As soon as I started giving Caitlin the antibiotics, she began to get much better, but about two or three days later, Courtney began to develop the same symptoms and had to be put on antibiotics too. "We may as well get used to it," Maxim laughed. "I guess things are just going to be this way from now on."
A few weeks later, WalMart had a big sale on baby and kids' clothes. I was choosing outfits and putting them into my buggy when I heard two women's voices nearby, talking quite loudly. I went over to investigate, peeking through the cracks in a hair ribbon display so that they wouldn't know I was there, and who did I see but Trina and Darcy, who were looking at CD's. Trina was in a wheelchair, which Darcy was pushing.
"I can't wait to get him back," Trina was saying. "I've missed too much of his life already. I can't believe how much he's grown since the last time I saw him. My lawyer showed me a photograph of him yesterday, and my first visitation is supposed to be Friday. I'm so excited!"
"But what about your nephew and his wife?" asked Darcy. "He was so little when you had your accident, they're the only parents he's ever known. Won't he just see you as a stranger?"
"I know he will at first, but he'll get used to me really fast," Trina replied. "I'm his mama. He has to love me!"
"Oh, absolutely!" Darcy agreed. "You carried and gave birth to him, so he belongs to you!"
Not wanting to hear any more, I returned to my shopping. I found two new outfits for Seth, four for Morgan, twelve altogether for the twins, and swimsuits and pajamas for all four kids. After making sure that Darcy and Trina were nowhere in sight, I got into the check-out lane. My total tab came to more than eighty dollars. "Wow, I really got carried away!" I said to myself as I headed toward the parking lot with my buggy.
Between that and the incident with Trina and Darcy, I was so distracted that I wasn't paying enough attention when I backed out of my parking space and crashed right into a police cruiser! My heart was in my throat and I was shaking all over as I got out of my car and walked over to the police officer. "Oh my God, I am so sorry!" I blurted out, sure that I would soon be headed straight for jail.
"Just let me see your driver's license, ma'am," he barked. I handed him my license, and his eyes lit up with surprise. "Are you by any chance related to Maxim Petrov?"
"I'm his wife."
"Oh, uh, well...just be more careful from now on." He blushed a deep red.
After copying down my insurance information, he let me go. I was still shaking just a little as I drove back home, but by the time I got there, my thoughts had turned once again to the situation with Trina. I was still worried about it when Maxim entered the house, and I definitely wasn't prepared to see the huge grin of amusement on his face.
"What's so damn funny?" I snapped.
"Mitch told me about the little run-in you had with him in the parking lot of WalMart today." He was laughing so hard he could barely talk.
"Oh, yeah." Suddenly I was laughing along with him. "Something bad did happen, though. I was shopping for clothes for the kids when I overheard two women talking. I looked to see who it was and saw that it was Trina and Darcy. Trina was talking about how she has visitation rights now and how she's still planning to take Luke away from Chad and Lily."
"That has to be really hard on them."
"I haven't even talked to Lily in a couple of weeks," I admitted. "I've just been so busy with work and the kids and everything, but I really should check on her. All this stress, plus just recovering from having Julia, can't be very good for her."
After I'd cleaned up from dinner, given the kids their baths, and gotten the twins settled for the night, I called Lily. "Hey, girl!" she said when she heard my voice. "How's it going?"
"Fine," I replied. "How's it going for you?"
"Fine! Julia just had her six weeks check-up. She's gaining weight and reaching all her milestones just like she's supposed to."
"And what about Luke?"
"He's fine, too. Looking forward to the end of the 'terrible two's.' How are your kids?"
"They're all doing OK. Seth is still enjoying the Cub Scouts, Morgan's class just took a field trip to the zoo, and the twins are into everything!" I laughed. "You wouldn't believe the great deals I found for the kids at Walmart today!"
"Yeah, I was thinking about going there tomorrow. Luke's gonna need something nice to wear on Friday. His Mom's coming to see him."
"Isn't there anything you can do about that?"
"Nope. It's court ordered."
"Well, I don't know what to say about that, except I'm sorry."
"She only gets him for a couple of hours, and it's supervised. She's still in a wheelchair, you know. So far she hasn't said anything else about trying to get custody of him, and I'm too scared to ask about it."
"I don't blame you. I'd be scared too! Well, at least Julia's yours, so nobody can try to take her away."
"Yeah. Well, she just started crying, so I'd better go."
"OK, talk to you later."
