Chapter Twenty-Three
Colton
“My name is Colton Bishop. I’m a First Sergeant in the Marine Corps Recon Battalion. My parents’ names are Joan and Andy Bishop. I was born in Charleston, West Virginia. My wife’s name is Lucy Bishop, and we have a daughter named Bailey. The last thing I remember is driving back to the base when our convoy was hit. That should answer your next line of questions. Now, will you please tell me what the hell is going on?” I demand. This hospital is full of fucking morons.
“Your answers have confirmed my suspicions. Mr. Bishop, according to the medical records we received from the VA, your convoy was hit ten years ago.”
“Ten years. That can’t be possible. This has to be a mistake,” I interrupt. This can’t be happening. Ten years, ten years of my life gone? No, this can’t be. I remember everything like it was yesterday. Shock and confusion rip through me, making my head spin a million miles a second. Lucy comes to the forefront of my mind; does she even know what happened? Does she think I’m dead?
“Mr. Bishop, why don’t you get dressed, and we can discuss your condition in further detail in my office.”
****
My foot taps nervously against the floor in the doctor’s office. The doctor is on the phone with the VA hospital getting the information from my file. Sitting in the chair next to me is Kara. She hasn’t been able to stop crying since she walked in the door. I didn’t recognize her when I first woke up, but through the fog of pain killers and my concussion, the memories of Kara and the life we have lived together have swirled in with the memories of Lucy and my daughter Bailey. I feel like I have been frozen in time and woken up to find out the rest of the world has moved forward and someone else was using my body to live a different life.
The doctor hangs up the phone, and his chair swivels around back to us. There is a look of shock and disbelief on his face. “Sergeant Bishop, I’m going to try and explain this as best as I can, even though I am still trying to wrap my head around it myself.” He takes in a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. “It appears during the chaos of the events that took place in Afghanistan, your records were switch with Sergeant Christian Ryan’s. Having looked at his file, I can see where they may have gotten confused. You do hold a striking resemblance with him.”
I remember Sergeant Ryan, he was a quiet kid who kept to himself. There were jokes that we could have been twins. That explains why I was on my own after I was released from the hospital. The kid had no one, both his parents died in a car crash when he was four, and he bounced around the system until he was eighteen and joined the Marines. I guess, in a way, he got to live on through me and get a chance to have someone in his life that cared about him. Unfortunately, that came at a cost for my own family. For ten years they have believed I was dead. They buried me and said their goodbyes. They moved on while I stood still.
“Due to your retrograde amnesia, they just assumed that was why you couldn’t remember that you were Sergeant Ryan. If you hadn’t taken that hit in the head with the baseball, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Had someone done their job right ten years ago, this wouldn’t be happening at all.” That is the understatement of the century. Some moron switches files and destroys the lives of so many people. My wife and family all think I’m dead, and now Kara’s life is turned upside down, finding out the man she has been living with is someone else. Everything I had in my life is gone. Part of me wants to hunt whoever did this down and choke the life out of them, but the other part of me just wants to see my Lucy.
Kara sobs into her hands. I can’t imagine what she is feeling right now. After everything we have gone through together, I want to comfort her. I might not be Christian anymore, but it still breaks my heart to see her like this.
“Dr. Lewis, would you mind giving us a moment.”
“Take as much time as you need.” Dr. Lewis gets up from his desk and steps out of the office.
I take one of the tissues from the box and hand it to Kara. She wipes the tears from her eyes and cheeks. She can’t bring herself to look at me.
“This feels like scene out of a Lifetime movie, where the woman finds out the man she is married to has another family in a different state. Except in this story, you didn’t remember you had a family.” She half cries and laughs.
“Kara, I am so, so sorry. I can’t even imagine what you must be feeling right now.” I start to reach for her hand, but I pull away. This is so hard. I just want to pull her into my arms and stop the tears.
“I’m angry for you because of what happened, and I am angry for your family because they lost you. I’m sad for myself, because now I am the one who is going to lose you, well, I’m losing some version of you.” She breaks down again, and this time I get up from my seat and pull her into my arms. The tears start to stream down my face.
I may not have had the right name or knew who I really was, but I fell in love with this woman. We had an entire relationship, built a home, and a life together. I was going to ask her to marry me tonight. This is as big of a loss to me as it is to her. I don’t know what is going to happen with Lucy or with any of this, and I won’t be able to lean on the person who has been there for me for the past ten years. And that is incredibly painful to think about, Kara is more than a girlfriend…she is my best friend. She got me through the hardest, darkest point in my life. It’s going to be hard to imagine my life without her.
“I guess we know now who the woman in your dreams was. Kinda wish it was my friend scenario.” She giggles against my chest. “I’m also slightly mad that I couldn’t persuade you to stay home from the tournament.” Leave it to Kara to find the humor in any situation. One of the things I love about her.
“I might be kicking myself for that one.” I chuckle. “But I think one way or another, this was going to happen.” The dreams were coming more frequently, and I was starting to get flashes of Lucy when I was awake. My memories were going to come back. I guess it’s better now than a couple years from now when we are married with a child.
“You’re right. We weren’t really meant to be together. I think I was just supposed to come into your life to help you after you came home. Now, it’s time for you to be with your family.” She hugs me a little tighter.
“I will never forget what you did for me Kara. I never would have made it this far without you. You saved me, and I will always love you for that.” We stand in the middle of the office holding each other. Tears streaming down both of our faces. I want to hold her for as long as I can, because after this, I may never get the chance to feel her in my arms again.
“Will you promise me two things?” She breaks the silence first.
“Anything you want.”
“Promise me you will stay away from baseballs, and promise me you will let me know how it goes with your wife.” I know the last part was hard for her to say, but I know Kara and her big heart, she truly wants to know that I will be okay.
“I promise.”