Author's Chapter Notes:
SO sorry there's been such a gap between chapters!! But here's a new one to tide y'all over. Hopefully I'll be able to bang another one out before Spring Break.
"Measure Of A Man"
Written by Sara (goneplatinum@live.com)
February Two-Thousand and Nine
The sun was shining brightly, barely a cloud in the deep blue sky; it was as if the world was rejoicing along with him. He smiled to himself as he absentmindedly fingered the red ribbon tied around the rather large bouquet of daisies he’d bought from a street vendor on the way in to the hospital.
Nick whistled a tune, his mood a thousand times better than it had been in nearly a week, as he stepped on to a waiting elevator. He pushed the button for the eighth floor and waited while more people entered the small car, pushing him towards the back.
The doctors had said the day before, after Jill had been taken off the vent, that if everything remained stable, she’d be discharged in a matter of days. Nothing could have made Nick happier. Although there was still a small tug at his conscience… Jill was none the wiser on how she’d actually ended up in such a state, and Nick wasn’t sure how or when to lay the news on her. But for the moment, he was going to let the good news trump the reality of it all, and just enjoy his Jill.
“Hey baby,” He grinned, stepping into the semi-darkened room.
Jill lay on the bed with her florescent pink casted leg propped up with pillows. A few magazines and random books bought from the gift shop, brought by himself and others, were scattered across the bed as well. The color had returned to her cheeks, although still a bit dim, her deep brown hair was limp without the usual morning preparation but still shone with its usual vibrancy, and the scratches and marks were almost nothing but mere memory.
She glanced up from the magazine she was currently reading and gave him a curious look over the rim of her glasses. Her eyes darkened with concern as she closed the magazine.
“Do I… know you?” she asked hesitantly, pulling up the light blanket to cover her chest and shoulders demurely. She studied his face for a few seconds.“Because I feel like I’ve met or seen you somewhere before…”
Nick stood there with his mouth and eyes open in shock. She doesn’t remember me… what the hell. He knew the doctors had told him there was a chance for slight complications. But for Jill to not remember him at all… that sure as hell wasn’t just a slight complication.
He swallowed over the growing lump in his throat and took a step in Jill’s direction, his face now deeply creased with worry, as he said, “Jilly, it’s me. It’s Nick.”
Then a flicker of realization spread over her face. But, contrary to Nick’s wishes for everything to go smoothly, Jill suddenly let out a high-pitched squeal and covered her mouth with both hands, eyes double their normal size. She managed to point a shaky finger in his direction. “Oh… ohmigod… you’re him! I mean… NICK!” she squealed again.
Nick’s face instantly fell into a frown. What the hell was going on? His mind raced with a million scenarios, most of them not good, as Jill jiggled around in the bed excitedly, scrabbling for a pen so that he could autograph her cast. She didn’t remember him and now she was squealing and acting like a rabid fan? This was more than a slight complication… it was one hell of a fuck up. On who’s part, Nick had no clue.
He stepped back, body buzzing with nerves, and waved away the pen Jilly had thrust at him. “Whoa, Jilly, wait a second…” He took a deep breath and frowned at her. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Jill’s face fell and her hand holding the pen dropped back on to the bed. “Why do you keep calling me Jilly?” she asked, spitting out the nickname as if it had left a bitter taste in her mouth. “My name is Jill. Not Jilly.” She frowned then and peered at him closely as if she had completely forgotten who he was. Again. “And what are you doing in my room?”
“The hell?” he whispered, running a hand through his hair. His eyes darted around the room before landing back on Jill, who now had her hand on the nurse’s call light.
She showed him her thumb, poised above the red circular button, as if it were more of a threat. “I don’t know why you’re here, but please leave.”
Feeling as if someone had pulled the rug from under him, Nick was thoroughly confused, but willingly obliged to Jill’s request. He closed the door behind him and instantly made a run for the nearest nursing station, smacking at the laminate-covered counter to get someone‘s attention.
“Um, can I speak with Jilly… I mean Jillian’s nurse, please?” he asked, his voice almost at a hoarse whisper. Had that really just happened? His mind was reeling from the blow.
Then a nurse in bright pink scrubs, Jill’s favorite color, came walking up, a smile on her pretty face. She set a lime green clipboard face down on the counter. “How can I help you?”
“Um, I’m Jill’s b-boyfriend,” he began, voice still shaking. “And I just went in to visit, and it was like she had no friggin clue who I was.”
