Unparalleled

by D. S. Smith

  Several hours passed before he woke again to the sound of voices in the room. A nurse stood at the foot of the bed writing notes on a chart. Just behind her stood his brother, talking to a man in a white coat who Stuart assumed was a doctor. The nurse was the first to notice he was awake and quickly drew everyone else’s attention to the fact. “Dr Benton, our patient has opened his eyes.”

  “Hey Stu, thank God, welcome back, how yer feeling man? You scared the shit out of me,” Dave said as he stepped forward toward his brother’s bed. Before he could get there the doctor held him back. “Give the patient time to come around and adjust to his surroundings, David,” he instructed in hushed tones.

  Stuart did not need time. He was fully aware of his surroundings. He needed answers, many answers too many questions but to one question in particular. “Is Lauren here Dave?”

  Dave turned and looked back at the doctor who nodded to him in a gesture that meant engage. “Do you mean the girl you met in the bar Stu? Her name was Angela not Lauren.”

  “No, I mean my wife.” he replied raising his voice to show his annoyance. “Where is my wife?” The doctor stepped forward holding up his hand in a calming gesture.

  “Take it easy Mr Milton. You have been through a lot over the past two weeks. Allow yourself time to come around properly.”

  Something in the doctor’s statement did not make sense, but Stuart was more interested in finding out what was going on so he pushed the niggle aside. “What is it then doctor, alcohol poisoning?”

  “No, no, on the contrary. We tested your blood for drugs and alcohol and there were no traces whatsoever. According to the test results you hadn’t consumed any inebriating substances for at least seventy-two hours prior to your arrival here.”

  “I still don’t understand how that can be?” Dave cut in, “I was out with him the night before he collapsed and he was knocking back the drinks like there’s no tomorrow.”

  “Yes, well some people do assimilate alcohol quicker than others but it’s highly unusual for it to disappear without a trace in such a short time. All of our results indicate the symptoms Stuart is displaying are not the result of any kind of chemical stimulus. Nor is there any evidence of external or internal trauma to the head or neck?”

  “What symptoms am I displaying?”

  “Well, prior to you collapsing into a coma your brother informs us that you were confused and delusional.”

  “Whoa there, coma, I’ve been in coma, for how long?”

  “You’ve been out cold for two weeks Stu. We thought we were going to lose you a couple of times. Scared me shitless you did.”

  Stuart looked at the doctor “Two weeks? And what about the delusion? Are you referring to the fact I want to find my wife who for some reason my brother denies the existence of? If I’ve been missing for two weeks she’s going to be worried sick and my brother here is not even trying to help. Have you considered he might be the delusional one?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact we did consider that.”

  “Sorry?!” Dave said, looking at the doctor in complete surprise at this revelation. “We consider all possibilities in a case like this but the evidence shows you are the one who is confused Stuart. We checked the electoral register, land registry, post office and many other sources and none of them indicate you have ever lived at the Cromwell Rd address you claimed to be your home. We have also checked registry office records and there is no evidence you have ever been married, a fact supported by the information held by the Inland Revenue. We have tried to connect you to anyone that holds the name Lauren Milton but there’s no one in this district and of those with that name nationwide there is no connection. On the other hand, a number of records do show the house your brother claims is your home is in fact where you have been living for the past three years. Alone.”

  “No, that’s bullshit. I have spent the last seven years of my life living with Lauren, my wife. Come on Dave tell him, back me up. You know Lauren. For god sake, you were best man at our wedding. Stop messing around and tell him.”

  Dr Benton walked over to a chair by the door and dragged it to the side of Stuart’s bed. He sat down, leaned forward toward him, and spoke in soft, reassuring tones. “I do not doubt for one second that everything you are telling us is true, in your mind. I have seen many cases were patients who have suffered head trauma have claimed to be leading completely different lives to the ones they are actually leading. We do not yet have a cause for your confusion but we will continue to do tests and monitor your situation. In the meantime, I would like you spend some time with a colleague of mine, Dr Catherine Carson. She will help you to try and differentiate between what is real and what you believe to be real.” Stuart looked at his brother who was nodding his head in agreement. He looked up at the ceiling letting the doctor’s words roll around in his head for a moment. His life was being explained away as some kind of delusional episode. He tried to entertain the notion but his whole being stood in the way of him accepting the possibility that what they were suggesting could be true. He let out a long sigh and turned his gaze from the ceiling back to the doctor. “Ok, I’ll speak with your colleague.” He knew there was no point in trying to convince them any further so he decided to go along with them. At least until he was fit enough to find out the truth for himself. “Very good Stuart, I’m sure you’ll find your time with her worthwhile.” The doctor patted him on the leg. “You must be hungry. Nurse, can you get Stuart some tea and toast? Maybe you would like some too David? I will arrange for Dr Carson to come and see you in the morning. In the meantime, Nurse Smith here will attend to all your needs. Try to get some rest but also get some food inside you, lots of little snacks rather than large meals. You need to build your strength back up gradually.”

