Memories
“It appears that the concussion affected her memory more than we thought,” Tobias said to Caitlyn, flicking through a clipboard.
Caitlyn did her best to swallow the lump in her throat, but she didn’t say anything.
She and her father were standing in the hallway outside their room, not long after Vi had woken up. Her family were inside with her, and Caitlyn found it incredibly unfair that she remembered her family but not her own girlfriend.
“Her long-term memory wasn’t affected,” Tobias continued, “but…”
He glanced up at Caitlyn, his eyes a reflection of the heaviness stewing in her heart.
“Her short-term memories are… pretty much wiped out.”
Caitlyn turned her head, staring through the little window on the closed room door, watching Vi laugh with her sister, Powder, in her lap.
“Vi remembers her family, and the people she’s known for a long time. But, Caitlyn… you only got together recently. She doesn’t remember you.”
And that was it. The finality of that statement broke Caitlyn, and she heard the sob she’d been holding back slip through her lips. She felt tears tracing down her jaw and splattering onto her shirt. Her own shoulders shook and shuddered uncontrollably, her breath sawing in and out of her in heaving breaths as she tried to process the information.
She’d spent so much time and effort ogling over Vi for several months, and when she’d finally had the courage to ask her out…
This happened.
And it was all her fault.
Caitlyn felt her body sinking to the ground, her back pressed to the wall, face buried in her hands.
Vi had been hers. She had been Caitlyn’s to love, to cherish, to care for. Caitlyn had finally gotten what she wanted, and then…
A strangled sob ripped out of her throat as her father knelt kindly next to her and pulled her in for a hug.
Caitlyn didn’t say anything, instead letting herself cry into his shirt and mourning the love she might never get back.
~~~
Vi heard the door open, and she turned to see who had entered.
It was her roommate.
The one who had held her hand when she woke up, for some odd reason.
Vi usually wasn’t the type to hate on people at first sight, but whoever this lady was, she’d done a lot of things to make Vi dislike her despite them only having known each other for a few minutes.
For one, she was a Piltie.
That much was obvious. Vi could see it in her poise, heard it in her accent. Her soft, navy hair and her perfectly manicured nails all screamed “high-class”, which also meant “Piltie”.
And there was nothing Vi hated more than Pilties.
As a Zaunite, she’d spent her childhood oppressed by the topsiders. She’d seen her own people, her own family dragged away in chains by Enforcers. Her parents were dead because of topsiders, and that was a crime she could never forgive.
In short, Pilties were her mortal enemy.
When her adoptive family had moved to Piltover, the shift had been difficult. Piltover wasn’t as discriminatory toward Zaunite anymore, but the hatred still lay beneath the surface, waiting for the right time to strike. Vi had tried to live her life peacefully among the middle-class Piltovans, but had grown to accept the reality that those of upper echelons would never learn and change.
And this lady, whoever she was, was the daughter of the Chief of Surgery at the hospital, meaning she was probably from one of the richest Houses in Piltover.
Basically, a personified version of everything Vi hated.
And what kind of stranger decided it was okay to hold the hand of a person coming out of anesthesia or whatever shit the doctors had put her under? Vi didn’t even know this person and she’d decided to interlace their fingers like they were dating or something.
Bullshit, Vi thought to herself.
She realised her family had gone completely silent, and she turned to look at them.
It then hit her that she’d been staring at her roommate like she was about to pick a fight.
The truth wasn’t really that far off.
The woman was staring at her with a strange expression, like…
Oh, hell no.
Like Vi was a long-lost love.
“What’s your problem?” Vi snarled at her.
The woman didn’t seem surprised. Instead, she lowered her gaze to the ground, and for the first time Vi noticed her puffy eyes and the tears threatening to spill over.
Her roommate didn’t say anything, instead dragging the back of her hand across her eyes — very blue ones, by the way — to wipe away the tears.
Whatever.
“Vi…” Vander said in a warning tone.
Vi looked at him. “What?”
Everyone was staring at her expectantly, as though they wanted her to shake hands and introduce herself.
“What?” Vi asked again, before realising that that was exactly what they wanted.
“No!” she cried, her voice an octave higher than usual.
“It’s okay,” the woman said, but her voice was brittle and shaky, as though one wrong word would break her.
Vander and her exchanged glances, and Vi got the sinking feeling Vander had spoken to her before Vi woke up.
When Vi met the woman’s eyes, the latter offered a smile and a handshake. “I’m… Caitlyn.”
Her voice caught on her own name, but Vi acted as though she’d heard nothing.
“You’re a Piltie,” Vi spat. “I have no interest in befriending you, and I doubt you wanna be seen hanging out with a trencher.”
The words seemed to stab Caitlyn in the chest. Out of the corner of her eye, Vi saw a tear streak down Caitlyn’s cheek.
Damn, did it hurt that much?
The rest of her family was silent, staring past Vi and at Caitlyn. Claggor sighed and rubbed a hand across his forehead.
~~~
Vander wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never had to deal with an amnesiac daughter before.
But watching Vi spit out slurs to the woman he knew she loved — few things in life had ever hurt him more.
And Caitlyn just sitting there quietly, doing her best to hold herself together while being rejected by the same person she’d fallen so hard for…
It was heartbreaking to just watch.
