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“A reason that brought me out of the coma?” Gerard repeated slowly as if he hadn’t really heard her words correctly.

“Yes” Alicia smiled.

Mikey was watching his brother closely, afraid he was becoming upset.

“I’m fine.” Gerard said turning to him, almost feeling his concerned gaze.

“Gee” Alicia waited until he turned to face her again, “You had told Ayasha about a gift a fan had given you years ago. Turns out it was a talisman.”

“A talisman?”

She nodded then described the item.

“Oh shit.” Gerard nodded, “Yeah, I remember it. I kept it in the box on my dresser….” Suddenly sadness covered his face.

Alicia believed she understood. “You’d knocked over the box but the talisman was on the ground.”

Thoughts were coming to him so quickly it was had to focus. “Okay so let me see if I understand…the talisman has an etching of a Cedar branch.’

“Yes the tree sacred to the Cherokee, also quarts crystals for healing of the mind.”

“And you took this woman to my condo and found the talisman?”

“She told us she believed it could help you find the way out of the darkness.”

He was still trying to catch thoughts as they flittered through his brain. “I can’t remember the fan who gave it to me.”

“Ayasha explained that the talisman had been made by a powerful, wise, Medicine Man or Woman. She said that whoever gave it to you somehow felt it belonged to you.”

“What?”

“She explained that once it was made the rightful owner had to be found. That whoever had it knew it didn’t really belong to them. That they had to keep it until they found the person it was meant for.”

“Fuck, I wish I could remember who gave it to me. Hell for that matter I wish I could remember taking to this woman.”

“Don’t stress about it.” Mikey said placing his hand on Gerard’s arm.

Gerard understood his brother’s concern. “I’m not stressing but damn…hearing all this is shocking.” He turned back to Alicia. “So what happened after you got the talisman?”

“She followed us to the hospital. When your dad and Mikey went to talk to the doctor I took her to the room. She explained that the talisman needed to be put in your hand then a prayer recited.” She paused letting her mind travel back to that day. “I waited in the hall just outside the door. I have no idea what she was saying but her voice…it sounded so beautiful, so emotional.”

“She was speaking in Cherokee?” Gerard guessed.

Alicia nodded, “Yes”

“Then what happened?”

“I’d turned away a moment, overcome with emotion. I was praying what she did would work. When I turned back she had come out of your room and was heading for the elevators. I caught up with her and she told me she’d done everything she could and that the talisman would lead you out of the darkness.” She fell silent then suddenly spoke. “But there was one more thing.”

Both Gerard and Mikey were staring at her. She had not shared this with her husband for reasons even she didn’t understand.

Alicia glanced down at her wrist. “Before she left she reached into her bag and handed me this.” She held up her arm so they could see the bracelet. “She said it would protect both of us.”

“Both?” Mikey was confused wondering why she hadn’t shared this with him before now.

“In that moment I realized she knew I was pregnant but at first I couldn’t believe it. I mean the only people who knew other than my doctor was Mikey and his parents. Hell I hadn’t even told my mom.”

“Maybe that’s not what she meant.” Mikey reasoned.

Alicia smiled, “Oh she knew. I looked into her eyes and said you know I’m pregnant. She just smiled.” Alicia’s gaze fell to the bracelet. “You know when I’m worried or scared I can touch these crystals and I feel at peace.”

“This is all so incredible.” Gerard said shaking his head. “So hard to believe.”

“But I do believe.” Alicia said her voice full of emotion, “Gee, those doctors had just told Mikey and your dad they’d pretty much given up hope. Your vital signs had weakened, they didn’t believe you’d live much longer.”

Gerard was shocked. Turing to his brother he asked “Is that true?”

Mikey nodded, “Yeah, Gee. That’s true. Fuck when I heard Alicia scream your name…” Tears appeared in his eyes. “I thought we’d lost you.”

“But I’d screamed your name because you’d opened your eyes.” Alicia said a tear of happiness rolling down her cheek. “I asked if you could hear me and you nodded.”

