Crash Into Me(123)

"I don't know, Jordan. It might be too much for her. I don't know what to say about her father and I won't lie to her now."

"She knows already. When Kim called, she told her. She doesn't remember what happened to him, but she knows he died. Go talk to her. Don't give up on her."

With a gentle squeeze, Jordan prodded me toward the bed. Nina looked up at me and smiled, like she had so many times before, but I saw in her eyes she was just trying to make me feel welcome.

She didn't know me.

"How are feeling?" The question was lame, but it's what a stranger would ask.

"Jordan says that you and I are engaged."

Nodding, I smiled and pulled the ring out of my pocket. "I just proposed a few nights ago."

"Can I see it?" she asked as she held out her hand. "It looks like a beautiful ring."

I placed it in the center of her palm and smiled as she took it from me. "You liked it when I gave it to you."

She studied it for a minute and then looked me up and down. "I bet you proposed at some fancy restaurant or the opera. Not that I know if I like opera, but you look like the type of man who does."

I looked down at my clothes and couldn't help but smile. Dressed in my suit pants and dress shirt, I'd thought I looked casual without my tie and coat. Leave it to Nina to let me know just how wrong I was.

Lifting my head, I said, "Actually, it was a pizza place called Tony's that we like. I got down on one knee, though."

A sweet smile lit up her face. "I like pizza. That's good to know."

"And roast beef, turkey with stuffing, shrimp scampi, and sausage and peppers."

She was silent for a long time and then finally said, "I'm sorry I don't remember you, Tristan. You seem like a great guy."

I wanted to take her in my arms and never let her go. To do everything we'd done together all over again just on the chance that she'd remember how much we loved each other.

But I couldn't. I wasn't the man she loved. I was just some guy who remembered.

"Can I ask you something, Tristan?"

"Anything and I promise to give a straight answer."

A confused expression crossed her face for a brief moment and then she smiled. "Why don't I remember you?"

I sadly shook my head, her question ripping my heart in two. "I don't know."

Was it because of what I'd told her just before the accident? Had she forgotten everything about us because somewhere deep inside her mind she couldn't forgive me for her father's death?






After two and a half weeks, her doctor pulled me aside as Jordan and Kim visited with an almost healed Nina. Guiding me to a secluded room near Nina's room, he closed the door behind us and I took a seat across from him.

"I want you to know that the good news is that her physical injuries are healing well. She'll be able to go home tomorrow. Her memory loss is disconcerting, however. I had expected her to remember something of her life from the past four years, but I see no signs of that, as of yet."

Listening to him speak, I knew what he was about to say and instantly, my chest tightened.

"Mr. Stone, I just can't say she'll ever remember everything. The human mind is a difficult thing to predict. All I can say is that if you continue to show her what her life was like, she very well may come around."

Extending my hand to shake his, I pressed a smile onto my face. "I understand. Thank you for everything."

I returned to find Jordan and Kim standing outside Nina's room as the nurses did their jobs inside. The time had come to let them know my plans for Nina after she left here.