Unforeseen Danger

by Michelle Perry

  UNFORESEEN DANGER

  by

  Michelle Perry

  Triskelion Publishing

  www.triskelionpublishing.com

  Published by Triskelion Publishing

  8190 W. Deer Valley Road, Peoria, AZ 85382 U.S.A.

  First e-published by Triskelion Publishing

  First e-publishing October2004

  ISBN 1-932866-43-4

  Copyright © Michelle Perry 2004

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art by Triskelion Publishing

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  CONTENTS:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Mid-Tennessee State Hospital

  November 2

  Pain. Pain blossomed, bright and sharp in her brain, unfurling like the petals of a rose. The mere flutter of her eyelids caused a white-hot explosion behind her eyes so brilliant that, for a moment, she saw nothing. She cried out and clutched her head in an attempt to stop the dazzling fireworks inside her skull.

  “Nikki!” someone shouted, but she couldn’t answer, couldn’t move, as she fought the blackness that threatened to reclaim her.

  Finally, the blinding pain dissipated into a dull, heavy ache.

  Where was she?

  The scent of pine disinfectant burned her nose. She shivered under the cool blast of air conditioning and slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt too heavy to lift, even if she had been game enough to try, but she wasn’t feeling particularly lucky at the moment. Her vision swam and seconds passed before she could focus on the woman hovering over her.

  A nurse?

  “There’s our girl!” The woman smiled and pressed a button by the bed. The intercom crackled to life and she said, “Please tell Dr. Carver the patient in 412 is awake.”

  “Your handsome husband has been waiting on you, Nikki.” The nurse nodded and reached to take her pulse.

  Carefully turning her head, she followed the nod and stared blankly at the dark-haired man in the corner.

  There was some mistake.

  He wasn’t her husband.

  She wasn’t Nikki.

  She was—

  A tiny flutter of fear grew in the pit of her stomach.

  She was—

  Abruptly, confusion gave way to terror. It clutched her with icy fingers. Her breath left her in a rush and she began ripping at the wires and tubes attached to her.

  “What’s wrong with her?” the man cried.

  She clawed at her chest, trying desperately to breathe in an environment that suddenly seemed devoid of oxygen. Iron bands of panic snapped tight around her chest, crushing her under their weight.

  Breathe, breathe, breathe.

  She commanded herself to calm down, commanded her terrified mind to unlock her lungs. When air finally flooded back in, it made her head spin. Then she heard someone screaming, a high, keening sound of terror. It took her a moment to realize the screams were hers.

  ***

  Doctors and nurses raced into the room. Nikki’s eyes rolled back and she began to convulse. Her small frame jerked in the bed as if an electric current surged through it.

  “Get him out of here!” someone yelled. Hands grasped at Jake Hawthorne, who stood rooted to the green tile floor, watching his wife in grim horror. They shoved him out into the hall and slammed the door behind them.

  “Nikki,” he whispered, unable to tear his eyes from that closed door. He couldn’t hear her anymore and somehow, the silence terrified him more than her tortured screams.

  With as much fervor as he’d cursed her before, he prayed for her now.

  As deeply as he had hated her then, he feared for her now.

  An eternity passed before Dr. Carver came out to talk to him. Luke Carver was a friend and Jake knew from the look on his face that things were bad.

  “Is s-she…?”

  “Nikki’s okay,” Luke reassured him. “That was some panic attack, though.”

  A wave of relief washed over Jake. “So…a panic attack? That’s all?”

  Luke hesitated. “Jake…Nikki sustained some brain injury in the accident. She had a seizure, too.”

  Jake hugged himself against the chill those words caused. “What do you mean, brain injury?”

  “She has post-traumatic amnesia. She doesn’t remember her name, her address, or…you.” Luke frowned. “Jake, it disturbs me that she doesn’t remember her own name. Amnesia in real life is nothing like it is in the soap operas. It’s unusual for a person to lose such basic information as her own identity.”

  “But she’ll remember everything eventually, right?”

  “Hard to say. Most people with post-traumatic amnesia regain their memories gradually within six months—”

  “But?” Jake prodded.

  Luke sighed. “Depending on the person, it could be days or decades. Hopefully, I can tell you more after the CT scan, but right now, I just don’t know.”

  His words stunned Jake. Luke continued, laying out the proposed treatment for her condition, but Jake scarcely heard him.

  Nikki didn’t know him. It seemed absurd that, just a couple of days ago, she had jerked her wedding ring off and flung it at him, shouting that she wished she’d never met him.

  Careful what you wish for, Nikki, he thought, and then felt guilty. No matter what had happened between him and Nikki, he couldn’t stand to see her suffer as she was now.

  “Look, Jake. It’s possible that the Nikki in there will act nothing like the Nikki you love. She could experience bouts of forgetfulness, irritability, and confusion. She might need to be put on anti-epileptic medication for awhile, and it’s likely that she’ll have to go to rehab.” He shrugged. “On the other hand, her situation may improve dramatically once the swelling in her brain goes down and healthy brain cells start to take over for the damaged ones.”

