Distractions

Chapter 10: What I Owed

She basically carried me to the car. I intently stared at her while she was helping me into the car. Not once did her muscles or hold waver. I've observed before her muscular structure; She was fit. But as she pulled her hand from out under me, then did I notice the cuts between her fingers. I became curious about them. When she finally got in the car herself and was driving toward the site where Aaron died, I asked about it.

"So, you box?" She smiled and her dimples showed. She shook her head.

"Oliver was right about you. Your brain is wired differently than everyone else's."

"What?" She shook her head again.

"But to answer your question, yes. I do box." Her eyebrows furrowed but the smile on her face stayed the same. She quickly glanced at me. "How did you figure that out?"

"Well, your muscular structure told a lot about it. Particularly your arms and upper stomach, the only way the muscles could show like they are showing on you is if you have to twist them while working out. In order to punch, you have to twist your upper stomach and your arms. Also, while you were putting me in the car, the cuts in between your fingers and knuckles made it kind of obvious." I shrugged. She stopped the car abruptly. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"You got all of that?"

"Yeah..." I don't understand why that would be surprising. She beamed.

"I can't believe it." She stopped again, more tactful this time. "We're here." She came to my side of the car to help me up. I gratefully welcomed her help. She assisted me until we were at the spot where he passed. We held a moment of silence for him.

"What happened here?"

"I was coming from the coffee shop down the street." I spaced out until I was there again. "I was about to go home, when I heard a gunshot, and a grunt." I paused. "I turned around quick enough to see him hit the ground." I shook my head. "My first instinct was to hold him and comfort him. So I fell to the ground with him. And I cradled his head in my hands." Tears escaped my eyes. I dropped into the place where I held him. As the grass tickled me feet, a 'Gracie Dream' played.

Aaron and I were walking down the aisle. My clothes felt heavier than usual. I looked down and I was wearing a beautiful long-sleeved lace mermaid gown. My gown was Ivory. I looked behind me and the preacher nodded at me. My veil went all the back to him. And my dress train wasn't far in front of the veil. The faces of my co-workers and my friends filled me with even more joy than I had, which I didn't know was possible. I felt a squeeze from Aaron's hand. I looked at my ring and it was exquisite. The ring was all silver with crystal clear diamonds covering the bands and a huge diamond in the middle. I looked up at Aaron with all the love in my heart bursting through and communicating through my eyes. My gaze was met with total adoration from him. We stopped in the doorway of the church. He faced me.

"I love you." I could barely hear him through the joyful screams and cheering of our guests. I smiled.

"I love you too." I threw my arms around his neck and I hugged him tightly. Not even five seconds of me hugging him did I feel his arms secure around my waist. He buried his face in my neck. He picked me up and carried me bridal style, which earned even more cheers. He carried me all the way to the princess carriage he surprised me with. But before I was completely in the carriage, I saw the faceless male.

I blinked my eyes and I was on the boulevard, without the love of my life. My chest ached and I sobbed uncontrollably. It felt like I had been torn apart but still trying to keep everything together. My face felt numb. At some point Irina got me off the pavement and put me in the car. My surroundings seemed to blend together. I wept all the way home. I hadn't really known what I lost until now. Somehow we both ended up in my room. Irina held my head in her lap with the rest of my body curled into a loose ball. She stroked my hair and comforted me until I could talk. I told her about the 'Gracie Dream'. When I concluded, she didn't look surprised. She just nodded.

"I remember that."

"What, me falling and crying?" I said

"No, the wedding." I tensed and sat up so I could look at her.

"You were there?" She smiled. And even though she was still looking at me, her mind was somewhere else.

"Yeah, and so was Oliver. But you didn't see us."

"Oh," I paused. "Did I know you before I lost my memory?"

"Yes and no." Well that doesn't help at all. "That reminds me, do you still want to get your memory back?"

I thought for a while. I really didn't want to, it's too much and it's killing me, literally. But something in the back of mind told me I owed it to Aaron.

"Yes."