Chapter 26: His Backstory

(Disclaimer: Any similarities to real life are 100% coincidental. Major emotional warning!)

(Sorry for the delay!)

As the others left the area, Lorenzo remained seated for a while. Bruce's words were stuck to his head. He wanted to believe he was wrong, but no matter how he saw it, he knew he was right. He wanted to believe everything had changed ever since that day...

(Mini flashback) 5 years ago: At a medical clinic…

"Alright… Just two more sessions," Lorenzo sighed as he entered the building.

"Hi! How may I help you?" A clerk said.

"Uhhh, I'm here to check in."

"Name?"

"Lorenzo Forests."

"And you're here to see…?"

"Dr. Edwards."

"Edwards…." The clerk repeated while looking at her computer screen. "Yeah, she should be ready. You can go ahead and knock on her door."

"Thanks," Lorenzo replied before walking down the hall. He arrived and carefully knocked on the door.

"It's open!" A woman yelled from the other side.

"Good morning ma'am- Whoa... What happened here?" Lorenzo asked as he noticed a bunch of feathers on the floor.

"Sorry! I didn't have enough time to clean after my last session, so just watch where you step."

"Oh no, it's alright! Everyone's really keeping you busy, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm exhausted! Anyways, what about you? How did the exam go?"

"Well… I passed, but…" Lorenzo signed as the doctor noticed his arm.

"Hey, where is...?"

"... It ripped off during the exam. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay! You don't have to apologize! It's just that- How do you feel?"

"... I'm a little tired, that's all."

"Oh, o-okay! Well, do you want me to get you a new one?"

"Hmm… I'm not really sure. I think I'm gonna need some time to think about it."

"Sure! Just let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"Sure will."

"Alright then, let's get started!"

Lorenzo's POV: (Present day)

It's been years ever since the accident. I've been trying my best to move on from it, but it's hard… My mother was a good person. She would always try to do what she thought was best for our family, and in the end, it's what cost her her sanity. All of this… because I thought I was being stupid.

This all started about fourteen years ago. At least 4 months after I graduated high school. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do afterward, so I started becoming depressed. Err… I guess I was always depressed. I just never realized it. My dad always told me I was a troublesome child, but I guess it never really bothered me until I hit middle school. I think it was about 3 weeks after he left us for another family. Ever since then, I've been trying not to cause any more problems for both my mom and grandma. I ended up spending hours studying, doing all my chores, and overall trying to become a better person. But obviously, a perfect child never exists.

I started growing distant from everyone. Mom, grandma, my cousins… I can't even remember if I had any friends. And after all that time, I still found myself at square one. I was hoping things would just come naturally, but it turns out, that's not how things work. Big surprise, huh? Little kid… Big dreams… Has no idea what he's getting himself into… That's just the path we're destined to follow. A work field is never a fun place. Of course, other people make it seem fun, but there's always gonna be some major downside. If I knew that from the start, maybe I would have been less stressed. Or maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'll finally be quiet…

A-Anyways, I think it was around the time after high school when my mom decided to try and get me social again. I can't remember what she tried, but I know she always wanted to get involved in everything I did. At first, I didn't mind, but as soon as I started thinking about dad again, I started having problems. I know this wasn't her intention, but she would always figure out ways to indirectly bring him up. I could only imagine what was going through her head… On top of that, my tantrums were probably making things even worse. She tried calming me down for months, and when she realized I was getting out of hand, she turned for advice.

She managed to convince my grandma not to call a therapist because she saw it as a waste of time. Instead, she ended up dragging me along to one of the church groups she started attending. Honestly, I know we're not religious people, but being there was nice. I didn't realize it at first, but I believe she was just trying to get me to see my life in a positive light. If she could do that, there would be no need for a therapist, but… Things just had to get worse. The following night, we got into an accident… Another driver lost control over her wheel and crashed directly into us. The last thing I remembered seeing was Mom collapsing in the driver's seat before everything went dark.

I still can't remember what happened after that, but all I know is that the driver was dead at the scene. According to grandma, I didn't stay at the hospital for very long, but as for mom… she was in a bad state. They had to take her for surgery for head trauma, but a few weeks after she woke up, she completely lost her memory. Her family, family, friends, even her own name. It was unbearable seeing grandma's reaction when mom couldn't talk to her. The word started spreading across the family, and it wasn't long before they all decided to blame it on me.

If I had just opened up sooner, maybe none of this would have happened. That's what I kept telling myself. Even though some things are out of our control, at least they could have been avoided. My grandma was the only one that stood up for me, but she couldn't change their minds. I couldn't take the pressure of everyone's comments, so I just shut myself out of reality. We were the only ones left in the house. She had eventually taken ownership, but things just sort of remained quiet…

After mom was discharged from the hospital, my uncle came to visit, but he was just there to gather her things. He had promised to take care of her upstate until she was stable again, and that was the last I ever heard from her. Grandma told me I could stay with her for as long as I wanted, but it felt like a stab to the chest. I just wanted to be useful, but instead, I managed to make things even worse. Even to this day, my family still thinks I'm a menace. If dad were still around, he'd be laughing this off at a bar or somewhere. I tried to stop thinking about it, but the pressure was so much, I couldn't handle it. Eventually, Grandma had no other choice but to turn to therapy sessions, and that's how I ended up meeting Dr. Edwards.

