Still With Me by Thierry Cohen Read Free Book Online

about your parents, and you’re surprised they’re not invited. Then you go after Clotilde in a mean, stupid way. Then you sit in silence the whole meal.”
    Jeremy collapsed into the armchair and put his head in his hands. “I lost my memory again.”
    Pierre and Victoria looked at him, speechless.
    “Are you joking?” Victoria exclaimed.
    “No, I don’t remember anything.”
    “What do you mean you don’t remember anything?” Pierre asked.
    “It’s like last time.” He lifted his head and saw their stony faces.
    “When was the last time for you?” Pierre asked.
     
    “If I understand correctly, it was two years ago today.”
    “What do you remember since then?”
    “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
    “And before that?”
    “I remember everything leading up to my suicide, then the day I had my first…crisis. Nothing between the two. Nothing since then.”
    Victoria sank onto the sofa next to Pierre. “Are you serious? You’re not just spouting nonsense to justify your behavior?”
    “No. I’m completely lost. I have no idea why things are the way they are with my parents. I don’t know anything about Clotilde and Pierre’s situation. I can’t follow any of your conversations. This morning when I woke up, I didn’t even know who the baby was. My own son. And I don’t remember our wedding, Victoria. I feel so empty, completely empty.” Jeremy slumped against the back of the chair.
    “Shit.” Pierre leapt to his feet. “That’s not possible. This can’t happen all over again. The doctors said—”
    Victoria interrupted. “They didn’t say anything. They didn’t understand. An emotional shock. They all said the same thing.”
     
    “What happened the day after I went to the hospital?” Jeremy asked. “I remember going to sleep in my room. I felt sick. I hallucinated.”
    “The next day, everything came back to you,” Pierre said. “Except the events of the day before. A form of selective amnesia, in reverse. The doctors wanted to hold you for observation, but you refused. You went back to work, and you didn’t say another word about it.”
    “They wanted you to come back,” Victoria interjected. “But you never went to the appointments I made with a specialist. And because nothing else bad happened, I didn’t insist.”
    “And on my birthday last year?”
    Victoria shrugged her shoulders. “You were normal. We worried about a relapse. The doctors told us to keep you home the night before, not to leave your side, and not to let you drink alcohol. And everything went fine.”
    A tense, anxiety-ridden silence filled the room.
    “We have to go back to the hospital,” Victoria announced. “It’s the only solution.”
    “No, I don’t want to go. If they didn’t understand my problem then, why would it be any different now?”
     
    “He’s right,” Pierre agreed. “They’re idiots. They’re going to treat him like a guinea pig. Nothing more.”
    “You two have a better solution maybe?” Victoria seemed frustrated.
    “Maybe we could talk to you about things that matter to you,” Pierre offered. “Show you places you go?”
    “I doubt that’ll work. If seeing my mother didn’t bring anything back…”
    “You have a point,” Pierre agreed. “But there are no rules for this kind of thing. One ordinary detail might have unexpected results.”
    “Let’s cancel whatever we had planned for the afternoon at least,” Jeremy suggested. “I don’t feel up to the performance.”
    “Good idea,” Pierre said. “Imagine what would happen if your boss saw you with a case of…wandering amnesia. It could damage your credibility. Just when you’re expecting a promotion.”
    “What should I tell him?” Victoria asked.
    “Tell him Jeremy’s having stomach problems. Serious stomach problems. They don’t require any explanation, and they keep people away.”
     
    Victoria went to make the call.
    Pierre sat down next to Jeremy and patted him on the thigh. “Listen, it’s