The Accident

by Donna M. Zadunajsky

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m not sick, just the smells tickling my nose.” She waved a hand in the air. All heads turned back to what they were doing before she walked farther into the room.

  Moore walked up to the counter, but there was no one sitting on the other side. She looked around the room. Most of the nurses were busy attending to patients in the rooms. That’s when her eyes saw a woman, maybe Ben Gordon’s wife, sitting inside the same room her father was in. It didn’t mean that Ben was going to die. That would be absurd to think that. It was just a room, besides her father was in his mid-seventies and his heart was getting old. He had heart disease and the doctors said that it would happen eventually. There was nothing anyone could do to save him when he developed a staph infection after the surgery. She knew that he was in a better place, but it didn’t make her miss him any less.

  She placed both hands on the duty belt around her waist as if she were about to have a shoot off and walked toward the room. The lady sitting beside the bed turned, but it wasn’t the same woman from the other night.

  “Pardon me,” Moore said. “I thought you were someone else.”

  “No problem,” the dark-haired woman replied, looking startled.

  Moore had that effect on some people when they saw her coming. A black woman in a police uniform. Like women, white or colored, couldn’t be police officers, or was it the fact she was black? Both, she was sure. She hated when people thought women couldn’t have the same jobs as men could. Horse puckey, she thought before turning and walking away.

  When Officer Moore turned around she ran right into one of the nurses she knew. “I’m so sorry,” Moore said, holding out her hands to stop them both from falling. “I was looking for the male patient from the accident on the Ohio Turnpike. I thought he was in that room, but he’s not,” Moore said before taking a step back and away from the nurse.

  “Oh, yes, Ben Gordon. He was moved to the third floor this morning. Doctor didn’t see any concerns to have him in here any longer. Besides, we needed the room for someone else,” the nurse replied. “You know how it can be sometimes when you need to make room in a space that’s too small.”

  Officer Moore nodded. “Do you know if he’s conscious?”

  “Yes, actually he is. Woke up this morning. The doctor sent him for a CT scan and then moved him down to the third floor.”

  Moore nodded again. “Okay, thank you. Have a good day!”

  “You too, Moore,” the nurse said as she walked away and into another room.

  Moore left the ICU and climbed back into the elevator. After the doors closed, she pushed the button and the metal box jerked and then started to descend in a slow rickety movement. She thought of her life passing her by and how not only did she live alone but she would die alone too. She never took life by the reins and took chances. No, she sat back and was literally watching everything, and everyone pass her by. Occasionally, she’d wave at them while sitting on her front porch sipping sweet tea, but maybe it was time to come out of her shell and get out there and live a little. Go watch a movie with a friend or have a dinner other than in her own kitchen. She was thinking of Trevon Woods.

  The metal box came to an abrupt halt and the doors opened. She quickly stepped off just in case the cables snapped, and the elevator shot down to the garage, ending her magnificent life. She gathered her composure and walked down the hall and into the closest restroom. She shoved open the first stall door and vomited into the white porcelain toilet.

  She knew she hadn’t been feeling very well lately. She wiped her face clean as she stood in front of the sink. Part of her felt humiliated for being such a wuss. She was a police officer, for God’s sake, someone who put her life on the line every day, and one little shake of an elevator and she was scared out of her mind and throwing up. What kind of person did that? And why was she acting like this? She stood up straight, looked into the mirror and tossed the paper towel in the garbage. She turned and left the restroom in search of the nurse’s station. Once she found it, she asked for Ben Gordon’s room. Moore followed the directions down the hall and to the third door on her left, room 315.

  The door was ajar, so she pressed it open and stepped inside. The rubber on the bottom of her boot caught on the newly polished floor, making her fall forward, her night stick smacking into the door. She nearly fell into the room on her face but caught herself before making a total ass of herself. This sure as hell wasn’t her day.

  Kaitlyn sprang from her chair. “Are you okay?” she said as she tried to catch Officer Moore.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Just tripped is all.” Moore straightened herself and walked farther into the room her, eyes catching sight of Ben. “I heard that you were awake,” Moore said as she gathered her composure.

  “Yes, he woke up early this morning.”

  “Do you think he’s up for any questions about the accident? It’s always best to ask them when they first wake so that they don’t forget.” Officer Moore walked over to the end of the bed, pulling out her note pad from the pocket of her shirt.

  “Well,” Kaitlyn replied. “I’m afraid he won’t remember anything that happened.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Kaitlyn stood and motioned for Moore to follow her outside the room. Once outside in the hall, Kaitlyn closed the door behind them. “Since he woke this morning, he hasn’t been able to remember anything…” she paused. “He doesn’t remember me or that I’m his wife.”

  Officer Moore studied Kaitlyn’s face as if waiting for her to say she was joking, but she could tell that she clearly wasn’t. Before Moore could say anything, Kaitlyn spoke again.

  “The doctor says he is suffering from head trauma and he may or may not recall the events of the crash or parts of his life,” Kaitlyn said. “The doctor can’t tell me if this will be a permanent thing. He may in time start remembering, but we won’t know for sure.” Kaitlyn looked down at the floor. “He didn’t know his name—or mine, for that matter.”

