Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Rome seemed to know I was struggling in my silence because she placed her hand on mine and gave me a look of remorse. She gave my fingertips a gentle squeeze, telling me she was there for me always.
I gave her a slight nod, my poor attempt at showing my appreciation.
Dr. Niles sat behind his desk with my mother’s chart in his hand. “How are you today, Mr. Owens?”
I felt like shit. What was new? “Good. You?” Rome sat beside me in the other armchair. She had been planning on waiting outside, but I told her she belonged inside that room with me. I didn’t have any secrets from her—not anymore.
“Great.” He flipped through my mom’s chart before he interlocked his fingers together on the desk. “I’ve been reviewing your mother’s status, and she’s in good shape. Strong reflexes, great speech patterns, and her lab results look excellent. Your mother is very healthy.”
Other than the fact that she’d completely lost her mind. “Good to know. What about her memory? Can I expect it to get worse?” There wasn’t much room for her memory to become more impaired, but the brain was intricate. There could be other complications.
He sighed before he answered. “That remains to be seen. But for now, everything seems about the same.”
Rome leaned toward me and whispered. “Should you tell him about the last time you visited…?”
Dr. Niles watched our interaction, his eyes narrowed.
The event hadn’t slipped my mind. I just didn’t want to get my hopes up only to have the doctor tell me it was a fluke.
Dr. Niles grabbed his pen and clicked the tab with his thumb. He pressed the tip to his notebook. “Would you care to discuss this incident?”
Rome gave me a look of encouragement.
I rubbed the back of my neck before I answered. “I came here a few weeks ago, and she thought she recognized me.”
“And did she?” Dr. Niles had his gaze glued to my face, intrigued by the story.
“She recognized me from somewhere but couldn’t recall specifically. Then she mentioned Rome…so she remembered her from the previous visit. But when we spoke with her today, she didn’t recognize either one of us. I don’t know if that means anything. Could just have been a fluke.”
Dr. Niles bit his bottom lip as he jotted everything down, scribbling his notes with suppressed enthusiasm. His glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, slowly sliding forward because he kept his head bent for so long. “That’s very interesting…”
“Do you think it means anything?”
He finished writing and set the pen down. “Has she ever done this before?”
“No.”
“I’d say it’s a good sign. Perhaps she can form new memories but can’t recall old ones. I think you should visit her every day, if you can, and perhaps that will make a difference. Sometimes a strong stimulus can change the chemical reactions of the brain. How often do you see her now?”
“Once every few weeks.” I didn’t go as much as I should, and not because I was lazy. It was just too painful sometimes.
“Try to go every day, and see if that changes anything. The brain is like any other muscle in the body. The more you use it, the stronger it is,” Dr. Niles said.
“But she doesn’t remember her nurse,” Rome said. “And she sees her every day.”
“But there’s no emotional connection there,” Dr. Niles explained. “With the two of you, it could be different. Calloway is her son. She does have memories of him, even if she doesn’t realize it. They’re just buried deep inside.”
I could make time to see my mother every day. I had a lot of things to do, but if there was even a small hope that Rome and I could help her, we had to try. “We’ll give it a shot.”
I sat at my desk and pinched the bridge of my nose, ignoring the documents I needed to sign and the flood of emails that were hitting my inbox. I’d been working nonstop since I arrived that morning, and now I needed a mental break. My mother’s illness was weighing on my shoulders that afternoon, plus my current conflict with Rome. I wanted more than vanilla, but she wouldn’t give it to me. Also, I feared Jackson was letting Ruin go to shit without me there to hold his hand. Hank was still a problem, as far I could tell.
Everything was going to hell.
The only positive event going on at the office was the fact that my employees finally got their shit together and were treating Rome like a human rather than a prostitute. I was glad they took my threat so seriously because I would have fired every single one of them if they continued to behave like assholes.
My secretary’s voice came over the intercom. “Mr. Owens, Isabella is here to see you.”