Free Don’t Forget to Remember Me by Kahlen Aymes Page B

and rags we’d need to
finish the job.
    “Ryan, Jules loves you; even if she can’t
remember. Relax!” Harris called from the other room. The apartment
was so small that every word any of us said could be easily
heard.
    “When are you gonna make an honest woman of
Ellie?” I asked, in an attempt to change the subject.
    “I’ve tried. She’s putting it on hold.”
    “What? Why ?” I asked
incredulously.
    “Ask her ,” he said and seemed a
little bit pissed off, but kept to his task of dusting the
television and entertainment center.
    Ellie filled the bucket with hot water from
the sink and added some cleaning solution before she answered.
“Harris, come on ! You just signed that record deal. Married
rock stars don’t sell records!” she said in exasperation. “You know
I love you.”
    “I’m hardly a rock star, El,” he
mumbled.
    She stiffened. “Maybe you would be if you
started thinking like one.”
    “Maybe you’re not sure you can handle his
new life style before you commit to it? Eh, Ellie?” I asked as she
set the sudsy bucket in front of me.
    “How about if you shut your yap?” She hissed
and frowned at me.
    Wow. Direct hit.
    “When are you gonna give Julia her
engagement ring back? And the bracelet? She is constantly messing
with her wrist, and it’s all I can do not to reach out and stop
her, for God’s sake.”
    I’d thought of it many times in the last
days. She only had the ring a few weeks before the accident and
most of that time we’d been apart. I longed to see it sparkling on
her finger, and I missed the bracelet on her wrist. My heart
squeezed at her words.
    “Not yet. You know what the doctors
said.”
    “She will remember ,” Elyse added
almost inaudibly. “I have faith. Ryan, go strip your sheets for me,
please.”
    I went to do my mother’s bidding and she
followed, closing the door behind us. I pulled the pillows off,
started removing the cases and wondered why she’d need to get me
alone.
    “Ryan, do you want me to stay for a while? I
can let Gabe go home without me. If you need me…” I realized how
extremely lucky I was to have such wonderful, supportive
parents.
    “Oh, no, that’s alright, Mom.” I bent and
pulled the sheets off the bed and threw them on the pile with the
pillow cases. “I’m just a little nervous about bringing Julia here.
She has to be feeling a little apprehensive under the
circumstances.” I sat on the bed and ran my hand over my jaw. “It
hasn’t been easy for me to see those questioning looks on her face,
the blankness when something she can’t remember is mentioned.
It…hurts,” I said in a flat tone but my heart constricted just a
little. It had to show on my face.
    “Ryan, I can see that she trusts you. Her
face lights up when you walk into the room. She knows that there is
something between the two of you.” She sat down next to me. “It
will all work out, baby. Will you give her back her jewelry?”
    “I’m not sure if it’s time yet. Dr. Moore,
and even Dad, thinks that we should be careful about rushing
things. I tend to agree. When she does remember, you know it’s
going to hurt like hell. Because…”
    “Of the baby, I know.” She ran her hand
through the hair at my temple. “But you’ll get her through it,
Ryan. We can all feel how much you love her and she will, too.
You’ve been so strong and brave, honey, but it’s okay to grieve,”
she said sadly.
    “I’ll live,” I said shortly, trying to
dismiss the pain evoked by her words. I wasn’t strong. I was weaker
than I’d ever been in my life. She wasn’t there the first night and
didn’t see how I completely fell apart. “Mom, really, I’ll be okay.
Julia is my focus now.”
    “Don’t you mean always ? Nothing’s
changed, sweetheart.” She smiled sadly. “She’s always been your
first thought. Just don’t try to overprotect her from the truth,
Ryan. You might be cutting your nose off to spite your face, and
more importantly, Julia might