I had to go back to work the following day. I was just about to go to lunch when there was a big commotion in the emergency room. It turned out that a trailer had caught on fire with a father and six kids inside. The only boy and one of the girls had been killed, and the father and the other four girls had severe burns and had also suffered smoke inhalation. Of course I immediately forgot about lunch and went to see how I could help.
"Does he know about his daughter and son?" I whispered to another nurse.
"Not yet," she whispered back. "We're waiting until he's out of danger to tell him."
I got busy with starting IV's and dressing wounds right away. I knew that it was going to be a long afternoon, but I didn't care about that. I couldn't stand the thought that the man might die, or that he might lose even more of his children.
The man and his surviving children were still barely clinging to life when I left work much later. I wondered whether they'd still be alive when I returned the following day. I couldn't get them off my mind as I drove home. I was almost there when I suddenly remembered that I'd forgotten to call Maxim and tell him I'd be working late.
As soon as I entered the house, all hell broke loose. "Nice of you to drop by," Maxim sneered sarcastically. "Your son has to practice for a school play, your daughter was sent home from kindergarten with head lice, and both twins have diarrhea. Didn't you notice that bag of stinky diapers outside? No, you were probably too busy thinking about how much fun you had getting together with your friends for coffee after work, right?"
"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed. "There was a horrible trailer fire, and two kids were killed and their Dad and sisters were badly burned. I was so busy taking care of them I forgot to call and tell you I was gonna be late."
"Talk to the hand."
Angrily, I went to check on the children. After persuading the twins to drink some Gatorade while listening to Seth recite his lines for the play, I drove to the drugstore to get some medicine for Morgan. "Oh Mommy, it stinks!" she whined as I massaged it into her scalp.
"I know it does," I replied. "But we have to get ride of the lice. They won't let you go back to school until they're gone."
It was very late by the time I'd gotten all four kids settled for the night. Maxim was already asleep with his back toward me when I finally crept into bed. The alarm clock awakened me from a sound sleep the following morning. Maxim had to work an early shift that day, so I had to get the kids ready by myself. Luckily, the twins' diarrhea seemed to have abated, and I didn't see any lice when I checked Morgan's scalp.
I got the kids to the bus stop and was just about to leave the house with the twins when I received the telephone call. "You need to come to the hospital right away." I recognized Danielle's voice. "Maxim was chasing a speeding car and was broadsided. He banged his head on the windshield really hard and was knocked unconscious."
"Oh my God!" I gasped. I was shaking all over as I buckled the twins into their car seats and drove to Laura's. I explained what had happened as I dropped them off.
She turned pale. "I sure hope he'll be all right!"
"Thanks. Me too."
Although I was technically supposed to work that day, I was so worried about my husband that my boss told me to just take the day off and spend it with him. I thanked him, then called Mom to tell her what had happened and she came to the hospital to join me right away. By that time, he'd been admitted to the hospital and put into a room, and both of us just sat in chairs watching him helplessly.
"He was really mad at me last night," I told Mom. "I had to work late because these trailer fire victims were brought in, and I was so busy getting them stabilized I forgot to call and tell him I was gonna be late. When I finally got home, I found out Meadow had lice and the twins were sick, and he was mad at me because I forgot to call. I tried to apologize, but he just blew me off. By the time I woke up this morning, he'd already left for work." I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and there was a huge lump in my throat. "If he never wakes up, the very last time he spoke to me will have been in anger."
"Oh, honey, he's gonna wake up." Mom patted my hand comfortingly. "And even if the worst does happen, he knows that you and the children love him, and that's all that really matters."
"Oh my God, I almost forgot!" I cried. "I need to let his family in Russia know what happened, but I don't know how to reach them." Then I thought of something. "Ilya does. I'll call him and tell him what happened."
I called Misty, and she told me Ilya was at work. "I need him to get in touch with Maxim's parents," I told her. "Maxim's been hurt really bad. He's unconscious, and they don't know if he'll ever wake up."
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I'll call him right away!"
I stayed at the hospital as long as I could, then left to pick the children up. Seth and Morgan were full of questions about what had happened to Maxim. I told them that he'd bumped his head and had to stay in the hospital for a little while but that he'd be fine in a few days. They seemed to accept my explanation without question. I prayed that my words would be proven true.
