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I walk around the first floor, checking the bathroom and backyard. There’s no obvious note from Mads or Ana saying they went somewhere. “Madeline?” Still no answer. Now I start to panic. I run up the stairs to check the guest rooms. Nothing. Guest bathroom. Nothing.
My heart is racing. Where the hell is she? I am about to panic call her parents when I open our master bedroom door. She is asleep on the bed. I can tell she was looking through her things. A few drawers are open, and things are scattered on the floor and the dresser. Our closet is open and a few of those boxes have been brought out as well.
I guess I can take this as a good sign. She is trying to remember and be comfortable with her stuff again. She at least feels comfortable enough to come in here and fall asleep on our bed. She is sideways across the bed with a journal lying open next to her. I quietly grab a blanket from the foot of the bed and cover her with it. As I finish laying it over her, she snaps her eyes open and jumps up, gasping in surprise.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. Or wake you up,” I admit guiltily. I stand there, helplessly awkward as she looks everywhere but at me.
“It’s okay. I’m sorry I was going through stuff, I’m just trying…trying to spark some memories,” She says sheepishly.
“Please look through anything you want. Most of it is yours, but feel free to look through my stuff as well,” I offer a smile and she returns it. God, her smile.
She is quiet for a minute before she climbs off the bed, sits on the ground and uses her good hand to clean up the papers and pictures she had spread out.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
“It’s okay,” She dismisses me. “Thank you though.”
I turn around to leave and lick my wounds outside when she speaks up again, “Did we…”
I stop, turn around and wait expectantly for what she has to say.
She stops for a minute before continuing. “This might be stupid…but…did we ever get lost…in a corn maze?”
My heart stops. “Yeah,” I breathe. “Sophomore year of college, we went to a Haunted Hayride place. We did the corn maze and we got lost for two hours. You were…hysterical. Why? Did you remember something?”
“I had a dream about being lost in one. You were there. Holding my hand. I was scared. It felt really real,” She whispers, looking embarrassed.
“That was real,” I smile. My heart starts to beat, hard. “Is that the first memory you’ve had?”
“I think so. I sometimes see things but they’re too fuzzy to understand or explain,” She says shyly and keeps moving the papers around the floor.
“That’s a great sign, Mads. Seriously, that’s huge.” She looks up and smiles at me tightly. Several awkward seconds pass.
“I’m going to shower,” She announces.
“Do you need help—” I start to ask.
“No.” She cuts me off quickly.
“I was going to ask if you needed help wrapping your cast,” I say quietly, looking at the ground.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” She says. I look up and can see the embarrassment on her face.
“It’s okay,” I smile, trying my best not to let myself get offended. I am still a stranger to her. “I’ll just be downstairs if you need me.”
She nods, not looking at me but moving her foot back and forth on the floor. I take that as my cue to leave. I back out of the room and jog down the stairs. I keep thinking of the memory she had. I haven’t felt hope like this in weeks. It’s small, but it is something! I’ll take whatever kind of progress I can get.
I grab what I need to make myself a sandwich since I worked through lunch, and it is too early for dinner. I make two just in case she wants one. If she doesn’t, I can wrap it up and bring it to work with me tomorrow. I sit down on the couch to wait for her, jumping when I hear a scream from upstairs. I’ve never moved so fast in my entire life. I barely remember leaving the couch and before I know it, I am in our master bathroom.
“Mads! What’s wrong?”
“THERE’S A SPIDER!” She screams. I let out a breath of relief. I try to keep it together but all I can do is chuckle. She is against the wall of our walk-in shower trying desperately to cover herself while also keeping her plastic wrapped arm up and out of the water stream.
“Where?” I ask, trying not to smile or look amused. I take one shoe off in preparation.
“By the door!” She cries frantically. “Don’t look at me please!”
“I’m not, baby.” I’m trying not to. I open the glass door and look around to see a big black spider trying to scurry away. It starts towards Mads and she screams again. I walk in, getting soaking wet, with my shoe in my hand. It takes two swings, but I get it.
