~Josh
"You're here early."
I looked up from the file I was reading to see Debby walking into the room. If only she knew how long I've actually been here. She placed her bag on the chair at the front desk and took a look around.
"You organized practically the entire room," she said, barely believing what she was seeing. "That should have taken hours, Josh."
I shrugged. "It had to get done eventually."
She crossed her arms over her chest, giving me that look that I knew I little too well. "Did you have to get here at seven to do it?"
I stood up, placing the file back onto the shelf where it had come from. "Try four o'clock."
Debby sighed. "Josh. What happened?"
Instead of answering her directly, I posed a question. "If someone wakes up from a coma after three weeks with retrograde amnesia that has him forgetting the last eleven or so years, there's still a chance he'll get those memories back, right?"
I saw the exact moment when she registered the fact that I was talking about Kyle. "Of course," she answered quickly. "He just needs time to let his body adjust. It'll all come back to him. Don't worry."
"That's what I said. That's exactly what I said. But the hospital staff said he wouldn't. I can't help but think they might be right and I'm wrong on this one. They work with these cases every day, and what do I do? I give out prescriptions to people with colds. What do I know?"
Debby gave me a small smile that was supposed to be reassuring, although I wasn't in the mood for that, and placed her hands on my shoulders to get me to look at her. "You are one of the smartest men I know and have way more medical knowledge than most doctors that I've met. You also know Kyle extremely well. If you believe he is strong enough to defy the odds against him right now, then he will."
I nodded slowly, stepping away from her to grab my coffee. I brought the mug up to my face and realized, just before taking a sip, that it had gotten cold at some point. Making a face at the brown liquid, I lowered the mug and placed it back down on the desk. I'll have to heat that up in a little bit. I wouldn't be able to get through today without it.
"How long have you actually been here, Josh?"
I hesitated before answering. "I got here at three thirty," I said, then let out a soft chuckle. "I figured it's better to be here being productive than lying in bed thinking of everything that could go wrong." I left a note for Leo and Jackson, saying I came in early. I haven't yet received a panicked phone call from either of them, so I figured they found the note.
I blinked a couple times before taking off my glasses and laying them on the desk. I hated those things, but I wasn't about to struggle with my contacts on practically no sleep, so I would have to make due with glasses today.
Reaching for them to put them back on, after trying to rub my face to wake myself up a bit, I yawned. So I grabbed my mug of coffee instead and started heading to the other side of the small office space to where the microwave sat.
"When's our first appointment?" I called over my shoulder to Debby, turning on the microwave.
"Twenty minutes," she called back, from the other room.
I nodded to myself as the microwave beeped. Pulling it open, I was surprised to find it completely empty. What happened to my coffee?
That's when I realized the mug was still in my hand. "Oh god," I muttered to myself. "I'm losing it."
"What are you losing?" Debby asked, walking back into the room behind me. "Your glasses are over here."
I actually placed the mug into the microwave this time before starting it - again. Then I turned to look at her. "My sanity."
She gave me that look again. "I feel like I need to call one of your husbands to come pick you up and bring you home so that you can get some sleep. I would tell you to go home yourself, but I don't think you should be driving."
"You do not need to do that," I answered as I grabbed my now hot coffee. "I'm fine. See?" I held up my mug. "Coffee."
Debby sighed and was about to respond, but stopped when we heard the front door open. The first patient of the day was early.
"I'll get them signed in and into a room," Debby said. "You just drink your coffee for now. I'll let you know if this one's for you."
I nodded my head before taking a sip, watching her walk over to the desk with the little window that looked out into the waiting area. I couldn't see the patient from where I was standing, but I didn't really care. I turned around and walked towards the back of our small office, making sure to grab my glasses before going to finally get ready for the busy day ahead of us.
Debby and I were the only people who worked here. We met in medical school and became quick friends with the same dream of owning our own practice. So we collaborated, and three years ago, we managed to open up this tiny place. We didn't have many patients, but we had enough to support ourselves. In time, we'd get more patients and maybe manage to hire another doctor, but that wasn't going to be any time soon.
By the time I had finished my coffee, I was ready to go. With the perfect timing that she always seems to have, Debby came over just then to inform me that the first patient was waiting for me to see her in room one.
"Good morning," I said as I walked into the room, skimming over the clipboard in my hand. Then I looked up. I wish I hadn't.
Sitting on the table, just like the first time I had met her, was Suzanne. She was smiling, I was not.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, backing up against the door. I didn't want to see her ever again. She was the cause of everything that's going wrong right now.
"I didn't know how else to get in contact with you, Josh," she said, trying to sound gentle, but ended up just sounding evil, if that was possible. "I needed to talk to you."
