This was a bit slow chapter, I promise the action begins in the next one!
Thank you for all you lovely feedback, they really make my days :)
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The same scent, the same tight grip, the same desperation.
The same familiarity, the same relief, the same warmth.
"I'm really glad you're back."
"I should have come back sooner."
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As the nurse had told, Elliot's amnesia was caused by hits to the head. However, the doctor had been optimistic; there was a great possibility that the memories might return after some time. He had urged him to lean on something he remembered and recall some things around it at him own pace.
The only problem was that he couldn't remember anything.
He only had his passport with his name, date of birth and place of birth. He was in Mexico, couldn't remember his home address, and the nurse had reported that no contact person had been found with the information in his passport.
So, when he was able to leave the hospital a week later, he was on his own, with more questions than answers.
The situation was not clarified even by the fact that an unknown party had paid his hospital expenses. The information was confidential, so his idea of looking for the payer hadn't been a success, and with the money found in the backpack, he had been able to buy a bus ticket back to the United States.
And here he was sitting, on the bus on his way to his supposed home, looking at his passport.
There is something odd about the name, but the image is familiar.
But why would I have a passport with the wrong name?
Why was I shot?
Where's my phone?
Where do I live?
Who am I?
Suddenly anxiety began to squeeze his chest, and he felt like he would need to get out of the bus to catch his breath.
Where do I go?
What the hell am I going to do?
People often said that they were lost with their lives, they had lost themselves. Elliot couldn't underrate it, but this… He felt so lost, so alone, he didn't think it could get any worse. He felt like he was a little kid lost in the woods, and he would have given anything to have someone hold him and tell him everything was going to be okay.
Someone who knows him, someone he could have held on to.
But he didn't have anyone.
Only a ticket to the other side of the border, to the home he didn't remember and wasn't sure it even existed.
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A deep sigh woke Elliot from his deep, restful sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept so well, and he enjoyed his relaxed state for a moment before slowly opening his eyes. The sun had already risen, and illuminated the small, but surprisingly cozy living room with its soft rays.
But the environment hadn't made him wake up. It was the woman sleeping on the couch with him, her head resting on the opposite end of the couch.
Liv.
The first thing he remembered in two years.
He watched her relaxed face; how the morning sun gave it a soft hue, how its rays, promising a new day, a new beginning, played in her hair, making it shine golden.
Because that's what she was.
A new beginning.
Just because he remembered her, remembered one moment, didn't mean he remembered her completely. That memory was just a scratch, a sneak peek, a glimpse of the past.
But it was more than anything else in two years. It had reminded him that he had a past. He was something other than a shell wandering in empty space. And Olivia was the thing he had so desperately wanted. An anchor, the thing he finally, finally got hold of. She was the hiker in the woods of his mind who came across the lost child, wiped his tears, and told him everything was fine.
That she would guide him home.
Glancing at the clock, he realized that it wasn't much yet, and a little reluctantly, he laid back down and let out a deep sigh. But then Olivia moved, muttered something in her sleep, and moved her legs so that one of his legs ended up between her knees.
It caused an inexplicable peace to descend in his soul, and with a light smile, he drifted back to sleep, which was not empty and dreary, but empty and peaceful.
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Olivia felt like she could have continued to sleep, but the heat drove the sleep away, and she shifted with a groan. But as she moved, she realized that someone was sleeping next to her. She opened her eyes and found herself sleeping on the couch.
Next to Elliot.
She blinked furiously, for she couldn't believe her eyes. The fact that Elliot was alive was still so amazing that she still couldn't believe it. But this time it wasn't what surprised her, the mystery was what she was doing on the couch next to him. She remembered going to bed to sleep, but…
How the hell did I end up here?
But then she remembered. A vague nervousness had been circling inside her ever since she had closed the bedroom door, and the longer she had tried to fall asleep, the stronger the nervousness had grown. Eventually she had gotten out of bed, and her legs had carried her as if by themselves to the living room. It had been as if a magnet had drawn her.
And Elliot had remembered. He had remembered her. Not his family, not himself, her. No more than a small moment of their past, but he had remembered. And he had clung to her like his life depended on it, like life would have flowed back to him through her.
And Olivia had stayed. Not just for Elliot, but for herself. When she had felt his strong arms around her and smelled his familiar scent, warmth had flowed into her soul, and she had had to fight back tears.
They had been two lonely, lost souls who had found consolation in each other.
She rubbed her eyes and looked at her former partner sleeping peacefully. She felt a lump rise in her throat as she thought about how lost Elliot must have felt. How scared he must have been. He had lost everything, including himself, along with his memory, and the thought of how horrible that must have been was painfully squeezing Olivia's heart. She had to resist the strong urge to lie down next to him, cling to him, bury her face in his chest, and never let him go.
Eventually, she would have wanted it so much that she had to get off the couch because it was the only way she could stop herself. She swung her legs over Elliot's, trying not to wake him, but the couch was too soft and her legs too short, and she failed in her attempt not to touch him. He moved and opened his eyes.
"Morning," Olivia grimaced. Suddenly the situation felt really awkward, because the morning sun had made the dark thoughts and feelings of the night disappear.
"Morning," Elliot replied and smiled warmly. But at the same moment that his blue eyes started to twinkle when he saw her, when he recognized her, the discomfort disappeared from Olivia's heart, and a light smile spread across her face unnoticed.
And she couldn't remember the last time she had smiled genuinely.
For a while they just stared at each other, responding to each other's smiles, but then Olivia reluctantly stood up and pointed at the bathroom.
"I… Uh… Could take a shower."
"Okay, but you actually have work today. You get to know the other residents and employees of the farm."
"Really? What kind of work?"
Elliot grinned and sat up. The movement caused his abs to tense, and Olivia to swallow.
Okay now, Benson. What's wrong with you?! He's your best friend who has just "resurrected" and can't remember who he is. You better take a cold shower.
"Have you ever tried painting a fence?"
