Sketch # 33
Two days had passed since Dr. Owen Martin's visit, and the atmosphere in the Cortez household seemed more hopeful. Henley, Naomi, and Mrs. Cortez sat around the dining table with Dr. Martin once more. They glanced out the wide window where Giovanni could be seen in the garden, tenderly planting new seeds with Naomi assisting him while the twins frolicked around him.
Dr. Martin broke the silence, turning their attention back to the discussion at hand. "How has Giovanni been doing these past two days? Any changes?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.
"He's been doing quite well, actually," Mrs. Cortez answered with a smile. "He's started coming out of his room more often to join us for meals. Just now, he's out there in the garden, finding solace in planting and nurturing new life."
They all watched Giovanni for a moment, a sense of relief washing over them as they saw him engaged in the simple joys of gardening, a passion he seemed to be reconnecting with.
"Is he... going to remember soon, Doc?" Henley inquired, his voice tinged with a mix of hope and apprehension.
Dr. Martin sighed thoughtfully. "To be honest with you, it's hard to say. But compared to the first time I saw him, where he only seemed fixated on Malina's name, there's definitely been progress. He's started mentioning bits and pieces of memories, though they still seem quite blurry to him."
Henley nodded, his expression reflecting a mixture of understanding and gratitude. "That's more than we could have hoped for at this point," he admitted, his gaze drifting back to his brother in the garden.
Naomi, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up. "Is it alright if we... tell him about Malina? About her... death?" she asked tentatively, her eyes filled with concern.
Dr. Martin considered her question carefully, rubbing his chin in thought. "Let's give him some more time," he finally answered. "Right now, his mind is still piecing things together. Pushing too much too soon might overwhelm him."
Naomi nodded, accepting his reasoning. She knew they had to tread carefully, respecting Giovanni's pace as he navigated the fragments of his lost memories.
After discussing Giovanni's medication and leaving Mrs. Cortez with a small list of supplies to procure, Dr. Martin bid them farewell and departed. Mrs. Cortez smiled warmly at the doctor's thoughtfulness, grateful for his continued support.
Over the next two days, Giovanni continued to find solace in gardening. He meticulously tended to the plants, the act of nurturing them seeming to bring him a sense of peace and purpose. Naomi often joined him, helping him choose the right spots for new seeds and gently guiding him through the process.
Henley observed his brother from a distance, feeling a swell of pride at Giovanni's progress. Despite his initial guilt over their confrontation, Henley had chosen to give Giovanni space, recognizing that his brother needed time to find his own way back to his memories.
"If you're going to feel guilty like this, then you shouldn't have punched Uncle Gio in the face," Zephyr teased his father one evening, as Henley sat at his desk reviewing documents. He chuckled softly, setting aside the papers.
Henley's smile faded at the memory of the incident. He rubbed his nose bridge, recalling the regret and anguish he had felt afterward. Zephyr stifled a laugh, knowing his father's discomfort and trying to lighten the mood.
"About the board..." Zephyr began, his tone shifting to a more serious note. Henley looked up, signaling his attention.
"They're still pushing for Nalani to attend the Annual General Meeting," Zephyr explained. "They want to hear directly from her, especially now that there's talk of a longstanding stakeholder who hasn't attended before but plans to be there in person this time. This stakeholder holds a significant share, even though they've always sent representatives in the past."
Henley frowned, his brows furrowing in concern. "Why the sudden interest in attending now? They've never bothered before," he mused aloud, flipping through the papers Zephyr had laid out for him.
Zephyr shrugged, mirroring his father's perplexity. "No idea, Dad. It's unusual, to say the least. But they're holding off any decisions until the AGM, at least," he added, hoping to alleviate some of Henley's worry.
Henley nodded thoughtfully, signing the necessary documents as he processed the information. The mystery of the stakeholder's sudden involvement lingered in his mind, adding to the already mounting concerns about Nalani's safety and their family's complex dynamics.
Meanwhile, back at the Katz residence, Giovanni found himself unable to sleep. His thoughts kept returning to the letters he had discovered in the second drawer of his desk. Memories, vague yet tantalizing, teased at the edges of his consciousness, urging him to explore further.
Quietly slipping out of bed, Giovanni made his way to Malina's old room. The room was eerily quiet, untouched except for occasional dust motes floating in the dim light filtering through the curtains.
Giovanni's gaze swept over the familiar surroundings, landing on a box near the window. With cautious curiosity, he knelt beside it and lifted the lid. Inside, nestled among old books and notebooks, were Malina's sketchbooks and journals.
As he flipped through them, tracing Malina's artistic journey through delicate sketches and heartfelt writings, Giovanni's attention was drawn to a glint of light reflecting off a glass object within the box. Intrigued, he reached for it, wiping away the dust to reveal an old picture frame.
The frame was simple yet elegant, its back held shut by tiny brass clasps. Giovanni carefully opened it, revealing a faded photograph nestled within, accompanied by two folded sheets of paper.
His heart quickened with anticipation as he unfolded the papers, their edges worn with age. The first sheet was a letter from Malina, written in her graceful script, addressed to Giovanni. It spoke of cherished memories, of moments they had shared, and of her hopes and dreams for their future together.
Tears welled up in Giovanni's eyes as he read her words, feeling a deep ache in his heart for the lost memory of his wife that he was only beginning to remember. He set the letter aside and unfolded the second sheet, which turned out to be a poem Malina had written about Nalani, their daughter and their sky.
Giovanni sat there in the quiet room, surrounded by echoes of Malina's presence, clutching the precious mementos to his chest. Emotions churned within him—grief for the lost years, gratitude for these glimpses of his past, and a longing to reclaim the memories that had slipped through the cracks of time.
Outside, the moon cast a soft glow over the garden where Giovanni had spent countless hours planting seeds of new life. The twins' laughter floated through the air as they played under Naomi's watchful eye. Giovanni's gaze shifted to the window, his heart heavy yet hopeful.
"Malina," he whispered into the stillness of the room, as if speaking to the sister he had lost and found again through her words. "I remember... don't worry, I'll take care of our sky this time"
And in that moment, surrounded by memories and the promise of new beginnings, Giovanni felt a flicker of connection, a fragile thread linking him to a past he was determined to rediscover—one letter, one memory at a time.
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