Lawfully Remembered Page 4

  Chapter 6

  2019

  “Melly!” Cassidy yelped, coming around the corner of the locker room that the hospital had for the employees to change. Jerking her scrub top down, Melissa jumped backwards in alarm and then rolled her eyes seeing Cassidy’s excited expression.

  “I swear I’m going to put a bell around your neck, sweetie. You’re going to give me a complex at this rate. I’ve told you before no hopping out of dark hallways or jumping out at me…”

  “I know. I know. It’s not funny, Cass,” Cassidy muttered, causing Melissa to grin at the moue on her face and tone of her voice. “But he’s here.”

  “Who?”

  “Jesse Smithson!”

  “What? Why?”

  “He’s looking for Dr. Smalley and anyone that was on staff the night he was brought in – to thank them! Can you believe that? This is your chance to say hello and reconnect since you couldn’t do it before.”

  “I was going to…”

  “I know and then he was discharged before you got here – and you gave up, again, I might add.”

  “I didn’t give up,” Melissa protested vehemently. “Hello? HIPAA?”

  “I know, but we work here; you could have pried and got his information.”

  “NOOOO?” Melissa gaped, looking at Cassidy as she shrugged. “You realize that you cannot do that, right? There are privacy laws for a reason.”

  “I do but this is your high school sweetheart.”

  “I don’t care who it is – you can’t do that. Repeat it with me, Cass. You cannot look up a closed file.”

  “YOU cannot look up a closed file,” Cass smarted off, pointing directly at Melissa.

  “I’m serious. You could lose your job or worse.”

  “And you are going to miss your chance standing here arguing with me when he is here to see you and Dr. Smalley. The doctor has already been paged and you… well, you are standing here with me. Let’s go, little chicken. Cluck. Cluck.”

  “I’m not a chicken.”

  “And you aren’t moving either,” Cassidy retorted, rolling her eyes and grabbing Melissa by the arm. Melissa quickly followed her friend out of the locker room to see that several people had gathered by the nurse’s station down the hall towards the emergency room.

  “Heyyyy Grant,” Cassidy purred beside her.

  “Hey girl,” Grant replied, pulling her into a bear hug, instantly making Melissa feel jealous. The two had been dating for almost six months now. Melissa was happy to see Cassidy was happy with him, but it was also tough to see how fast her friend dropped her arm and rushed towards the other man. Looking up, she met Jesse’s eyes.

  Those chocolate brown orbs she remembered from so long ago still looked the same after all this time. A few creases around his eyes showed that he’d laughed a lot over the years, making her feel happy for him. It was like looking back, sifting through those memories and glimpses in her mind.

  Calling it a ‘crush’ had never been more appropriate in her life. He’d crushed her then when he’d turned her down for Prom and even now, she felt a massive crushing sensation around her heart knowing that this man was still so far out of her reach.

  “Melissa,” she heard nearby and felt a hand pat her on the shoulder. Glancing up, she saw Dr. Smalley walk up beside her. “C’mon, you had a part in his recovery too.”

  “No, you… ah… you go ahead,” she stammered, feeling overwhelmed.

  “Go, chicken,” Melissa heard and felt hands on her back as Cassidy shoved her forward around the nurse’s desk towards the man she’d yearned for mentally for years.

  “Dr. Smalley,” Jesse began and looked at Melissa curiously, making her want to hide behind the older man that stood between them. She watched as Jesse extended his hand towards the doctor. “I wanted to thank you formally for saving my life – you and your team. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me and I’m sure you don’t hear the thanks enough.”

  “We don’t do this for the gratitude,” Dr. Smalley said humbly, shaking Jesse’s hand. Melissa felt something inside her chest swell with pride as she watched the two interact. It was wonderful to see the doctor she worked with honored by the man she admired. She’d always felt a sense of pride in doing her work, but having someone take the time to come back and say thank you was incredible.

