“Morning, Sunshine!” JC shouted when he saw Macy, referring to her childhood
nickname.
Smiling slightly, “Cloudy actually...” Her gaze fell to the window. Peering at her
reflection, a tear silently fell down her cheek, wetting her light pink hospital gown. As
unfortunate as it seemed to her, Macy was thinking a great deal lately about the accident.
Blaring Papa Roach’s “Last Resort,” Macy drummed her fingers on the
dashboard in front of her to the beat of the song. Lounging back in her seat as she
drove, she glanced at the cream leather interior of her silver BMW. Gliding easily up to
the airport’s curb, she grinned as she saw her parents and her little sister.
As she hopped out of the car, she yelled, “Over here!”
Her parents, overjoyed at
seeing their oldest daughter, rushed to embrace her.
Her mother exclaimed, “Oh! Macy! It’s so good to see you! I missed you.”
Grinned she answered, “Missed you too, Momma. It’s been awhile.”
Grinning proudly, her father clasped her shoulders and stood back to look at her,
“Why Macy... you’ve turned into quite a young woman on your old dad.”
Looking fondly at her father, Macy smiled brightly. His graying hair accentuated
his attractive features. “Daddy... You’ll never be old. Trust me.”
Turning, he motioned for his younger daughter to come forward and greet her
sister. Lauren grinned as her older sister flicked her pigtails and pulled her into a tight
hug. Truth be told, Lauren was old enough to be Macy’s daughter, at just 8 years old.
Born with Downs Syndrome, Lauren was perfect in her parent’s eyes, and Macy’s. For
years, Lauren’s birth had always stuck out to Macy as a sign of her parent’s unrequited
love and devotion for each other.
Lifting her off the ground, Macy said softly, “Guess what I have at home for you
Laur!”
“*NSYNC?”
Laughing, Macy rumpled her hair and answered, “Guess again silly girl.”
“Ice cream?”
Nodding, Macy grinned, “That’s exactly right!”
Opening the rear passenger door, Macy ushered her parents in, and took
Lauren’s hand to walk her to the passenger seat. One they were all in the car, Macy
grinned and nodded towards the man that had brought the luggage to the curb.
Carefully studying his features, Macy thought to herself that, had she been alone, she
may have stopped to talk to him. Before she knew it, he came back over to the car.
“Need a hand with those bags...” He waited for her name.
She smiled, “Macy. Macy Walker.”
Giving her a flirty smile, he announced, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m
Mark.”
Shrugging, she asked, “Do you have a last name, perhaps, Mark?”
"Would you like to know?”
"Maybe I would." She answered firmly, meeting his eyes with her own.
Grinning with an evil undertone, he answered, "I lost my number.. Maybe I could have yours."
Uninterested by his annoying means of persistence, Macy pulled down her
sunglasses to the tip of her nose and answered cattily “"Sweetie.. you just blew that... Literally. What’d I’d really like is for those bags, to be put in the car.”
In just minutes, the car pulled away. Minutes into the journey, great danger laid
ahead. Macy never saw the car. She never saw the car spinning out of control that
would kill her beloved parents and leave her sister nearly dead.
“Macy? Macy? Are you okay?” JC’s voice finally met her ears, snapping her out
of her reverie. Her body shook as she clung to her sheets, tears falling onto her pillow.
Rubbing her back, JC asked softly, “What’s wrong Mace? What can I do?”
A determined gleam in her eyes, Macy ordered, “Get me out of this bed JC. Just...
just.. get me out of this bed.”
Spotting a wheelchair that Virginia had optimistically set in the room for Macy, JC
scooped her into his arms. Placing her arms around his neck, she murmured, “You never
used to carry me before, Joshy.”
Grinning, he answered, “I also used to be smaller than you, Macy.”
Once Macy was seated in the chair, she asked softly, “Josh- would you mind...
giving me some time by myself? I really need to think some things out.”
He nodded, brushing back a stray strand of hair. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
As JC walked out the door, Macy’s eyes followed him, thinking how lucky she
was to have a friend like him. Macy muttered aloud, “Oh... if you only knew, JC. If you
only knew.”
“There’s really no tactful way to say this, Justin. The crash gave Gabby a case of
amnesia. She may remember in a few days, maybe a few weeks.. maybe even a few years.
And then.. there’s the chance that she may never remember her past. Often there are cases
where the person has a major change in personality due to the fact that they don’t
remember things they’ve been through and done. I’m afraid this situation is a little
intensified in Gabby’s social state. You should let the reporters know that Gabby is awake
and well at first, Justin. She’ll just suffer worse in the long run if the press finds out about
her condition.” The doctor reported where they sat alone in the doctor’s office.
Locking his hands in tendrils of his hair, Justin sighed, “I can’t believe this is
happening, Doc. I mean.. you should have seen the way that she looked at me when I
kissed her. She thought I was a monster.” Rubbing his hands over his face, Justin leaned
forward and peered ominously at the doctor. “I think I’m gonna lose her, Doc. She
doesn’t know... Doesn’t know the history we have. Doesn’t know how much she means
to me.. Hell, who am I kidding? She doesn’t even know me.”
The doctor pulled his glasses off, resting them on his desk, and sighed loudly, “I
wish there was something that I could say to reassure you, Justin, but.. there’s nothing we
can do to prevent that. Speaking as a friend, not Gabby’s doctor, I’d say, just try to help
her re-live the memories. She that she’s cared for.. show her pictures, make her her
favorite foods, tell her stories... Anything you think may strike a memory in her. That’s
all I can tell you.”
Nodding, Justin answered almost inaudibly, “Okay.. I’ll do that... I’ll do that..”
After leaving the office, Justin fully intended to go see Gabby, but recalled
something that “Doc” had said. “You should let the reporters know that Gabby is awake
and well at first, Justin. She’ll just suffer worse in the long run if the press finds out
about her condition.”
Lonnie trailed closely behind, and barked, “What are you doing Timberlake?”
Justin grunted, ignoring Lonnie’s question. Lonnie grunted back and added,
“What do you know.. I’m working for some skinny white boy that acts like he was raised
by a pack of wild hogs.”
Justin lead Lonnie, and soon they found themselves out in front of the hospital.
Before Justin could begin speaking to the mobs of press that were all around him, Lonnie
exclaimed, “Johnny is gonna kill you, boy!”
Shrugging, Justin said, “What have I got to lose? Certainly not Gabby. The
chances of that are already high enough anyway.”
Without thinking, Lonnie jerked Justin back by the collar of his shirt, and lashed
out him, “Justin, I never try to hold you back from anything, man. But I’m puttin’ my foot
down here. Don’t you think that maybe you should at least go talk to your girlfriend and
see if she remembers anything yet before you announce to the press that she’s perfectly
fine, and give her a clean bill of health? Think about it. Gabby may be alive somewhere
inside that body, but that up there, that isn’t Gabby. You’ve got to think of whether
Gabby would want you to lie and tell the press that she was fine if she wasn’t. I don’t care
what that doctor has to say. You just listen to me. Go see Gabby.”
Nodding in defeat, Justin muttered, “Yeah.. alright.”
The two figures retreated into the hospital before any of the reporters camped
outside had discovered who they were. It was times like this that made Justin wish that he
really was just another face in the crowd. But if he was just another face in the crowd,
then he never would have had his beloved Gabby, and to him, that was a fate worse than
death.
