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Don’t Take it for Granted

Chapter 5

He stands in the doorway of the guest bedroom watching me make the bed.  I finish and look at him.

“Do you want to talk anymore or do you want to call it a night Jethro?”

“I don’t think that I will get any sleep. This is too upsetting.  So you plan to sleep in here until you get back your memory?”

“Don’t you think that it is best that I do sleep in here?”

“Best for you maybe but not best for me Margie. I haven’t forgotten you.  I remember you.  I remember the feel of you in my arms.  I remember that I get my best sleep when I am wrapped around you.  I…” then he turns and walks away back to ‘his’ room.

I don’t know what to do.  I am hurting him and I don’t mean to hurt him.  I sit on the bed and turn on the radio and a song starts to play.  I just listen to the music and then the words and my head starts hurting.  There is a pounding in my head and tears start to flow from my eyes.  I hold my head in my hands and moan.  The pain is excruciating.  The song continues to play as if it is on repeat.  The words make it through the haze that I am feeling from this headache and the crying.  It’s as if there is a cleansing taking place in my body.  I can’t see for the pain in my head and tears flooding my eyes.  My moans grown louder and I can do nothing to stop them.  Then I feel strong arms around me and I hear whispers in my ear, “it will be all right”. I just cry and the sobs wrack my body.  I shake from the force of my cries and the strong arms hold me fast.  And then, and then I see nothing, only darkness.

Once again I awake confused as to where I am and how I got here.  Strong arms still hold me and I roll over in the bed and the moonlight illuminates the room.  As I roll over to him he opens his eyes and looks at me.

“Margie, are you okay.  Do you feel any better?”

“Jethro what happened?  Why are we in the guest room?  Did something happen to our room?”

“Margie do you know who I am?”

“What nonsense are you talking Jethro? Of course I know who you are. You are Leroy Jethro Gibbs, my husband and the father of my children.  You are the keeper of my heart.  Why are you asking me these questions?  Does this have anything to do with the accident at the contractor’s lab yesterday?  Did something happen to me?”

“Yes something happened to you.  You were exposed to some gas that caused temporary memory loss that would wear off in 72 hours.  It was suppose to cause the person to forget the last 48 hours but in you it caused you to remember everything except for one person, me.”

“No, that can’t be real.  I forgot you.  How could I forget you?  You are the most important person to me.”

“That might well be true but you did forget me. You’re in the guest room because you decided last night that you didn’t want to stay in our bedroom because you didn’t know me.  We were talking and trying to get to know each other and then it got late and we were both tired.  I went to take a shower and when I finished you were in here.  I went to our room and then I heard you crying and came in here and it seemed like you also had a headache so I just held you until you fell asleep and then I just fell asleep holding you.”

“I remember the headache and the crying but I also remember music.  There was a song playing and it felt like it consumed me and things seemed to change for me and then all I saw was darkness.  Then I woke and felt you holding me.  I know you Jethro, I remember you.”

“Oh thank God.  I was so worried that it would take the full three days for you to remember me.  What caused the change?  Did the talking help?”

“I remember the hurt in your eyes Jethro and then I had the headache and the crying and the song.  I remember strong arms holding me.  That song, do you remember the song Jethro?”

“No I don’t remember the song I just knew that you were in pain and I wanted to comfort you.”

“Thank you my love.  Thank you for coming to me in my time of need.  I am so sorry for the hurt that I have caused you.”

“I’m just glad that you remember me.  So what do we do now?”

“I need to call the doctor later and get in for a thorough psychological checkup.  I want to make certain that everything is back to normal. First though I want to take a shower.  I feel a bit clammy and need refreshing.  I’ll shower and meet you in our room and we can get some more sleep before I have to leave for the doctor’s office.  As a matter of fact I will call his answering service and alert him to the developments.”

Margie leaves and goes to take a shower and I move to our room.  I know she needs more sleep and needs to know that everything is all right with her psychologically.  I just want to hold her and keep her safe.  She finishes her shower and we do fall asleep again and awake ready for a new day.

We arrive at the doctor’s office and Margie submits to all the tests necessary to clear her for work.  The psychiatrist concludes that the headache was the result of her brain cleansing itself of the effects of the aerosol and theorized that the music triggered a memory that caused a cascade of memories that allowed for the cleansing.  Physically Margie is fine and thankfully she is now fine psychologically.  We return home tired but happy.

While Margie is upstairs I call Thomas and tell him that Margie has regained her memory and was cleared by the doctors.  Thomas is so happy but still thinks that the twins should stay for the weekend.  I agree and go to the kitchen to prepare lunch.  Margie comes down and joins me in the kitchen.  

“Jethro I think that our disagreement the other day may have impacted me more than I thought and that may have been a factor in my memory loss.  The upsetting thing about all of this, other than the accident at the lab, is that the subject matter of our disagreement wasn’t anything serious.  I think the fact that I was upset about it enough to make such a difference in my view of you has taught me a great lesson. Nothing and I mean nothing is worth my ever losing you.  You are a good man Jethro and I respect you and love you.  I know we may not agree on everything but there is nothing so important that should cause me to change my view of you.  I apologize for my behavior and ask for your forgiveness.  This was all me Jethro, this was all me and I see that now.  It was a hard lesson to learn but believe you me I have learned my lesson.”

“Margie, don’t take this all on yourself.  I had a part to play in this too. You’re right that the subject matter wasn’t anything life altering but I pushed too hard to get my way and in the end it was ‘life altering’.  When Thomas told me that you didn’t remember me I thought that I was in the ‘Twilight Zone’ or something.  In that you remembered everything and everyone except me was a hurting feeling. I agree that nothing is worth losing you.  Like you I too have learned my lesson.  So now with that behind us let’s eat.”

/

Now that Margie and Jethro know how quickly things can change they will not take what they have for granted.  Love is a blessing.  Having someone to love and share that love is a double blessing. Arguments come and go but don’t get bogged down in them.   Each moment that we have is precious.  Don’t take it for granted.