Vander wanted to open his mouth, to tell Vi that she loved Caitlyn, that Caitlyn loved her.
But he knew it would do no good. Vi was too stubborn to listen to what he told her. She would only believe it if she saw it herself.
He was glad she'd retained memories of the family, but at what cost? When they were together, Vi and Caitlyn both seemed so… free, so happy, so perfect for each other.
Watching Vi revert back to her old, hateful self, the person she was before Caitlyn – it was too much for him.
He and Caitlyn exchanged glances, and he tried his best not to cry.
She didn't deserve this.
She deserved Vi.
Vander wished he could convince Vi. Tell her that Caitlyn was the woman she loved, the woman she'd chosen to protect when that cursed truck came barrelling around the corner. The woman she loved more than anything in the world.
Caitlyn was her world.
And Vi had been Caitlyn's world.
But now, the paradise they'd built together to share crashed down around them.
And Vi had no idea.
~~~
“I’m really sorry, Caitlyn, but her hate for topsiders stems from her childhood,” Vander said apologetically, interlacing his fingers on the table.
Powder nodded. “It’s not something we can erase.”
For the millionth time since the accident happened, Caitlyn blinked back tears and focused on the takeaway cup of coffee on the table.
She was sitting around a table at the hospital cafe with Vander, Powder and Ekko as they spoke to her about Vi’s fractured memory. In truth, she didn’t want to hear any more about it. Her world had shattered the moment Vi gave her that blank stare and called her a Piltie.
She didn’t need a reminder of just how much she’d lost.
“Is there any chance at all she’ll regain her memories?” Caitlyn asked, voice hoarse.
Silence folded around the table, until Ekko’s small voice spoke up. “The doctors aren’t sure.”
“We know it’s hard, Caitlyn,” Powder said gently. “And I know how much you love her. But… Vi won’t… she’s too stubborn to believe she ever dated you, so it’s no use trying to convince her of that.”
Vander nodded. “Powder’s right.”
“What about her phone?” Caitlyn asked tentatively. “It has to have photos of us or something. Some proof that we were together.”
The audible swallow from Vander made Caitlyn’s heart sink.
“Her phone was destroyed in the accident, Caitlyn. She has a new one, but none of her chat history or gallery was transferred over. I’m sorry.”
Caitlyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing her voice to steady before she spoke. “What do I do now?”
“You have to convince her you care about her,” Vander said. “Help her regain her memories. Help her remember who she is.”
“I just…” Caitlyn’s voice broke. “I mean, we haven’t even… been together that long. And I… I love Vi with all my heart, Vander. I don’t know if…”
If I can watch her forget about us.
“I know.” Vander’s voice was gentle, but tinged with melancholy.
Ekko exhaled through his nose. “Caitlyn, I’m sure she still cares about you. Deep down, she still loves you. You just need to bring that part of her back out.”
Caitlyn shook her head. “She was my everything. She meant the world to me, and now she just… because of my stupid mistake, she paid the price.”
The guilt hit her all over again, rolling over her in waves, reminding her again and again and again that if not for her foolish excitement, Vi would still remember everything. She felt the dull, pulsing ache in her chest, a painful reminder that her heart was torn in two, and Vi had taken a half with her.
“I don’t know if I can live without her,” Caitlyn admitted at last.
~~~
Ekko blinked, forcing himself to refocus on the present.
He was in Dr. Kiramman’s office with Vander, Powder, Claggor and Mylo, plus Caitlyn’s parents.
“— heartbroken,” Vander was saying. “I’m glad she remembered us, but the price…”
Ekko sighed. “Caitlyn’s devastated, frankly. And rightfully so. Vi meant the world to her.”
“Vi… can regain her memories, right?” Powder asked Dr. Kiramman.
“There’s no specific cure for amnesia,” Tobias said. “The best we can do is help her manage the memory loss. Don’t force her to remember Caitlyn. It’ll only confuse her even more.”
“I’m worried about Caitlyn,” Ekko admitted, and Mylo nodded in agreement. “She seemed so heartbroken when I came into the room and Vi was giving her that blank stare.”
“She’s the only one who can help Vi, though,” Claggor said. Dr. Kiramman nodded.
“He’s right,” Cassandra said at last. She’d been quiet from the moment she stepped in. “Only Caitlyn can show Vi that she still loves her and cares about her. It’s the only way.”
“Wha —?” Mylo frowned. “You mean, make her fall in love all over again? Sounds like a romcom.”
“Not really,” Claggor said. “More like… give Vi that sense of deja vu and familiarity. Show Vi the same love she did before.”
“It’s painful to watch,” Vander said. “When Vi and Cait were together, I saw a side of her I’ve never seen before. I’m not sure how to explain it, but…”
“She wasn’t quite so angry,” Powder supplied. “Caitlyn gave her more than either of them realise.”
Cassandra exhaled steadily through her nose. “I’d never seen Caitlyn smile so much before, either.”
“Caitlyn needs to pull Vi out of the fog,” Ekko said, welcoming agreeing nods and mutters.
“If she does, it will heal her heart and Vi’s memory,” Powder said wistfully. “I just hope she has the strength to do it. To hold out and watch Vi’s slow recovery.”
“She will,” Cassandra said, voice steely. “She has to.”