Page 51 of The Echo of Forever

We met at the lifted trunk door, and inside were several dozen small duffle bags.

“Same as usual,” he said, lifting one and handing it to KK. “Clean needles, condoms, a new bottle of pepper spray, emergency cash, water, and protein bars. I don’t want to hear shit about nobody passing out.”

She hummed and tossed it over her shoulder.

“I hear you…” Her eyes met mine before she walked off. “They love you around here. I hope you start coming back.”

Somewhere you’re loved.

More women began to emerge from doorways and street corners as word spread and Demetrius talked to all of them with nothing but respect. Reminding them to get checked at the clinic nearby and not to be out here too many days in a row. Not to get into cars they hadn’t seen before without someone else around to take note of it.

He cared, and it showed.

“Oh my Goodness, Forever!” a younger girl yelled as she approached, barely legal from the looks of it. “Where have you been?”

She stared at me expectantly, and I looked to Demetrius for help. It was obvious she knew me, but what was I supposed to say?Oh, hi. Didn’t know I lost almost two years of my memories until earlier today.

“Remember what we talked about, Mickey?”

Her big eyes shifted from me to him and then back.

“Right. Sorry, I forgot.”

I found all of this hard to process, but managed to smile at her anyway.

“It’s alright. We just have to start over, I guess.”

She nodded.

“It’s okay if you never remember, because you’ll still be you to us. I wouldn’t be clean without you.”

Without me?

And Mickey hadn’t been the only one to stop and greet me with love, or to mention that I’d helped them in some way.

It should have felt good, learning that I’d done something meaningful, but all I felt was overwhelmed and frustrated. And a little hurt that what I did remember was the bad things that had happened in my life.

“This was your project, Forever,” Demetrius said after a long bout of silence passed between us. “I’m only filling in until you’re up to it again.”

“And what about when you were away?”

He tipped his head, a tiny smile pulling at his lips.

“Oliver and Solei took turns.”

Had I really been an entirely different person with him in my life?

All the things I wished I could do, I’d already been doing them.

“How much do you trust Dr. Holland?” I asked once the trunk was clear and everyone had gone back to doing their own thing.

“With my life and yours.”

He made it sound so believable.

I stared up at the clear night sky, weighing my options.

“Maybe knowing what happened will do more damage than not,” I mumbled, more to myself than him. “Maybe it’s for the best that I can’t remember.”