The Song

Part Fifty-One

“Ast I don’t need the hospital,” I said, swatting him away.

“Babe, your doctor said…” he started, reading from his phone, “If you experience any prolonged headaches that you should go in for a check-up.”

“Ast this is hardly serious.”

“A couple of months ago you experienced a traumatic head injury!” he argued, “You can’t even remember who you were then or what is going on in your life! What if this is related to that?”

“What?!” I said, my voice trembling slightly, “You’re starting to scare me now.”

“Why don’t we just go get you looked at,” Aston said, “Then we’ll know.”

“Well I’m not going to be able to sleep now,” I groaned.

“Sorry!”

I pulled the covers over my head again, scrunching my eyes. Now Aston had me terrified that something was seriously wrong with me, and I really hated that feeling.

I heard him bustling about, packing a few things in a bag for me. I was still in my bikini and sundress and I knew he was packing me overnight stuff just in case. “Oh weird,” I heard him mutter, a soft thud on the floor.

“What?”

“Later,” he said, “Let’s get going.”

I heaved a deep sigh and slipped out of bed. The room was spinning a bit with how much my head hurt, but I tried my best to ignore it. In fact, I was ignoring pretty much everything right now, including the fact things weren’t quite what they seemed with Aston.

We went out to the rental car, and Aston plugged the name of one of the recommended hospitals we’d been given into his phone.

“I knew something like this was going to happen,” he muttered, “We should have never left London.”

“I’m glad we came,” I said defiantly, leaning my head against the cool window.

“Jess…”

“We’ll talk later.”

“Ok fine,” Aston sighed, pulling the car onto the highway.

As we drove through LA traffic the panging in my head got worse and worse. It was in one distinct place and I felt like it was going to explode, so much so that little tears started to streak down my cheeks.

“Hey don’t cry.”

“It fucking hurts!” I snapped.

“Sorry!” Aston said, taking my hand in his and squeezing it gently.

I tried to keep an open mind about things, even though I was annoyed with him. To be honest it was soothing, probably the only thing that was distracting me enough from the pain in my head. But still.

We eventually got to the hospital and went straight to the Emergency Department. Aston was doing all the talking and I sat to the side in a hard plastic chair, my eyes closed as I tried to keep the tears away.

“Come on Jess,” Aston said quietly, causing me to open my eyes, “We’re going to go see a specialist.”

“A specialist?”

“One of the recommended physicians from your doctor in London.”

“Ok,” I sighed, taking his hand as he led me to the hallway.

We went down a few long corridors and were soon being greeted by an older man in a white coat. “Jessica Rego, your case has been very interesting to follow.”

“You follow me?” I groaned, sitting down in a chair the doctor was gesturing towards.

“In my profession, cases like yours are always worth following,” he said, “Now tell me what is going on.”

I explained to him about my headache, pointing to where it was bothering me and trying to keep a calm face as he prodded my head gently.

“Let’s do a scan and see if there is anything going on,” the doctor said.

I shot Aston a terrified look, but followed the doctor down the hall to the MRI machine. It was pretty scary to be in such an enclosed space, the machine whirring around my head as it took in a scan.

After the scan was over I sat with Aston in the examining room, shaking slightly as I waited for the verdict on my scan.

“You’re going to be ok,” Aston whispered, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

“I’m sorry I was cross with you earlier,” I whispered.

“Hey let’s worry about this tomorrow.”

“Just wanted you to know.”

“Thanks,” Aston replied, kissing my head gently.

The doctor came back in with the results of the scan a small frown on his face.

“Oh god, I’m dying aren’t I?” I asked.

“You’re not dying,” the doctor smiled, “But it does appear you’ve got some slight swelling at the point of impact.”

“What does that mean?”

“The point where you hit your head is reacting,” the doctor said, “It’s actually a good sign for you, it means that it’s healing itself. New brain tissues are growing and the bruising is going away. It’s a good thing, but it will cause some discomfort.”

“Like this massive headache.”

“Exactly.”

“Can she come home tonight?” Aston said, “Or are you going to keep her?”

“There’s nothing to indicate that we need to keep her. This is a perfectly normal reaction.”

“Good!” Aston grinned, rubbing my shoulder gently.

“My one request is that Jessica, you relax for the next few days. No high-energy activity, try to avoid heavy stimulation like bright lights or loud noises. It will only aggravate the pain. I’ll also prescribe you a painkiller to help out as well. And a sleeping pill.”

“Thanks,” I smiled.

When we got home Aston helped me to the bedroom where I changed into my pajamas and got ready for bed. I tried to eat a bowl of cereal so I could take a painkiller with it, but I really didn’t have the appetite for food at all.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Aston said quietly.

“Ok,” I replied, “It’s been a hell of a day. Remember how it started?” I teased, only to receive a massive eye roll from Aston. Slipping off the stool and heading to the bedroom, I let out a tiny giggle trying to lighten the day even though I was still in large amounts of pain.

“Hey Jess,” Aston said, following after me.

“Yeah?” I asked, turning around.

“Come here,” he said, pulling me into a hug. I felt my body relax into his grip. “The revelations today probably weren’t things you wanted to hear, but I need you to know that I was never going to let that situation end what we have. I love you more than anything, ok?”

“Ok,” I said, hugging him tighter.

“Now get some sleep and we’ll talk some more tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” I said, slipping out of his grip. “Oh and Ast… I know this is weird to say, but I love you too.”

I watched his face scrunch up as he heard what I said, his hands pulling me back into him and hugging me tight. I knew he was crying, but I didn’t say anything, my sore head leaning against his shoulder gently.

No matter what happened between us, what fighting was going on in our past life, he really was my soulmate. He'd been here for me, helping me through this whole mess of a situation. And in that moment I knew I had to get my shit together and start remembering things. For him.