Chapter 14
Eduardo read the observations that Zander had written down. Everyone was serious, looking at each other. " What is it, Ed?" Zander asked and Ryan looked at him with a worried expression. "I want you to bring her to the hospital, I'll fix an appointment myself. I have a feeling that she has retrograde amnesia." He concluded. " Are you serious? This is only curable in some cases right?" Ryan asked with wide eyes.
" What are you talking about? Please tell me!" Zander was getting a bad feeling. " Retrograde amnesia is when a person forgets the happenings before a particular date or incident. In Scarlett's case, it was the accident. I'm not sure that it was because of the shock itself, it must have indirectly lead to some internal damage." Eduardo explained as Zander listed intently. " It can be cured right? You can help us, right? I want to give her the life that she is missing out on..." Zander looked at his palms that were placed neatly on his lap.
" It depends on the reason of her memory loss. I need to run a few tests to know what caused the loss of memory. You need to bring her to me so that we can run the tests." " I'll do it. I'll bring her. When should I bring her?" Ed and Ryan had never seen Zander so troubled ever before. They knew that he did a lot for his friends, but this...
" Any day will be fine. Just tell me when and I'll make the appointment myself." Zander hadn't looked up from his palms. " We'll do our best, Zander. Don't worry, I'm sure that it's something minor." Zander looked at him with a confused expression.
" Why didn't she pull a tantrum when she found that she couldn't remember anything? Isn't that how people who face memory loss generally react? " A valid question, movies did show patients acting in an aggressive way.
" That's a good question. Not everyone reacts the same way, though it is considered to be the common reaction. Some people are cool about it, they think that they can regain the lost memory soon. They try not to think about it that much and lead a normal life, it's not like this is going to affect their lifespan. In Scarlett's case, everything was given to her before she could question it. Her name, her parents, and house. She knew who was around her and what was going on because people told her everything, or documents showed her everything she needed to know. That's why she didn't panic, pressure about her forgotten life is what made her tell you everything that she was facing unknowingly. " Ryan and Zander listened carefully and the waiter slipped the bill on their table.
They walked back to the hospital and said their goodbyes before Zander and Ryan made their way to Zander's place. " When are you going to tell her?" Ryan asked once they were inside Zander's comfortable house. " I don't know, man. I don't think that she's going to take it very well. What if it can't be cured?" Zander's fears resurfaced, giving it away to Ryan.
" Tell me something, why are you doing so much for her?" He asked and Zander looked at him blankly. " What do you mean? I'm doing this because she's my friend and I want to help her find her way back to herself." He replied with a shrug.
" Are you listening to yourself? You are the person who didn't even care when I fainted after our football game in high school. Now you're saying that friendship is all this is? " " I can't believe that you're holding that against me! I told you why I didn't come to help you!" " Yea, because you didn't know any first aid? What a lame excuse, man." Ryan scoffed.
" Fine! It may be lame, I just didn't want to hurt you, telling you the truth. " " I don't think it's going to hurt, Zander. It doesn't matter anyway. So are you planning on telling her parents?" Ryan tried to change the topic.
" Kiara didn't want me to help you. I know it sounds stupid, but that's the reason." Zander spits out. " It doesn't matter, Zander, I'm not holding it against you. I just doubt that there's something else going on between you and Scarlett." Zander looked at him with calm eyes, too calm for his liking. " There's nothing else going on other than the fact that she's my friend." Ryan lifted his hands in surrender. " Ok! Answer my question though"
" I think I'll take her to Ed as soon as I can and then tell her family. She needs to take in the truth and digest it before breaking it to her family." " You're right. Tell her whenever you think you're ready, but be fast enough. We don't want the 'it's too late' phrase on her, right?" Ryan patted Zander on his shoulder and left as Zander nodded.
Two days had gone by, Zander was sitting in 'Dream cafe' to tell her the truth of her condition. The time was 4:30 and there was no sight of Scarlett. He was about to get up and go to her college when she finally entered the cafe. " I'm so sorry, Z. I had to help my professor with something, sorry!" She gave him a goofy grin, but it dropped as soon as she saw the sorrow on his face.
" What happened, Zander? Why are you sad? Did something happen?" She asked him as she placed her backpack on the table. " I know what's wrong with you." He finally said without looking at her. " And? What is it?" She asked, expecting him to say something, he didn't. " You're scaring me, Z. What is it?" She asked, her voice dropped a few octaves fearing that someone might hear, though the cafe wasn't that crowded.
" You are suspected to have retrograde amnesia." He looked at her and found her eyes glazed, she was scared. " Let's go to your place and talk. I don't think I can tell you here." He picked up her bag in one hand and clasped her hand in the other, and walked outside, the clouds were dark and moody. Small drops of water fell on them, it was drizzling. He rushed her into his car and drove off to her house.
As soon as they were in her room she locked it and sat on the bed. Zander took the chair from her study and sat right in front of her. He started explaining what Eduardo had told him, without missing any points, except for the fact that Ryan was with him during his talk with Eduardo.
" So he wants me to come for a check-up?" She asked with a blank expression, he didn't know what was running in her head. " He wants to run a few tests to know if this is curable, please come with me? We still have hope that it can be cured." She stilled and looked around her room, the pictures on her table and finally at Zander. " Alright."
She accepted so easily. " Do we tell your parents?" He asked and she nodded. They deserved to know what this was about. He took her tiny and cold hands in his, " Don't be sad, Letta. I can't see you like that. I think that I-" A knock on the door stopped him from completing his sentence.
Scarlett opened the door and found her mother standing there with a small smile. She didn't know why but suddenly had the urge of hugging her mother, so she did and broke down in tears. " Mom!" She sobbed as Zander watched her sobbing, it broke his heart. It was killing him to see her without a smile on her face.
" Scarlett, honey? What happened?" Her mother was worried and looked at Zander with one eyebrow cocked in question. " I need to tell all of you something. Can we go to the living room? Please?" She whispered and her mother agreed, still looking at Zander for an answer.
Once everyone was comfortably seated in the living room, she started telling them what she had found out. It changed the expression on everyone's face. The worst expression was Marie's, she was trembling. Was she frightened of anything?
" Visit the doctor tomorrow honey, please." Her father pleaded and she sat next to Zander in silence. He hugged her and kissed her temple. " I'll be there with you. Can we go tomorrow?" He asked as the entire family watched with hope. She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder as a tear made its way on his shirt.
"Thank you so much, Zander. You're helping our daughter so much. You are truly a great friend, son." Her father said and gave him a thankful smile to which Zander nodded as he was rubbing comforting circles on her shoulder.
Now the family knew what had happened to the old Scarlett. She was hiding behind the blanket, labelled memory loss. But Zander was oblivious to that, he only knew this Scarlett.