by David Archer
"I think it'll be okay. Take him out for a little while. But the doctor is scheduled to see him right around lunch today, so be back before then, okay?"
"Thank you! Thank you so much." Tina turned and headed toward Jake's room.
She peeked through the window before opening the door and chuckled. He was sitting up in his bed, engrossed in a magazine.
As she opened the door, he heard her and immediately set the magazine down. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and slid off it, taking two steps towards her and sweeping her into his arms.
"Hey, you," she laughed, returning the hug. He kissed her briefly and replied to her greeting with one of his own.
"You need to get dressed," she directed. "I'm springing you from this room for a bit."
"What? Really?"
"Yep! We're gonna go outside and get some sun and some air, Jake. You've been cooped up in here long enough."
His face lit up instantly.
"Where are my clothes?" He glanced around the room and Tina reached into the small closet and removed the patients' belongings bag hanging there.
Jake began to get dressed; the splint on his still healing left hand affected his ability to accomplish this and Tina quickly stepped in to help. She fastened the buttons on his shirt, zipped his pants and tied the laces of his Converses, and then stood up. Taking his right hand in her left, she led him out of the hospital room, down the elevator and out the front door of the building. He stopped for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the early morning sunlight.
Taking a deep breath of the unfiltered, fresh outside air, he murmured, "Mm-hm," appreciatively as the warm breeze kissed his face. "This is such a good idea."
Together, they walked along the sidewalk that led all around the circumference of the building. Stretching out in a southerly direction behind the hospital was an expanse of green lawn that sloped down a hill. It was situated immediately adjacent to the forested area of a large city park. A small creek threaded its way through the grove of cottonwood trees. To the west was a playground and Tina steered them in that direction.
He stopped suddenly and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. Her hands went to his face, cupping it gently between them.
"Jake," she breathed, wondering what had brought on this reaction.
"I just had the best recollection," he started. "I mean, I'm sure we've had lots of great moments over the years, but I just had the most vivid memory. You were at work, at your computer in your office. And I came in with a doughnut for you."
"Ooooh, oh yeah!" Tina said, remembering the incident herself.
"You were particularly happy to find that it was still warm."
"I was, I remember that!"
"Remember anything else about that conversation?" he asked.
"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be remembering things," she said, as she looked him in the eye and smiled. "Apparently you do remember what was said. So?"
"I told you I’d brought you a little surprise," he said. "You saw the doughnut and said it was the most beautiful present you’d ever gotten."
They laughed for a minute and then she felt a momentary twinge of disappointment when he released her from his arms. He retook her hand and then they resumed their walk. After a few moments of silence, Tina squeezed his hand and spoke.
"Is there anything else you want to talk about today?" she asked as they advanced along the path and approached the playground. He was deep in thought and suddenly realized she'd addressed him.
"Sorry. I was just thinking about—" he whispered and stopped, dropping Tina’s hand and standing transfixed in front of the swing set.
"Jake?" Tina's gaze followed his line of sight and she realized he was remembering something. Touching her fingers to her own lips, Tina stepped back and waited silently, allowing him to complete whatever contemplative journey he was experiencing.
After several minutes, he took a few tentative steps forward and then turned around and sat in one of the swings. Holding the swing's chain with his right hand to anchor himself, he pushed off slightly with his feet, allowing the swing to sway back and forth.
It made Tina nervous to see; he could not possibly hold on to the left side with that hand still wrapped in a splint and his concentration compromised, as his thoughts were obviously on some distant memory, but she was not going to interfere unless it became necessary.
He was swinging back and forth—just slightly, much to Tina's relief—for a few minutes, his mind a million miles away. She watched intently. Tina could read him pretty well, and she did so now. He was pensive at first, then his lips pursed as something unpleasant crossed his mind. His tongue peeked out momentarily; his thought process was advancing through whatever he was remembering, and finally, a slight smile crossed his face and the swinging came to a stop.
He stepped off the swing and reached for Tina’s hand.
"Okay?" she asked as she accepted his hand and they started back towards the hospital.
He nodded as they walked together. "I remembered something from when I was a kid."
"Oh."
She took his arm and led him through the hospital entrance and back up to his room. As they passed the nurses' station, Tina stole a look over at the group of nurses gathered there and was relieved to see Katie was preoccupied with a few of her coworkers.
Once in his room, Tina hurried to hustle him out of his clothes and back into his hospital gown. He kicked off his shoes himself, but Tina would have to unbutton his shirt and unzip his pants. A million thoughts occurred to her as she worked and the worst one happened. She had his shirt off, but just as her hands moved to the top of his trousers, the door opened and Katie walked into the room with Jake's lunch tray.
Tina gasped in dismay, Katie's eyes grew big as saucers and Jake broke into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.
"I'll just leave this here. I'll be back in, um, an hour?" Katie set the tray on the table and fled the room.
Jake was still laughing when he felt a rough tug on his waist and Tina let his pants fall to the floor.
"You know, I should just leave, and take all this," she waved to include his clothes and his hospital gown, "with me!"
