Chapter 71
"This is Charlie," Rikki began, "And this is Leila,"
Charlie offered her hand to her father resolutely. He shook it gently.
"And these trouble makers are Alex and Jay," Rikki continued. "And the little girl in the pram is Fi,"
"I never thought I would have so many," Zane said quietly.
'Trust me, neither did I," Rikki said in a jovial tone, however, the light behind it never met her eyes.
After about quarter of an hour of idle chatter, the nurse came in to check on Zane and Rikki decided it was time to leave.
OoOoO
"I have something for you," Jay told his father. Rikki had brought the kids in again the following day at the same time. The little boy produced a piece of paper from behind his back, presenting it to Zane.
'Get well soon,' was written messily, the 'e's and's's wrong the wrong way. Beneath it, a tall stick figure with brown hair was holding hands with a stick figure with a blonde mop of hair and a shorter stick figure with a light brown mop. With arrows, these figures were labelled, 'Daddy,' 'Mummy,' and 'me,' there were four other figures drawn also.
"Thank you," Zane said as he took the drawing from Jay. Why was he so unnaturally emotional? Rikki watched the emotions flash across Zane's face. She had a lump in her throat as she watched Jay innocently pass the 'get well' card across. Alex quickly produced his plastic castle and soldiers, putting them on Zane's bed and clambering on too. Zane was practically forced into participating in the five year olds game. Rikki pulled Fi from the pram as she had woken up.
"This is Fi," Rikki introduced. "Do you want to hold her?"
There was something extremely familiar about this baby. He nodded almost subconsciously. Rikki felt excited, she was making progress. The old Zane would never have accepted, let alone be civil about it. She passed Fi to him gently. Zane was surprised at how natural it felt to hold her. He looked into Fi's eyes and suddenly he did not feel too good. He saw white and suddenly fell back against his pillows. Rikki grabbed Fi from his arms and pressed the emergency button. She placed Fi back into her pram. A nurse came in a second.
"He, he's passed out," Rikki said frantically. The girls looked on worriedly but the boys were too submerged in their game to really notice. The nurse checked Zane's vitals while asking, "What happened?"
"He was just holding Fi and…"
A few seconds later Zane regained consciousness and tried to sit up. The nurse pushed him back down gently.
"Don't try to sit up,"
"Where, where am I?" Zane asked. Rikki's heart sank. They had made so much progress in the last few days. He took in his family surrounding him.
"Rikki, why am I here?"
"Wait a second," Rikki started, "You remember who I am?"
"Of course," Zane replied confusedly, "You're my wife…" Rikki was overwhelmed with joy. She launched herself towards him and kissed him deeply. He reciprocated.
The nurse left to get a doctor. Rikki stroked his face.
"Don't ever do that to me again," she whispered, a tear escaping her eye. Zane wiped it away and kissed her again.
"What happened? I can't remember anything,"
"Something gave you an electric shock while we were bathing Fi…"
Dr Harvey came into the room.
"How are you feeling, Mr Bennett?" he asked.
"Tired and confused,"
"Are you aware of the events that brought you here?"
"Only what Rikki has told me – electric shock, right?" Dr Harvey nodded in confirmation.
"It seems that you have regained your full memory back – this is miraculous – we did not think it would be this soon, if at all," Dr Harvey said. "We will continue to monitor you over the next two days and if there are no relapses, you will be free to go,"
"What about his passing out?" Rikki asked.
"It seems like something triggered his memory to return. This blackout may have aided this also," The doctor began walking towards the door. "Mrs Bennett, I must warn you that amnesia and head injuries are a tricky business – there is still chance of relapse. I hope that he is now stable,"
OoOoO
The Bennetts were overjoyed. It felt like a spirit of heaviness had departed the room. Zane's memory had returned. It was a weird experience changing a mind-set – in the last few days, they had had to think about the fact that their father could not remember them – but now, suddenly he could. It was very confusing to them but wonderful.
The following day, Rikki returned to the hospital without the kids. Rikki kissed him and proceeded to open her heart, open up about her feelings from over the last few weeks. She climbed onto the bed with him and he just stroked her back and comforted her.
OoOoO
"Zane Bennett, you are now discharged from hospital. Rikki, if he has a relapse or something else happens, do not hesitate to seek medical attention immediately,"
OoOoO
Zane returned home to a hero's welcome. He had been missed.
Later that night, Rikki and Zane sat snuggled together on the couch. Rikki was enjoying the feeling of laying her head against his chest and having his arms around her.
"I'm sorry, Rikki," Zane apologised quietly. She leant up and kissed him gently.
"You don't need to apologise – it was a freak accident, there was no way you could have prevented that," she replied.
"I still feel bad – how could I forget you? I hate myself for the hell I've put you through over the last couple of weeks, Rikki," he paused, frowning, "I hurt you again." Rikki responded by snuggling deeper into his chest.
"I love you," she said softly.
"I love you too," he replied, kissing her on the forehead.
OoOoO
Zane woke up suddenly. Where was he? What was this place? Who was the beautiful woman asleep beside him? Panicked, the man got out of the bed quickly, tripping over himself. His mind filled with blurry questions. In the haze of his mind, he found himself asking the question that scared him the most; 'Who am I?' Rikki woke up to see her husband with panicked eyes on the floor, stumbling, trying to stand. She felt her heart sinking. Zane was relapsing.
A/N: Thanks everyone for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :D A second update within the same month! A miracle right? You can thank Mermaids Forever once again for reviewing a second time. It reminds me to get my act together. I am currently on Easter break. Happy Easter! Remember Jesus is the reason for the season ;-)
Anyway, this means that I've been able to update multiple stories - hence this chapter :-)
Thanks so much to the reviewers, you inspire me to keep going with all of my stories. All reviews make my day! (long ones especially so :P )
Thanks especially to YaleAceBella12, CrazyHayniac, zikki 3, Mermaids Forever (x2), The Writers Es, HybridsRose, and Acgisme for reviewing.