A Rose by Any Other Name

Chapter 5

I exited my therapist's office, going into the waiting room to see Mike there. It had officially been two months since the accident and even with therapy I hadn't recovered any of my memories.  I still couldn't handle being in a car without Mike so I'd been walking from Doctor Rutherford's office and back home or to the tattoo shop. I'd even started working again just doing traditional non magic tattoos.  Every other week Mike picked me up from my sessions with Dr.Rutherford.

Mike smiled, eyes creasing pleasantly when he saw me, and I waved awkwardly. He was dressed nicer than usual today, dark jeans and another dark long sleeved form fitting shirt. Belatedly, I realized we were matching. My leather jacket was the same colour as Mike's shirt, and Mike's navy jeans were the same colour as my top.

"Are we headed to your place or did you want to catch a movie?" Mike said it casually but I suspected he wanted me to go out with him. I almost always said no but he asked anyways. Mike's hair was curling around his ears again and I had the strange compulsion to pull it.

I sighed, "Okay, fine."

--

We got to the theatre not much later, too many people milling about, talking and making noise. The smell of the popcorn added to the atmosphere and I made sure to get an extra large popcorn. Mike looked at me doubtfully but got as much popcorn as I did.

"What do you mean you aren't coming?" A woman's voice carried as she cradled her cell phone to her ear holding a ticket in her other hand. I could only see her back from the way she was standing. I watched her appreciatively; she had a really nice ass.

Mike turned at the sound of her voice and then walked towards the woman, tapping her on the shoulder, "Cheryl!"

She looked up, lips parting in surprise as she looked at Mike. "Mike!" she said happily. She held up a finger, "Yeah it's okay," she said into her phone. "Don't worry about it." She hung up the phone. Cheryl wrapped her arms around Mike's neck hugging him close to her and squeeling.

"It's so nice to see you!" Cheryl beamed. Her arms trailed from around Mike's neck to his arms where she casually held a hand. Interesting.

That's when she noticed me. She gasped, "Oh, wow! Derrick!" A small frown came and went on her face, "It's been forever! You look so..." she searched for a word and settled on "thin." She dragged a hand across my arm and down my chest, "Was the accident that bad?"

I flinched, more offended than hurt. Mike, Chrissa and my other friends knew not to randomly bring up the accident. They knew how it affected me.

"Is he okay?" Cheryl whispered to Mike loudly. "Does he have a brain injury or something, you didn't tell me he was delayed? Is that why you spend so much time with him?"

I coughed, "I'm not delayed, and people tend to lose weight when they're in fucking comas, Cheryl." I'd even gone shopping recently, looking for better fitting clothes. It irritated me that I still looked a bit skeletal.

"I didn't mean anything by it." she smiled too brightly, gleaming perfect teeth in her too-perfect face. "And now you seem exactly like the last time I met you. Doesn't he Mike?" Cheryl looked up at Mike and he laughed.

"Yeah, Cher, you're right." Mike didn't have any nick-names for me, I twisted my lips together. "A lot of stuff hasn't changed. Me and Derrick were just about to catch a movie did you want to tag along?"