For several minutes the room grew silent while they all were lost in thought. Finally Gerard asked, “What happened to the talisman?”

“A nurse set it aside when they rushed in.” She stood, “I brought it home.” Both brothers watched as she left the room.

“I can’t believe this.” Gerard whispered looking down.

A moment later Alicia returned with the talisman in her hand. She smiled as she laid it onto Gerard’s palm.

Gerard blinked back tears as he stared at the etching. “I don’t know why I kept it all these years. It was just…just somehow I felt it was important.”

“Thank God you did.” Alicia said returning to her seat.

Almost reverently Gerard ran his fingers over the etching. “I just wish I could remember more.”

“Give it time.” Mikey said.

“But don’t you see? This really bothers me. Why don’t I remember taking to her? Hell I went to see her twice. If I’ve forgotten that what else don’t I remember?”

Mikey had been afraid he’s feel this way. “Hey, maybe there are some things you shouldn’t remember.”

Gerard shook his head, “No, that’s not right. I need to remember all the good and the bad. That’s important, I just know it.” Suddenly he looked over at Alicia, “I need to talk to this woman, if only to thank her.” He saw Mikey and Alicia exchange a look he didn’t understand.

“That could be a problem.” Mikey finally said.

“Why? I mean she called you right? So you have her number.”

Mikey realized both Gerard and his wife were staring at him. “Uh, I tried the number. It doesn’t work.”

“What?” Alicia cried out. Mikey hadn’t told her he’d tried the number. He’s pretty much refused to even discuss Ayasha’s visit since Gerard had come out of the coma.

He knew his wife was upset. “Figured I’d just tell her he’d come out of the coma.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you tried to call her? When I suggested it you told me it was a bad idea.”

Mikey shrugged, “When the number wasn’t in service I didn’t see a reason to tell you. I even tried to Google it but nothing. It must have been a drop phone.”

Gerard was still not discouraged, “But you know her full name, right?”

This time it was Alicia who had to admit something, “I tried to Google it but hell I’m not even sure if I spelled it correctly. She said Asha Kevi, I think.”

“But she’s here in LA?”

Mikey shrugged, “I think so. I mean you met with her so I just assumed.”

Suddenly Alicia spoke up excitedly, “No, I bet she’s not. I just remembered something. When we were at the restaurant getting ready to leave she pulled out her car keys. At the time I remember getting a weird feeling like something wasn’t right but I was so upset I pushed it from my mind.”

“Something wasn’t right?” Gerard repeated.

“There was a tag on the key ring. She was driving a rental car.”

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t live in LA.” Mikey said frowning, “I mean maybe something happened to her car and she had to rent one.”

“No” Alicia said slowly once more remembering that day. “I know the tag it’s from the airport car rentals.”

“So you think she flew here?” Gerard asked feeling his heart begin to race. For reasons he didn’t completely understand he knew he had to speak to this woman.

“Yeah” Alicia stood, “And I know just who to call.”

Gerard waited until she was out of sight to turn to his brother. “Who’s she calling?”

“She has a friend who works for that car rental at the airport.”

Twenty minutes later when Alicia walked back into the room both brothers eyed her nervously. When she smiled Gerard let out the breath he’d been holding.

“Sorry it took so long.” She took her seat setting the tablet she’d brought with her on her lap. “There were two problems. First off I wasn’t spelling her last name correctly.” She laughed, “Hell her first name either. It’s Ayasha Kivi” She spelled each name. “And secondly she didn’t rent the car herself. It was rented for her by a man named Thomas Barrows from Colorado Springs.”

“Colorado Springs?” Gerard was surprised “She flew to LA from there?”

Alicia smiled, “Yep, that morning and she flew back that evening. Sarah even let me talk to the guy who rented Ayasha the car.”

Mikey was skeptical, “He actually remembered her?”


