so closely and disturbingly similar to one they had before. But Cat knew it was impossible. She saw his scans. Retrograde Amnesia. Short-term memory loss.
"Well, if only amnesia weren't permanent. Then I wouldn't have to wonder what happened in that part of my life that I missed," he sighed contently.
"Yeah, if only," she whispered.
They were reaching the front of the park just as Robbie received a phone call from Donna.
"Well as much as I enjoyed this carriage ride, I must go. I guess I didn't need to wait after all."
"Oh I'm sorry," Cat shrugged.
"No need. It wasn't all a waste, I did get to enjoy a lovely ride and meet an even lovelier person. It was a pleasure meeting you, Cat. Don't be a stranger now," Robbie winked.
She waved goodbye to him as he started walking away. She noticed Donna was the person he was waiting for but before Donna could spot Cat, she ducked in the cab, not wanting to be seen. Sikowitz was a bit confused.
"Kitty-Cat, what are you doing?"
"I'm uh… I dropped a… thing down here," she said slowly getting up to see that they walked away.
"Say, Cat. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Do you know that fella?"
She nodded.
"Wait, was he the one you and Beck were talking about the other day?"
She nodded again.
"Huh…"
'Huh' was right. Cat stared at the very path Robbie walked away with Donna, a mixture of emotions rushing through her.