something from the archives: another sunset - part 6

here's to coming home, even if you don't quite remember it...

Part 6

What makes a home? Is it the people who inhabit it? Or the memories that form it? Is it just a building? Alex was lost. He felt as if he had no home for the first time in his entire life. His parents had been warm loving people. He and his sister had been happy. The place may not have looked like much, the upper floor of the building that housed the family restaurant, but it had been the only home he’d ever known.

Now he was the only one that knew it. 

Liz was arriving home from the hospital today. Her wounds didn’t require specialized care, and Michael had agreed to stay with them as Liz got used to her surroundings. The entire gang would come by later, Maria had promised to bring them all up to speed on Liz’s condition.

Alex would be living with two strangers. Michael had dropped his things off earlier that morning before heading to the hospital. He was worried about Liz. Alex wasn’t sure he understood what had happened between Liz and Michael, but he wasn’t about to put himself in the middle of things. Unless his sister needed him to. 

Liz had been wary of all the preparations surrounding her homecoming. As far as she knew she was leaving a place that had become somewhat familiar, cheesy seascapes and antiseptic smells and all, to another unknown. Alex had thought of changing her room around, but had decided that it would probably be best for her to redecorate it on her own. 

The doctors had argued back and forth over whether or not familiarity with her surrounding would give Liz the jolt she needed to remember. Alex had to admit that part of the reason he’d left her room as it was, was to see if she did remember. If seeing her old friends in her childhood home was all she needed to help her remember who she was, then Alex was about to set up the entire thing.

But what if it didn’t work?

He sighed. Then he’d start over. They’d all start over. Somehow finding a way towards the happiness that had once inhabited this place, this home.

*****

“So you ready?” Michael asked Liz.

“I guess so. I don’t think I have a lot to take with me.”

“Alex sent me some of your old clothes. And some toiletries. I’ll be outside, if you need help knock on the door and I’ll call for a nurse. When you’re ready just open the door.”

“I’m going with you?”

“Yeah. Alex needed to take care of something.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Liz watched as Michael left the room to stand outside her door. Just knowing he was out there made her feel safe. She was frightened. The whole idea of leaving the hospital seemed terrifying. It was the only place in the world she knew. The long expanse of white walls, interrupted by doors and second-rate art, the hum of life in the hospital, the sound of it made her feel comforted. This place was hers. 

She was afraid of what Alex would expect of her. She was afraid to remember. Most of all, she was afraid to figure out who she really was.

Who was Elizabeth Claudia Parker? Who would she become? Why was there only uncertainty in this world she’d awakened to? 

She sighed as she looked through the knapsack Alex had prepared for her. He’d sent her a flowered sundress with a black long cardigan and knee-high boots. Liz wondered what she looked like as she pulled the clothes on, taking care not to jolt her battered body.

She didn’t really bother with the toiletries; there wasn’t a bathroom in the room anyway. Michael already knew what she looked like at her worst. So she opened the door to Michael. To her life.

*****

Michael sat outside Liz’s hospital room amazed at the turn his life had suddenly taken. When Alex had approached him about the idea of living with him and Liz he’d been more than surprised. He’d talked it over with Sean who’d been amazingly supportive. 

So now his big brother was moving in with his long-term girlfriend Serena. While he was going to live rent-free with the Parkers. The only conditions of his stay being to help Liz and to occasionally help out at the family diner when necessary. A sweet deal, something that never happened to him before. 

He was nervous though. He wanted Liz to get better so badly; he hated to see her in any kind of pain. But at the same time he wanted her to not remember, to need him, instead of moving forward to a life that excluded him, to move forward with a life that did. He hated thinking that way. He felt so selfish. 

He promised himself, he would do anything in his power to help Liz remember. And just pray that by the time she did, he’d have a permanent place in her life. 

He turned as the door clicked open and was stunned to see Liz dressed in street clothes for the first time. The outfit Alex had picked out looked right on her, not many people would be able to get away with the contrast of sweetness and edge that it combined, but on Liz it looked great. Her hair was swept up in a ponytail, the white bandages on her face and neck the only telltale signs of what she’d just been through. 

“Elizabeth, you look great. Ready to head out?”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” 

Michael helped her into the wheelchair required by hospital policy and led Liz out of there. 

To a place called home. Where three strangers would learn to live together. And realize that home is what you make of it. It’s not a place or space. It’s a feeling. Knowing that wherever you are and whoever you become, home will always be there for you in the people you love.