“Yes he did. He remembered how nervous she was. She told him it was the first time she’d ever flown.” She remained silent about what else the man had told her, about how Ayasha had told him with tears in her eyes she was in LA because someone very dear to her was sick. That didn’t make sense but Alicia felt in her heart that should remain a secret.

“Okay so now you can just call her.” Mikey said wondering what his wife was keeping from them.

Alicia frowned, “No, he can’t. She isn’t listed, anywhere. But…”She smiled, “I Googled the name of the man who rented the car for her using Colorado Springs with it and…” Her smile grew wide. “I found Ayasha.”

Mikey frowned, “You found her? What, are they married or something?”

“No” Alicia laughed, “She works for him. He owns an Antique Shop in Old Colorado City and I got on their web site.”

“So how did you find her?”

Instead of answering Alicia got up and moved to sit between the brothers on the sofa. “There are pictures of the store and the employees.” She said as she handed the tablet to Gerard. “That is Ayasha” Her finger pointed out the woman in question.

Gerard was momentarily stunned; all this time he’d pictured in his mind an older woman. “Wow” He whispered “She’s beautiful.”

Mikey tried to keep his voice neutral, “Fine, so you can just all her at work. I’m sure there’s a number for that.”

Gerard was still staring at the picture. “How the fuck could I forget talking to her?”

“Gee, you weren’t in a good place.” Mikey reminded him.

“Even so” Gerard held the tablet closer. “Damn, she’s beautiful.”

Alicia smiled, “She is isn’t she?” Beside her Mikey sighed knowing his brother always had a thing for dark haired women.

Slowly Gerard handed the tablet back to Alicia. “Thank you.”

Alicia placed her hand on his arm. “What are you going to do?”

“He’s gonna call her and thank her for her trouble.” Mikey said gruffly. “That’s what he’s gonna do.”

Gerard shook his head, “I really need to talk to his woman and not on the phone.”

This was what Mikey had feared. “Gee, you aren’t up to a trip.”

“Mikey don’t you understand how important this is? I need to remember everything and obviously there are things I’ve blocked. I don’t want to believe I’ve lost part of my memory because of the coma. If I talk to her maybe it will come back to me.” He sighed, “Beside I really do need to thank her for coming all the way to LA.” He stood slowly then stretched. “I have to do this.” Knowing how concerned Mikey was he added, “I’d like you to go with me.”

Alicia looked over at her husband trying to gauge his response.

“This is that important to you?” Mikey asked softly.

Gerard nodded, “Yeah, it really is.”

Mikey sighed, “Then I guess we’re going to Colorado.”

____________________________________________________

Three days later on Saturday the brothers flew to Colorado. Because of the time difference they didn’t arrive until late in the afternoon. Once they rented a car both knew the antique shop would be closed before they could reach it. In truth Mikey was relieved believing his brother, who looked tired, needed to rest. So they rented a hotel room in Colorado Springs near the airport then ate dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was during dinner Gerard brought up an idea.

“Why don’t we drive to Old Colorado City before going back to the hotel?”

Mikey sighed, “Gee, you know the place is closed. Their hours were on the web site. We need to just go back to the hotel rest up and head there in the morning when they open at ten.”

Gerard couldn’t explain it but he was filled with nervous energy. While his body was tired his mind was racing. “Yeah, I know it’s closed but it wouldn’t hurt to know where we’re headed in the morning.”

Again Mikey tried to reason with him. “We already looked it up. We know exactly where we’re going.”

“I checked out the street view.” Gerard said spearing a green bean. “Looks like a cool place. Lots of interesting little stores.”

“All closed now I’m sure.” Mikey said trying to change his mind.

“On a Saturday night? I don’t think so.”

Mikey took a sip of his sofa before speaking. “Look I agreed to this trip because you promised me you wouldn’t push yourself. You look tired, that’s the truth.”

Gerard chewed a bit of his steak sandwich then sighed, “Yeah, okay I’ll admit it I am tired. Shit, I’m tired of being tired though.”