The nurse’s smile quickly turned to a frown. She then picked up her clipboard and ran a finger down the front page. “Hmm, it seems she’s been alert and oriented all morning long. I-I can’t really explain…”
“We’ve been together for over three years! And n-now it’s like… she doesn’t even know me,” Nick explained. He could feel the tightness begin at the back of his skull, a full-blown headache that would soon consume him. “She was fine yesterday in the ICU!”
“What’s your name?”
He had to pause for a second to even remember his own name. “Nick.”
“Nick, sometimes patients who’ve had a knock to the head like Jillian have some temporary memory loss. It’s not at all uncommon.”
That was not the answer he wanted to hear. “Well can’t you run some tests or scan her or something? Give her some kind of medication?”
The nurse snickered and shook her head. “A scan of any sort wouldn’t show memory loss, I’m afraid. Tell you what, let me go and have a talk with Jillian. See if we can determine what she does and doesn’t remember, okay?” She turned towards the unit secretary. “Sarah, could you please page Dr. McNeal to my phone?”
Nick stayed at the front desk and watched as the nurse walked down to Jill’s room. He was completely and utterly dumbfounded. It was so surreal that he kept expecting someone… anyone to jump out and yell that it was all a joke. How the hell could Jill not remember him? How could a bump to the head make her forget every moment, every kiss, every word that they had ever shared in the last three years? How the hell was that even possible?
“Would you like a cup of coffee or some ice water?”
Nick’s head snapped up and he focused his overworked mind on the unit secretary who was staring up at him. He shook his head and politely declined the offer before slowly making his way back toward Jill’s room. He’d woken up this morning with newfound hope and it had all come crashing down with Jill’s reaction to him. It was as if his life had been turned, twisted, and shaken all around like some kind of tortuous carnival ride, and all he knew was that he wanted off.
“Hey Nicky Nick. How’s our little patient doing today?” AJ asked as he stepped off the elevator, rubbing his hands together expectantly.
All Nick could manage was a small shrug, his focus never wavering from the tiled floor. He slumped down in a armchair that sat at the end of the hallway and set his pounding head down in his hands.
“What’s going on, is Jilly okay?” AJ tore his gaze from Nick’s forlorn appearance and threw it over to the closed door of Jill’s room. “Did something happen?”
“She… doesn’t… remember me,” He choked out, the realization made his heart stop for a brief second.
“Dude, serious? Sh-she doesn’t remember you at all?”
“She knows I’m a damn Backstreet Boy, but that’s it. I don’t understand,” Nick replied as a sob lodged in his throat. “How could this happen, Bone? After all she’s been through…”
“You know what, just wait here. I think I have an idea,”AJ said. He gave Nick a knowing look before he went over to Jill’s room and knocked lightly on the door.”Jilly?”
“Hey AJ!” She said brightly, a wide smile plastered across her pale face.“Took you long enough to come and visit me, doofus.”
AJ took a cautious step forward, then backed off when he couldn’t immediately think of what he wanted to say. It was almost as if she were two people, like a multiple personality.
“Uh, hey kiddo. How’s the wing?”
“Not bad. The medication makes me a little strange, but for the most part, it works.”
AJ casually glanced out towards the hallway, where he could see Nick pace in front of the elevator bank, wringing his hands and mumbling to himself. AJ bit his lip and reached up to scratch the top of his head as he turned his attention back to Jill, who was still grinning like mad.
“Have you talked to Nick today?” He asked, getting down to business.
“Who?” Jill questioned, her brows knitted in confusion.
“Nick, your boyfriend. Tall, blond, feet about yay big?”
“I-I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Holy shit, she really has no fucking clue who he is. AJ racked his brain for a second.
“B-but you know me, right?”
“Of course, silly. You’re my bestest friend,”Jill smiled cheesily, which made AJ snort with laughter.
“Yes, I am your bestest friend.” He took a seat on the chair opposite the bed and let out a deep sigh. “Do you remember when we first met?”
---
“And next on our stage is 13-year-old Alexander McLean!”
The crowd went wild as a lanky and awkward teenager stepped up to the microphone. He cleared his throat and chuckled nervously as he glanced around the packed auditorium.
“So, uh, Pickles. How are you today?” He asked the blue plush puppet to his immediate right. AJ expertly threw his voice as the conversation between the two began.
Soon, the audience was cracking up at all of his carefully-planned jokes. After about ten minutes on stage, it was time to wrap up, and AJ always closed his acts with a tap dance routine. He motioned to someone off stage, and a lively instrumental came blasting through the speakers. At the end of the song, AJ bowed at the waist and gave a wave before exiting stage right.
