*2 years later*

“Hello?”
“Hello Mr. Bittle, its Nancy from Beaufort Star Senior Care. We know it is hard coming to visit Allison, but it has been a very long time since she has seen you,” she said to Bernard worryingly.
“Yes, I know. I have been very busy, is that all?”
Bernard was tired. His “part-time job” had taken up all of his time. All of it except the time he spent with Paul, which was also a lot of time. Not that keeping his mind off of Allison and her mental state was a bad thing, but getting that call brought him back to reality.
“She’s been asking for you,” Nancy sounded excited.
So much silence went through the phone, you could hear crickets chirping.
“Yes, I’m sure she has. She asks for her husband every day, but I’m hardly her husband anymore. She won’t recognize me anyways,” Bernard sighed.
“No sir, you don’t understand. This doesn’t usually happen! She’s been asking for her husband,” she said, putting emphasis on the word husband.
“Yes, exactly. There’s no change! Please call me back if you have any actual news,” he was ready to hang up when he heard Nancy shout.
“WAIT!” the woman took a deep breath, “Sir, I’m very sorry for yelling, but you don’t get it. She thought you were her boyfriend, now she knows you’re her husband,” her voice was clear but became cheery, “She’s lucid, Mr. Bittle.”
The world stopped, just like Allison’s world had stopped 10 years ago. Where had they left off? It was like pressing play in the middle of a movie that has been paused for 10 years.
“Ok, thank you for notifying me.”
Bernard could hear Nancy questioning him through the phone but his body was in shock. He stared out the window of the home him and Allison had once shared. He did not move all but his arms as he slowly lowered the phone from his ear and pressed the big red “End Call” button.
“She’s back,” tears streamed down his face, “My wife is back.”
So many thoughts went through his brain. Do I go? Or do I just keep my life normal like it has been for the past 2 years? Bernard wasn’t sure if he could love Allison like he had before, but either way he would just hurt her.
He had heard of these medical miracles. He had also heard that they only last so long. So how can it be a miracle if he had learned to live without her, would learn to love her again, and then have to deal with her leaving for the second time? The first time was hard enough; he couldn’t bare trying to get his life back again. His life was perfectly fine.
He really couldn’t do it to Peter. Peter was there for him. He protected him. He suffered with him. He couldn’t let him suffer through it again. He knew what to do.

*Back at the Beaufort Star Senior Care*

“Oh, I wonder why he left for work so early today,” Allison said.
Nancy looked nervous, more than she should be, but she didn’t want to be the one to tell Allison her husband was never coming back.
Allison noticed her staring, “We’re newly-weds. I’m still getting used to him being back at work during the day, even after a few months.”
Nancy bit her lip, what was she supposed to say?
“You’re still staring...”
Ring, ring, ring! Finally, the phone interrupted the awkward silence and Allison grabbed it before Nancy could.
“Hello?”
“Hi honey, how are you?”
It was Bernard. He had decided not to visit, just call. It would make it a lot easier this way.
“Bernard! There’s this woman here and she won’t stop staring at me… When are you getting home?”
“Oh that’s Nancy. Don’t worry about her, she’s the new cleaning lady I hired to give you a break,” he whispered into the phone so Nancy couldn’t hear it, “She doesn’t speak much English.”
Allison exhaled, “Ohhhh.”
“I got called into a sudden business trip. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier, I wasn’t sure if you were awake.”
“Oh well, thank you for calling. I miss you.”
Allison knew not to ask where he was or when he would get back.
“I miss you too; I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
It was hard for Bernard to hang up and not want to go see her.
So now what, Allison never knew what to do while he was gone. She was all alone, again.
 

