All It Took Was a Breath

“Bye, Daddy! I’ll see you later!”

Looking up from his breakfast, Henry smiled, “Bye, Sweet Pea. Stay out of trouble at school!”

Elizabeth was a small child, smaller than any other children her age. However, she was still his little girl, his baby. Henry didn’t have time to get lost in thought when he felt lips press behind his ear, “Don’t stress yourself today. You’re off from work and you can nap. I’m going straight to the office after I drop Elizabeth off at school. Try not to worry about anything okay? Whatever happened at work is in the past and you can worry about it tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, Helen. I’ll be fine.”

Past.

Henry didn’t know much about his past. If he was being honest, he didn’t remember anything at all. Not his address, not his favorite color, not even the name of the person who he used to be. From his knowledge, his name was Henry. His wife’s name was Helen, and they had a beautiful little girl named Elizabeth. He was the Henry that his neighbors said ‘good morning’ to every time he walked out to go to his local coffee shop. He was the Henry that fixed Mrs. McGee’s porch light when it went out during that one time. He was the Henry that sat outside and to watch it rain before going inside to help Elizabeth with her homework. Now, none of that mattered. Not when he had been recognized by some random creep off of Sixth Avenue and Banks Street.

“Jeremiah? Jeremiah is that you?” The man asked, grabbing onto Henry’s shoulder with wide eyes.

Henry had been confused when the man had grabbed at him. Sure, he had been mistaken for a few people before, but none of them had called him by another name and none of them certainly tried to grab him.

“What happened, man? You just up and disappeared, everyone’s been looking for you.”

Out of confusion, Henry had slapped the man’s hand away from his shoulder and stepped around him, “Look, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t know who you think I am, but my name is Henry. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do and places to be. That doesn’t include wasting my time with you.”

“What the hell? Don’t play with me, of course you know me Jeremiah. It’s Rick! Ricky, Rickster,” Rick said, running to catch up with Henry. “Don’t play with me, Jeremiah. I know it’s you. I know what you look like.”

“Well, I don’t know you. Now, would you be so kind as to stop following me? I really don’t need this right now.” Henry said, shaking his head as he moved to cross the street.

Rick was baffled. He knew he wasn’t wrong, the man in front of him was Jeremiah. Childhood friend and partner in literal crime. Once more, Rick was reaching out and grabbing Henry’s arm, “Wait man!”

The words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat and Rick didn’t know if it was because they were in the middle of a busy sidewalk on upside New York or if it was because the man in front of him lacked recognition in his eyes. As much as the man looked and sounded like Jeremiah, it wasn’t him. Henry sighed as he pulled his arm free of Rick’s grip for the third time. Without a thought, and even though it seemed like he was running, Henry crossed the street without looking back.

Now it was different. Now, as he sat in the living room of his small home, Henry wondered why that man called out to him. And why he wanted to know where he disappeared to. For a moment, Henry wanted to shout. Things were going so well for him. He had a job and a family, and he didn’t have to worry about the past. He didn’t have to worry about how he woke up in a hospital almost six years ago with no recognition of who he was before.

Henry.

Henry was his name.

“Henry!”

With a jerk, Henry quickly looked towards Helen who was cupping his cheeks with her warm hands. There was a concerned look on her face and Henry couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Henry, baby, are you okay?” Helen asked, gently rubbing her thumbs underneath his eyes. “You scared me. You just, zoned out and I was trying to tell you that I was leaving but you were just staring off.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Helen. I’ve just been, I’ve been tired. Work’s been crazy and I just have so much pressure and it’s just… This guy,” Henry trailed off with a broken sigh. Was he really lying to his wife? Was he really going to lie to her about something that could potentially become something huge if he isn’t careful with what he was doing?

“It’s just been crazy. That’s all. I promise I’m fine. Why don’t you go off to work and I’ll walk Elizabeth to school okay?” Henry asked sorry, gently pressing his lips against Helen’s forehead. He had just lied to his wife. The one he vowed to never keep secrets from. There was a moment where Helen hesitated, something about her husband was off but she didn’t know what. He had been different since Monday and it was now Friday.

“Okay. Okay, if you’re really feeling up to it, that’s fine. Call me the moment you get back here okay?” Helen said as she righted herself, clearing her throat as she smoothed out her skirt. Henry gave her a soft smile and grabbed her hand, gently kissing her knuckles.

“You have nothing to worry about my love. I promise you. After I catch up on some sleep and take our beautiful daughter to work, I’ll be right as rain. I promise.” I promise to always stay by your side.

Henry stood and gave Helen a soft kiss before he clapped his hands and said, “Elizabeth!”

Henry smiled as he walked out onto the front porch, Elizabeth had been sitting on the porch steps waiting, “Let’s go, Sweet Pea. Daddy’s going to take you to school today.”

The smile that lit up Elizabeth’s face is what made Henry realize that; he absolutely had nothing to worry about. Because, despite not knowing his past, he knew his future. And that consisted of him being with his wife and daughter until his last breath.