Beyond Promise (13 page)

His mom flashed me an understanding glance
as she held Ayden’s hand, which caught the look of Ayden so he
looked over my way. He hadn’t looked at me since his eyes first
opened. He didn’t smile. In fact, the complete opposite happened.
The grin he was wearing fell from his lips when our eyes
connected.

So here I sat, but it wasn’t about me. It
was about getting Ayden healthy.

Brandy walked over and took a seat in the
metal foldout chair.

“How are you holding up?” she asked.

“Totally fine. The doctor said this happens
in a lot of cases, and it’s generally temporary.” I let out a deep
breath. “But not always.”

“It’s temporary,” Brandy assured me, but we
both knew it was an empty promise.

It was hard to imagine that I’d been deleted
from Ayden’s memory. Of all the events in his life, I wanted to
believe our upcoming marriage would be a priority, one that was
important enough to remember.

“It’s all fine. Just enjoy your brother and
relish the moment. It’s a big deal,” I said, the knot twisting
tighter in my belly.

I glanced over at the door and saw Mason
stride into the room, grinning from ear to ear as his eyes fell on
his awake twin. He jogged to the side of the bed and snaked his
arms around Ayden, almost raising him from the bed.

“That was too intense, man.” I heard Mason
whisper. “Too intense.”

My heart stopped as I watched Mason let go
of his brother, and the same blank stare canvased over Mason, his
own twin brother. Ayden’s gaze flashed to his parents, hoping to be
informed about who this stranger was that nearly pulled him out of
bed. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

“This is your brother, Mason,” their mom
said. Her voice was calm, soft, showing no hint of concern.

Mason’s brows furrowed and his neck snapped
to look at his dad. “What? He doesn’t remember me? That’s
ridiculous. It’s like he’s looking in a mirror when he sees
me.”

“He hasn’t looked in a mirror recently,”
Brandy said quietly.

The defeat in Mason’s eyes wrapped around
every cell in my body, and I knew his plight was much worse than
mine.

“I’m sorry,” Ayden muttered.

Sorry?

The words killed me and, by the looks of it,
did the same to his family.

“Mason, why don’t you take Lily to get some
coffee?”

“She can’t.” His gaze met mine as he
corrected his blunder. “Sounds like a good idea.”

I nodded and stood up, giving a hug to
Brandy before I followed Mason out the door. Once we reached the
hall, I gave Mason a big hug.

“He doesn’t remember me either,” I
whispered.

Mason’s embrace tightened around me as we
both let our new reality settle around us in the middle of a
hospital hallway.

Somehow, we’d get through this.

Together as a family.

This was a slight bump in the road followed
by a rather complex detour, but we’d get to our destination one way
or another.

Mason and I slowly released one another. He
slid his finger along his cheeks, wiping away the dampness from his
face. Mason was also always full of boisterous one-liners and
lively comebacks. Not now though. What we faced left us both
speechless.

We walked silently to the elevator and made
our way to the first floor without saying a word. It wasn’t until
we placed our orders with the barista that we found our voices.

“This is wrong on so many levels,” Mason
said, waiting for his drink. Mine had been called, and I was now
forcing myself to take a sip of the hot chocolate.

“I can handle it if he doesn’t remember me
because he’s stuck with me. All he has to do is look at himself in
the mirror, but for him not to remember you. I’d trade it all away
so quickly, Lily. I really would. You’re the mother of his child.”
His drink was called, and he grabbed his cup off the counter while
I tried to absorb what Mason just said.

Hearing someone else verbalize my very fear
of Ayden not remembering me, or the fact that I was pregnant with
our child was nothing short of paralyzing.

“I’d feel worse about it if he remembered me
but not you,” I whispered, taking a seat.

Mason shook his head in protest. “It all
really sucks. Plain and simple. What did the doctor say about
it?”

“That it’s common and not to be too
alarmed.”