I shook my head. "No. You don't get that right." I was getting angry and I had no energy left to try and control that anger. "It's your fault that my son was kidnapped! It's your fault my husband was put into a coma for three weeks! You ruined my life! I wish I never met you!"
I grabbed hold of the doorknob, ready to leave the room, but Suzanne took hold of my wrist, stopping my from going anywhere. "Josh, please, just hear me out. I do not support what Paul and Teresa did to you, in any way. Please, understand that."
I scoffed. "Yeah? Then why did you not use your real name when I first met you?" I glanced at the clipboard that was still in my hand. "And now?"
"The first time was Paul's idea. He was the one who led me to you. I didn't know what he was planning at all. All he told me was that he thought he found you. It was his idea to use a false last name just in case you turned out to be someone we didn't want around. I'm sorry, Josh, really, I am. I never should have listened to him."
I couldn't listen to her anymore. I didn't know what the truth was and what was a lie. How could I trust that family, after everything they put me through?
Yanking my arm out of her grasp, I pulled open the door and ran out of the room, wiping away a few tears from my eyes.
~Jackson
I was just ready to head out to see Kyle when there was a knock on the door. Who would be here right now? What did they want from me?
Being the only one home, the job of answering the door fell to me. Whoever it was seemed a bit impatient, making sure to knock another time in the thirty seconds it took me to walk from the kitchen to the door.
Out of all the people who I would expect to show up at my door at nine o'clock in the morning, my little sister was not one of them. Yet here she was.
"Good, you're here," Kimmy said, pushing past me into the house.
Slowly closing the door, extremely confused, I turned to face her. "Hello to you, too. What are you doing here?"
She leaned up against the wall. "Can't I just visit my favorite brother?"
"How am I your favorite?" I asked. "Don't you and Adam still talk all the time?"
Kimmy shrugged. "Whatever."
She didn't say anymore, so I asked the question that was bothering me since she walked in. "Aren't you supposed to be at school right now? Aren't your finals coming up?"
"Yeah. So?"
I sighed. "So you need to be studying? You're a junior in college, Kimmy. You don't want to mess up graduating on time."
She gave me another shrug, then pointed at the keys that were still in my hand. "Going somewhere?"
I nodded, realizing that she wasn't planning on going back to school today. Something happened to make her come home and then visit me, but I knew she wasn't going to open up so easily. "To see Kyle. Wanna come?"
"To visit your unconscious husband? No thanks."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "What has gotten into you, Kimmy?" I asked. "You're not usually like this."
"Nothing." Her answer was short and automatic, meaning a definite something.
So I changed the subject as I opened up the door to leave. "How's the girlfriend?"
I was rewarded with yet another scoff, and probably an eye roll, although she was walking out of the door in front of me, so I couldn't tell. "What girlfriend?"
Uh oh. I think I found it. "You two over?"
"Cleo's a bitch. Let's not ever talk about her again."
I sighed. Alright then. That sounded like a good idea.
Just as we reached my car, I got a text. While Kimmy climbed into the front seat, I pulled out my phone. It said the text was from Josh, but it wasn't written by him. Hey, Jackson, it's Debby. Something happened. You might want to come over here if you can.
Getting into the car, I looked over at my sister. "Change of plans. We're going to see Josh."
"Why? Isn't he supposed to be working?"
"What, like the way you're supposed be in school?" I smiled to myself when it seemed like I finally got her to shut up with all that moodiness. She's always been somewhat difficult when she doesn't get her way. I really thought she and Cleo were going to work well with each other. I guess Kimmy thought so too, if she was acting like this now that that relationship is over.
Neither of us really said anything for the whole duration of the drive, which wasn't that long with how fast I was going. As soon as I parked, I barely waited for Kimmy to catch up before I was running inside, needing to make sure Josh was okay.
What I found in the lobby made me stop short. There, sitting in one of the chairs, was the woman who started all of the pain my family had to go through in the last month. Has Josh seen her yet? Did he know she was here?
"What are you doing here, you bitch?" I demanded, stomping over to stand in front of her. Oh, how I wanted to punch her, but she was still an older woman, and I might end up killing her with one hit. I didn't need to go to jail over this woman.
"Woah, woah, woah," Kimmy's voice came from behind me. "Jacks, what are you doing? I feel like I missed something."
I didn't turn to look at my sister when I answered. "Can you go in the back and find Josh?"
Kimmy didn't answer, but I heard her footsteps across the floor, meaning she was going. I wasn't sure how much she knew about what had been going on with us, probably not too much, considering I'm sure she was too busy with her girlfriend and schoolwork before now.
"Please, Jackson," Suzanne started. "I only wanted to talk to him, explain my side of the whole situation. I never agreed with what my son did to your family."
I rolled my eyes. I wasn't about to listen to this bullshit. Without saying another word, I walked into the back of the office, planning on finding Josh to make sure he's okay.