*Thursday morning*
“It’s been 3 days and I swear Nancy even stares at me in my sleep. Also, I haven’t heard from you in a long time. I thought you were supposed to get home yesterday. Call me back,” Allison sat in a wooden chair, worried more than ever. Where could he be?
*Back at Bernard’s home*
It was the first snow fall of South Carolina that year, and also the last. It doesn’t always snow much there, but Bernard enjoyed it.
He went to go put on his winter clothes. He did not plan on going anywhere, but others did and he didn’t want them walking in the snow.
The air was bitter outside. The wind blew strongly, advising everyone to go back inside. Shivers went down his spine as he stepped onto his snow covered drive way. The snow crunched under his brown and worn-out snow boots. It smelt like fresh air, but the more you inhaled the more the aroma of fresh air turned into wet dog.
It took him a very long time to shovel, but only his hands got numb. He didn’t stop though, as long as he could still hold the shovel he would be fine. Once he finished, he stepped back into the street to admire his front yard. The snow was beautiful. The way it glistened in the morning sun. Very large icicles hung from his roof, going all the way around every edge of it. He had left his garage door open so that he could return the shovel to its place and not get the floor of his house wet while doing so. He knew it would probably make the house chilly, but the garage was in the back of the house near the kitchen, not his office. He spent the majority of his time in his office anyways. He walked around to the back of his small house. The drive way was really icy and he was careful not to slip on it. He reached the garden Allison had designed. You could hardly see the flowers under all the snow but he saw the bench she had placed there. He wiped off the snow and took a seat. He smiled. Flashbacks of them designing this together came and tears fell down his cheek slowly. His mother would always tell him not to cry in the cold when he was younger or his tears would freeze to his cheeks. He quickly wiped his tears away from his eyes and walked into the garage, forgetting everything but his wife. He wasn’t paying attention to the fact that his boots were slippery and covered in snow as he stepped onto the slippery, painted concrete floor. His feet came out from underneath him and he fell, hitting his head so harshly on the ground.
Bernard was too old to hardly even get out of bed on his own. He tried almost a thousand times to get off of the floor, but he was too weak. So he lay there, hoping that someone, just someone from the woods surrounding his backyard or the house next door would hear his faint cries. But he knew this wouldn’t happen, for the house next door was empty at the time and the forest was too deep to be heard from by the people on the other side.

*Sunday afternoon*
“I hadn’t even known he was here, in South Carolina. I hadn’t even known I was lucid, or that I had Alzheimer’s. But that’s how he was. He protected me constantly. Some people thought that him not coming to see me was selfish, but I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days a lot, and what he did was right. He did not do it for himself, he did it for me. He did not want to hurt me. This is the worst he’s hurt me and it’s not even his fault,” tears fell down Allison’s face, and onto her black dress and the podium she spoke at, “ I hurt him. For 20 years, I hurt him, constantly. And he cared for me, constantly. And he did the right thing, constantly. He was a perfect man, and everyone knew it. I was so lucky to call that man my husband. Thank you all for coming to his ceremony. I know he will be taking care of us all from heaven.”
She stepped down from the podium behind Bernard’s open casket and sat down at her seat on the church bench in the front next to Bernard’s mother, Lucy, who pulled her into a hug. The tears from her sobbing left mascara stains on Allison’s dress. Allison didn’t mind, she didn’t plan on ever wearing that dress again anyways.
Once the ceremony and viewing were over, people came to give their blessings and prayers to Bernard and his family. Not a lot of familiar faces were seen from Allison, but they hugged her anyways. A young man walked over to speak to Lucy, who looked very relieved to see him there. His eyes were puffy and red, but he smiled a familiar, sweet smile to Lucy.
“Hey Grandma Lucy, haven’t seen ya in a while,” he sniffled, but still kept a tiny grin.
“Oh honey look at you! You’re all grown up. You look exactly like your father,” a tear streamed down her cheek. She embraced him for a long time, like a mother holds her newborn child.
He pulled away, “It’s hard to remember the last time I saw him. I visited him like every day, but for some reason, I can only remember what he looked like when I walked into the backyard,” he bawled, “I had heard people exaggerate about freezing to death but I didn’t know it could actually happen. Why didn’t I go see him that day?”
Lucy pulled him in even closer, “Oh Peter, I know. I can only imagine what that was like for you,” she pulled his head off of her shoulder so they were face to face, “But I promise you that in time you’ll get that mental picture replaced with all of the special moments you guys shared and beautiful things about your father. I promise.”
Once Peter had settled down, he went to go speak to Allison.
“Hi Allison. We’ve never met before but I’ve sure heard a lot about you. Well I guess you haven’t exactly met me.  We met before you were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s but you were definitely developing it. Anyhow, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Peter, Bernard’s son,” Peter sat there. He had been talking so fast, he had to let it all sink in. He knew Allison has Alzheimer’s but he also knew she was temporarily lucid.
“Bernard’s son,” she sat there dazed; “he has a son? No wonder you look so familiar. I’ve seen pictures of you in the army.”
Allison felt such a connection toward Peter, like she knew exactly who he was or like she had been present for all those years she had Alzheimer’s even though her mind had really been somewhere else.
“We were like one happy family, even though you weren’t my genetic mom and you forgot who we were sometimes. It scared Dad and I so much, but we were there for each other,” Peter blinked slowly.
Allison felt so awful for what she had put him through. He was the closest thing she had left to her husband. They needed each other then more than ever before.
“Peter, you’re not alone. I know it feels like that now since your father is gone, but I swear I’m here if you need anything. I  may not be here for long, but I will try my hardest to stay lucid, to make up for those 20 years of fear and  misery. I will protect you. And when I go back to my old self, I hope and pray that you will be strong enough to protect yourself.”
Allison kept her word, and they protected each other for as long as humanly possible.
“Let’s go get something to eat,” Peter said with such a sweet smile, Allison swore she almost saw Bernard, one last time.