Mason let out a grunt. “We aren’t supposed
to be alarmed that Ayden can’t remember his fiancée or his
identical twin brother. Right.” He took a swig of coffee.

I nodded in agreement. “I know there are way
bigger things in life to worry about, but I wonder if I should
cancel everything in Bermuda…”

I felt guilty for even bringing up the
wedding, when we were still trying to get Ayden to recognize his
own flesh and blood, but it suddenly felt like Mason was one of the
few who I could talk about it with. After all, we were both
scratched from Ayden’s memory.

Mason shook his head. “Absolutely not. We’ll
get him there one way or another. Even if he’s kicking and
screaming down the aisle.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the vision.

“Wasn’t exactly how I dreamed of our wedding
day, but at this point I’d take it.” I smiled, feeling slightly
better than when we’d gotten on the elevator for our drinks. I
appreciated the Rhodes boys and their sense of humor.

Would Ayden still have the same humor I fell
in love with?

“Let’s get back up there and try to shake
some sense into the idiot,” Mason teased.

“I’m not sayin’, but I’m sayin’,” I burbled,
feeling immensely better that I wasn’t the only one the
idiot
forgot, even though it pained me to the deepest level
I’d ever known.

We tried to remain positive and lighthearted
on the way back up to see Ayden, the closer we got to his room, the
more the feeling slipped away.

Laughter filled the air, and Mason and I
traded glances.

Great! Seemed like things were back to
normal minus two very important people.

Mason grabbed my hand and pulled me through
the door with him as we both turned our attention to Ayden. He was
sitting up in bed now, and many of the cords had been removed from
his body and head. From here it looked like he only had an IV.

Ayden’s gaze fell to our hands, and he
looked over at his parents. Their eyes fell to our hands, and
something sparked between us all.

“Tori is going to kill me,” Mason whispered.
“But I’ve got an idea. Maybe what Ayden needs is a real-life
enactment, a history lesson of sorts.”

My brow rose in surprise that he’d even
consider such a far-out way of dealing with things. I glanced
across the room at Brandy who seemed to be following Mason’s
harebrained idea.

Mason’s parents walked over next to Brandy
and sat down, while Mason and I walked to the foot of the bed.
Every time I was around him, I prayed for a flicker of recognition
to flash across his gaze.

I bit my lip and glanced at the floor, ready
for Mason to start whatever it was he had planned, but instead,
Ayden spoke.

“You’re Brandy’s friend from college,” he
said grinning. He pointed at me and wagged his finger.

My heart knocked my ribcage with each
pounding pulse as I watched Ayden try to put the pieces of the
puzzle—our life—together.

“Uh, yeah. Kind of. That’s how it started,”
I stuttered. My hands became clammy, and I glanced in horror at
Brandy. That was it? That was all her brother could remember?

“Not good enough, man,” Mason said, under
his breath.

Without warning, Mason wrapped his arms
around me and pulled me into him. His hands ran up my back as he
his lips hovered so close to mine. I think we were both hoping his
brother would say something before it happened. Before the
kiss.

I shut my eyes, not because I enjoyed it,
but because I was scared to death that I was about to kiss Ayden’s
twin brother. Mason ran his fingers into my hair, and his lips
touched to mine. I assumed we were doing the church kiss, but once
his lips parted, I knew he was fully committed to this role.

There was no connection. It was like kissing
a sibling, but we both persevered until I realized Mason hadn’t
taken a breath since the entire ordeal began. I slowly released my
mouth from his and gently slid one more soft kiss across his lips
before turning to face Ayden.

Ayden’s eyes were blazing with fury. He
gritted his teeth and attempted to disconnect himself from whatever
was keeping him in the bed. Mason smacked my butt and Brandy
laughed; all the while Ayden’s anger boiled over into swift
action.

“Who do you think you are?” Ayden demanded,
trying to stand up. His eyes flew to meet Mason’s, but his
equilibrium hadn’t quite caught up to his returning memories.