He sobered immediately. He tried to sober immediately. They were both laughing now as she held out the hospital gown for him to put on. He stepped out of the trousers, now lying in a bunch at his feet. After sliding his arms into the sleeves, Jake did a half pirouette so Tina could tie the gown's back closed.
She put his own clothes and shoes into a bag with the intention of taking them home and bringing him clean clothes later. Jake sat up on his bed to eat the lunch Katie had left for him.
"I'll be back in a while. Your doctor's due in a bit," Tina told him as she moved towards the door.
He gave her a reproachful look.
"What? What is that look for?"
"No kiss good-bye?" he complained.
She walked back over to where he sat, bent down to kiss him and stroked his cheek. "Love you, be back later!"
"Love you too, bye," he said with a broad smile.
* * *
"Tina!" Katie called out to her as she stood at the elevator bay, waiting for the lift to arrive.
"Dammit," Tina muttered under her breath, still embarrassed about being caught with her hands at Jake's pants.
"I was just wondering if there was any more progress with Mr. Claridge's memory when you took him outside earlier," Katie asked.
"Oh," Tina said, relieved. "Yes. He remembered something from his childhood, something nice."
"Okay, I'll make sure to relay that to Dr. Peterson. No recent memories?"
Tina shook her head slightly. "How recent are we talking?"
"The last couple months, actually."
Tina thought for a moment and shook her head again. "No. Definitely not. Not that he shared anyway."
"And he still thinks you two are married?"
"Yes, he does." She grimaced, but there was a hint
of a smile in it.
"Are you going home?"
"Just for the afternoon. I want to shower and eat and do some laundry. He's got the doctor any minute now and he's exhausted from the walk, so he'll need a nap too. I figured to let him have some peace and quiet. And you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder. He'll miss me more if I'm not around for a while."
Katie smiled. "Well, I'll let you go. Back to work for me!"
* * *
Dr. Peterson finished writing in Jake's chart and replaced the clipboard in its spot. He watched her intently and waited while she moved back to his side.
"Your MRI and X-rays both indicated marked improvement, Jake. Ribs are healing nicely. Do you have any trouble with breathing or moving your chest and back?"
"No, I'm good."
"Your left hand is improving, but keep the splint on it for now."
He nodded.
"Tina tells us that you've recovered a lot of long term memories."
"Yeah. I'll have one, and it will trigger another. And so on," he said brightly.
"But short term's not so successful?"
"It's weird, Dr. Peterson. I do and I don't. I mean, Tina brought someone by a couple of days ago. And I know that I know her. I know her name. But I can't remember it right now. It's so frustrating."
"Do you remember what you did this morning?"
"We went for a walk on the grounds," he replied without hesitation.
"What about last night?"
His brow furrowed as he thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Dammit. No."
"What did you eat for dinner last night?"
He thought again. Shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to remember. A flash of memory flitted through his mind; he tried to decipher it, but could not.
Shaking his head again, he muttered, "I don't remember," in a dejected tone.
Dr. Peterson reached out to touch his arm. "It's okay, it's okay. Do you remember waking up in the middle of the night?"
He drew in a sharp breath. "Yes. Yes, I do. I had a nightmare. Not a memory, I don’t think, just a bad dream."
Dr. Peterson was already aware of this, having read his chart.
"That's good though, right?" he asked.
Dr. Peterson nodded. "Yes, it sounds more and more like your long term memory is returning to normal. I expected improvement, the MRI did indicate the swelling was down; it's less than fifty percent of the initial volume. I'm still a little concerned for your short-term memory, but with the swelling still coming down and the medication, it should take care of that in another couple of days. I'm going to send the lab tech in here to take another blood sample though, Jake; I need updated readings on sodium levels, among other things. Okay?"
"Okay," he complied.
"All right then, I'll get those results sometime tomorrow and I'll get back to you the day after. You need to rest."
"Thank you," he told her as he slid down under his bedcovers. Dr. Peterson patted his arm and then put her hands on the bed rail, intending to put it back into position.
Jake heard the noise it made and reached out to stop her.
"Please don't? Tina said she'd come back in once you were finished."
She pursed her lips for a moment, considered this and finally acquiesced. "Okay. I'm gonna hold you—and her—to that," she told him as she put the rail back down and turned to leave.
Jake sighed in relief, turned on his side and closed his eyes to sleep.
* * *
An hour later, Jake awoke with a start. Still alone in his room, he slid out of bed and used the bathroom, then returned to his bed and decided to read. There was a stack of books on the night table beside his bed. He sorted through them for a few minutes and found one that caught his eye.
Jake poured himself a glass of water. After drinking it, he settled back into the bed and picked up the book. He read for a half an hour and set the book back down on the night table.
"Not bad," he said as he headed to the bathroom again. He was still there a few minutes later when Tina came in.
"Jake?" she asked finally. She stood there watching him silently for several moments; he hadn't indicated he'd even heard her arrival. "Jake?" she repeated, inching closer until she could reach out and stroke his arm.
"Huh?" he asked as he noticed her. "Tina!" A smile spread across his face as he took her into his arms.