They sat at a café table, chatting and laughing, until tears rolled down Peters eyes.
“I lost my mom when I was 16. She had cancer. It was hard without her, really hard. I never really felt the same after. So, I stayed home and sulked, but I knew it only hurt my father more. So I decided to join the army. I had only just turned 17 but my mom always enjoyed soldiers. They were like superheroes to her. By going to the army it let my dad return to his life. He did it pretty easily. He knew what was coming and she made him promise not to let her death change his life too much. My father wasn’t one to break promises, you know that,” he wiped his eyes and took a deep breathe so he could continue, “I came back 10 years later for the wedding and stayed for a while. I didn’t really want to go back, I felt like my old normal self again. I felt like I was a part of a family again with you guys, and you were just so happy. You reminded me of Mom. But I had to go back. When I got there, it had only been a few months after the wedding and I felt lost without you guys. So, I quit the army and came home. My dad looked so scared when I got there. He told me about how you would get confused a lot or forget who he was. I went with him to the doctor. When they diagnosed you, he fell apart. He was so in love with you, and I was so happy to have my new family. I miss him.”
Allison couldn’t believe the way Peter had opened up to her. And all she could think of was how much she would hurt him again. But she knew that he needed her no matter what, she could tell that it was a risk worth taking.
“Thank you, Peter. Thank you,” and that’s all Allison could say.
***
Once they went back to Peter’s apartment, they got to know each other better. They talked about their childhoods, what they liked, stuff like that. It was the beginning of a never ending bond.

After a while, not only had Peter gotten all healed, he had gotten strong enough to protect himself. Him and Allison had become best friends.
They sat on the front porch of Bernard and Allison’s old house, and spoke about a funny movie they should see.
“It comes out tomorrow, we should go,” they did everything together so he knew he didn’t have to ask, but he did every time anyways.
“Go where, Mark? I thought you left town this morning, what happened?”
Allison was confused, the Alzheimer’s had come back just like that, without any warning.
“Mark? No Allison, it’s me Peter,” he knew it was happening but he didn’t want it to.
“Mark Lee Stevens, don’t mess with me right now” she chuckled. “Seriously, tell me what happened!”
Peter sat in silence, staring at the concrete, thinking to himself.
“Her brother. She thinks I’m her brother.”
He held back his tears so he didn’t scare Allison.
“My flight got canceled, so I’m staying for a while longer,” Peter said, choking on his words but trying to smile and look excited.
“That’s amazing! I can’t wait to spend another day with my little brother.” Allison was ecstatic, her smile shined like the stars.
***
Allison talked away to her “little brother”. If only she could’ve known that she was hurting Peter, without even meaning to. If only she could’ve known he had abandoned his own life to be someone else in her eyes, so that she would not get confused and let her live a happy and normal life. Just to be there for her and protect her.