“I’m your brother, trying to speed the
process along, for all our sakes.” Mason grinned and winked at
me.

Ayden centered himself back on the bed,
trying to stop the room from spinning as he pulled his stare away
from Mason’s. Ayden’s mom started to rush toward him, but her
husband held onto her hand not letting her get very far.

I walked over to Ayden. “Are you doing okay?
Do you need me to get a nurse?”

Ayden’s gaze remained focused on the ground
as he attempted to slide back into the bed.

“I’m fine,” he snapped.

“No. You’re really not, but that’s neither
here or there. Let me help you get back into bed.”

Ayden waved me away, but I refused to leave.
Instead, I straightened out the sheet and thin blanket that Ayden
had thrown to the side in his haste. He attempted to lift his legs
into bed, and I noticed them shaking. So I quickly wrapped my hands
around his ankles and brought them up and over, while he maneuvered
his upper body where he wanted it. I swiftly covered him with a
sheet and the blanket and didn’t look into his eyes. I was too
afraid of what I’d see.

“I can’t wait to walk that woman down the
aisle,” Mason almost shouted from the foot of the bed. “She’s a
real keeper.”

I hadn’t expected Mason to keep going, but
Brandy couldn’t keep in her giggle.

“That’s enough, Mason,” his mom warned.

And I hid my chuckle at how his parents
still felt the need to reprimand their thirty-year old children.
The Rhodes family dynamics never ceased to amaze me.

Ayden’s blue eyes flashed to mine, and I
couldn’t help but widen my grin when I saw a flicker of
recollection that was deeper than being Brandy’s friend flash
through his eyes. Ayden narrowed his eyes and bit his lip as if he
was about to say something and then thought better of it.

I would take that expression any day over
the blank one I’d been receiving all morning. Mason apparently
didn’t think the progress was quite fast enough so he sauntered
over and gave me a big kiss on the cheek and then snaked his arm
around my waist because he could. I saw another dash of anger run
through Ayden’s gaze, and it puzzled me. An emotional response was
being pulled from him over seeing me and Mason together, but it
wasn’t enough to put all the pieces together.

Mason let go of my waist and walked over to
his brother and smiled. He dipped his mouth next to his ear and
whispered something none of us could hear, and before we knew it,
Ayden tossed an empty plastic cup at no one in particular, and
Brandy’s eyes widened in horror.

I didn’t think this was how the doctor had
imagined Ayden’s recovery would go, but he’d never run into the
Rhodes brothers before either.

“Settle down there,” Mason said, taking a
couple steps back.

Mason stood next to me, and I glanced over
at his mother, who looked like she wanted to cart Mason out by his
ear, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened within the
minute.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”
Mason asked.

Ayden’s jaw clenched and his eyes flashed to
mine. I saw despair sitting right behind his expression, and I
realized Ayden was coming back slowly, but he was coming back. I
had to commend Mason. He really knew what buttons to push. I’d
planned on taking the slow and easy road.

“How are things progressing?” the doctor
asked, wandering into the room. He glanced around at all the
various expressions and then focused his eyes on the patient and
shook his head. “You tried to get out of bed?”

“I did. I’d like to get out of here, but my
head is spinning, and I have a headache,” Ayden said, and I wanted
to run over and squeeze him, hold him tightly until it was all
over.

“Not unusual for that to last for days,
sometimes weeks.” The doctor slid his electronic tablet out of his
coat pocket and started punching things into Ayden’s medical
chart.

“When can I go home?” Ayden asked.

“Do you even remember where home is?” Mason
asked wryly.

Ayden looked like he wanted to deck Mason,
but thought better of it.

“It depends upon your progress. Could be as
soon as a day to more than a week.”

I caught Brandy’s eye as she did the math
between Ayden coming home, possibly remembering or not remembering
who I was and the wedding. Her expression changed to dismay, and I
realized we came up with the same result.