  “This is terrible. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  Kaitlyn nodded.

  “This must be very hard on you.”

  Kaitlyn nodded again; her body started to tremble.

  Moore reached out her hand and squeezed Kaitlyn’s arm. “Is there anything I can do? Maybe if I ask him some questions he’ll remember something? Do you care if I ask him? I’m sure you’d like to know what happened? What caused the accident?” Moore asked, hoping not to sound like she was pressuring the woman. “There were ten cars involved in the accident and we would like to find the underlying cause of this. Two were killed and more than ten injured.” Moore said this hoping to get some kind of reaction from the woman. Maybe she was dismayed and needed time to process the information.

  “Oh my God!” Kaitlyn’s hand flew to her mouth in dismay. “No, please go ahead. I know you have a job to do. Also, you should know that the doctor is releasing him tomorrow to go back home.”

  “Oh?” Moore replied. She was caught off guard by this piece of information. “Well, he isn’t under arrest and I do have your cell number to call you if I have any farther questions.” She didn’t want them to leave the state, but what else could she do? Ben Gordon wasn’t under arrest. She couldn’t keep him here against his will. Not unless she found something on him first, but it wasn’t like it was a murder investigation or anything.

  “Of course, call me anytime,” Kaitlyn replied.

  They both went back inside the room. Kaitlyn sat back down in the chair beside the bed and Moore took her spot at the end of the bed, so she could look at Ben while she asked him questions.

  “Hi Ben. My name is Officer Moore. I’m the one that found you in the wreckage. You were trapped under a truck. Do you remember any of that?”

  He shook his head.

  “Do you recall anything earlier that morning? Where you came from? Where you were headed?”

  Again, he shook his head.

  “I’m going to name some stuff and you let me k
now if you recall anything or if it means something to you,” Moore said.

  He nodded.

  “Do you normally keep your wallet in your back pocket? Or do you place it in the center console where the cup holders are?” She watched as he looked past her, as if thinking hard about what she asked. “Take your time.”

  He blinked and said, “I’m not sure. Maybe the console.”

  “That’s okay. Kaitlyn, do you have his wallet on you?”

  “Yes, of course,” she replied, digging inside her purse for it. She pulled it out and handed it to Moore.

  “Thank you. Ben, does this wallet look familiar to you? Do you want to hold it, maybe look it over?”

  “I don’t understand your questions,” Kaitlyn asked.

  “I’m just trying to trigger his memory. Sometimes if a person holds an object it will help jolt something loose.”

  Kaitlyn nodded.

  Officer Moore handed him the wallet, watching as he turned it over and read the inscription and looked over at Kaitlyn. He then opened the wallet and looked at the things inside. A couple of credit cards, his driver’s license, nothing else. He had no pictures, which Officer Moore had found odd, but not uncommon. “Anything coming to you?”

  He didn’t answer right away, as if he needed to find the words within himself, then said, “A man hitting a semi-truck.”

  18

  Later that day after Officer Moore had left, Kaitlyn felt Ben’s eyes on her. She watched him look at the necklace around her neck. She touched it, smoothing her fingers over the cut of the diamonds. Her thoughts automatically went back to the day he had given her the heart-shaped blue diamond necklace. When Ben had returned home that night from being out of town, he presented her with the necklace. All the gifts that he gave her were breathtaking and beautiful. The necklace looked expensive, which didn’t surprise her. He always seemed to buy the most expensive jewelry for her. She was sure that it was another gift from him to make up for the fight that they had before he left when he tried to strangle her.

  She wanted to confront him about the envelope that she had found in the locked drawer but thought better of it, even though what he had done made her furious. She knew he would change it all around and get upset and then he’d hit her for starting a fight after he’d given her something nice and he had just returned home. Then the thought of the baby came into her mind, and she shut her mouth and threw away the thoughts to protect her unborn child. She couldn’t risk him hitting her in the stomach.

  She could visualize the scene playing out as if it had happened because the truth was, the fights always ended the same. She would get punched and end up cleaning up after he’d wrecked the house. She knew he’d be upset with her at first, but then his behavior would change, and he would act different, almost protective. “Why were you snooping around in the office?” he would question her. As much as she would want to say something and argue with him, she knew better. She knew it wouldn’t end well. He would change back to the Ben she knew all too well. Yelling and screaming at her to mind her own fucking business and keep out of his things. Then he would hit her and walk away from her, leaving her bleeding on the floor. Not only would she have to clean herself up, but she’d have to make sure not one speck of blood was left of the floor or furniture.

  Besides, if you were wanting to keep something from someone, whether a gift or even papers, you’d hide it where they wouldn’t look or find them. A locked drawer in a desk that was used by another person wouldn’t be the smartest place to hide something. Her thoughts were driving her insane. She didn’t even have feelings for this man lying in the bed in front of her. If anything, this game of trying to let everyone see that she cared and loved this man was sickening. She didn’t care about him. She actually wished he had died in the accident instead of forgetting who he was. It would make life so much better, wouldn’t it?