  He stood up and gestured for Dave to take his place in the seat before leaving the room with Nurse Smith following closely behind him.

  “Tea and toast, I’m ready for a bit of that are you?” Dave asked as he took the seat by his brother’s bed. Stuart looked toward the door to make sure the others had left the room. He turned to his brother and spat words at him in anger. “What the fuck Dave, why are you making me out to be a liar?”

  “Stu calm down, you’re sick, sick and confused. These people are going to help you. I’m going to help you but you need to listen to what they’re saying.”

  “Listen to what they’re saying? They’re saying I’m crazy, that my wife doesn’t exist. You’re saying my wife doesn’t exist. If you want to help me stop playing fucking games and tell them the truth. Why are you doing this anyway?”

  “You’re not to get worked up Stu it’ll just make you worse. Just try and put this woman out of your mind.”

  “This woman? Why are you talking about Lauren like that, like you don’t know her. You know exactly who she is.” Stuart held his hand out to his brother.

  “Give me your phone.”

  “What?”

  He said it again but this time slowly through gritted teeth. “Give-me-your-phone.” He took the phone from his brother and dialled Lauren’s number. There was a vibrating noise from the bedside cabinet and the familiar cricket theme started to play from the phone he had put there. “What the—” He hung up and dialled the number again. Same tune, same phone. Stuart threw the phone back to his brother who caught it and put it back into his pocket.

  “Stu, calm down mate and think about what’s going on. Let the doc help you. He’ll suss out what’s wrong, just give him time.”

  “Fuck off and leave me alone Dave.” Dave was just about to speak again but Stuart turned his back on him and lay down with his head on his hands on the pillow. He stood for a moment looking at his older brother curled up on the bed. He felt helpless not knowing what to do or what to say to try to get through to him. He decided to do what his brother had asked him, he left him alone.

  When he heard the door close Stuart rolled onto his back and scanned the empty room. He assessed his situation the best he could bu
t he could not get past the lack of support from his brother. He was livid. He had wanted to grab him and shake the truth out of him but he did not have the strength. What possible reason could he have for lying to everyone and adding to the insurmountable body of evidence already stacked against him? Everything else could feasibly be the result of some kind of coincidental, cruel chain of events. Everything is linked these days he thought, what if one computer glitch resulted in a cascade effect resulting in his identity being changed on other databases and computers. He could even explain the confusion over the strange family at his home. He had felt so ill and confused when he had woken up that morning he may have taken Dave to the wrong house. All those streets and houses look the same. But why would Dave not substantiate his claims? Could he be the one orchestrating the whole thing, taking accounts in his name, changing public records? But why would he want to do this? He considered a number of explanations for his brother’s behaviour but they all seemed too farfetched. The most plausible one, but the one he could least accept, was that Dave had harmed Lauren in some way and was covering it up by getting rid of all trace of her. No, that could not be it, there was too much of a trail to get rid of. Yet the trail had gone as no one else could find her either. The other option was they were in it together, they had plotted the whole thing to get Stuart out of the picture so they could be together. This seemed even more ridiculous. Finally, what if something had happened to all three of them and Lauren was out there by herself trying to figure out what was going on? No, he could understand why everything was pointing toward his sanity but they did not know what he knew and they did not feel what he felt. It went beyond a state of mind and he knew there had to be some other explanation. He was determined to find out the truth but in order to do this he would have to show some acceptance of their diagnosis and go through the motions of the treatment they prescribed. He might even feign a slow recovery but he would have to tread carefully so as not to give anything away.

  Chapter 6

  Professor John Humphries was nearing the end of a long and distinguished career. After gaining a first class honours degree in Physics from Oxford University he’d gone on to complete a doctorate in Quantum Physics at Imperial College London. Lured by the financial rewards offered by the American Government, he then spent several years working at the Californian Institute of Technology, followed by a brief spell at NASA working on the Apollo Moon Project. Having earned enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life he returned to England to take a lectureship back at his old college in Oxford. There, in addition to his lectures, he specialised in the field of quantum mechanics which, he would happily describe to anyone who dared ask, was the study of the laws of physics that govern the realm of the small (atoms, molecules, electrons, protons), and underlie the realm of the large, but rarely show themselves there. Despite a CV that would make the most modest of men brim with pride, the true purpose for him becoming a physicist still eluded him. His most recent works were largely theoretical, and whilst the arrival of modern computing allowed incredibly accurate modelling, theoretical was how most of his theories remained. The mysteries surrounding the origins of the universe were being hypothesised using fantastic new ideas that were the stuff of science fiction but for the most part they were still just theories. For him that was about to change. He was on the brink of what was without a doubt the most important discovery of all time.

