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I feel so bad. He’s pale and shaking. His eyes remain shut until we pull into my driveway. Once we’re inside, he makes a beeline for the kitchen cabinet where his meds are kept. I watch to make sure he grabs the correct bottle. It’s a mild sedative that he uses on the worst days.
After he washes it down, he starts toward the stairs.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken you there when it was crowded.”
“It’s not your fault. I should be able to go to the damn grocery store,” he snaps. “I need to be alone for a while.”
“I’m here if you need me.”
He nods and retreats upstairs to his room.
With a sigh, I put the puddings in the refrigerator. S’mores will have to wait until another night. Poor guy. It’s so frustrating. Two steps forward, and one step back.
* * *
After his anxiety attack in the grocery store, I wasn’t sure whether Oliver would want to go anywhere for a while, but he’s waiting for me to take him to his shop when I get home from work the next day.
He doesn’t hesitate until we pull up in front of Stokes Brothers. “If this is too much today, we can wait. I can run in and find your bank stuff.”
“No, I’m good.” His tongue darts out to lick his lips.
“I know everyone is a stranger to you, but these guys are your friends. This was a place you were happy. It’s safe here.”
I’ve called ahead to talk to Milo so they know not to overwhelm him with noise or expect him to remember them. They visited when he was in the hospital, and again in rehab, but he didn’t really want any visitors then other than Tori and me.
He nods and accompanies me up to the door. The scent that strikes me when we step inside brings Alden back to me instantly. Oliver isn’t the only one who spent a lot of time here. Alden could be a workaholic when he was excited about what he was working on. More times than I can count, I’ve come through this door to bring him lunch or dinner. I can still see him, sitting on the ground, grime up his arms to his elbows. He was so lost in concentration he didn’t see me until I called his name, but his smile when he looked up and saw me was everything. God, his smile.
“Look who’s here!” Hudson calls, tearing me out of my reverie. He walks up with a wide smile and looks at Oliver. “You look a lot better. How are you doing?”
“Glad to be out of the hospital,” Oliver says. “Thanks.”
“Still don’t remember me?” Hudson asks as Milo joins us.
Milo shoves him aside. “No, that’s what amnesia is, you idiot. Why would he want to remember your ugly ass anyway?” Before Hudson can argue, Milo regards Oliver. “It’s great to see you. We miss you around here.”
“Thanks,” Oliver says awkwardly.
Milo steps up and hugs me. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m getting there. Some days are hard, you know.”
“Afraid I do,” he agrees.
“Okay, don’t let us pull you away from work. We’re going to grab some things from Oliver’s apartment.”
“Smith is back in the office. He has some tax paperwork he needs a signature on.” He smiles at Oliver. “Want me to show you around a little while she deals with that? You’ll love this Bobber we’re working on. You tracked down most of the parts and we finally got them in.”
“No idea what a Bobber is, but yeah, sure.”
Oliver follows Milo down to one of the bays while I head back to the office. Smith grins up at me from the desk. “There you are. Where’s Oliver?”
“Milo is showing him around.”
Smith gestures to a chair for me to sit. “I can’t imagine walking into your own home and business and not recognizing it. I’d be in a constant panic.”
“It’s hard for him. That’s why we’re here. Hopefully, being in a place he spent a lot of time will trigger his memory. I’ve arranged for us to tour the house he grew up in next week. The owners were happy to help once they found out why we wanted to see it.”
Smith digs through some papers while we chat. “Is that the plan? Take him to as many familiar places as possible?”