  “No, I’m sure you don’t,” Jesse agreed, grinning. “I’m sure there are some rough spots, but I wanted to thank you regardless for everything you did for me. I brought everyone coffee and donuts.”

  “That’s very kind of you and I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say this is much appreciated,” Dr. Smalley said politely. Her eyes widened as she saw Dr. Smalley turn to her. Instantly, she shook her head no as she stared at Dr. Smalley before her eyes darted back to where Jesse stood.

  “If I remember right, this young lady was working by my side to help you. Melissa?” She glanced up at Jesse and felt the world around her suddenly fade away as she met Jesse’s beautiful dark eyes. She prayed for a spark of recognition or something in his gaze, yet there was nothing. He simply extended his hand and smiled at her curiously.

  He probably thinks I’m weird standing here gawking like a loon, she thought. Grasping his hand, she jolted feeling her palm touch his, and glanced back up at his face. She’d shocked him on contact due to the static from changing her clothing not too long ago. Part of her wondered if that little jolt was due to the thrill of touching his hand.

  “Oh!” she whispered and felt herself smile nervously. The touch of his warm hand was like taking a bite of a warm brownie smothered in caramel – sweet, decadent, and so utterly wonderful.

  “Hi,” he murmured, smiling gently at her.

  “I think I shocked you,” she admitted, looking at their hands. She’d certainly felt something surge through her that made her heart race.

  “Have we met?” he asked quietly, looking curious.

  “Melissa and I went to high school with you,” Cassidy volunteered loudly from nearby. Melissa saw that the crowd was moving towards the plethora of boxes that Jesse had brought in. They were digging into the donuts, grabbing napkins, and pouring coffee from the boxed decanters – thankfully ignoring them. Melissa glanced at her friend and then back at Jesse’s expressive eyes.

  “Did we know each other?”

  “No.”

  “What a shame,” he admitted, the side of his lip curling upwards in a smile that made her heart stop suddenly. “Maybe we could get coffee sometime and work on that? I’m still working on my memories and could use some help filling in the gaps.”

  “We went to school together but I didn’t know you.”

  “There’s no time like the present then, is there?”

  “I’d like that,” she admitted and then laughed. She realized that she was still shaking his hand. Obviously he hadn’t noticed yet because she was stunned to see him look a little embarrassed by it.

  “Real smooth, Smithson.”

  “Shut up, Cobb,” Jesse tossed over his shoulder and looked back at her. “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “So, would you?”

  “What?”

  “Like to have coffee or something – oh, I already asked you that,” he admitted, flustered. She was stunned to see him rub his hand behind his head sheepishly. “Sorry.”

  “No, it’s fine,” Melissa reassured him, wondering if he had short term memory loss too.

  “It’s the old stuff I can’t remember,” he admitted shyly, as if he could read her mind and the thoughts bubbling in her head. “…But when I look at you, my thoughts, everything, it just slips my mind. I’m sorry. I feel like a bumbling idiot right now and making a mess of this.”

  “Actually, you are doing this just right,” she whispered, suddenly struck by his words. Looking at her made him forget what he’d said? Did that mean he thought she was pretty? She felt so insecure, because that young fresh-faced girl with glasses was long gone, replaced by a grown
woman who’d learned her own self-worth over time.

  “When are you available to meet?”

  “I’m off work this Thursday,” she admitted.

  “Thursday sounds absolutely perfect to me,” he grinned, with a look of relief on his face that made her smile, feeling flattered.

  Chapter 7

  Melissa took her time getting ready for her coffee date this afternoon with Jesse. He’d seemed so very nervous asking her out, and this just absolutely shocked her considering that she’d always thought he wasn’t interested in her. That was how he was before the accident, she thought, and froze.

  What if he began to remember and suddenly didn’t want to go out with her or was disgusted by the idea of them having gone out on a date? Would the idea of the boy she’d had a crush on for all these years be too much to deal with if he turned her away again? After all, if he remembered her – he would remember her throwing up on his boots and running from the very sight of him. There was nothing worse than reliving high school moments like that… was there?

