Chapter Text
Chapter 1 – Breaking Apart
Wednesday sat at a chair in a hospital’s waiting room, anxiety making her tremble like a leaf as fear kept sending shivers down her spine every time a doctor passed by the hallways. It was exactly fifteen minutes past three at night, which meant she had been waiting there for almost an hour and no one had come yet to tell her how Enid, her girlfriend, was.
She felt like the biggest idiot in the world at the moment. That evening, they were supposed to meet at a restaurant to have a nice, fancy diner to celebrate the blonde finally landing a pretty big job as a fashion designer after recently graduating college, but said girl never showed up and, in pure spite, Wednesday had gone back to their apartment and turned in for the night without even waiting or calling her roommate.
At one forty three (she remembered it vividly), she received a call from a cop to let her know Enid had been involved in a car crash and had been taken to St. Luke’s to receive medical treatment quickly. Why it had taken so long for the authorities to contact her was beyond her, but it certainly made her mad, especially once she found out said accident happened around the time they were supposed to meet at the restaurant.
As soon as she arrived to the ER, they told her to wait and the doctor would come shortly to tell her the condition of her girlfriend but, after an hour, no one had come, and the mixture of awful fillings kept adding more and more by the minute.
Finally, after almost an hour and a half, a doctor approached her. The woman seemed like she had been up for over twenty four hours, a thing that made her anxiety spike when she thought about the possibility of Enid not receiving the best medical care they had to offer.
“Wednesday Addams?” The doctor asked, reading some papers she had on her hands.
“Indeed. How’s Enid? I swear, doctor, if something happens to her, a lawsuit will be the last thing you will have to worry about.” Her threat came out with a broken voice, unexpected of her but understandable too, as she kept shaking in fear.
“Easy, she’s stable now. The other car hit hers by the driver’s side so, there was a lot of external damage but, thankfully, nothing internal to worry about aside a couple of broken ribs and left arm. The worst injury was her concussion, which is why I hadn’t come to give you any information. I had to make sure the swelling in her brain went down before leaving her or else she might have… you know, if she fell asleep like that. Right now, we’ve given her some pain killers and, like I said, she’s stable and sleeping. I don’t expect her to wake up until probably tomorrow afternoon, but you can see her if you want. Also, you were her emergency contact but we couldn’t find any contact information for her family. If you could provide us with that, we can call them and let them know what happened.” The doctor seemed ready to write down the information as she shook her head, feeling a little calmer now that she knew her girlfriend would be okay.
“Her family doesn’t care, I can assure you. You would be wasting your time letting them know.” The older woman looked a little surprised and just nodded in acknowledgement, showing her with a wave of her hand the way to find her blonde as they both started walking there.
They walked for a couple minutes until they reached a room full of beds, curtains covering some of them, like the one Enid was. The doctor moved the curtain slightly, letting them both in as Wednesday felt anger rising on her body.
“Like I said, she’s sleep right…” She couldn’t help but interrupt the woman, her normally serious tone replaced by one full of hatred.
“Why is she here?” From the corner of her eye, she saw the doctor flinch at her question (or, more likely, at her tone), scratching her nape nervously as she answered her.
“Well, she will be taken to a room upstairs for a couple days of observation before we discharge her but… we need to see what her insurance covers and…” Again, she interrupted her, her words almost coming out as a bark from the anger she was feeling.
“Fuck the insurance! I will pay upfront if you want right now but I want you all to make her your absolute priority!” She took a checkbook out of her jacket’s pocket along with a pen, writing part of the check and then handing it to the doctor. “I left the amount blank. I don’t care how much it costs; I assure you the account has enough funds for anything. Now, get her a room and the best care you can provide.” The doctor asked her to accompany her to the front desk to complete the transaction, sending her back and forth to many people in order to accept her check when they didn’t know already how much everything would cost and she swore she had never felt such intense craving to take a life before.
After what felt like an eternity, she had managed to arrange things with the director who didn’t know her, but had certainly heard the Addams’ last name (and the wealth that came with it), ordering the whole hospital through an urgent memo to make Enid their first and last thought until she was discharged. It was probably unfair for all the other patients, but Wednesday couldn’t care less about them.
A day had passed since the accident and she hadn’t dared to leave her girlfriend’s side, almost killing the nurses who occasionally entered the room to tell her that visiting hour was finished and she had to leave. Sadly, she hadn’t been able to commit any murder, as the doctor appointed to Enid was always close and told the nurses she had an arrangement with the director.
During that time, she hadn’t been able to even blink, looking at the girl on the bed at all times, feeling something she couldn’t exactly pinpoint since she had never felt that before. The only thing she knew was that it was horrible, but not the enjoyable kind. She couldn’t understand why her eyes kept producing tears that she refused to let out and why her nose kept flooding every ten minutes too. Or more like, she could understand, but she didn’t want to admit it. Her girlfriend was okay so, why should she still be afraid or sad?
Day one passed and Enid didn’t wake up as the doctor had predicted the night before. It didn’t matter how much everyone assured her that was normal for the kind of injuries the blonde had suffered, something felt wrong.
On the second day, Enid had finally come back to her, disoriented and dizzy. The doctor almost pushed her out of the room in order to run some tests and, even if she felt like murdering that woman, she could understand the reasoning; had she been left inside the room, she would be asking a thousand questions to everyone inside right now.
“Miss Addams.” The doctor got out of the room, closing the door behind her as she walked towards the professional.
“Well?” That was all she could say, her throat knotting quickly once the word got out.
