3 months later, Nick and Rachel's relationship was stronger than ever.
They loved their family, they loved to be with their kids but most of
all, they loved to be with each other. Everybody said that they
couldn't get their hands off each other. Although Rachel's memory
hadn't come back, she was happy; happy that she got her children and
happy that she got her husband back. The only thing that worried her a
the moment, after the loss of her memory, was AJ's attitude towards
them.
She tried talking to him a couple of times, but it didn't seem
to work. He was distant; isolated from them. On one hand, she thought
that it would be best that they stayed that way, due to the fact that
he supposedly felt something for her. On the other hand, she knew that
Nick was hurting with the reality that he didn't have his best friend
by his side anymore. Numerous times she tried to straighten things up,
but nothing seemed to work.
Rachel eyes opened up to a new day. She looked at her left side and saw Nick sleeping peacefully beside her with one arm encircling her waist protectively. She smiled and felt the urge to kiss him right then and there but then decided against it. Carefully, she pulled the bed covers from her and took Nick's arm away from her as she got up from the bed. Walking to the window, she felt the morning breeze softly in her face as she closed her eyes. She felt renewed; as a new woman, wife and mother. She felt happy with herself and with the way things were going for her. Seconds later, she felt Nick's arms around her waist as he put his face on her shoulder.
"Morning" he whispered, kissing her neck in the process.
"Morning baby" she smiled, turning around and giving him a short kiss on the lips.
Nick pulled her closer to him, not letting go of her grip. "How about we take today just for ourselves?" he whispered in her ear.
Rachel smiled widely. "I'd like that"
"I can get mom to take care of the kids… she won't mind" he shrugged.
"Yeah… and Aaron can help too… he owes us one" she reminded, referring to a time when Aaron asked them to cover for him while he was on a date.
"Hey, I totally forgot about that" he smiled.
"That would be fun" she grinned, hugging him tight and stroking his messy hair.
"Alright then… I'll call them now" he said, letting go from her, and walking to the night table where he had his cell phone. A couple of minutes after he talked to his mom he hung up and looked at Rachel with a smile on his face. "Let's go take the kids to my house"
"Yay!" Rachel declared. "I'm going to take a shower… let the kids sleep for a while more and… can you look for breakfast? I don't want to cook today" she said, looking at Nick with her best `puppy eyes'.
Nick rolled his eyes and shook his head as he smiled. "Certainly"
"Thanks honey" she said, giving a kiss to Nick and disappearing into the bathroom.
Half an hour later, Nick came back to the house with their breakfast and woke up the kids. Rachel was still in the bathroom. "This girl is worst than me" Nick thought. Then, he started giving their respective breakfasts to the kids; baby food for Alyssa and some toast and scrambled eggs for Colin.
"Rach! The breakfast is going to get cold! Get your ass down here!" Nick shouted.
"I'll be right down!" Rachel was starting blow drying her hair but then decided against it and chose to go downstairs instead. Her feet were still wet from the shower but she shrugged it off and started running downstairs. Just as she put her foot on the second step, she slipped and fell face first against the stairs, rolling over until she reached the end of the staircase.
"Holy shit… baby, are you okay?" Nick said, immediately getting up from his chair and going to her side.
"Shit…" she said rubbing her head, with her eyes still closed.
"Can you get up sweetie?"
Rachel's eyes opened and she looked up to Nick. Her eyes couldn't get off of him. A few seconds later, Nick put her head in his lap and stroked her hair.
"This can't be" Rachel thought.
"Rach, baby… what's wrong?"
Just as she heard those words, she passed out.
"Shit shit shit" Nick cursed under his breath as she carried Rachel to the car and then looked for the kids inside the house. A lot of things ran through his mind as he was getting near the hospital. What if something major happened to her? What if she wasn't completely okay?
"Shit" he thought again. Thank God that the hospital was five minutes away from their house.
When they got to the hospital, they let the paramedics do their work and wheel her in while he stayed outside with the kids, explaining Colin what was wrong with mommy.
He called Jane to see if she could look for the kids and in a matter of minutes she was already there so that Nick could enter inside to see Rachel. When he entered to the Emergency Room, the doctor motioned him to go towards his office.
"Apparently, Mr. Carter, your wife suffered from a mild concussion when she fell downstairs at your house. The main thing she needs right now is a lot of rest. I believe that she has amnesia as well right?"
"Yes…" Nick replied, wondering where he was going with all this.
"Amnesia is a general term that describes memory loss. The loss can be temporary or permanent, but 'amnesia' usually refers to the temporary variety, which means that your wife could recover her memory soon. Causes include head and brain injuries, certain drugs, alcohol, or traumatic events, which I believe that your wife had with the car accident she experienced a couple of years ago."
Nick started fiddling with his fingers, getting slightly impatient with the doctor. "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Well… there is a slight possibility that your wife may get worse from this concussion due to the amnesia that she already had or there is the other chance that she may have her memory back" the doctor explain.
Nick sighed loudly. "And how do we know that?"
"We have to wait until she gets up… the most important thing she needs right now is to rest"
"Can I see her?" Nick asked, his eyes hopeful.
"Yes, you can… but you have to let her wake up at her own pace"
"No problem" Nick smiled, extending his hand to the doctor.
"You know can contact me at any moment. Your wife is going to be in observation for a couple of days and if nothing out of the normal happens, after two or three days she can return home" he smiled.
"Thank you so much"
"Room 527"
Nick nodded. "Thanks so much" he replied as he went out of the
doctor's office and into Rachel's room. He suddenly found his hands
all sweaty as he cleaned them in his pants and then ran them through
his dirty blond hair. His eyes scanned every room until he found
Rachel's room.
"527" he thought "This is it". He opened the door
slowly only to find his wife and the love of his life peacefully
sleeping with an IV in her arm. He sighed, as he sat down next to her
not without giving her a kiss on her lips. He took her hand and
studied it carefully. He loved everything about her, he knew that, but
this time it was special. He watched her every feature, her every
gesture while she slept. He had to love her.
A couple of hours later, Rachel stirred and woke up. A smile crept
from Nick's face.
"Hey baby" he whispered, caressing her pale and cold face.
"Nick?" she said.
"Yes, the one and only" he grinned. Rachel smiled.
"Why are you here, Nicky?" she asked, feeling a little bit dazed.
"Aren't you supposed to be in the house with Colin? Aren't we supposed
to be getting divorced?"
Nick looked at her strangely. "Baby, get to sleep now"
"No. Tell me" she insisted.
"What are you talking about Rach?"
"The fight… I went to AJ's house for comfort… you didn't even want to
see me again"
"Baby… that happened over two years ago… remember you and I are
together now and you have am-" the words died in Nick's mouth as he
remembered what she said earlier. "You remember…"
"What?" Rachel asked. Now she was more confused than ever.
"Baby, do you remember the accident you have? Do you remember the
fights we had? That was over two years ago… Not only we have Colin now
but we do have Alyssa too… your baby girl"
"Oh my God" Rachel whispered as she put a hand on her mouth. "I
remember now… I-I remember…"