The Watch

They truly believed it could be easy going forward. If they could accept each other's differences and know that the path wasn't always perfect, it would have been fine.

Luca had already gotten his staples out but they were set to see the neurologist next so they could discuss the state of Luca's amnesia with the doctor they saw when he was in the emergency room. They waited in one of the stark white observation rooms with Luca sitting on the table and Sophia sitting on a chair.

Everything had been smooth sailing until a stranger appeared in front of them. Before he left the hospital, the previous neurologist had assured them that he would be in charge of Luca's care going forward. 

Luca was the first to speak out. He was generally distrustful of others but something didn't feel right. 

"Where did the other doctor go?" he asked, his voice having an irritated edge to it. 

It was already frustrating for him that he couldn't remember anything. It was embarrassing that he was caught with drugs in his system and he didn't know why. There was no way he wanted to air his dirty laundry out for another random person. 

Sophia was more accepting of situations such as that and didn't find change to be difficult but there were alarms going off even in her mind. 

"I'm not at will to discuss the finer details, but I will tell you the truth," the new neurologist responded, his voice understanding of the situation. "Dr. Anderson passed away shortly after your discharge. We tried to alert as many patients as we could but you likely could have slipped through the cracks." 

Sophia and Luca exchanged glances. The previous doctor was overtired at worst but he seemed fine. To think he was dead made them think it was likely an accident of some kind. They couldn't imagine the dark truth to his passing. 

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Sophia said. "He was a good doctor from what I could tell." 

Luca observed her try to diffuse the situation. That was the difference between them. For her sake, he tried to be more gentle like she was. 

"I suppose there's no other choice," Luca responded a bit reluctantly.

"I assure you, I will handle this case with the utmost care," the neurologist explained. "I think first we ought to discuss the state of your situation and if there have been any developments in your memories. There is no correct path. The brain is a complex part of the body and everyone redevelops their memories at different speeds and in different ways. Have you started having your memories return?" 

Luca felt on guard. He glanced at Sophia and wondered if he should come clean about what he saw whenever he slept. He didn't think that he should when they were at such a fragile state. He felt deep down that he was going to gain his memories back whenever he was supposed to and nothing could change that. 

"I have dreams at night where I'm myself and people recognize me," he said. "It's like I can see myself living this life but I can't remember it. I've noticed that in each dream, I look down at a watch and I tend to wake up." 

Sophia gasped, causing the doctor and Luca to glance at her with expressions full of curiosity.

"I'm just happy about the progress is all," she lied. "It's good to know that you're going forward not backwards."

However, she remembered the first day she saw Luca. Not knowing how it slipped her mind, she remembered putting a watch in one of her other purses when she found him. At one point she wanted to return it to him but she had forgotten.

Considering Luca seemed mistrustful of the situation, she decided she would show it to him later and see if he could remember something else. 

"Dreaming is a very good sign considering it accesses a part of the brain closely tied to experiences," the doctor explained, writing down a note on his chart. "I would consider that a win in my book. Slow recollection of memories will be better than remembering all at once. My suggestion would be to continue experiencing things you deem new to yourself as you are now. You're sure to stumble upon things that will trigger more memories for you." 

Considering there weren't any other questions from Luca and he was satisfied with his present guardianship, the appointment went relatively fast. They were out in a short amount of time. 

"What surprised you about my dream, Sophia?" Luca asked when they made it back to her car. "I don't believe your explanation," he explained bluntly. He especially didn't believe it because he didn't reveal the entire truth about the blood and darkness in his dreams. 

"Ah…" Sophia cringed and tucked a strand of hair over one of her ears. "Sorry. I was going to tell you when we returned to my house, but I completely forgot that, when I found you, there was a watch lying next to you that I picked up before we went to the hospital. I'm not sure how I've forgotten about it until now." 

"That's alright," L:uca said. "But now I want to see if it's the one I've been seeing in my dreams." 

Luckily the drive was short and they returned to her house in no time. The moment they stepped through the door, they walked to her closet where she kept all of her purses. 

Tucked into the front of one in a small pocket was the clearly expensive watch with its face shattered. It had navy blue inlaid into what seemed to be platinum underneath the clock. 

Sophia placed it in Luca's hand and they went to the couch together. 

As she observed him, she saw a complex expression on his face. He turned his hand and began putting on the watch as if it were second nature to him. 

Even though the face was shattered, there was no denying the truth. 

"This is the watch in my dreams," he said quietly. "Don't ask me why, but I know I got this from my father." 

However, as Luca tried to pull it off of his wrist, his eyebrows lowered. It wouldn't come off.