Chapter 72

Zane's P.O.V

"Zane, honey, calm down," the strange woman tried to say evenly but he heard a slight hitch in her voice. Zane. Was that my name? It sounded familiar. Honey. His girlfriend perhaps? I managed to think this as I scrambled to the corner of the room, as if it would somehow shelter me from the empty depths of my mind. The woman put her hands up in surrender, as if to show that she did not mean any harm. I relaxed. Only slightly. My heart still thudding in my chest. She had turned the bed lamp on. A glint of something on her hand. A ring! A wife? I had a wife? Why couldn't I remember? As she came closer, I realised my head hurt. It hurt a lot. As the adrenaline began to thin, I realised that I was feeling strange; sick yet as if I was on a cloud – my brain flying high above the world. I was so tired.

"Zane?" I heard her call. I was relaxing. So, so tired. My eyelids began to close and the world became black.

Normal P.O.V

"Zane?" Rikki questioned worriedly. She had been watching his face; amazed to see so many expressions and emotions pass through there in mere seconds. He began to slump against the wall. His eyes began to flutter shut. No. This was not good! A person with a head injury is not allowed to sleep! Or, at least she thought that this was right. What should she do? Take him to the hospital? Wait for him to wake up?

'Cleo!' she shouted into her friend's mind. Rikki heard a sleepy reply.

'Zane just relapsed and I don't know what to do. Wake up Lewis! And tell him to get over here!' Rikki continued frantically.

OoOoO

Rikki was pacing the floor, waiting for Lewis to arrive, pondering what on earth to do.

Zane was vaguely aware of the other man's arrival. He heard voices discussing frantically. He felt himself be lifted up, his arm draped across the man's shoulder. When he regained consciousness fully, he was on a boat. He heard the water splashing against the sides. The blonde woman, his wife he assumed, was holding his hand. A strange brunette woman was rubbing Rikki's back comfortingly. The man was driving the boat. Zane's emotions and thoughts were all jumbled together.

"Who am I?" he muttered. "Where am I?" he demanded. His head was pounding.

"Who am I? Who am I?" he asked repeatedly. His companions were getting increasingly worried. Zane continued muttering the same questions under his breath. He looked up and his brown eyes met Rikki's blue. He stopped mumbling. He felt strangely safe in those orbs. He reached out and cupped her face with his hand. He did not know what compelled him to, but it just felt right. She placed her own hand over his.

"Zane?" she questioned. She hoped that maybe he had somehow dropped out of the relapse. It was not to be. Suddenly, he groaned and rubbed his temples. The potentially romantic moment was gone. He passed out once more.

OoOoO

Once at the mainland house, they carried Zane ashore and then placed him in the backseat of the car. Rikki sat next to him. Five minutes into the car ride, Zane woke up.

He looked up tiredly at Rikki.

"What's up, Rikki?" he said. She blinked and stared at him.

"You know who I am." She said stunned. "You know who I am!" she exclaimed excitedly. She gave him a tight embrace and a sloppy kiss. "You remember!" she beamed. Zane was startled at the sudden affection.

"What happened?" he asked. He had no recollection of how he ended up in the car. He just knew that he had a splitting headache. Rikki's smile faltered slightly.

"You had a relapse," she paused. "We are on our way to the hospital."

"A relapse from what?" he asked puzzled.

"Zane? What is the last thing you remember? The last memory you have?" Lewis asked from the driver's seat.

"Rikki agreed yesterday to be co-owner of the café again," he grinned.

"But that's just after we got back together - the year after I finished high school!" Rikki exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Yeah? It was only a week ago…" Zane said confused.

"Actually, it was years ago, Zane. I don't look eighteen do I?" Rikki asked.

"Well, it's quite hard to tell – it being quite dark and all in here,"

"I said you had a relapse. You had an accident a few weeks ago resulting in you having bad amnesia. You are still relapsing, Zane." Rikki said.

"Amnesia? But doesn't that mean I shouldn't remember you at all?"

"There are varying degrees of memory loss, Zane," Lewis chipped in. "You have no memory from roughly, the last fifteen years."

"Fifteen years! How could I forget that?" Zane exclaimed. "Arg, my head hurts."

Rikki was trying to figure out her own emotions. It was as if she was on a rollercoaster. One minute she is ecstatic because her husband can remember everything, next, Zane's complete memory loss is worrying her out of her mind. Now is she supposed to be happy, sad or worried that he can remember her but is missing a large chunk of his life? She felt herself nearly becoming numb to the whole situation. It felt surreal.

OoOoO

Finally, the group arrived at the hospital and soon Dr Harvey was examining Zane. He explained to them after the cat scan that there was still small swelling in his brain from the accident and that though he believed it was healing, it was restricting blood flow to the memory receptive part of his brain. Harvey warned that relapses could be a common occurrence and not to be too worried. He said that once the swelling was gone completely, hopefully, the blood vessels would release and the relapses would stop. This was not a guarantee however. Rikki was told that two hours was the length of an average blackout and some could go on for hours or days longer. She was relieved to find out that the relapses of memory would never be permanent complete amnesia but could go on for longer than expected and they could happen at any time.

Once they had gotten to the hospital, Zane had had his first chance to look at his companions. He was shocked when he saw Lewis – he definitely looked his age. Rikki and Cleo just looked a little more mature than he remembered. Rikki was still just as beautiful. In leaving the hospital, Zane still did not have any memory of the last fifteen years he was missing.

OoOoO

Rikki and Zane sat holding hands on the way back to Mako on Lewis' boat. She had explained everything in the drive back to the dock at the mainland house. Zane was surprised at how outwardly emotional this Rikki was and how willing she was to hold hands. In his mind, his memory, he had only just won the fiery blonde back after their breakup. They were still taking it slow in their relationship. Zane traced his thumb over the rings on that finger. A beautiful emerald engagement ring and a simple gold band sat there together.

"What was our wedding like, Rikki?"

"It was perfect."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter - sorry not too much happened. This chapter actually took me a heck of a lot longer than expected. I don't know - it was really difficult to write.

Anyway, I handed my second linguistics assignment in yesterday and so decided I might as well squeeze out another chapter for you guys! Hopefully it hasn't been too long.

Guess what! I got an A+ for my first linguistics assignment! So stoked right now!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for reviewing. It really does make me want to keep writing even when uninspired. Thanks.

Thanks so much to zikki 3, HybridsRose, The Writer Es, Mermaids Forever, CrazyHayniac, YaleAceBella12, Mermaidfan121, Acgisme, and MrsDalek, for your reading and reviewing of my story - I really really appreciate it!

Love you all!

E aroha ana ahau ki a koutou katoa!