.16.

SID'S POV

I paced the waiting room, probably in the exact same spot as I was a week ago. I was waiting for that sniveling, spineless bag of... worst excuse for a friend to leave my fiancée's room. After a good few minutes he finally stepped into the waiting room.

“It's not what you think, Sid...” He started cautiously, his hands out in front of him in surrender.

“Then what is it, Max?” I spat his name, stopping where I was and folding my arms so he wouldn't see my hands in fists. “Why doesn't my fiancée know me? And what the hell is she doing with you?”

“I was there when she woke up.” Max shrugged. “Sid, she doesn't really know who I am. Just that my name is Max. Hell she doesn't even know who she is!” He exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. “As for the engagement thing... She must have seen her ring and just assumed... I'm sorry, dude.”

“So go and tell her the truth, Talbot.” I sneared taking a step towards him.

“That's not a good idea.” A voice from behind me cut through my thoughts. I turned my head to see Staci's doctor standing behind us. “Staci has a severe case of retrograde amnesia. You must not push her memories. She needs to remember them herself.”

“How long does this last, doc?” Max asked softly, I nodded my thanks to him, as I couldn't find my voice through the shock.

“Days... Weeks... Months... Sometimes years.” The doctor sighed. “I'm sorry boys, I have no answers for you. We know very little about why amnesia happens and even less about how it works. The best thing you can do for Staci right now is to let her be who she is. Even if you don't recognize it. And, once she's released, take her to things she enjoys. A game perhaps. Her memories should eventually return.”

“Eventually?” I croaked.

“We can't make any guarantees, Mr Crosby. Most people pull through retrograde amnesia, but there is always that one percent.” He nodded at us, his face grim, before turning and heading back the way he came from. With Max's help I slowly sank into one of the uncomfortable chairs.

“Oh God...” I whispered “What do I do?”

“We take her to games. We take her to Diesel. We love her. All of us. And we pray. We pray that she pulls through as quickly as possible.” Max sighed sitting next to me. When did he get so insightful?
I hung my head in disbelief as Flower and Vero ran through the door. They stopped as soon as they saw me, a look of confusion sat on Vero's face.

“What's going on?” Flower asked as Max stood mumbling something about reassuring Staci that he was alive. “Why is Max going in? Sid, what's going on?” I took a deep breath before looking up at my friends.

“Staci... Doesn't really want to see me right now.” I winced as they both gasped, I held my hand up to stop the onslaught of questions before I could continue. “She has retrograde amnesia. She knows Max but only because he was with her when she woke up. And all she really knows is that his name is Max. But she thinks that they're engaged.” My eyes shifted away from them so that they couldn't see the full extent of my pain. Vero, I'm sure, could feel part of it, and came to sit next to me, gently placing her hand on my shoulder in comfort. “The doc told us not to push her. To let her remember on her own. So... Until she remembers she's with Max.” Vero shook her head slowly.

“That won't last, Sidney. She loves you too much to stay with Max.” I glanced up to see her staring at Staci's window. “Besides you two are soul mates. Like magnets. Put you both in a room full of people as far from each other as you can get and it doesn't take long before you're standing back to back. You don't even know you do it.” She turned back to me and smiled. “Head up, cherie, love always wins.”

“It's chin up, Veronique.” Flower whispered from the seat across from us. Vero turned her gaze to him and playfully stuck out her tongue.

“Sidney knows what I mean, Marc-Andre.” I chuckled at my friends.

“Thank you guys,” I smiled. “I'll be okay. Why don't you both go in and see her? I'm sure she'd like that. Besides, she needs all the support she can get right now.” Flower and Vero tore there gaze away from each other and stared at me in disbelief. I nodded encouragingly. Vero stood slowly and kissed the top of my head gently before taking Flower's hand and heading towards Staci's room.

Me? I just sat there, trying to figure out, since I can't play on a busted leg, what I was going to use to get my mind off of Stace, and her not remembering me.