Chapter 72: The Alternative

Reluctantly, Jack pulled out the gun he was to hand to Stacy a few moments before she decided to fly kick the dummy. Nelly’s brows furrowed in worry as she gave Jack the would-it-be-alright look. Stacy wasn’t paying attention to them.

Grabbing the gun, she ran back to the shooting range. Jack shrugged. “I believe she’s still as good as she was, with or without the memories.” Nelly stood to follow. “I hope so,” she managed the reply before taking off in Stacy’s direction. Jack tried to calm his unease. ‘I should trust her to handle a gun right. She’s Sammy. The invincible Sammy,’ he chanted in his heart as he took big strides towards the shooting range to join the girls.

Nelly looked especially rigid as she placed herself at the side. Her wide eyes focused on the gun. She could never get used to the sound of a firing gun. It’s really loud and scary. And it could end a person’s life. That’s the most horrible and frightful part of firing a gun. Even though it wasn’t pointed at her, she felt really uneasy in the presence of a gun in the same space as her. ‘What if it misfired?’ She started to mull over tens of thousands of ways things could go wrong.

A nudge on her arm brought her back to the warehouse. She blinked at Jack who was standing beside her. “Stop worrying. Your thoughts are too loud,” he said. He seemed a little more serious than usual as well. Nelly didn’t really pay attention to Jack. She focused back on Stacy and the extremely dangerous thing in her hand.

Stacy was studying the gun. Jack could practically feel his heartbeat in his throat as he stood some distance away while watching Stacy do it. The way she flipped the gun around with the naivety and curiosity of a child made him doubt his decision to have faith in her. ‘Please don’t have a slip of hand,’ he prayed in his heart.

“How do you use this thing?” He heard her mumble to herself as she stared at the gun. Her stare was intense, as if the answer would reveal itself if she stared hard enough. Jack took the opportunity to jog to her side.

“Why not give it time? Rest a bit and let me know when you remember how to use it,” he said as he pried the gun carefully away from her hand. Once out of her reach, he tugged the gun away so fast, one might think that it’s something he robbed.

Stacy blinked at the space in front of her where the gun once was. “I had the feeling last night,” she looked up at them. Her look of confusion turned into immense disappointment. “Why can’t I recall the feeling now?”

Jack and Nelly exchanged a look of worry. Nelly quickly put her hands on her shoulders and guided her away from the range. Jack walked beside Stacy so that she’d feel safe to be between the both of them.

“You will find it again. Maybe you’re already too tired today. We should rest a bit more,” Nelly tried her best to assure her. “What if..” Stacy paused before turning to look at Nelly. “What if I don’t find it ever again?” Her voice sounded forced and it tugged at their hearts. Nelly wanted to say something but she didn’t want to give her any false hope. It’s true that it’s better for her to forget her past. But she’s struggling without the memory of it as well. Either way, it’s tearing her down.

Only, before her attempt to go to sleep forever, it was dragging her down with the intensity so fierce, she had to hold on to the 0.01% of reason why she shouldn’t break down. After waking up from her long slumber, along with her amnesia, the unknown and the feeling of loss was tearing her down slowly.

In Jack’s desperation to lift the mood, he blurted, “let’s drink! Drinking can solve anything.” Nelly gave him a power stare that shut him up almost instantly. He recoiled back into his side of Stacy, looking straight ahead while walking with his rigid posture. That was the last piece of their conversation as they walked in silence back to the working area. Everyone was deep in their own mind.

Right when she sat on the bench, Stacy looked up with determination in her eyes, like she’d decided something of utmost importance. “You know what, let’s drink!”

Nelly’s eyes almost bulged out. Stacy was already turning her body to face Jack with excitement. “What do you usually drink?”

Jack appeared helpless as he looked at her excited expression. At the same time, he could see Nelly’s eyes reaching him like blades, ready to pierce his soul the moment he said something wrong. He gave Stacy an awkward small laugh. “Water.”

Stacy’s expression fell. She turned to look at Nelly. She was already holding out the bottle to her. She even helped her uncapped the bottle. “Drink up,” she said with a straight face. Stacy reached for the bottle, clearly disappointed by the turn of events.

After taking a big mouthful of it, she handed it back to Nelly. “I thought alcohol was involved when you said ‘drink’.” Nelly narrowed her eyes at her confession. “If you want to kiss your memories goodbye forever, you can drink alcoholic drinks. I won’t stop you,” she shrugged at the end of her sentence.

Stacy’s eyes widened in fear. “What’s that supposed to mean? What’s the relation between them?” The thought of not being able to drink until she regained her memory seemed to have added to her misery.

“Alcohol can stall recovery and worsen memory problems,” Nelly shook her head when she saw Stacy’s fear. The thought of not being able to drink scared her more than a gun. That itself was something Nelly would never understand.

“Then, what’s the nearest thing to alcohol? What else can solve any problems effectively?” She threw the question at Nelly after pondering for some time.

Nelly’s face turned serious as she considered the answer to that question.

“I have an idea!”