  The professor unrolled a satellite image onto his desk using various desktop items to weigh down the corners and stop it rolling back in on itself. He scanned the image intensely using his finger to follow the lines representing weather fronts. His finger traced a nasty looking swirl of grey-white cloud that partially obscured the barely discernible landscape beneath. He homed in on a small, dark patch no bigger than a penny, pressing his finger into it so as not to lose his place while reaching over with his other hand to grab a red marker pen from a cup weighing down one of the corners. He removed the top from the pen using his teeth and drew a broad, red outline around the dark patch. He opened one of the desk drawers and removed a twelve-inch steel rule. Placing the rule vertically through the middle of the dark patch, he slid it upwards until it reached the top of the page. After jotting down some numbers, he flipped the rule horizontally through the dark patch and slid it all the way to the left edge of the page where he jotted down more numbers. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a phone and entered the numbers using the key pad. Within seconds the display flashed up a result. He smiled at what he saw: 51° 25′ 38.87″ N, 0° 5′ 41.29″ W, West Norwood, SE27.” He tapped more numbers into the phone, this time putting the handset to his ear to wait for the response. While he waited for an answer, he scanned the map again focusing on the area around the black spot. There seemed to be a faint shadow off to one side of it but when he looked closer he realised it was another spot overlapping the first. His colleague answered the call. “Jim, the initial occurrence was somewhere in the town of West Norwood but I think there may have been two separate occurrences very close to each other. Do a media trawl to see if there have been any strange events reported there, or within the vicinity over the past two weeks. Pay the local newspaper offices a visit and see what you can find out there.” Before putting the phone back into his pocket, the professor called the person who was the real motivation for his latest research. His wife.

  Chapter 7

  Dr Carson read the notes from the folder her colleague had sent to her. The patient is a forty-one year old male displaying episodes of amnesia with delusion. Clinical tests revealed no drugs or alcohol in his system and no signs of physical trauma. The patient recently suffered a collapse when he discovered another family occupied the house he claimed belonged to him and his wife. He did not regain consciousness from the collapse for two weeks, entering a full comatose state during that period. According to the details provided by his brother, he was already displaying the delusional behaviour before his collapse. The patient claims he is married and living with a woman named Lauren. The claims are totally unsupported by his brother, his only living relative, who knows of no such person ever having been a part of his life. There is no evidence at all to support his claim and all relevant records show he has been living alone in a house he has owned for the past five years. His tax records list him as a single person living at the address stated by his brother to be his home. He has been registered with a general practitioner for the past ten years. His medical history is unremarkable reporting that he has had a few prescriptions for chest infections and a course of physiotherapy for an ankle injury sustained while snowboarding. The patient is not considered dangerous. All indications suggest his symptoms have been triggered by psychological or emotional trauma rather than anything physiological.

  The Dr Carson scribbled some notes at the foot of the report and returned it to the folder. She left her office with the folder under her arm and headed for the room where the patient was being treated. When she entered the room, the patient was sitting up in bed thumbing the keypad of a mobile phone.

  Stuart looked up to find a tall, slim, athletic looking woman in a white coat entering the room. She had long, straight black hair reaching just below her broad shoulders. She managed to look strong without appearing masculine. She approached the bed and shook his hand firmly by way of introduction. “Hi, I’m Dr Carson, thank you for agreeing to see me.” He took her hand and shook it.

  “Hi doctor, Stuart Milton, resident crazy person.”

  “Let me be the judge of that Stuart.” She smiled a warm disarming smile.

  “I’ve read your file but in order to make a more evaluated assessment I’d like to ask you a series of questions. Some of them will seem a little strange but it is important you answer them honestly based on what you believe to be true, not what other people have told you is the truth. Now if at any time you don’t feel comfortable with answering or you begin to feel unwell just ask me to stop.”

  Stuart shifted in his bed to make himself upright i
n preparation for her questions. He had been mentally preparing all morning and now she was here he felt quite nervous. They obviously didn’t believe he had a wife with whom he shared a home or they would be sending the police to investigate his claims not a psychiatrist. He composed himself and declared his readiness. “Ok doctor, fire away.” She took out a clipboard from the folder and wrote something down before firing a number of short questions at him in quick succession.

  “What is your full name?”

  “Stuart Milton.”

  “How old are you Stuart?”

  “Forty-one.”

  “Are you male or female?”

  “Err, male,” he answered with intonation on the male.

  “How do you know you are male Stuart?”

  “I have a penis doctor.” He watched for her reaction to his matter of fact answer but she just jotted something down as with the previous answers and moved on to the next question. “What is your home address?”

  “11 Cromwell Road,

  Croydon,

  CRO 2JZ.”

  “Do you live on your own at that address?”

  “No, I live with my wife Lauren.”

  “How long have you and your wife been together?”

  “Seven years, married for four of them.”

  “Do you have any children?”

  “Not yet but my wife is pregnant.”

  “How do you feel about being a father?”

  “I can’t wait. Lauren and I have been trying for over a year and we only found out she was pregnant two days—” he paused for a moment before correcting himself, “well, over two weeks ago now I suppose.”

  He shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

  “Where is Lauren now Stuart?”

  “I don’t know but I need to find her, she’ll be worried.” The doctor noted that he had become agitated. “As far as she’s concerned I’ve been missing now for over two weeks.”