  She heard his voice through the haze of her thoughts and blinked several times before seeing his face come into view. She smiled over at him lying in the bed, fragile and helpless. This made her fill up with delight inside, like a child getting a toy that they’ve been wanting for a long time. The roles were changed, and she was now the caretaker. She smiled.

  “Hi,” he whispered.

  “Hi,” she said back. “Do you need anything? Water? Soda?” she asked. Maybe some morphine to put you to sleep?

  He slowly shook his head, wincing at the pain.

  She saw his expression and smiled inside but didn’t say anything. “Are you warm enough?” Kaitlyn asked. Why was she being so finicky with him? Ben didn’t like to be babied. He usually was the one taking care of her. Not that she needed to be taken care of.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” he replied.

  “So…” she stressed. “Is there anything you’d like to know about me? About us?” Her eyes fell from his face to the sheet over his body. She knew she should keep eye contact with him. Ben hated it when she didn’t look him in the eyes.

  “How long have we been together? Been married?” he asked.

  She looked up and into his eyes when he spoke. She couldn’t remember his eyes being as blue as they were at this moment. Was it the lighting in the room? She wasn’t sure. She swallowed before answering. “We met in our second year of college at Lewis University. We ran into each other and one thing led to another. We’ve been together ever since,” she said, as hate filled her heart. Those were the days when he didn’t hit her. He had showed her nothing but love and respect. She knew now that it was his plan all along. To reel her in and then show her who he really was.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

  “The day we met.”

  “Can you tell me about it?” he asked.

  She smiled and took a sip of water and spoke. “It was Junior year. I was running late to my first class and out of nowhere I bumped into you. My books went flying everywhere. You were so kind to help me gather them in the pouring rain.” She laughed. “By the time we were done, we were soaked to the bone. I skipped my first class and we went and got hot chocolate in the cafeteria. Luckily my next class wasn’t until ten. So we sat in the corner of the room, talking and drinking our hot chocolates.” She sipped her water again before placing the glass down by her lap.

  She looked up and saw him watching her again, his blue eyes looking into hers. Her heart swelled as if wanting to love him as if it were the first time they had met. She would never forget the past four years. She would never forgive him for all that he had done to her. Did he honestly think she would forget? Feel sorry for him? Then another thought came to her—was he playing a game? Did he really not remember? Or was this a trick to get her to stay? To care for him?

  19

  Nine years earlier

  Adam noticed that none of the seats on the plane were occupied, maybe because the airline officials let military board first, but then again, he always seemed to be the first at everything, maybe that’s why his Sergeant choose him when it came to certain tactics.

  Adam made his way down the aisle and took his seat by the window. He was glad he got a window seat because this way he could look out as they were taking off. He could watch from the sky how the ground below seemed to get smaller and farther away from him and almost disappear.

  He’d only been on a plane one other time and that was when he’d flown from Ohio to Florida for boot camp. When he had landed in Deland, Florida, he had almost missed the transportation bus that was to take him to the Army base. He hadn’t known where to go after the plane had landed and all the passengers got off. He had never been inside an airport before. It didn’t occur to him that he should follow the other military officials who had taken a shuttle train from one part of the airport to the other where the parking and baggage claim area was. He had made it to the bus one minute before it was about to leave the airport bound for the Deland Army base.

  His parents weren’t much into traveling—well, except for his father, who seemed to pick up after Adam graduated
a month ago from high school and moved to the Carolinas with his new wife. He had thought that his father would never leave Ohio, but apparently, he didn’t know him all that well. His parents never went out of the state of Ohio for a vacation because his mother said that there wasn’t anything out there to see. Everything Adam needed was right there in their hometown in Edon, Ohio. Maybe that’s why he had decided to join the Army, so he could see the world.

  Once the passengers were on the plane, they were off to Chicago, Illinois. He had eight months of training there and then he’d be shipped overseas for God knows how long. It all depended on the amount of time it took to find the refugees and what his Sergeant ordered them to do in Afghanistan.

  He was glad that basic training was over because most nights he didn’t get more than two hours of sleep. The drill sergeant loved to wake them up and had them running ten to twenty miles at night and then another twenty more miles in the hot, smoldering sun.

  In Adam’s free time, not that he had a lot of that in the Army, he liked to work out and run even more miles. He even made time to write home to his mother, who he knew was probably lonely since he’d left home. If he’d known that his father was going to pick up and leave them, he wouldn’t have joined the military half way through his senior year.

  After the plane landed in Chicago and all the passengers exited the plane, he followed them off and toward the baggage claim. He wouldn’t get lost again, although all the airports seemed to be different. Chicago, O’Hare appeared larger because there was no shuttle like in Deland. He walked from the terminal to the baggage claim, which took him under the road where the planes drove and then back up to solid ground.

  After he gathered his surplus duffel bag, he headed outside and took a taxi to the US Army Department of Defense, where he’d be working for the next eight months. He checked in with his Commanding Officer and was then escorted to the room where he’d be staying.