Star Fallen Lover

by Lakes, Lynde

Mona leaned forward and touched Greg’s hand. “I’m glad you tried, Greg. I wouldn’t want to go ahead if there was any other way.”

  “Can’t you give us just a little more time? As we were leaving, Greg seemed to recognize this Navy lieutenant’s car.”

  “That sounds encouraging,” Dr. Steina said. “What about the car, Greg?”

  He shrugged. “It was nothing. I’m ready to get the treatments. The sooner the better.”

  Renewed panic rose in Darli. She switched her gaze from Cortz to the doctor. “What kind of guarantees can you give that the treatments will help any more than the trip did?”

  “When it comes to the mind, there are no guarantees,” Dr. Steina said.

  “Then why do it?”

  “The final decision is up to Greg and Mona. They have a right to request treatment. While I don’t recommend hurrying into such a drastic step, with the minimal success we’ve had so far, I can understand their eagerness to see results.”

  Mona’s eyes blazed. “We aren’t rushing into this. It’s been over six months and you said there has been a measure of success on amnesia patients.”

  “True,” the doctor said. “But there have been failures too, where the patient has lost even his current memory. You must understand and accept the risks. And they are high.”

  “Surely you don’t have to decide today,” Darli said.

  Mona arched her brow. “Greg?”

  “I want it over with. If there’s a chance the treatment will make me remember, I want to take it. I want my life back.”

  “It’s settled then,” Dr. Steina said, “I’ll schedule the first treatment for the day after tomorrow.”

  ****

  An hour later, Cortz’s mind churned. Was he wrong to close his mind to Darli’s arguments? Should he give it more time? He sighed and eased closer to her. Here they were sitting on an embankment next to the hospital’s artificial lake as though they hadn’t a care in the world. The silence was unnerving, and once again a swirling fog invaded his mind, wrapping its tendrils around every hint of memory that was trying to fight its way out. Somehow, Darli was the key. Was he wrong to close his mind to her arguments? She looked breathtakingly lovely as she watched two ducks floating on the water. One nuzzled the neck of the other. Their white feathery reflections mirrored their contentment. He envied the simplicity of their lives.

  “Cortz, I can’t stand by and see you get those treatments. I’m leaving.”

  “No. I need you here with me. I want you here.”

  Tears glistened in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but if you do this, it will be without me.” She got to her feet and started running.

  Cortz ran after her. Within five large strides he caught up with her and pulled her into his arms. She struggled. He held her firmly. She jerked away, catching him off guard. As his head hit the edge of a concrete bench, he saw a bright flash. It was as if lightning had exploded the sun.

  For a moment he was blinded, then an image materialized before him. He’d hit his head a couple of times before, other times, other places; he was struggling with Darli. Yes, yes, he could see one of the locations clearly. It was Darli’s apartment.

  You started this, he had told her that night so long ago. Now you are going to listen to what I have to say. The image of their struggle came clear, then changed—he was handing her the retriever.

  Cortz’s heart beat faster. A warmth surged through his body. It all made sense now. He’d been getting his memory back bit by bit, but he hadn’t trusted his mind because the images weren’t of Greg’s life. They were his own! He was Cortz! He laughed, a robust, joy-filled guffaw.

  Darli knelt beside him. “Are you hurt? This is the third time you’ve suffered head trauma. The human skull can take only so much abuse, Cortz.” Her touch on his cheek was soft…familiar, like coming home after a very long journey.

  “I’ve never felt better. I remember you…us. We were and are in love!”

  “You remember everything? The time we spent together before you went away?”

  Cortz nodded.

  Darli threw her arms around his neck and thrust herself against him. Between kisses she whispered, “You won’t have to get the electroshock treatments. Thank God…Thank God.”

  He brought his mouth down on hers. The taste of her was even sweeter with his memory back, as was the feel of her in his arms.

  Cortz covered her mouth with his again. Suddenly he stopped kissing her. “The retriever…I know how to use it! There’s a code.”

  “Use it for what?”

  “To operate the spaceship.”

  “Spaceship?”