When I got to the hospital the following morning, I found that Maxim's entire family had already flown over and were going into his room to sit with him in turns. Things were pretty much the same for two or three more days, and then one day I went in to visit him and was told that he'd awakened but had amnesia. "He can't remember anything at all," Karolina told me mournfully. "He doesn't even know who any of us are!"
"Oh, no!" I gasped. I embraced her, and we cried together. When I entered Maxim's room, I found him sitting up in bed, staring blankly ahead. "Hi, sweetheart," I said. He didn't respond. I gave him a hug, which he didn't return. "I know you don't remember me, but I'm your wife Lacy, and I love you very much," I told him. He blinked uncomprehendingly. "We have four children," I continued. "Seth is seven, Morgan is four, and the twins, Caitlin and Courtney, are sixteen months. would you like to see some pictures of them?"
I took my wallet out of my purse and showed him pictures of the kids, hoping it would jog his memory. No such luck.
Once Maxim had relearned all his basic life skills such as how to brush his teeth, comb his hair, and get dressed, there was no reason for the hospital to keep him any longer, so they released him. I had a long discussion with Seth and Morgan the night before he was to come home. "When Daddy bumped his head, it made him forget a lot of things," I explained. "The three of us are gonna have to help him remember them. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yes!" they shouted.
"Good." I smiled.
When Maxim came home, he hugged the children and told them how much he'd missed them, but I could tell it was all for their sake.
"This is a sofa." Seth pointed to the sofa. "And this is a chair." He pointed to several other familiar objects and told Maxim their names. Maxim smiled and nodded. It broke my heart to see my husband as he was, but I tried my best to put on a happy face and act like everything was perfectly normal.
"When's Daddy gonna get his memory back?" Morgan asked as I tucked her into bed that night.
"I don't know," I told her. "Soon, I hope."
Maxim had some leave time saved up from the police department, so we were all right for awhile, but eventually I had to go back to my job. I was nervous leaving my husband in the house alone for eight hours at a time, but I made him promise not to go anywhere until I got home.
Things were fine for a couple of weeks, but then one evening, I came home to discover that Maxim was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Daddy?" asked Seth.
"I don't know!" I wailed. My fingers were shaking as I called the police department. Adrian answered. "Maxim's gone!" I gasped. "I can't find him anywhere!"
"When was the last time you saw him?" asked Adrian.
"This morning, when I left for work! This is the first time this has happened! I always make him promise not to go anywhere until I get back from work, and he's always listened up until now!"
"I'll send a couple of troopers to look for him, but try not to worry too much. He probably just got confused and wandered off. He couldn't have gone very far."
As all the kids were with me, I was forced to sit home worrying my brains out until I heard something about Maxim. It was not quite dark when two policemen arrived holding my husband between them. He was unhurt but looked very confused. Relief flooded through my body as I jumped to my feet and rushed to embrace him, too happy to see him to be angry.
"We found him just wandering around in the woods near here," one of the policemen told me.
"Thank you ever so much!' I exclaimed.
"All right. You take care now." The policemen left.
"You must be starving!" I said to Maxim. I heated some leftover chicken and rice and peas up for him, and he practically inhaled them. After that, I drew him a bath and then helped him into bed.
The following evening, Ilya and Misty came by to visit, bringing baby Jesse with them. By now, all his wrinkles had filled out and he could hold his head up and smile and even coo. He was absolutely adorable. Caitlin and Courtney toddled over to examine him. "Bay bay." Cadence pointed.
"That's right, he's a baby, just like you and your sister used to be," I told her.
"Don't you remember me at all?" Ilya asked Maxim. "We've known each other since we were four years old. We went to school together."
Maxim frowned. "What was your name again?"
"It's Ilya! Ilya Pushkin!" He looked as if he might cry. I felt terribly sorry for him.
Ilya and Misty stayed for several hours, but Ilya had no better luck jogging Maxim's memory than I'd had in the hospital. After they'd left, I put everyone to bed and then went to bed myself. After the lights were out, I lay wide awake for a long time, wondering what it would be like not to be able to recognize Lily. I found that I simply couldn't imagine it.
Through the crack in the door, I watched in helpless horror as Darcy and Trina approached Maxim, who stood beside the bed. "Don't you remember?" asked Darcy. "This is your wife, Trina!"
"But the lady named Lacy told me that she was my wife!"
"Doesn't she wish!" Trina gave an evil cackle. "You belong to me, and don't you ever forget it!" She held his face between her hands and began kissing him passionately. He was startled at first but then began to respond.