“Physically, she seems to be healing very fast, although that’s not a real surprise; I saw on her medical records that she’s a… werewolf, right?” She nodded at the question, not saying anything to avoid interruption. “Her broken bones will probably be alright in a week along with all the bruises. What worries me is that she seems to be experiencing symptoms of amnesia.”
“How deep is it?” The woman shrugged and stuttered a little before answering with a worried frown.
“It’s too early to know. I can tell it is the declarative type, which means she remembers who she is and many things but, the fact that she asked me who you were once you left the room, makes me think it is post-traumatic amnesia, which encompasses both retrograde and anterograde amnesia, meaning she doesn’t remember some things prior to the accident and, at the same time, she is having trouble with remembering things that are happening right now. I mean, I had to repeat many things a few times, which shows how her brain is not retaining information as it should.” Wednesday’s heart had almost stopped beating as soon as she heard how Enid failed to remember who she was, barely registering everything else the woman in front of her said.
“Is it permanent?” She finally composed herself enough to ask.
“Amnesia caused by injury usually goes away in a few days but I’ve got to be honest with you; we will perform a CAT scan to check everything more thoroughly. If there is further damage to the brain, the amnesia might be permanent or even progressive. This doesn’t happen commonly, but I have to tell you so that you can prepare for bad news if there are any.” She took a deep breath at the explanation, exhaling slowly as she felt anxiety coming back to her.
“Why are you performing the scan now? Why didn’t you do it before?” As much as she had wanted to sound angry, it seemed to be impossible in the state she currently was.
“Like I said, it is not common for a patient who suffered a concussion to develop amnesia; movies tend to make us believe it is, but it isn’t. I know I told you to prepare for difficult news but most cases of amnesia tend to last only a couple days at most. I’ll order the CAT scan right now and then we will know for sure what we’re dealing with.” The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile and after that she left as she stood there, glued to the floor.
The information that was given to her would probably be a hundred percent real if they were talking about a normal human being, but Enid was a werewolf and even lycanologists didn’t know much about the werewolf brain up to this date, they mostly focused on shifts and physical injuries. What if this amnesia turned to be permanent? What if her girlfriend could never remember who she was and what they have gone through together?
The last question had finally managed to break her, as she felt a couple tears going down her cheeks. Most of their relationship has been circumstantial; built from situations that had brought them closer and closer until the unavoidable happened and she stopped fighting her feelings for the she-wolf. Would those circumstances repeat themselves? Would new, different situations make Enid fall in love with her again? Would that actually be so bad?
Wednesday had never forced her girlfriend to do anything she didn’t want to do but, even if it was willingly, Enid was always ready to compromise for her, a thing she didn’t reciprocate, at least not nearly as much as the blonde did. What if this was an opportunity for the she-wolf to find someone else, someone better than her? Maybe this was the time she had to compromise and allow Enid a choice; if the girl wanted to be with her, it would be ideal but, if she decided she wanted someone else, she would step back and let her be with whomever she chooses, as long as she was happy.
Wiping away the tears and taking a deep breath, she went back into the room, looking at the deep blue eyes that were worriedly looking at her too. A sigh escaped her mouth as she took a seat on the chair beside the bed, nervously looking away from the girl on it.
“How do you feel?” She asked, whispering with a raspy voice.
“I’m feeling sore but I’ll be okay…” The answer came out with nervousness, probably from the fact that the blonde couldn’t remember who she was. “I’m really sorry to ask but… the doctor said you were my emergency contact and well… I don’t really… remember you… sorry…”
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. I’m Wednesday Addams. I’m your…” She hesitated for a second, taking a deep breath again to find the courage she needed. “I’m your roommate.”
“Oh… I see…” There was an awkward silence in the room for a minute, as she thought about what she was doing. Deceit was something she excelled at and enjoyed, but this time, she was dreading to do it.
“What is the last thing you remember?” She asked curiously but slowly, as if not wanting to really get an answer.
“I arrived to Nevermore for a new semester. Principal Weems said I wouldn’t be having a roommate so I could decorate the room the way I wanted to. I asked Yoko for some help and then… that’s it.” Even if she already knew the girl couldn’t remember her, it still hurt to hear it again; it felt like her heart was getting ripped off her chest.
“I became your roommate mid semester. That’s how we met.” Enid looked surprised to hear that and a tiny smile graced her lips.
“I do remember I’m twenty three right now so, that means we’ve known each other for like, six or seven years, right?” Her smile curved the other way around, a sad expression that made Wednesday hurt too. “And I don’t remember anything from those years…”
Her throat closed and tears pooled in her eyes again. She wanted to get up and sit next to Enid in that uncomfortable bed, longing for one of her hugs she had grown to enjoy over the years but that this time, she knew wouldn’t come or, at least, wouldn’t feel the same. Besides, she was doing the right thing; giving the girl a choice, even if she was dying inside.
Just when she was about to speak again, the doctor opened the door, letting them know they were ready to perform the CAT scan. With an understanding nod, she stood up as a nurse came in to take the she-wolf to the x-ray ward. Quickly, she followed behind, waiting outside of the room where the scan was being performed.
What if Enid could actually remember everything after a couple days like the doctor had told her? Would she be mad at her for hiding their relationship? But then again, what if she could never remember? Her puppy deserved better than her; Enid was a shining sun and she was a black hole that constantly drained her light. It didn’t matter how much she wished for her girlfriend to stay by her side forever, said girl’s happiness came first and it seemed like the world had given the she-wolf a second chance to choose, all she could do was wait and accept the outcome.