  “Yes…yes. My spaceship.” He brought her to her feet with him as he rose, then danced her around, laughing. “I remember it all! The stun gun, the computer, the diamonds. I came to Earth from Uraticus. I met you. Someone hit me over the head in an alley. I’m not Greg! I am Cortz!”

  “Because of my love for you, I desperately want to believe this. But you’re confused. Dr. Steina explained why you had all those foreign looking gadgets. You’re fantasizing again. Think hard. You are Greg…not Cortz. I only call you Cortz because that’s what you called yourself when we met.”

  “Because that’s who I am! Don’t you see? Dr. Steina was wrong. The dreams about the colorless people weren’t nightmares. They were about my people. I really am Cortz.”

  She shrank from his touch. He tightened his hold. Then, a new concern hit him like a ton of meteor debris. ”My gear!”

  “Cortz, you’re hurting my shoulders.” She tried to twist out of his hold.

  He held her firmly. “I have to get my things!”

  “Your things are safe,” she said, her voice suspiciously calm. “You know that. We left them in the closet.”

  Cortz felt a desperate need to press for more assurance. “Promise me you’ll keep everything safe?”

  Her eyes flashed. “I have so far, haven’t I? Even when I had no idea if I’d ever see you again.”

  I’m handling this all wrong. He needed her trust, needed her to believe in him. “Of course, I’m sorry. But my few personal belongings are such an important link to my past.”

  He closed his eyes. Without the retriever, he would be trapped on Earth forever!

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Darli grabbed Cortz’s arm to stop him from bursting into Dr. Steina’s office. He shook off her hold and rushed inside. “I’m Cortz, not Greg,” he shouted, his voice breathless and excited. He paced the floor like a highly agitated patient ready for a padded cell. “There’s no need for shock treatments and no reason for me to stay here any longer.”

  Dr. Steina’s forehead wrinkled with concern and she rose from her desk. “What happened, Darli?”

  Cortz stopped pacing and closed the space between himself and the doctor’s desk. He thrust his thighs against the wood, accidentally shoving the heavy furniture forward a few inches. “Didn’t you hear me, Doctor? There’s no reason for me to stay any longer. I can leave! I’m cured!”

  “This is quite a change from our last conversation,” the doctor said. “Maybe I should talk to Darli alone. Then we can discuss this further.”

  Cortz thrust his arms up in the air. “No! Talk to me! I’m the only one who knows the whole story.”

  “Greg, sit down,” the doctor said, her tone firm.

  “Greg? Greg? Aren’t you listening, Doctor? I’m Cortz!”

  The doctor poured a glass of water, held it and a pill out to Cortz. Cortz ignored the water and knocked the pill from the doctor’s hand. “No pills, doctor.”

  “Calm down, Greg, you’re not yourself.”

  “That’s just it. For the first time in many months I am myself, and I demand that you release me at once. I want to go back to Hawaii with Darli.”

  Darli’s fought the tears pooling in her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand.

  “Tell her, Darli. Tell her I’m Cortz. That I remember everything.”

  Darli tried to speak, but her words
couldn’t get past the lump in her throat.

  “It’s a shock, I know, but it’s going to be all right, Darli. Seeing my things helped. It just took a while for my mind to process the information.”

  Darli lowered her eyes. “Oh, this is all my fault,” she murmured.

  “Take it easy, Greg,” Dr. Steina said in a soothing tone. She made a notation in his file.

  Cortz turned and slammed out of the office.

  Darli bit her lip, trying not to give in to the tears forming on her lashes.

  Dr. Steina handed her a tissue. “It’ll be all right. Now what happened?”

  “I was upset about the treatments. I ran from him, and when he caught me, I jerked away and he fell and hit his head…again. When he got up, he began to dance me around in a circle shouting that he remembered that he was Cortz, not Greg.”

  Dr. Steina’s eyes softened with compassion and she touched Darli’s hand. “Take a deep breath.

  “Don’t you see,” Darli said, “he’s reverted to the fantasy world again. He believes he’s really Cortz and not Greg. His illness has worsened. I pushed him too hard.”

