Chapter 14
Little Secret
Mike read the top news stories while Celia ate her meal. Now and then she would make a comment on something and a couple of times he played an interesting news clip he’d found. When she had eaten half of her large burger and several fries, she sighed and looked his way.
“If you could bag this up I’d appreciate it.”
“I can do that. Do you want me to save it or toss it in the trash?”
“To be honest, I might want it later so just put it in the bag. I can buzz one of the nurses to get it out for me.”
“Ok, consider it done.” Mike put her sandwich away and after he’d finished he began to feel out of place. He looked at his phone and started to put it away. “You look pretty tired. Would you like for me to go?”
“No, not really. It’s been a long day and I’m tired but it would be great if you could just hang out. You can turn the TV on if you want.”
“If you don’t mind, I would like to show you some pictures of a house I’m working on. It’s about finished and I’m kind of happy with the way it has turned out.”
“I like pictures,” she said. When she looked his way, he placed the phone where she could see it and began swiping the pictures from image to image so she could see them.
He tried not to read anything into her facial expressions, but after a few minutes, she rubbed her eyes. Mike thought she was getting tired. Celia asked for a tissue, and the next thing he knew, she was crying.
Mike looked around quickly for a tissue and found one. He handed it to her. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No,” she moaned. “Please don’t go. I’m so stupid. I’ve only made things worse.”
“Please don’t cry.” Mike pushed his phone into his pocket feeling like a heel. He didn’t know what he’d done but he was pretty sure that he’d brought on the waterworks. “Can I get the doctor? Are you in pain?”
“Yes. I’m in a great deal of pain. I’ve made a terrible mistake and I don’t know what to do.”
“What is it?” Mike asked, as he reached her another tissue. She wiped her eyes, dabbed at her delicate nose and then met his gaze. She looked as if she was about to break out into another flood of tears.
“It’s not worth putting yourself through all these tears, no matter what it is. Just relax.”
“I can’t. I have to tell you. I’m afraid you’re going to be angry with me.”
“I won’t be. I promise.” He was pretty sure what the problem was but he wanted to hear her say it. He didn’t want to bring up a topic that might hurt her worse. He still wasn’t totally sure that she really wasn’t suffering from memory loss.
She took her time and looked down at the tissue before speaking. “You’ve been a great friend. I can never thank you enough for putting up with me but I need to tell you the truth.”
When she said this, he knew that she hadn’t lost her memory. He could just feel it. He also didn’t want her to go on dragging this out. She had to be feeling terrible and the sooner he could let her know he wasn’t angry, the quicker she could get over this.
“I know what the doctors said about you, Celia, and I know what you did.”
“You do? Does everyone know?” she asked, looking like she could burst into tears again at any moment. He shook his head ‘no’.
“I think they suspect it, but, no. Your mother put on a pretty good show. She has everyone convinced that you lost your memory.”
Celia let out a little laugh that turned into a sob. “I didn’t want her to do that. I was just so angry with Martin. I wanted to make him suffer. Now, I’m just going to look like a desperate woman and everyone will be laughing at me.”
“No, they won’t. They don’t have to know.” Mike wasn’t sure what made him say that but Celia stopped crying and looked at him.
“What are you saying? They’ll find out.”
“Why? Maybe your memory could just come back. Maybe no one will ever have to know that you hadn’t really forgotten what was going on.”
She dabbed at her eyes again, and as abruptly as the tears had started, they stopped. She gave this some thought then looked at Mike and murmuring softly said, “But you’ll know.”
“So. It’ll be our little secret.”
“But you’re best friends with Martin. Are you telling me that you won’t tell him?”
“I don’t see any reason for him to find out. I’ll tell him that while we were talking I showed you some pictures of the house we’ve been remodeling and it all just came flooding back.”
He could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t sure she believed him, but slowly, a smile came upon her lips. “How do I know that I can trust you? You could go behind my back and the next thing I know it’s all over the papers. The headlines would read, ‘Martin Taylor’s Former Live-in Love’s Latest Ploy to Save a Dying Romance’.”
“That does sound interesting. Do you think they’d pay me well for a story like that? I’m remodeling this house and I could use some money. My partner’s gotten lazy and is just laying around not doing much of anything to help these days.”
Celia must have learned a few things by hanging around Mike for he could see it setting into her mind that he was telling the truth. She looked at him and smiled. “I’ll work twice as hard when I get out of here, but tell me, why are you doing this? What would make you turn on your friend?”
“I’m not turning on anyone. Martin doesn’t need to know everything. I don’t mean to sound crude or hurtful, but to be very honest, he’ll just be glad that you have your memory back.”
“Right. So he can get on with his life.”
“I’m thinking that is what both of you need. I don’t mean to be rude, but I think it’s over and it would be good if you could move on, too. Revenge never tastes as sweet as you think it’s going to.”
“You sound like you’re talking from experience.”
“Not like this, but I know that when something is over - and you know it’s really over - it’s best to move on and try to learn from your mistakes.”
“The only mistake I made was trusting Martin.”
Mike raised a brow and Celia gave him a dirty look. “Okay, maybe there was more than that.”
“I’m not judging. I think we just need to look at our past with a clear perspective. That way, we can learn from our mistakes.”
“I know. I’m just not ready to admit mine yet.”
“That’s fine. You need time to recover from your injuries - injuries on the outside as well as injuries on the inside. If you want, you can let your memory return when your mother comes in to see you. It might be better that way. Fewer questions would be directed at me.”
Celia nodded. “Thanks. I’ll do that. I appreciate it, I really do. I just wasn’t thinking clearly and wanted to see Martin hurting as much as I am.”
Mike smiled and fought the urge to reach out and brush back a few strands of her hair that were out of place. He didn’t feel it was his place so he spoke, “Martin may never admit it but I don’t think he ever meant to hurt you. He made one mistake and then kept making another and another, and before he knew it, he didn’t know how to undo what he had done. That explanation probably won’t ever satisfy you, but I believe it is the truth.”