Bits And Pieces

Sonny had gone to get some coffee, and when he came back into Emily's room, she was sitting on the bed crying. Sonny walked over to her and put his arms around her until she stopped crying.

"Emily, what's wrong?"

"I just had a memory about my mother Paige. She died of cancer when I was very young. I remember how sick she looked near the end. I had to watch her go from being this vibrant fun loving woman, to being this shell that didn't resemble my mom anymore. I loved her so much Sonny, and she died."

Sonny held Emily tighter. "You regained some of your memory, which is a good thing, but I'm sorry that you remembered something so sad."

"Last night Jason told me that I have cancer. Did you know that? It's in remission right now, but it could come back Sonny. I'm so scared. What if my cancer comes back? I don't want you to have to see me the way I had to see my mom. I wouldn't want to put you through that."

Sonny sat on the bed and brought Emily onto his lap and into his arms.

"Emily, I don't want you to ever be afraid of anything. If your cancer comes back, I'll hire the best doctors to treat you. I'll do anything to keep from losing you. I don't care what it takes. You won't ever have to go through anything alone ever again. Not as long as I'm around. And I don't want you to think that you'd be putting me through anything. I'm here with you by choice. If you can accept all the things about me, good and bad, then I can do that for you. I'm not going to abandon you no matter what. I've done that to too many people in my life and I just can't do it anymore. I'm tired of pushing away everything and everybody who has ever tried to make me happy. I won't do it again."

They sat like that for a while until Emily stopped crying. Sonny held Emily's face in his hands and stared into her beautiful brown eyes. He kissed her gently on the lips and then looked at her again.

"As silly as this might sound Emily, this is one of the reasons I started to fall in love with you. You're a very strong woman, and quite capable of taking care of yourself. But I also think that there's this need inside you to be taken care of. I love that you seem to need me. I suppose you could call me old fashioned, but I think a man is supposed to take care of the woman he loves and protect her at all costs. I hope that you will trust in time that I will take care of you and protect you."

"I think I already do trust you. I can't imagine that I would be in love with a man that I didn't trust. It seems silly to think that any woman could love a man she didn't trust. Whenever I'm in your arms, I feel as though nothing bad could ever happen to me. I feel safe when I'm near you. If that isn't trust, Sonny, I don't know what is."

They are interrupted when there is a knock on the door. It's Jason and he has brought along a pretty nurse. The woman smiles warmly at her, and Emily figures this must be one of the people Jason brought to try and help her remember.

"I really hope that you don't take this personally. I can tell that you're a very nice person, but I don't remember who you are."

The girl just smiles and shakes her head. "Ya know Em, I find this whole thing kind of ironic in a way. Not to make light of the whole situation, but first Jason here forgets everyone he is supposed to know after having his head smashed in during a car accident years ago. Now you go and get your head knocked around and you can't remember the people who love you. And after everything else that you and I have been through, I was kinda hoping that we had moved past all the major traumas in your life."

The woman laughed. Emily looked at her for a minute, and then started giggling as well. Emily didn't remember this woman, but she knew right away that she liked her a lot. Suddenly an image of brownies shot through her head.

"This may sound really strange, but all of a sudden I had a vision of brownies. Does that mean anything at all to you?"

"Actually, Em, brownies means something to the three of us." A handsome man walks into the room, put his arms around the woman, and kisses her on the cheek.

"My name is Lucky, and this is Elizabeth. We've only been your best friends for years. And just so you know, we're not going to take it personally that you can't remember us yet. We just wanted to come by and tell you that we're hoping that your memory comes back soon. And when it does, we'll celebrate with a ton of brownies." Lucky and Elizabeth smiled warmly at Emily.

"Well then I better remember quickly, because brownies sound really good right about now. Thanks for coming by to see me. I am working really hard to try and remember my life. You're welcome to come by and see me anytime. I'm not sure when they intend to let me out of this joint, but I hope it's soon."

Lucky hugged Emily, and then Elizabeth walked over and hugged her. "Take your time Em. We'll all be here waiting for you when you remember."

Emily nodded and smiled as they left. Then she hopped out of bed and hugged Jason.

"Thanks so much Jase. This means the world to me. I think this is going to be a long and slow process, but I'm already starting to remember bits and pieces."

Jason smiled and hugged his little sister.

"It looks like everything is going to be alright after all."

Outside the room, Manny Ruiz was looking in. He had heard that she had lost her memory. He was hoping to get some time away from his guards and alone with her. He might just be able to use her memory loss to his advantage. He still intended to make Sonny pay for coming after his family.