  Dr. Steina wrinkled her brow. “Don’t blame yourself. This turn of events good be a very good sign. When his attacker hit him over the head in that alley in Hawaii, he believed himself to be Cortz. This confusion is no doubt an extension of what he experienced before. Remembering the fantasy may be a natural progression toward the full return of his memory. I’ll know more after a careful evaluation of his condition. In any event, he’ll feel better in the morning.”

  “Doctor, do you believe what you’re saying, or are you just trying to make me feel better?”

  “Both.” Dr. Steina picked up the phone. “Jones, please tell Marcel to come to my office. Miss Grenlane is ready to be driven to her accommodations. And, Jones…would you please check on Greg?”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Suddenly like a fog lifting, the haze clouding Cortz’s judgment dissolved, and his anger subsided. He slowed his steps as he approached his room. He needed to talk to someone who would listen and understand, someone he trusted. Cortz whipped around and headed out the side door.

  He found Hap sitting on a concrete bench out near the rose arbor feeding nuts to the squirrels and softly mumbling in some strange tongue. Cortz approached slowly and quietly so he wouldn’t frighten the squirrels. In a voice slightly above a whisper he asked, “Hap, are you feeling all right?” In spite of his whisper, the squirrels scurried away.

  Hap glared at Cortz. His splotched hands folded and unfolded the top of the clear plastic bag of nuts in his lap. “Can’t a man be alone with his lil’ pals? Who are you anyway, friend or foe?”

  “Hap, it’s me, your friend. Don’t you recognize me?”

  Garbled words tumbled from Hap’s lips.

  Cortz shook his head and patted the old man’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  Perhaps in response to the agony in Cortz’s voice, Hap gestured toward a spot beside him on the bench. Cortz sat down next to him and buried his head in his hands. Finally he looked up. “I need to talk to someone…” He glanced in Hap’s direction. The old man’s lined face jutted forward. His thin, dry lips puckered as though he was about to whistle. He swallowed. “It’s the damned pills,” he croaked. “Difficult to speak. You talk.”

  Cortz sighed. What good would it do to discuss this with Hap in his present condition? Yet what harm would it do? Maybe talking out loud would help put it all into perspective. He told Hap what happened earlier with Darli. “Then later,” Cortz said, “when we returned to the doctor’s office, I told her my memory had returned and I wasn’t Greg, that I was Cortz from the planet Uraticus.”

  Cortz buried his face in his hands again. He had made such a mess of things. In his misery, he hardly noticed the big hand gently patting him on the back. When the soothing warmth of human touch penetrated his consciousness, he looked up and saw a tear rolling down Hap’s leathered cheeks. “You do understand!”

  The old man wiped his sleeve across his eyes and, in child-like wonderment asked, “Are you really an alien from another planet?”

  “Yes. Does that surprise you?”

  “Damn right. Never met a space alien before. You aren’t kidding me, are you?”

  “No, I’m not kidding, but this has to be our secret.”

  “Who would believe me if I told them? Everyone thinks I’m loony.”

  “Not everyone. I don’t think you’re loony. I suspect you’re a sly old faker. But I must admit I was concerned when I saw you behave so strangely. Why did you act as if you didn’t know me?”

  “It’s the damn chemical straitjacket. I think I’m allergic to those pills they give me. I told the doctor I’m better without them, but she doesn’t believe me. It’s a constant conflict. They want me docile and easy to handle but I don’t want to be a damned robot. I used to hide the pills until Jones caught on to me. Once they wear off I’m okay.”

  “You had me worried. I don’t like to see you that way. I’ll have to figure out how to help you.”

  Hap chuckled. “Sounds like you’re the one who needs help right now. Ya know, telling people in here that you’re from another planet is dangerous.”

  Cortz stiffened. “You’re right. If they believe me, they’ll turn me over to the government who will study, probe and probably even dissect me.”

  “Nasty thought.”

  “Your compassion is overwhelming,” Cortz said dryly.

  “You have to keep your sense of humor, my friend. You’ll need it.”

