EVEN THOUGH they had fun at the beach, Valerie didn't recollect any memorabilia from the past few times they were there before the accident. Dylan couldn't believe it --- something like being chased around by seaweed would jog anyone's memory back into place. He hated that Valerie wasn't remembering anything. It was bad enough she didn't remember that he was her husband, and now this.

The entire concept was driving him insane. The young man felt hopeless. As they parked in the driveway, Valerie closed the passenger's side door without a word, and walked inside the house. Dylan, who still remained in the car, stared off into the distance; letting the heated argument come coursing back into his mind. . .

~

"You seriously don't remember what we just did?!" Dylan boomed, causing the car to shake. Valerie shook her head, feeling as if she did something wrong. She didn't remember the seaweed, she didn't remember anything. And as she looked at this frustrated man with funny-looking hair, she began to dwell up with tears.

"No, I don't!" the twenty-year-old cried. "I'm really sorry!" she felt a few tears slip down her face, and that's when she began to weep. She hated herself for not being able to remember the importance of the activity.

  Dylan pounded his fist against the wheel, scowling in anger. He then turned to her, clenching his jaw.

"I HATE YOU!" he bellowed, the car shaking once more. "God, I wish I never met you!"

Valerie bit her lower lip, tearing up. She really wished that she could fix what was broken. But she couldn't.

Because she couldn't remember.

~

Dylan searched tirelessly for his dad's phone number. His heart ached from the hurt he allowed his wife to feel. It wasn't her fault, really, but how was he going to make her remember him, remember them as a couple, remember everything? He didn't know.

"Hello!" Dylan's dad answered cheerfully. Dylan would have been surprised, but he was too occupied with the situation at hand to even care.

"Hey Dad," Dylan replied glumly. "you got a minute?"

"Yeah, what's up?" the man on the other end of the line asked. "How's Valerie, by the way?"

Dylan sighed. "She's good. She got out of the hospital a month ago. But she doesn't remember anything." he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm thinking about getting a divorce."

"So, because your wife is having trouble remembering things, you want a divorce?" his dad replied. "Wow, you really make yourself a definite winner of the Greatest Husband of the Year award." he chuckled, finding his joke to be funny.

"It's not funny, Dad." Dylan replied in annoyance. "This is a serious problem. I want my wife back!"

Dylan's father shook his head as he remained on the phone with his son.

"Like many times before," he said, "you're doing it wrong."

Rolling his eyes, Dylan sighed. "What am I doing that's wrong?"

"You're expecting her to be a Nora Roberts book," he replied. "if you want her to remember you, and everything else, do something that will shock her. What has she wanted that you haven't been able to do for her because of a budget or what not?"

Dylan rolled his eyes. "She wanted me to make her this ten-year promise thing. It's been a year but I haven't thought of what I could promise her."

"Hey, bozo! Promise her something along the lines of: 'I'll take care of you, or I'll keep you safe, or I'll love you forever.' it's cliche but it'll work." Dylan's dad was convinced that he was Cupid's cousin --- he knew how to be romantic. Now the question was: Why didn't he have a girlfriend of his own?

The world may never know.

"Why do you think it will work?" he asked his father, the oh-so-brilliant wizard of love.

"Because when you surprise her with that promise, she'll remember how committed you are." he replied. "She'll remember how attracted she was to you just by the simple fact you have a good memory."

"Okay?" Dylan didn't fully understand it, but he had no other choice but to give his father's idea a try.

"Just do it, son." Dylan's dad said. "you'll never know until you've tried."

"Okay." he then looked at the time on his phone -- 8:30 PM. He had to get back inside and try to make amends with his wife.

"I gotta go now," Dylan said. "thanks for the help."

"No problem." the older man replied. They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Dylan then shut the driver's side door and locked his car, walking into the house to start dinner and mentally begin to plan how he was going to go about this promise for his wife.

He didn't really see a point in it, but he had to try.