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Don’t Take it for Granted

Chapter 3

Mr. Gibbs leaves and heads down to the basement.  My father follows him and I sit in the living room feeling like my world has just fallen apart.  I go upstairs to check on the children and find them in their rooms reading. Not wanting to disturb them I return to the living room and sit on the sofa and wait for Dad and ‘my husband’ to return.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the basement Jethro Gibbs stands looking around his workshop as if trying to find something that will make sense of this bizarre situation.

“Jethro it won’t last much longer.  I’m so sorry that this has happened to you and Alexis.”

“But Thomas she doesn’t remember me. That has to mean something. I thought that we knew each other and that we had a strong bond between us.  How could she forget everything about me, about us?”

“Jethro this is hard on her too.  She’s trying to figure out that same question in her mind.  Of all the things that Alexis has ever wanted in life it was to have a love like the one that her mother and I have for each other and she found that in you.  I told her that and she is beating herself up inside that she could forget something as precious as that.  Alexis is a trained agent and at this moment I can’t imagine how fragile she feels now.  I am sure that in her years in the field she has encountered dangerous situations.  As her father I don’t want to think about all the dangers that my little girl has faced.  I’ve watched enough movies to get an idea of some of them but Alexis prides herself on the power of her brain.  With this happening she probably feels that her brain has failed her.  How can a simple aerosol render her harmless?  She’s a ‘lethal weapon’ and one little whiff of some substance has made her vulnerable and that frightens her. Maybe the argument that you two had this morning did impact the effect of the aerosol on her psyche but all the data shows that it should dissipate in a few days.  Alexis has been released from work until this matter resolves itself.  It’s Friday.  I will take Richard and Nicole home with me for the weekend.  Amanda and I will keep them entertained. You and Alexis need time to reconnect.  Do as the psychiatrist suggests and refresh her memory on the things that are about the two of you.  I am sure that you can think of some things that only you two share.  I can think of a hundred things that Amanda and I share just between the two of us.  Alexis loves you Jethro.  She would not have married you or had your children if she didn’t.  The question now is do you love her enough to fight for her?  Do you love her enough to be what she needs to make it through this hard time because believe you me this is hard for my little girl?  I need to know that you will see this through Jethro or do I need to take Alexis home with me too?

“Thomas she is my wife and I am her husband. I will fight for her and for us. Thank you for taking Richard and Nicole with you.  Alexis and I will work through this together and I will share with her what makes us Jethro and Margie and hopefully before the 72 hours have passed she will remember me and us.”

Upstairs Margie waits.  She questions herself as to how could her trained mind betray her like this.  One little whiff of some aerosol and I forget something so important.  What triggered this effect?  Did a simple argument cause such a negative synapse in my brain that the aerosol’s effect was to eliminate that synapse altogether?  Or perhaps it only blocked it and not eliminated it. Wait now that I think about it maybe it is like hypnotizing someone to forget something.  So it’s not really a change to my physical brain but a change to my perception.  A perception change is less frightening than a physical change because I value the strength of my brain.  I’ve worked hard to develop this brain of mine.  But this still presents a challenge because I also trained this brain to resist hypnosis.  So either way something out of the norm has happened. I must deal with it. But the most important thing now is to remember my husband.  Everything else must take a back seat to my remembering my husband.  He will have to take the lead on this for I have no clues on how to start.  They are returning.  Let the games begin.

“Alexis I am taking Richard and Nicole home with me for the weekend.  You and Jethro need time alone.”

“Thank you Dad I will go and get them ready.”

“No, I will get them ready.  You and Jethro need to talk.  Everything will work out honey so don’t worry about it.”

“That’s hard to do Dad but I will try.”

Dad goes upstairs and leaves Mr. Gibbs and me in the living room.

“Jethro I can’t begin to understand how you are feeling right now.  Please know that I don’t want to hurt you or me for that matter.  I have no idea as to why I can’t remember you but I want to know you and what we have.  Can we try to do that?”