  “I know. But I made it worse when I told the doctor I was Cortz and not Greg. Either I’m Cortz from another planet, in which case she would have to report me to the authorities, or I’m a mentally confused Greg requiring further treatment. I can’t win either way.”

  Hap gave a sly grin. “Admit it. The lesser of the two evils is for her to believe you’re Greg.”

  “I know. I wish I could take back what I said earlier today.”

  “You can. That’s the one benefit of this place, you’re able to say something one day, and change it the next. They expect it.”

  “But the doctor’s going to think I’m worse off than before. I can’t let her give me those electroshock treatments now!”

  “Electroshock? Never let them do that to you…never!”

  Cortz shuddered, wondering how he could have ever considered such a thing. “I won’t. But still…the doctor will think I should stay here longer.”

  “Not really. If it’s worked right, you can turn it to your advantage.”

  “How?”

  “You told me the doctor believed you were fantasizing being from another planet at the time you were hit over the head. You can use that.”

  “I see your point. Unfortunately, that means I’ll have to pretend to be Greg. I hate deceiving people.” But then, hadn’t he been doing that all along? And now he had no other option.

  “You have a better idea?” Hap’s serious expression broke to a grin. “Besides, pretending can add spice to life.”

  Cortz realized part of what Hap said was true. “I’ll tell the doctor that I’ll recover more quickly if I can get back to work, that I need my old routine in familiar surroundings.”

  Hap clapped his hands in glee. “Now you’ve got it. Insist on outpatient treatment. If she refuses, ask to speak to an attorney. That always works. Doctors in these places are scared of attorneys.”

  Cortz shook his head in disbelief. “Hap, you never cease to amaze me. What kind of profession were you in before you ended up on the streets?”

  Hap’s eyes took on a mischievous glint. “I thought you knew. I’m the Emperor of Hapsburg.”

  Cortz wondered if Hap was jesting, or if he really believed he was an emperor. “Should I call you your Royal Highness, Emperor Hap or what?”

  Hap laughed. “I let my friends call me Hap. What do I call you, Alien Cortz or Greg?”

  “Under the circumstances, Greg will do,” Cortz
said. “Talking to you has given me a clearer idea of what to say tomorrow when I talk with Dr. Steina.”

  “If I helped, I’m glad.” Hap said, beaming. He began making triangular folds in his unstarched blue shirt where the bottom had come unbuttoned.

  Cortz sat quietly with his friend while they watched a squirrel bravely venture near their bench. Hap still had some peanuts in his bag and he threw out a few.

  “It bothers me that I don’t know what happened to the real Greg,” Cortz said.

  “The world’s a violent place,” Hap muttered. “Perhaps he’s dead. If he were alive, wouldn’t he have shown up by this time? Anyway, don’t waste your energy worrying about what may never happen.”

  “You’re right. But another thing puzzles me. I don’t understand why Greg’s sister and the corporation lawyer think I’m the missing Greg.”

  “You and Greg must look like identical twins,” Hap said. “A real quirk in nature, makin’ two funny lookin’ mugs like yours.”

  Nature had nothing to do with it. But he didn’t bother to explain. “You Earthlings have a curious sense of humor,” Cortz said shaking his head. “But it has to be more than just looking alike. We must have similar voices and mannerisms.”

  “What difference does it make? You’d do better to think about how to get out of this mess rather than how you got in.”

  Cortz nodded while his gaze followed the graceful flight of a butterfly. It reminded him of Darli and their time together on the knoll. He felt a pang of regret. He had accused her of not loving him. It had been unfair, but he’d acted out of frustration. “Darli came all the way from Hawaii just to help me, and I feel terrible about the way I treated her.”

  “Who is this Darli?” Hap asked.

  “A woman I hope to join with.”

  “Join with?”

  “I am sorry, I forgot my terminology for a moment…marry.”

  Hap raised a brow in surprise. “True love, eh?”

  “Yes. But I hurt her. She may not forgive me.”

  “Not so serious, my friend. Just apologize to your lil’ gal. It doesn’t take much to keep a woman happy, just a few gushy love words. You can’t tell now, but when I was young I was quite a lady’s man.”