  Hearing a knock at her front door, Melissa opened it quickly with the intention of telling Jesse that this was all a mistake. She couldn’t handle rejection twice from him. As she opened the door, she saw him standing there holding a bouquet of flowers. There were a few pink rose buds, a few lilies, and chrysanthemums among the greenery that was tied neatly with a ribbon.

  “You look lovely.”

  The simple awestruck tone of his voice caused any concerns she wanted to voice to suddenly die away. She stared at him in shock for several moments before blinking and shaking her head in disbelief.

  “C’mon in.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I need to put those in water,” she began and then stopped. “Unless they are for someone else?”

  “No,” he blurted out horrified, and then laughed. “I’ve never taken flowers to a woman that I didn’t intend to give them to – or at least I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have done that… did I? You said we knew each other in high school, did I actually do that?”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  “Thank goodness,” he said with mock exaggeration. “These are definitely for you then. I promise.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured softly, looking away. He had the most intense eyes that seemed to drink her in as he watched her. She’d always wanted him to look at her with that look… that mysterious look of longing when you wanted to kiss someone. She’d imagined that look in her dreams before and awoke feeling completely bereft.

  Accepting the flowers, Melissa quickly stepped inside the small galley kitchen of her apartment and filled a glass of water to use temporarily as a makeshift vase. She had one somewhere around here, but didn’t quite know where it was right now. It had been years since someone had given her flowers simply as a gesture. The last time had been for graduating nursing school, and that was well over a decade ago.

  “You are awfully quiet.”

  “I was just putting these in water.”

  “I know, but I’m nervous and don’t know what to talk about.”

  “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to”

  “I do want to,” he stressed and looked confused. “You seem to be backing away the few times that we’ve met. If you don’t want to go have coffee with me, it’s okay. I can take it, but I’d rather you told me now so I could go wallow in misery on my own instead of standing here being eaten up with anxiety.”

  Melissa couldn’t help it – she laughed.

  The honesty and plain truth in his words very nearly mimicked what was going through her mind right now. She was worried about being hurt later and was floored by the fact that he had asked her out. It all seemed too good to be true.

  “I would very much like to go out with you and get to know you,” she began, looking at him curiously as she studied him. She couldn’t help the smile on her face as she watched him. He was staring like he was analyzing her as well. “I just never took you for the type of guy that was interested in a girl like me all those years ago.”

  “Obviously I was dumb and immature,” he said flatly before smiling nervously. “Kids do stupid things sometimes, and I’d like to think that if I had a chance to date you that I would have taken the opportunity.”

  “Actually,” Melissa admitted, looking away, “we kinda had the chance to go out and it never happened. That’s why I’m concerned, because people don’t change that much and I’m not ready to be hurt again.”

  “I hurt you?” Jesse whispered softly, stepping towards her where she stood near the counter. “I don’t remember what happened, but I would like the opportunity to try correcting that mistake if you still want to go out.”

  “I’d like to start over – yes.”

  “Everything starts from right now,” Jesse confirmed, reaching for her hand. He took her fingers in his and raised them to his lips, kissing them gently. “This is important to me. I feel like I’ve gotten a second chance and I want to grasp at the things that make me feel happy. Right now, the idea of having coffee with the prettiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on sounds utterly wonderful.”

  Melissa just smiled shyly and closed her eyes against the stark fear in her heart. This was all she’d ever wanted and wished for – yet it seemed surreal. Nodding, she picked up her purse off the table.

  “Maybe if I am lucky, that same lovely woman will have dinner with me too?” Jesse hinted, watching her and smiling. “It would be nice to have her undivided attention for a few hours rather than just for coffee.”

  “Then why didn’t you ask me to dinner?” she said surprised. “I’m not dressed for dinner. I thought this would be coffee so I dressed casually.”