  Jake was numb, stricken by what he’d just seen and heard. He allowed Luke to guide him back to Nikki’s room, even though his first impulse was to turn and run.

  Jake’s heart plummeted as he gazed at the pitiful creature that had once been his beautiful bride. She whimpered when she saw him and breathed deeply from the oxygen mask that she held to her face, but, thankfully, didn’t lapse into another panic attack.

  Nothing could prepare him for the physical changes that had taken place in her since he had been forced from that room. Her skin, already pale from the accident, was now bleached as white as milk and her eyes were lined in black, not by mascara, but by anguish. Her hair lay wildly on her pillow, reminding him of the snakes of Medusa. Nikki had always taken great pains with her appearance, and it hurt him to see her this way.

  He mustered up all the compassion he could for her and managed what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

  “Nikki?” His smile felt sickly and pasted on as he approached her bed. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and Jake could almost believe that he was caught in the middle of some horrible, sluggish nightmare. The look on Nikki’s face was something he could never have imagined, however, and Jake felt oddly trapped by the fear in her eyes. She lowered the oxygen mask and her lips moved feverishly, but he couldn’t yet make
out what she was saying.

  “Don’t you remember me? Jake?”

  She shook her head, her lips never ceasing their frantic chant.

  “—through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil—”

  He managed to catch part of her faint refrain and lurched to a stop. His throat ached with the emotion caught there.

  She was praying. His beautiful, haughty Nikki was praying.

  She hadn’t attended church regularly since she was a girl, and he began to grasp how alone she felt. Despite himself, Jake’s heart went out to her.

  He wanted to take her hand, but he was afraid that would frighten her, so he just talked softly to her.

  “My name is Jake Hawthorne. I’m your husband.” He felt like a liar even as he said it. He thought of the divorce papers lying on his dresser, just waiting to be signed and filed.

  In his heart, their marriage was over.

  “I’ve been trying to reach your parents, Sara and Doug, but they’re in Europe and I haven’t been able to track them down yet,” Jake continued, nearly babbling in his nervousness. Her fear seemed to be ebbing somewhat. At least her lips had stopped moving as she watched him pace.

  He wanted to find her parents, to figure out some way to get them to take her in and care for her. He didn’t think he could do it, not after what he found out about her this week. Jake wanted to walk out that door and never look back, but their marriage had once meant enough – to him, at least – that he just couldn’t leave her like this.

  He rambled on about anything and everything, hoping to say something that would jar a memory in her. Nikki merely stared at him, as mute as a statue.

  “Children?” she rasped.

  Her voice startled Jake. He stared at her for a beat before he could reply, “No, we don’t have children.”

  Nikki nodded and closed her eyes. She dropped off almost instantly to sleep.

  How odd that Nikki had asked about children, Jake thought. He watched her for a moment, and then slipped outside in search of coffee.

  The vending machine down the hall spat out a cup and Jake winced as he took the first gulp. As the bitter brew scalded his throat, Jake remembered his promise to call his mother and glanced at his watch. 11:15 she would be in bed. He decided to wait until morning.

  He caught the elevator to the lobby and stepped outside. A cool breeze ruffled his hair as he dug out his cell phone and punched in the number to Nikki’s mother’s hotel room. It rang seven times before the desk picked up and he left another message for Sara.

  Jake fished fifty cents out of his pocket and bought a newspaper from the machine. Reluctantly, he stepped back inside and took the elevator to Nikki’s floor. Scanning the headlines, Jake didn’t notice the two men standing in front of her door until they spoke.

  “Mr. Hawthorne?”

  Gold flashed under the lights as they flipped open their badges. Jake shoved the paper under his arm and said, “Yes, I’m Jake Hawthorne.”

  The oldest of the pair stepped forward. “I’m Detective Green and this is Detective Janney. We’d like to ask you and your wife a few questions about the accident.”

  “Nikki’s asleep,” Jake said. “And she doesn’t seem to remember much right now.”

  The officers looked at each other and Green gestured to the waiting room across the hall. “Then we’d like to talk to you for a moment, if you don’t mind.”

  Jake cast another glance at Nikki’s door, and then stepped inside the waiting room. He took a seat in one of the mauve chairs and Green sat across from him. Janney stood in the doorway, as if he expected Jake to flee.

  “Tell us what you remember about this morning. Where was your wife going?”

  Jake rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure. She left early, before I got up. I fell asleep on the couch in my study. The phone rang, then a few minutes later I heard my truck pull out of the driveway.”

  “She didn’t mention any plans? Shopping with a friend, something like that?”

  Jake shook his head. Nikki had been too mad to speak to him that morning, but he knew she hadn’t been in the mood to go shopping. “Sorry, she didn’t say anything.”

  “Who does the Dodge belong to?”

  “It’s mine.”

  “Does Mrs. Hawthorne drive it often?”

  Jake almost laughed. Nikki was a princess with a white BMW. She hated his work truck, could barely stand to see it in the driveway. “Hardly ever. The car had a flat, so I guess she took whatever was available.”

