John walked dejectedly back into the living room. Trish came over to him and hugged him. "I shouldn't have told her I was her mom" she said "It's all my fault". John hugged her and sighed.
"It was a combination of things" he said "that, and having everyone here". Randy came over with Alexis then.
"Is she ok?" he asked worriedly. John nodded. "This was a bad idea. Everyone shouldn't have been here at one time I mean we saw how she acted when she went to your parents for the first time did we think it'd turn out any different?" Randy was getting upset so Alexis wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her. He hugged her back and sighed "it's so hard going from hearing the greatest news in the world to hearing the most disappointing".
"Yeah well I'm sorry that Jessie had to burst your little bubble" John said rudely. Randy held up his hands and backed up a bit.
"Man I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that it's hard to hear that Jessie doesn't remember anyone and to see her so uncomfortable around people she once was comfortable around" Randy said. John nodded and sighed. The four of them joined the others in the living room to talk.
"Where are we going?" Jessie asked Marc from the passenger side. They had been driving for about ten minutes and both of them had been relatively silent.
"You'll see" he said "we're almost there". They drove for about 10 more minutes before Marc pulled up into a driveway. He got out of the car and grabbed Jessie's chair from the back. He got her out of the car and put her in the chair. Marc wheeled her around and into the house. Jessie looked around as Marc lead her inside. She thought it looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't place where or how. "This is your grandparent's house" Marc said "John's parents". Jessie nodded and looked around. "I'll be right back" Marc said walking off, he called back to Jessie "do you want some food or something to drink?"
"A coke or something please" Jessie called back. While Marc was gone she took the time to look around the room. There were alot of pictures of the guy saying he was her dad and some people she recognized from the house and the man and woman saying they were her grandparents. She laughed when she saw an old wooden cuckoo clock mounted on the wall. There were various plaques and trophies hanging around also. About this time Marc came back, his arms laden with books and 2 cokes sitting on top. He sat everything down on the coffee table and turned to Jessie.
"Wanna sit on the couch or are you ok there?" Marc asked. Jessie told him to help her on the couch. He did and then handed her the coke "I brought these photo albums" he said gesturing to the books sitting on the coffee table "I figured we could look through them". Jessie nodded and Marc handed her a book. Jessie opened it and saw pictures of little kids playing around "that's your dad and his brothers" Marc said pointing to the pictures "they were always running around doing SOMETHING mischievous". Marc laughed then and Jessie found herself smiling. They spent the next while looking through picture albums with Marc telling various stories of when they were little. Jessie really enjoyed herself.
"I got an idea" John said. They had been sitting around discussing various ways to try and jog Jessie's memory. Everyone looked at John "I'll be right back" he said and sprinted off upstairs. He came back down with a video camera "we're all going to share a certain story that involves Jessie for the camera. I'll tape it and then take it to a friend of mine along with a cd I have of the song I wrote for her birthday. I'll have him splice the song into the tape and maybe when she watches it she'll remember". Everyone agreed to give it a try. John made sure the camera had a full battery before starting with his mom and dad.
"I remember when we first saw you Jessie" Carol said "I had been shocked when John told me he had a daughter but I became elated and couldn't wait to meet you. When John brought you over that day I was so happy all I wanted to do was hug you and tell you I loved you". John's mom finished up so John moved on to Randy.
"Hey Jessie its Randy" he started looking as if he didn't really know what to say "God where do I start? I remember when I first met you. You were standing out on John's porch and you looked exhausted and your skin was red from the sun. You handed me that letter that your social worker had written and I was shocked. I couldn't believe that you were John's daughter. Then after a while I got to know you and you found a special place in my heart. When you were...raped I wanted to kill that guy. If Maven hadn't pulled me off..."Randy trailed off "Jessie I just wanna say I love you so much. Your like my baby sister and its killing me that you don't remember me but all I can do is hope and pray that some day soon you will". Randy wiped his tears and Alexis leaned over and kissed his cheek supportively. John moved to Trish who had been sitting there thinking of what to say.
"Hey Jessie its me Trish" she said with an uneasy smile on her face "I know at the moment your probably a bit upset with me and I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have told you that I was your mother. It was wrong of me. But I want to tell you this. When I first started dating your dad I didn't really get to know you. But then you started coming to the Diva's locker room and we hung out and I got to know you and we clicked. I started thinking of you as my daughter. Then this shooting happened and it took all that away. You have no recollection of anything. I guess what I'm trying to say Jessie is I want you to get better". Trish ended her portion and John gave her the camera so he could talk.
"Hey Jessie" he said "It's your dad. When you first came to me..." and John began the long speech that he needed to give.
"So John went to a Catholic college but he became a professional wrestler" Jessie asked Marc, looking as if she didn't believe it. Marc nodded and laughed. Jessie gave him an 'ok' look and flipped the page on the photo album she had been looking at. It seemed to her that every picture had a story behind it and she was enjoying hearing them all. She had laughed, cried, gotten mad and every other emotion you could think of. "Marc" she asked him "do you think I'll ever remember these things? I mean I know it'll take time but seeing all these things I should remember and these people I should remember. And seeing their faces when I don't remember them is just so frustrating to me. I mean I know I'm disappointing a lot of people and I can't help it but...I dunno it just makes me want to force myself to remember or just say I remember so I can make people feel better". Jessie started to tear up a bit and Marc hugged her to him.
"Baby you can't force yourself to remember or fake it. It's not fair to you. You do what you can at your own pace to remember. Don't let anyone force you or do things with you in hopes to make you remember that make you uncomfortable" Marc said gently. Jessie jumped a bit as Marc's cell phone rang. "Hello" he said answering it "oh hey John. Yeah we're at your 'rents. Ok. Ok. Bye" Marc hung up and put his phone back into his pocket "that was your dad. He's doing some project thing at a friends and then going back home he said for us to meet him there. He kicked most of the people out though it'll be you me, him, and Randy" Jessie felt a bit uncomfortable knowing someone named Randy would be there considering she didn't know him but figured that since Marc and John would be there also that she would be ok.
"Thank you for doing this Emmett" John said shaking the man's hand. He and Emmett had worked over two hours on splicing together the video John had taken of people talking with the song he had done and also some pictures John had of he and Jessie and Jessie with other people. John ran out to his convertible and drove off knowing he had to get home before Marc returned with Jessie. He pulled up into the driveway just as Marc pulled in behind him. He sat in his car and watched Marc help Jessie into her wheelchair. Once she was in he got out and met them as they were coming up the drive. "Hey" he said simply "Jessie I got something I want you to watch" he said looking at her. She nodded and Marc pushed her chair behind John into the house. Marc helped Jessie onto the couch and sat beside her.
Jessie looked over and saw a man with brown hair sitting on the opposite love seat staring at her. Once he noticed her looking at him he smiled faintly and she smiled back, then she turned her attention to John who was putting a tape in the VCR. She watched as the tape started. A song could faintly be heard in the background as various people talked and pictures flashed across the screen. Jessie watched intently and found herself immensed in people's words and stories they shared, and all of them were about her. All of these people were talking about her and how important she was to them. Jessie felt their words and emotions hit her with the force of gale winds.
When the tape was over everyone looked at her, John spoke up "did any of that seem familiar? Any of those faces? Any of the stories? Pictures?" Jessie shook her head sadly, she wanted to remember she just couldn't.
"It's ok baby" Marc said wrapping his arms around her and hugging her to him. Even though he said these words the three guys couldn't help but be disappointed that it didn't work. But their disappointment was nothing compared to the disappointment and sadness and worthlessness the other person in the room was feeling, Jessie.