“You’re getting stronger every day.”

“I know.” Gerard nodded, “And you’re right we should just head back to the hotel after dinner. I’ll talk to her in the morning.”

“Good” Mikey smiled. “Beside I promised I’d call Alicia when we got settled.”

“I’m gonna call Bandit.” Gerard grinned, “But she’s gonna ask me what I’m bringing her home from my trip.”

“I’m sure tomorrow you’ll find a nice gift.”

“But not in the antique store.” Gerard laughed. “We’ll have to make a stop somewhere else.” Suddenly his smile slipped, “If we have time.”

Again Mikey tried to head off a problem. “We’ll have time. The store opens at ten. Our flight doesn’t leave until 5 p.m. That gives us plenty of time.”

“I’m just hoping Ayasha will have time to talk to me.”

Mikey sighed, “You’re worrying too much about this.”

Gerard took another bite of his sandwich before answering, “Suppose that’s true. I mean really I’m just hoping she’ll be able to fill in some of the blanks for me. Hoping she’ll say something that will jar my memory.” He sighed, “Still hard to believe I have no memory of meeting with her. I mean she had to have been in LA during that time. I’m sure I haven’t been in Colorado for a few years.”

“You haven’t been.” Mikey assured him.

___________________________________________

After calling Alicia Mikey headed off to take a shower leaving Gerard who was on the phone chatting with his daughter. It warmed his heart to hear the happiness in Gerard’s voice.

Gerard promised once again he’d bring Bandit back a gift, told her how much he loved her then disconnected. For a moment he stared off into space then slowly he reached for his tablet. A moment later the web site for the antique store filled the screen. Gerard stated at the picture of the women he knew was Ayasha. “Why can’t I remember her?” He whispered.

Hearing the shower being turned off he knew Mikey would be coming out of the bathroom. He set the tablet down on the bed after giving the picture one final hard look. Still he couldn’t shake the strange feeling that came over him every time he looked at it. It wasn’t just that Ayasha was a beautiful woman, it was something more. It was definitely something more.

_________________________________________________


Mikey was pulled out of a sound sleep by an unknown sound. Immediately he sat up in bed and through the darkness he tried to make out the form of his sleeping brother in the other bed, it didn’t take long to realize the bed was empty.

“What are you doing? It’s 3 a.m.” Mikey asked walking out onto the small balcony.

“Shit, you startled me.” Gerard laughed.

The crisp mountain air caused Mikey to wrap his arms around his thin body. “Can’t sleep?”

“I was sleeping but I woke up.”

“So you decided to come out here and freeze?” Mikey asked with a slight smile.

“Just look.” Gerard whispered turning his face upward. “Look at all the stars. It’s so beautiful here. I love Colorado. The stars, the mountains, the way the air smells.”

Mikey shivered, “Gee, it’s cold out here. Come back inside.”

Lowering his head he turned to his brother. “Stop worrying about me so much.”

“Can’t. Now tell me what’s really going on.”

Gerard sighed, “Lots of things.”

“Is actually being in Colorado one of them?”

“Should have known you’d realize that.” Gerard said softly. “Yeah, I guess it is. I was thinking about Linds, you know. Remembering the day we got married. Shit, I really believed we’d be together forever.”

Mikey wanted to keep his brother from falling into depression. “Yeah, but at least things are much better between you two now.”

“That’s true.” Gerard nodded letting his gaze go back up to the heavens. “And that’s good.”

“Right. Uh, so what exactly did you tell her about this trip?”

Gerard sighed, “Told her I felt I needed to get away, just a short trip.” He lowered his head to look at his brother, “And you’ll be happy to know she told me not to push myself either.”

Mikey nodded, “Because she understands just like I do that you’re still recovering.” A few moments went by then he asked, “So you didn’t tell her anything about Ayasha?”

“No” Gerard said softly. “I mean it’s sorta hard to believe a talisman brought me out of the coma.”

