Brook

The relief and excitement that was felt after Alex woke up quickly started to fade as a few more days went by and he still hadn’t gotten any of his memories back. His doctors kept telling us not to lose hope yet but it was hard. As someone who spent the most time with him, since he still insisted on me staying overnight at the hospital, it got harder and harder trying to talk to him when he still clearly had no idea who I was before a few days prior.

Visiting hours were ending when I left Jack’s room. He had gotten out of his second surgery this morning and I tried to spend some extra time with him today. Mostly because I know how difficult it was for him to be bedridden for the entire day but also because I knew he would be driving Jenn absolutely crazy.

On a more personal note, I tried to stay away from Alex’s room for most of the day because I wanted him to be able to bond more with his parents and the rest of his friends that split their time between his and Jack’s room. Because I got to spend most of the night and some of the morning alone with him, he’s become more comfortable around me and whenever I’m in there room he sort of puts all his attention on me when I know it should be on his family.

“Hey Zack,” I said, as I approached Alex’s room and saw Zack standing outside the door. It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized not only was he on the phone, but he had tears in his eyes.

“Mom, really, I’m okay. You don’t have to come here,” he insisted on the phone, holding up two fingers at me to say he’d be off the phone shortly. I suddenly felt like I was intruding as he continued his call. “I just wanted to call and say I love you.”

I leaned against the wall opposite him, pulling my phone from my pocket and trying to look busy answering text messages. Funny enough, for the first time that day, I didn’t have a message from someone checking up. I received the most texts from my cousin Samantha who was really having a hard time with this. For her, not only was her favorite band dealing with something so tragic, but they were now also people who became like family to her.

The other person I received the most texts from was Lina who had gotten my number from Cassadee. I felt terrible for her as these people were her friends too. She insisted it wasn’t her place to come to the hospital even though I told her to come.

“Sorry about that,” Zack said, shoving his phone into his back pocket and trying to subtly wipe the tears from his eyes away without me seeing.

“It’s okay. How’s your mom?” I asked, crossing the hallway to stand next to him.

He shrugged. “She’s freaking out. Her and my dad keep insisting on coming up here but I told them not to. It’s almost Christmas and I want them to be able to enjoy the day with the rest of our family, you know?”

I nodded slowly. “Truthfully, I keep forgetting it’s almost Christmas. It doesn’t exactly feel holly and jolly around here.”

Zack nodded. “I hear that…”

I took a deep breath, debating in my head whether or not I wanted to address the fact that I noticed his tears earlier. “So…”

“I’m fine,” he cut me off, presumably knowing exactly where this was going. “You know how moms are, right? They know exactly what to say when you’re feeling down to really break you.”

I cracked a small smile. “Oh, trust me, I know. I haven’t been able to talk to mine on the phone since all this happened without breaking down.”

“Yeah,” Zack sighed. “I guess this time is my fault though. I’m the one who called just now already a mess.”

“What had you so upset?” I asked, shaking my head by the end of the question when I realized how dumb it was.

“It was just hard after sitting in that room with Alex and his parents for so long and him still having no idea who they were. I started thinking about my parents and…” he trailed off and I watched as his eyes filled up again.

“I know,” I said softly, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. “I’ve put myself in his shoes a few times and I can’t imagine what it would be like to not know my family or friends.”

Zack briefly looked away from me as he frantically blinked his eyes free from tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispered when he was finally able to look back at me.

“What on earth are you sorry for?”

“I just know how hard this must be on you…” he said softly.

I took a deep breath and grabbed his hand before he could say anything more. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

Zack didn’t say anything or ask any questions. He just let me navigate us through the hospital hallways and into an elevator that we rode up a few floors.

“This way,” I directed as we stepped off the elevator at the maternity ward.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’m sure.”

We kept walking until we reached our destination.

“What are we doing here?” Zack asked as we stood in front of the large glass windows that displayed all the newborn babies.

“Shopping,” I replied, earning a slight laugh from Zack which make me smile.

“No really, what are we doing here?” he asked again.

“Over the last few days, when I needed to be alone and clear my head, I found myself coming up here. There’s always something about a newborn baby to remind you what a precious miracle life is and to give you hope that anything is possible.”

Zack just nodded, slipping his arm over my shoulder and held me close to him as we just watched the babies. It wasn’t until after a few minute had gone by that I realized this was probably the first time him and I really bonded. What he said next confirmed that he had felt the same way.

“Brook, I know that compared to your friendships with Jack and Rian, you and I aren’t the closest of friends and that’s probably due largely in part to the fact that I live so much further away than everyone else. But I hope that you know how much I do care about you and as more than just my friend’s girlfriend… As my actual friend.”

I looked up at him and nodded. “I know. And you mean more to me than just being Alex’s friend.”

He nodded. “I know. And I also want you to know how upset I was when I heard from Alex that you guys had broken up. I knew how much he loved you and…” he trailed off again to correct himself. “I know how much he still loves you.”

I pulled away from him slightly, using my sleeve to wipe away the tears that had suddenly welled up in my eyes. “I love him, too,” I said softly.

Zack let out a small laugh. “Oh, I know that, too.”

I let out a long, shaky breath as I brought my attention back to the babies. “I just hope I get to tell him that again someday where it will actually mean something to him.”

“You will,” Zack assured me.

“I will?”

He nodded. “I’m probably not supposed to tell you this but yesterday I was in the room with Alex when he was talking to one of the nurses. She was asking him if he was still cool with you spending the night. Of course, he said yes, and started to explain how out of everyone he’s been around since he woke up, you’re the only one he feel completely comfortable around.”

I felt my breath get hitched in my throat as Zack continued his story.

“When the nurse asked what he meant by that, he said that they could have taken any group of people from the waiting room and said they were his friends and family and he would have believed them because he didn’t know any better. But with you, he feels some kind of connection. He doesn’t know what the connection his and while he still has zero memories of you, he just knows that he knows you.”

“What do you think that means?” I asked, clearing my throat to get the words passed the lump that had grown there as I tried my hardest not to cry.

“Well, the nurse said something about you guys being soul mates and I think I have to agree.”

At those words, I couldn’t hold back anymore and let the tears begin to flow freely.

“I’m sorry,” Zack said quickly, pulling me in for a hug. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

I laughed softly as I hugged him back. “Believe it or not, these are good tears.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, breaking from his hug. “Thank you for telling me that story.”

He nodded. “You just can’t tell Alex I told you. Even though he doesn’t remember me, I still think I’m breaking some kind of bro-code­ by selling him out like that.”

I laughed again while I wiped my eyes. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“And, if you can also not tell him that you saw me cry, that’d be cool too…”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if you knew I saw that or not… I thought it might have been best not to mention it.”

Zack laughed and pulled me back in for another hug. “See, I can bond with you just as well as Rian and Jack. We already have our own secrets.”

“We do,” I said, looking up at him and smiling. “And they also made me promise not tell Alex I saw them cry over him too.”

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Taylor Swift - All Too Well