She held him tightly, sliding her hands up and down his back while waiting for him to speak.
"I remembered something,” he said. “I'm not sure what it was, though. I was in a room, a dark room, and I was chained to—to something. There was a girl there, and she—she wasn’t wearing any clothes, but she was chained to a chair.”
Tina nodded. “That was the case we were working on,” she said. “Angela Lambert, the girl who stopped by. She wanted to thank you, because you rescued her.”
Tears began to flow down his face, and she held him while he wept it out. Finally, he lifted his head from her shoulder and brought his hands up to stroke her hair. "Thank you," he whispered. "I'm sorry—"
She put a finger to his lips. "Shhh." She shook her head slightly. "Don't. Come," she directed, leading him over to his bed and helping him into it.
She busied herself fussing over his blankets for as long as she could while he settled down into the bed. The bed rail was already up on his left side, next to the windowsill, but down on the right and Tina wasn't sure how to adjust it. He shook his head and put his right hand on top of hers, intending to stop her from engaging the rail.
"Please don't," he pleaded.
"I can't get the damn thing to work. I'll get Katie."
"No . No, please don't, Tina."
Jake's eyes welled up, instantly causing hers to do so too. Tina didn't immediately understand why until he started to pull her hand off the bed rail.
She turned her hand over so she could take his and carried them both off the rail. She felt his grip tighten on her hand as he moved it up to his lips so he could kiss it, and then lowered them onto his chest. They stayed like that for several minutes: Jake clutching her hand tightly against his chest, Tina sweeping the hair off his face and stroking his cheek affectionately.
Her eyes darted around and she noticed the book that was now sitting on top of the pile on the night table.
"You did some reading this morning?" she asked.
He nodded, grateful for the change of subject. "Yeah. Pretty decent book.”
They squeezed hands and both their eyes welled up, the emotion of the moment threatening to overwhelm them, and after a few seconds, Jake brought their joined hands up to his lips and kissed hers again. "Thank you," he whispered tenderly.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," she promised, bending down to kiss his forehead and then, freeing her hand from his grasp, patted his chest before telling him, "I'm gonna go see Katie."
He nodded and sighed heavily, closing his eyes. Tina thought he might sleep if left undisturbed and slipped out of the room.
Tina reached the nurses' station, but Katie was nowhere in sight. She inquired at the desk and was told that Katie was on her lunch break, due back in half an hour or so.
"Can one of us help you, ma'am?" the nurse, whose nametag read Latanya, asked.
"No, it's okay, I'll just go run a couple errands, thanks," Tina replied and immediately headed for the elevator.
* * *
By the time she got back to the hospital, it was almost eight p.m. and she was hungry. She hurried to the elevator, willed it to hurry up to the seventh floor and then hurried off the elevator down the hallway to Jake's room.
The lights were out, the bed rails were up and he was sound asleep when she arrived. She watched over him for several minutes; he seemed to be in a restful sleep and she made her way back to the nurses' station. Gina was sitting at the desk and Tina approached her.
"How was Jake's afternoon? And evening? I didn't mean to be away for so long."
"It's fine, Tina. He had the blood work d
one, and then down to nuclear medicine for the MRI. Katie said she let him take a shower this afternoon and he was just exhausted after all that and went to sleep at about six-thirty."
"Okay. I'm just gonna go down to the cafeteria and grab something to eat and then I'll be back up. Don't wanna leave him alone for too long."
"You're an absolute doll, Tina. Such a doting wife," Gina complimented her.
Tina didn't correct her. Instead she just smiled and went on her way. She wolfed down a sandwich and a tea, raced out to her car to retrieve something from the trunk and hurried back up to Jake's room.
He didn't appear to have moved in the half hour she was away. Tina carefully lowered the bed rail on Jake's right side slowly and she cringed as the mechanism squeaked when she moved it. Jake remained undisturbed, apparently not hearing the noise.
Tina's long day finally caught up to her. After setting her phone down on the tray table, she pulled the chair close to Jake's bedside and sat down. Taking Jake's right hand, she laid her head down on the bed beside him. In seconds, she was asleep.
* * *
Chance walked into the office and sat down at his desk, but the thought of Alan Batts being out there was driving him crazy. He sat there for a few minutes, then got up and headed toward Josie’s office.
“Hey, Chance,” Josie said as he entered. She spun her wheelchair around and looked up at him. “You okay?”
“No,” he said. “I’m thinking about Batts, and it’s getting to me. How could this guy disappear so completely?”
“Well, he’s got good reason to stay hidden,” she said. “He shows his face, and he’s going to be locked up for a long time.”
“Yeah, well,” Chance muttered, “if I don’t get to him first. I just can’t figure out how he’s staying hidden. Did you check out the parks department for me?”
“I did, and I didn’t find anyplace where someone could hide for any length of time. There’s no place that isn’t used at least once a day or so.”
Chance scowled. “I figured,” he said. “I just want to get this guy, shut him down before he starts trying to take girls again. He’s bound to do it again, you know, I can feel it.”