  “Mr. Hawthorne, do you know anyone who would want to harm you or Mrs. Hawthorne?”

  The question caught Jake off-guard. Surely they didn’t think—

  “There were no skid marks or anything. Looks like the brakes failed completely,” Green added, scratching his white beard. “Unusual.”

  “No,” Jake said finally. “No, I don’t know why anyone would want to harm either of us.”

  The beeper on Janney’s belt sounded and he looked at his partner. “Gotta go,” he said.

  Green frowned and stood to his feet. “We’ll be back in the morning, Mr. Hawthorne. We have more questions for you and Mrs. Hawthorne.”

  “We’ll be here,” Jake forced a smile and rose to his feet. He watched the policemen leave, and then eased open the door to Nikki’s room.

  She was still sleeping. He gulped down his now cool coffee and tossed the cup in the wastebasket. Jake stood over Nikki for a moment before climbing into the bed next to hers. The evening shift nurse had told him to use it and he was grateful. Jake’s eyes felt grainy and raw and he closed them, willing himself to get some sleep.

  Where were you going, Nikki? He wondered, but in his heart, he was afraid he already knew.

  He was awakened a couple of hours later by the sound of Nikki’s sobs.

  ***

  She hadn’t meant to wake him, but his eyes flew open and he bounded over to her, hovering over her bedrail like a worried mother hen.

  “Hey!” he said. “Are you hurting, Nik? Do you want me to call the nurse?”

  “No,” she whispered, unable to look at him. “I can’t remember your name!” she blurted out, embarrassed. “I know you’re my husband and I know you told me your name, but I can’t remember it.”

  “Is that all?” he asked lightly, but she could tell he was shaken. She wondered if her memory would always be like this, filled with holes like a colander, her new information slipping away every time she slept.

  “My name is Jake. You’ve been through a lot, so try not to push yourself so hard.” He squeezed her hand. “You’ll remember.”

  He spied a magic marker lying on the chart where the nurses monitored her vital signs and said, “Look, I’ll write it on my hand, so if you forget again, you won’t even have to ask me. It’ll be right here.”

  Despite her frustration, she smiled as he wrote JAKE in big block letters on the top of his right hand with the marker. He gave her a relieved grin and she was touched by the concern on his face.

  How on earth had she forgotten a man like this?

  His shocking blue eyes blazed against a backdrop of tan skin and lush black lashes. Jake’s unruly black hair was tousled from sleep and she suspected he would look rugged even without the faint shadows of stubble darkening his jaw. The hand that had squeezed hers was rough and calloused. This was a man who worked with his hands, probably outdoors.

  “What do you do, Jake?” she asked.

  “I own a construction company.”

  “How long have we known each other?”

  He smiled. “Three years, two days and—” He paused to glance at his watch. “—about three hours.”

  “Wow, I’m impressed.” She smiled. “I bet you’re some kind of husband.”

  A flicker of pain crossed his face and he stepped back. Jake sat in the chair beside her bed and his face disappeared into the shadows.

  “Where is my family?” she asked, and heard him sigh.

  “Your parents are in Germany. Y
our mom, Sara, is mayor of Dunlap, the next town over. Your father, Doug, is a plastic surgeon. Her family lives in Wisconsin, and I’ve never met any of his. You’re an only child, like me.” He paused and said, “Well, I have a stepbrother and sister, but I was already in college when Mom remarried.”

  “How did we meet?”

  Jake coughed and said, “Nik, I think we’d better get some sleep. You need to rest. We’ll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” she said softly. She heard the scrape of his chair, then the creak of the other bed as he lay down. She could just discern the outline of his broad shoulders in the dark. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she’d been dismissed. She just didn’t know why.

  ***

  Jake lay awake, thinking of her smile. It had been the first smile he’d gotten from Nikki in weeks, fleeting as it was, and he had to force himself to return it. He felt helpless at the rage bubbling in his chest.

  This was crazy.

  He had to get out of here, had to think of something, but his thoughts were an incoherent jumble as he finally drifted off to sleep.

  The chirp of Nikki’s I.V. jarred him awake the next morning. She looked much better, even managing an apologetic smile as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. That smile caused his chest to tighten. Frankly, he wished for a moment that the Nikki he’d grown accustomed to – the snarling, hostile Nikki – was here. At least he knew how to respond to her. This innocent, smiling caricature of her cut him to the core.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “Morning, Nik. You feel okay?”

  “Sore,” she replied.

  The door opened and a couple of nurses in blue scrubs came in. “Good morning, Nikki,” one of them said. “We’re here to take you for an EEG.”

  Nikki gave Jake an anxious look and he squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll be waiting right here when you get through.”

  Nikki nodded and they wheeled her from the room. He followed them out and watched them load her onto the elevator before he went in search of coffee. Jake wolfed down a couple of candy bars and drank two cups of coffee before he started back down the hall to Nikki’s room.

  “Jake.”