Me And Max

Chapter 2
•••••••

Today is me and Max's anniversary. The doctors say that he's lost most of his memory which is bad. But the good news is that it can be 'restored' we have to try to make him remember the past.
It's hurting me more than all people. Especially today. Max was my school sweetheart, I was his. My parents hated Max, his parents hated me so we ran away together at the age of 18. We got married at the Gower on the beach, all the locals came to the wedding. We live in Wales on the Gower in a little cottage. Everyone knows us from our run away tale. We tried for a baby after our honeymoon in Paris. The doctor found out that I was infertile, this broke our hearts. I had to have therapy and all that crap because I was so upset about it. I got over it slowly though. Now that Max is in hospital and can't remember me just brings all the bad memories back. Normally he would be beside me comforting me. Not now though.

I go and sit awkwardly on the big sofa in our lounge, turn on the TV and sip slowly at my cup of tea. After a few seconds I turn the TV back off and tip my tea down the sink. Nothing felt right without Max here. I try to lye on the sofa in front of the crackling fire like a normal person but I'm constantly turning over and over. I stand back up and deicide that I should do something to take my mind off of Max. I brush my hair, clean my teeth-twice, re-do my makeup and put some fresh clothes on before I deicide I'm going to visit Max in hospital again.
I drive to the hospital trying not to think about how Max's memory is. I turned round the corner to the hospital and parked. Hopped out the car and ran to the hospital reception. Out of breath I smile to the receptionist,
"Hello Ma'am, here to see Mr Cove by any chance?" She smiles kindly but sorrowfully,
"Yes. I know where his ward is. May I just go down?" I ask.
"Of course" I start to make my way to his little room when the doctor that spoke to me grabbed my arm,
"Yes?" I snap in a hurry,
"Sorry to disturb you Mrs Cove but your husband is well enough to go home now. Do you wish for him to go home with you today, or until further notice on his... Memory condition." I feel a glimpse of hope rise in my stomach, maybe I couldn't remind him of our home the beach. Our old life now.
"I would be happy to have him come home with me if you don't mind" I smile broadly,
"Of course not, just some papers to figure out"
"Ok. Maybe later though"
"Sure, bye" he says simply walking away down the corridor. I stand there smiling hopelessly for what seems like ten minutes until I realise that I'm supposed to be visiting Max.
When I get to his little room Max is sitting up in his bed reading the newspaper,
"Hi Max, how are you feeling?" I ask sitting down. I know that he know he has memory loss so I don't hug him, that would probably confuse him more.
"Yeah I'm ok. Sorry if I hurt your feelings yesterday... You didn't know" he apologises. My chest squeezes inside as a my throat blocks up, I swallow down the tears,
"It's ok. It's not your fault. Have you heard the goo news?" I ask smiling,
"Nope, there's nothing good in hospital" he complains.
"You can come home today. Only if you want to though" I stumble,
"Really? Where would I go?" He frowns,
"Well, home. Our house" I say, my last glimpse of hope goes.
"With you?"
"Yes."
"Oh really? Can I, I mean? I would think that it would be hard for you, accommodating for you" he smiles,
"Max, we lived together for two years. Oh on that note, happy anniversary, two years today" I smile at him. He smiles back and takes my hand in his.
"Even if I can't remember you probably. I'm going to try my hardest to be the man you used to know." I lean in and kiss him gently on the cheek but lean away quickly.
"Sorry." I apologise,
"It's fine, I can see why I fell in love with you. Your so beautiful" I blush slightly and look deep into his eyes, it hurt me to.
"I know your still in there" I whisper making little circles on his palm. There's a strange silence from Max. He has a strange pained expression on his face,
"Janie? Where am I? Why am I in hospital?" Says Max frantically. I scan his face and see the old Max, he's back,
"Max? Where did we get married?" I ask squeezing his hand tighter,
"Three Cliffs Bay." He replies confused,
"Your back." I whisper caressing his face in my hands. Another silence and a pained expression on Max's face.
"So when do I come home with you? Do we have a dog? I've always wanted a dog"
Max is gone again. As easily as that. Snap of the fingers.
"Now. Your allergic to dogs" I say non-emotionally,
"I'll meet you in reception" I say walking out the ward stiffly.

Once I've finished all the paperwork for Max I catch Max's nurse's eye.
"Hello Mrs Cove! Can I help you?" She asks in a kind voice,
"Hey umm, well as Max is coming home with me today I thought you ought to know... He had a flash back to his normal self, he remembered me and the old life we had" I say in a hushed voice. Mrs Digby nods and smiles at me,
"He might occasionally have glimpses like that. It's him fighting to remember" she nods again and walks off down the corridor.
"Thanks" I say to her even though she can't hear me. I go back to reception and sit in the same plastic chair as yesterday to wait for Max.
Max hobbles towards me leaning against a metal crutch. I take his free arm and sling it around my shoulder to support him.
"Let's go home" I mumble.

When we get back to the cottage it suddenly hits me, we can't sleep together can we? I mean it be quite strange for Max and all.
"Well this is it. We have a two month old kitten called Tom. And a gerbil called Jerry." I smile opening the door and leading him inside.
"Tom and Jerry" he chuckles next to me. We walk into the kitchen and I place his small suitcase on the counter.
"Hot chocolate?" I ask
"Sure." I make us both a warm cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and grated chocolate on top.
"Your favourite." He takes a sip and gets a small white moustache,
"How did you know?"
"I've loved you for pretty much my whole school life. I got to know you." I smile weakly,
"Of course you did." He wipes away the little white moustache and sighs.
"Max, I'm sorry if I... Stormed away earlier."
"Yeah I don't mind, what happened?" Should I tell him that his old self came back for a few seconds?
"Your memory came back, on for a second or two but you came back." I smile, a small tear rolling down my pale cheek and onto my wrist. I bite my lip like a child making the tears go away. Max takes my hand in his. I shake my head and my chest tightens as warm tears fall from my eyes,
"Janie don't cry" Max says worried. I squeeze my eyes shut and lean against Max's shoulder, he embraces me in a warm hug like he used to. This comforts me and the tears stop.
"I'm sorry. It's going to be hard for both us now." I look into Max's blue eyes. The old Max was so close I could grasp him.
"As we're married and all..." He starts,
"Yeah?" I interrupt,
"Well we love each other."
"I still love you, you don't have to love me"
"That's the thing." I frown a little. Max leans closer to me so our face is inches apart, our foreheads touching.
"What do you mean?" I whisper closing my eyes,
"The upside of all this-" he says just as our lips meet "I get to fall in love with you all over again."