“Do you really believe it did?”

“I don’t know what to think. It all sounds so implausible and yet…why did I keep it all these years? Why did I feel it was the right thing to do, that is was important?”

Mikey had no answer for that.

“I was trying to remember the fan that gave it to me. The only thing I do remember is where it happened.”

“According to Ayasha I guess that part isn’t important, only that whoever it was recognized you as the rightful owner.”

“That’s so weird. I wonder how they knew?”

“Well tomorrow you can ask her, maybe she’ll know.”

Gerard sighed, “That’s another thing that’s bothering me.”

Mikey was glad he was being open about his emotions. “Meeting her?”

“Yeah. I mean first off I want to thank her but…damn I hate that I can’t remember meeting her. I mean I know there are things I’ve forgotten while my mind was messed up because of drugs but why don’t I remember the first time I met with her? I wasn’t fucked up then, I should remember.”

“This is really bothering you, isn’t it?”

“Hell, yes. It makes me afraid that I’ve forgotten other things.” He rubbed his forehead trying to ease the growing headache. “And I hate that feeling.”

“Don’t push it.” Mikey said softly. “You’re still recovering.”

“I know.” Gerard laughed. “You’ve told me that a million times.” Still the meeting he hoped would happen was weighing heavily on his mind. “I just…” He struggled to explain. “I don’t know. Maybe this was all a mistake. I drug you here and hell, I don’t know if I’ll even get to talk to her. What if she isn’t working at the shop anymore? I mean that’s a possibility.”

Mikey sighed, “Gee, I understand how important this is to you. I could see it in your eyes when you first asked me to come with you so I made sure she’s still working at the shop.”

“What? How?”

“Look, I know you didn’t notice it but I saw by the photos on the web site they’d been taken at Christmas time so I knew they were older. I couldn’t stand the thought of you coming all the way here and finding out she wasn’t still working at the shop so I called.”

“You called the shop? Did you talk to her? Does she know we’re coming?”

Mikey shook his head, “No, I just made sure she still worked there.”

Gerard was surprised by this. “Well, what did you say?”

“Uh, I asked to speak to Ayasha, the person went to get her. Before she got to the phone I hung up.”

Gerard actually laughed, “Smooth.”

“Hey, I just wanted to know she still worked there.” Mikey laughed softly. “And she does. So stop worrying.”

“So why didn’t you talk to her?”

“Figured you should be the one. I’ll admit I’m still not convinced what she did brought you out of the coma but she did go all the way to LA. I think it will mean a lot to her that you came all the way here to thank her.”

Gerard was considering his words. “Yeah, I do understand that.” He frowned, “You know I didn’t notice the photos were older.”

“That’s because you’ve only been staring at her in the photos. If you looked closely you’d have seen the Christmas decorations.”

What his brother said was true but he tried to defend his actions. “Hey, can you blame me? I mean first off when you and Alicia told me about a Medicine Woman showing up I pictured an old Native American woman but then when I saw what she really looks like it was quite a shock.”

“Yeah, add to the fact she’s a dark haired beauty.”

“That she is.” Gerard said softly. “She has such beautiful long dark hair and those dark eyes…”

“Well she is Cherokee.”

In his mind Gerard was once more remembering the photo from the web side.

“Come on.” Mikey said starting back for the sliding glass door. “Get some sleep. You’ll get your answers tomorrow.”

“I hope so.” Gerard muttered as he turned to follow his brother.

Once back in bed Gerard tried to close his eyes, tried to will himself to sleep. It didn’t take long but that sleep was full of confusing dreams. In the dreams he saw himself in places unfamiliar. When he finally awoke the dreams were still vivid in his mind. In one dream he’d been standing in the darkness staring out two large doors at the stars that filled the sky. That dream felt peaceful. However the other had filled him with fear. He’d seen himself standing on a dirt road, dark clouds and the howling wind his only companions. That dream left him feeling frightened, very frightened.