E.T.

Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open to reveal the rested clear aqua eyes hidden beneath. Curiously, she looked around her. She was met with blinding white, everywhere she looked. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. Her eyes widened increasingly as she looked down to see a tube stuck in her mouth. Unable to move, she helplessly flailed her arms about in hopes someone would see.

At long last, a nurse approached, a small stretching slowly across her lips. "You're awake! Welcome back Miss Opal!" Swiftly, the nurse bustled about, removing the tube from Opal's throat. After a few sharp intakes of breath, Opal spoke. "Where am I?"
"You're at the hospital," said the nurse kindly, pausing in her movements. "Mr... Uh.. I don't know his name, but he's been round here every day."
"Carlisle?" asked Opal, slightly out of breath.
"No, not Carlisle... Certainly not Carlisle," said the nurse, gazing at the wall. "I'm not sure what his name was.." her eyes turned back to Opal. "Here, he left this behind, with the flowers." Handing her the card, she pointed at a beautiful bouquet of blue and purple hydrangeas on the table positioned against the wall opposite her bed. As the nurse left, Opal peered down at the card. Dearest Opal, it read in a neat, curly scrawl, I trust you'll rest well and I'll see you when you wake. 
-E.T.
Opal stared at his signature for a long while. E.T? E.T? The last time she checked, she was with Carlisle. His initials did not include an E, nor a T. So, who was this E.T?

Opal looked up to see the nurse had returned, and was frowning at the expression on her face. "Are you ok, Miss Opal?" she asked softly, reaching behind her to fluff the pillows behind her head.
"Who's this E.T?"
"Well, I imagine he's your partner, Miss Opal. He's come in to see you nearly every day. Oh dear..." the nurse stopped, looking back at her. "You don't remember, do you?" Opal remained silent, unsure of what to say. "I can't seem to recall anything about an E.T." Opal said. "The last thing I remember, I was with Carlisle. Nurse, what happened to me?"
"Um... well.." the nurse sank into a nearby plastic chair by Opal's bedside, leaning forward and clasping her hands together. "Miss Opal, you were in an accident. You've been unconscious for a few weeks now." The nurse suddenly gets to her feet, as if responding to a silent prompt. "Oh. I'd best get the doctor, and would you like me to call your fellow for you as well?"
Opal was silent a moment before slowly nodding in response. "Yes," she said, "I think I'd like to meet this E.T. He sounds... intriguing."
The nurse jovially clapped her hands together like a small child as she made to leave the room to make the calls. "He does doesn't he!"

"Hi Opal!" A gentle though deep sounding voice floated across the room and she looked up at him just as he reached her bedside. He reached out to touch her forehead, but the moment his fingers grazed against her, she shrunk away.
"I'm sorry," he said, sinking into the chair he'd pulled closer, settling for simply resting his clasped hands on the edge of the bed frame.
"She's experiencing a little bit of memory loss," said a passing nurse in a serious tone, pausing briefly in the doorway.

"Oh," he said, turning back to her after glancing at the nurse. "I'm sorry. How are you feeling?"
"Alright. A little confused."
"Perhaps I can help," he said, offering a tiny hint at a smile. "Fill you in a little. How much do you remember?"
"I was with Carlisle," she said. It was all that seemed relevant right now. This man was a complete stranger. But he seemed nice.
"Do you remember me? At all?" he asked, sounding desperate. Apologetically, she shook her head as her eyes fell to her bed sheets.
"Nothing?"
"You're an alien to me," she said honestly, holding his gaze. "Your touch, so foreign." She glanced at his hand on the bed frame and he extended it toward her. She lightly rested her own hand atop his before meeting his eyes once more. Her breath got caught as she looked at him and she felt a tingle run all the way down her spine.
"Well, we haven't been going out long," he said. "In fact, the night of your accident was also the night of our first date." Her eyes were locked on him as he recounted the story, and by the end, she had a smile on the end. "There's not so much to rewind, so what do you say we redeem our relationship?"
She blinked. "I'd like that," she said, interlacing their fingers together as her smile widened. "I think I'm ready for redemption."
"Ok," he said. "We'll take it one step at a time then."

"I just have to know one thing though," she said, glancing at the smiley nurse from earlier who just happened to show up in the doorway at that very moment. "What's E.T. stand for?"
"Oh, I should have done that." A smile quickly spread across his lips. "I'm so sorry Opal! I'm Eric," he slipped his hand from beneath hers and held it out toward her as if they were strangers meeting for the first time, which to Opal, was exactly what it felt like. "Eric Tate."
"I'm Opal," she said, shaking his hand.