At first, it felt like her sessions weren't doing much, but that was until I started being honest with her. I ended up telling her that I wanted to forget about everything that was causing me harm, and to my surprise, she gave me a wristband. Out of all things, it was a wristband! It seemed like a normal harmless toy, but after I put it on, I couldn't remember why I was sad the next day. Somehow, the wristband had blocked the entire accident out of my memory, and I wasn't even aware of it. Hell, I couldn't even tell I still had it on! When I went to go check on grandma, I noticed she was still sad, but when I asked her about it, she gave me a completely different story. Dr. Edwards filled her in on the situation, and although she was still uneased, she felt that it was her only choice. She ended up fabricating the past few months and told me I was just getting off medicine for a serious headache. As for mom, I was told that she had taken a new job with my uncle, so I wouldn't see her again.

For some reason, it all seemed normal, so I never asked any questions about it. She took down family portraits, disabled internet access, pretty much everything that could remind me of the truth. Without those memories, it felt as if I too were a different person. I wasn't worried about what I wanted to do, or what my family had to say. I ended up focusing all of that energy to keep grandma safe. It was so odd… The feeling of caring for someone seemed familiar, but also new at the same time. That same feeling is what led me to decide to become a firefighter. The instinct of wanting to help others was always inside of me, and I knew grandma felt the same, so she supported me in every way. I spent at least 5 years in the training academy. It seemed like my life was going to stay on a set path, but it wasn't until I met a guy named Todd, that everything changed.

Todd is a very nice guy! He used to work at the police department, but he had to retire to take care of his family. It's like no matter where he goes, he's always trying to find ways to help people out! He taught me a lot while I was in training. At first, I found it kind of annoying, but after I started hanging out with him, I realized that he wasn't doing it to become popular, but to make the world a better place! Now, I know that sounds chile, but if you say him, you'd probably say the same! He never says much about his past, but all I know is that he didn't have a lot of friends when he was younger. All he had was a German Shepard, and that dog was his whole world. To me, I thought it was a little sad, but those two are inseparable! They're always able to bring out the best in each other, and they want to share that gift with others as well. I guess that's the reason why I wanted a dog...

I ended up having to retake the writing portion for the academy twice, but those two always stood beside me. It seemed like everything was perfect, but that's when I noticed something was off. Things like; were things always like this? Wasn't I good at studying at one point? And how come I remembered being told that a woman was dead? My mind started to feel weirder the more I thought about it. I knew something was missing, but I couldn't tell what it was. Eventually, the day for the physical exam came, and I was completely stressed out. Although, if it wasn't for Todd, I'd probably struggle even more. He reassured me that I was ready, and because of his training, I was able to finish with 50 seconds left to spare! He and my grandma's reactions were the best highlights of my day, but unfortunately, that feeling did not last long…

The next morning, I woke up with a huge migraine. My body was aching everywhere, and it seemed like the slightest movement would cause my muscles to tear into pieces. I noticed that grandma was checking on me more than usual, but I wasn't sure why. I mean, she didn't know I was sore, so why should she be concerned? That was until I noticed the remains of the wristband on my nightstand. It must have been ripped off during the exam. The next thing I knew, all of those memories started coming back to me. It was intense to put it aside, so I just sat and reflected on everything. I tried my best not to get emotional, but as soon as grandma came back, I could no longer keep it in. Based on her reaction, I guess she knew I remembered everything, and she started crying as well. She then apologized for not coming up with a better solution and explained her side of the story. Deep down, I guess we both just wanted to run away from the truth. I wish there was a way to make things go back to how they were before, but maybe mom is enjoying her new life! Or maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'd feel less guilty.

I still have a lot to learn, but I've been doing better ever since then! Getting used to reality wasn't easy, but we're taking these one step at a time. Todd was there to help along the way. I chose not to tell him about the whole wristband ordeal, but I have a feeling he knows I'm keeping something a secret. I'll probably tell him later but now is not the time. My journey with the firefighters has been a ride. I've worked here for years now, and to me, this place is like a second home. It's smaller compared to the other stations, but we've managed to make it suitable. At first, it was only me, the chief, Bret, and our old friend, Monty. Monty was a pretty cool guy, but he ended up resigning after an incident a few months after I joined. It's pretty sad… There is so much to being a firefighter that we don't like to share. Accidents, injuries, tragedies, it's just part of the workforce, and we had to get used to it/ After he left, it wasn't long until Nico and Zen joined. Nico was pretty quiet at first, but the more we started talking to him, the more he started opening up. Zen, on the other hand, was really talkative. It was like some days, she was happy, and other days, she wasn't. We get the feeling she's bipolar, but none of her documents say so. Just like me, she probably has her reasons why…

About 3 years later, Bruce joined the station. He was quite a handful, but he's always had a good heart. In a way, he was kind of like Marshall. He was always clumsy, made a few messes. and overall a little chaotic. I remember a few weeks before we got Marshall, he accidentally threw a wrench at the chief's laptop! It probably slipped out of his hand or something, but the chief was pissed! The poor guy could barely hold a conversation with him for months, but I guess he started regaining his confidence after he started taking care of Marshall. I always wanted them to get along, but I never thought it would go so well. Honestly, it kind of makes me a little jealous, but even if things were different, I highly doubt I'd be a better owner.

I didn't mean to make them upset. it's just that I really thought they wouldn't mind for some reason. I've put so much effort into becoming a firefighter, so if this isn't my calling, then have I just been wasting everyone's time…?