"I'll just leave you two alone to get re-acquainted." Darcy winked and patted Trina's shoulder as she walked from the room.
When she'd left, Darcy unbuttoned Maxim's shirt and slowly slid it off his shoulders. "Mm, just look at those muscles!" she murmured. "I'd almost forgotten how well built you are!"
Her mouth left his to place a trail of soft kisses all the way down his body, until she reached his belly button, where she deftly unfastened his pants and slid them and his underwear down. I was crushed when I saw that he was already erect. She took him into her mouth and began to bob her head up and down in a rhythmic motion. I felt as if she were stabbing me in the heart, over and over again. The expression of bliss on his face hurt worse than words could ever express.
After awhile, she pushed him back on the bed and climbed onto him, then rolled over so that he was on top of her. His face still bore the same look of ecstasy as he began to thrust with abandon.
I gasped, and my eyes flew open to find that I was sitting up in bed and that Maxim was lying beside me looking very puzzled. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I just had the most terrible dream!" I said.
"I'm so sorry!" He took me into his arms and embraced me, but it felt as if I were in the arms of a stranger.
Please, Maxim, come back to me!
"Are you going to be OK?" he asked me after awhile.
"I'll be all right. Don't you remember anything at all, Maxim?"
He frowned. "I was in the hospital. My shoulder was hurt. I was with some boys, and then you came in."
"Oh, Maxim, you remember the first time we met!" I exclaimed.
"You were younger then. Where are the boys now?"
"Andy's married to Laura, and they have their own house. Denny's dating Jane, and I haven't spoken to Mason in awhile, but the last time I did, he was fine."
"How many years ago was that?"
"Almost fourteen."
He gasped. "That long?"
I nodded. "A lot has happened since then. Do you remember working as a security guard in the hospital parking lot?"
He looked blank.
"That was where we first saw each other again. Someone tried to mug me, and you saved me."
"Wow!" His eyes grew large. "Did you get hurt?"
"No I didn't, thanks to you."
"What happened after that?"
"We started dating, and before long, we realized that we were in love and got married. About a year and a half later, we had twins, Caitlin and Courtney. They're seventeen months old now."
"There are a couple of other kids too, aren't there?"
"Seth and Morgan. "They're from my first marriage, which was to a guy named Jeff. Seth is seven and Morgan is five." I was so excited that I could barely sleep for the rest of the night. Although I knew he had a long way to go, my husband was starting to get his memory back!
Fortunately, I was off work the next day, which was Saturday. Maxim and I were eating breakfast and I was feeding the twins when Seth and Morgan woke up and came into the kitchen. "Good morning, Seth," said Maxim. "Good morning, Morgan."
"Daddy! You remember me now!" both children cried joyously as they ran to hug and kiss him.
"Can we go to the park and fly kites today?" asked Seth.
"Sounds like a great idea to me!" Maxim replied.
When we reached the park, we realized that we weren't the only ones who'd had the idea, as Yuri and Erin were already there with all three of their kids. "Morgan!" Mason came running to greet his friend. "I have an eagle kite! What kind is yours?"
"Mine's a ladybug," Morgan told him.
Yuri said something to Maxim in Russian, and Maxim answered him back right away. Soon the two of them were having an animated conversation as I watched in surprise. "What's wrong?" Erin asked me.
"Maxim had an accident a couple of weeks ago, and until just recently, he's suffered from total amnesia," I explained. "He's had to re-learn pretty much everything, so I just assumed he'd probably have to re-learn Russian, too."
"I guess amnesia doesn't affect language," she replied. We stayed at the park until we got hungry and went to the pizza buffet for lunch. "What were you and Yuri talking about for so long?" I asked Maxim as we were on the way there.
"Just things that happened to us when we were kids."
"You mean you still remember all that?"
"Sure. It's only the more recent things I'm having so much trouble with."
"So do you remember your family again now?"
"I remember what they were like a long time ago, yes."
After lunch we stopped by the motel where the Petrovs were staying. "Guess what!' I exclaimed when Alena opened the door. "Maxim's starting to get his memory back!"
"That's wonderful!" she replied. "We have news for you as well. We've decided to move to the United States for good."
"That is so cool!" I exclaimed. "Now the kids will get to grow up close to their cousins." My own cousins had all lived in different states, so I'd seen them only rarely as a child.
As it turned out, the Petrovs were able to find a home of their own only a couple of miles from mine and Maxim's. Karolina moved into a small apartment with her two children.