  “You look stunning and truthfully - I was afraid you’d turn me down.”

  “Keep this up and you might get coffee, dinner, and a second date, Mr. Smithson,” Melissa bantered playfully, as her breath hitched in her chest at the truth in his voice and the warm, tender look in his eyes. His smile lit up his entire expression as he held open the front door for her.

  “Then I’m on the right track.”

  Melissa was amazed by how smart and witty Jesse was. She’d always had thought he was handsome, but the two combined were a devastating combination. As they talked, she found that he was very candid with his healing and recovery.

  “Each day is a new opportunity,” he admitted. “I can’t remember my favorite meals or things that I hated, so I try to make the best of everything. Each time I go out, I try something new just to see if it jogs my memory or reminds me of something.”

  “Has it gotten better?”

  “Some things,” he admitted. “Either that or I am quickly learning and adapting. I mean, I got home and missed the smell of the antibacterial soap that I’d been using to wash my hair in the hospital. I realized then that smell was the only thing that I knew – and from that moment on, there was so much to be discovered. I immediately had Cobb drive me to the grocery store so I could smell all the bottles and variety of scents. He was dying laughing at me because I was making a fool of myself – but it’s all so brand new to me. I think that is hard for anyone to understand.”

  “No, I can imagine that it’s strange.”

  “I remember opening the first bottle, taking a deep breath and smelling pine trees. I knew it was pine but didn’t really know it. Does that even make sense? Then I picked up another one and smelled flowers. I think they were magnolias or something perfumed… I took several deep breaths trying to place where I’d smelled that before, but I still can’t remember it. Apparently I made several faces and gagged a few times at the heavy scents, which amused Cobb.”

  “What’s your favorite type of food that you’ve discovered so far? Chinese? Mexican? Italian?”

  “Chocolate cake,” Jesse said emphatically, smiling. Melissa gaped at him and realized he was teasing her.

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Technically it’s a wholesome food and it could
be its own food group as far as I am concerned. There’s white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk… there’s ganache, hazelnut, raw cocoa. It qualifies as a filling, nutritious meal. There’s eggs, flour, oil, and milk in the batter – if you do it right.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Perfectly. I can’t think of a better meal replacement.”

  “What about cheesecake?”

  “I haven’t had that yet.”

  “Then prepare to be challenged,” she taunted, raising a single eyebrow arrogantly.

  “Does that mean you’ll have dinner with me after all?”

  “I was thinking perhaps we just skip dinner and try a few desserts instead.”

  “That sounds utterly perfect,” he breathed, smiling at her over his cup of coffee as he took a sip.

  Later that evening, Melissa found herself grinning from ear to ear as she lay there in bed staring up at the ceiling. Her mind rolled as it replayed their date in her head over and over again.

  Her stomach was painfully full and bloated as she remembered the sheer delight on Jesse’s face as he bit into a slice of cheesecake for the first time. She adored the creamy dessert, and seeing the adoration on his face made her soul feel so light. Once he’d had his first bite, she caught him eying her slice of dark chocolate cheesecake.

  “Would you like to try it?”

  “No, it’s alright.”

  “Help yourself,” she urged, grabbing a knife and cutting off an untouched corner of the dessert. “Seriously, there are so many good ones here that it’s hard to decide what to get sometimes.”

  “What are your favorite flavors?”

  “Oh gosh,” she whispered, thinking for several moments before speaking. “Key lime is amazing. Pumpkin is a seasonal favorite. Red velvet is basically chocolate cake but with lots of food coloring… I do adore the cookies and cream cheesecake but…”

  Jesse got to his feet and left the table – leaving Melissa stunned and wondering what was going on. Lifting off the seat, she peered over the edge to see where he had gone to. She could see him standing at the glass display case and cash register. Floored, she realized that he was paying for the meal. Was their date already over? Was it something she said? Feeling paranoid, she got up, only to see Jesse coming around the corner, back towards the booth.