Serendipitу || afi

43 | Okay

"He's alive."

Right at those words I tuned out everything else the doctor said, bursting past him in to Luke's room. He was awake, sitting up and having what seemed to be a friendly, civilized chat with a nurse. A smile grew on my face. He was okay. I let out a cry for joy and ran over to him, wrapping my arms around him.

But something was wrong. He didn't hug me back. When I looked at his face, he seemed almost confused, as if he didn't recognize me. Liz was still behind the door, sobbing into a tissue. The doctor next to her looked extremely concerned as she watched me stand back up with wide eyes.

I looked back at Luke's face, "Luke?" I asked in a small voice, my smile fading off of my face quickly like snow on a hot day.

"I-" Luke began, looking desperately at the nurse he was just talking to, "Um." He stopped, looking back at his lap.

"Miss, there's no easy way to tell you this." The doctor spoke, walking over to the opposite side of the bed where I stood. "Luke has unfortunately been diagnosed with long term memory loss."

After that, everything else the nurse said went over my head. I looked into the bright blue eyes of Luke, and it felt different. It felt as if he wasn't the same person, just someone else in the body of Luke. I backed away slowly to the wall, never breaking eye contact with Luke. He cocked his head, fiddling with the hem of the cotton shirt he was given.

The doctor's incoherent voice that I just barely heard stopped, and Luke spoke up, "I feel like I know you, from somewhere, I just don't know where." He mumbled, frowning. "Are you my girlfriend?"

I shook my head, "No. We've been best friends since we were seven, Luke." I said in a desperate voice, hoping some miracle would happen or this would all turn out to be some sick joke.

"Damn, I was stupid. You're beautiful, I should have asked you out." Luke chuckled to himself, seeming completely calm about this whole situation. But of course he would, there was nothing for him to be upset about because he didn't remember.

I didn't smile in return. This was no longer my friend in front of me, it was a stranger. "You did, kind of. But I had a boyfriend. You hated him."

"Oh. Well was he nice?" He asked lightly. This didn't seem like the right place for small talk. It made me sick to my stomach.

"No. He cheated on me." I mumbled, still staring at Luke suspiciously. Luckily, the doctor interrupted our little chat.

"This should only last for a couple weeks before Luke should begin to start remembering things, but he'll need constant reminders of his past life and exercises like meeting up with significant figures in his life. Unfortunately the crash did more damage than we noticed." She sighed.

"I'm staying in Colorado until then." I said abruptly, looking at Liz confidently. Every time I looked at Luke I knew it would break my heart, but him being able to finally remember would all be worth it.

"Leah, honey, I can't let you do that. You have school to go back to, and a life." she sighed, wiping her eyes a final time with her tissue.

"My life was Luke. Besides, I was with him for almost all of his life memories I could help get his memory back. We can take online classes together maybe? I could help tutor him, too. I'm sure my mother would be fine with it." I rambled on, no one having the heart to stop and telling me it was irrational. I was in the middle of my second year in high school and couldn't afford to do this, yet no part of me brought hesitation.

Liz let out a defeated sigh not strong enough to fight with me on this, "As long as your mother is okay with it, it's okay with me. I could really use the help, thank you, honey." She gave me a sad smile.

It took the rest of the day to perform the proper tests on Luke to make sure he was actually good to leave this time. I sat in his room with Liz, taking the window sill spot again.

I decided to go on my phone to get my mind off things, when I saw multiple notifications on my phone. One was my mom checking up on me as we have been texting back and forth the entire time I've been here, but the rest, at least five others, were from Ashton.

I frowned, leaning my head against the wall. I didn't need this. I knew Ashton wanted me back but he wasn't going to get it. Without reading any of his texts, I unlocked my phone and began typing out a text to him.

Im done with the drama, Ashton. Just get over me, you're not getting me back.

I sent it before going to his contact and pressing "Block this number" and turned off my phone again. I sighed and turned, placing my feet back on the ground. No one was in the room except Luke and Liz, and Liz was sleeping in the corner.

"You're awake?" Luke turned and looked at me with his blank eyes. I gave him a half-hearted smile, nodding, "It's weird, because even if I don't know you, it feels like I can trust you."

I gently pushed myself off the window sill, standing and pacing myself to Luke's bed. The steady sound of beeping filled the room as I gently sat again at the edge of his bed. "I miss you." I spoke softly, looking in to my lap.

"I'm right here, Leah. Just because I don't have the memories anymore doesn't mean you don't." Every time Luke spoke, it only made me feel more hopeless. I just wanted my best friend back.

"My life was going to be so perfect. We were going to be photographers together, and travel the world and-" I began, but Luke interrupted me.

"Stop talking about me like I'm dead. Life isn't going to be the same for you but maybe not everything about it is bad. I'm alive, and you can make new memories and stuff." He mumbled, and I looked back at him.

"Yeah. That's true." I sighed, my eyes lingering on him for a moment longer before moving back down to my lap. We fell to a silence, it wasn't awkward like it was after Luke admitted he liked me. I just had to keep telling myself: it was okay. We were okay. I just really wished I could believe that.

A/N:
Rip @ me