A Thanksgiving To Remember. Margaret Watson

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СКАЧАТЬ morning, Dr. Wilson.”

      “Hi, Tina.” The doctor gave her a quick smile, then looked past her to the patient on the bed. “I understand that Mr. Flynt has woken up.”

      Tina reluctantly let go of Tom’s hand, then stepped aside. “Just now.” She didn’t want to examine why she was reluctant to break contact with her patient.

      Steve Wilson sat down in the chair next to the bed and talked to Tom Flynt for a while. Then he stood up and examined him. He made some notes on Tom’s chart, then sat down again.

      “You’ve had a concussion, Mr. Flynt, and two cracked ribs. One of the fractured ribs abraded a lung, and although the bleeding into your chest was minimal and appears to have stopped, we’ll need to keep you in the hospital for a few days to let it heal. All in all, though, I’d say you were darned lucky.”

      Tom Flynt watched the doctor steadily. “I didn’t recognize my name, or the name of this town.”

      Steve nodded. “You’ve got amnesia. It’s not uncommon after head injuries and traumatic events like car accidents, but your memory seems to be totally gone, which is more unusual. I’m confident it will return, but it might take a few days. And just in case, I’m going to have a specialist take a look at you.”

      He turned to Tina. “Let me know if anything changes,” he said. “I’ll be in later.”

      Tina noticed that Tom watched Steve Wilson carefully as he left the room. When he had disappeared down the hall, Tom looked back at her. “He seems distracted. Do you know why?”

      Tina was stunned. “For someone who can’t remember his name, you’re certainly perceptive. And if he’s distracted, it has nothing to do with you. Steve is having some problems at home right now.”

      Tom nodded. “I thought something was wrong.”

      “It hasn’t affected his work. He’s a great doctor,” she said quickly. “And everything he said was correct.”

      “Don’t worry, I believe him. It’s hard to argue that I don’t have amnesia when I can’t remember my name.” He gave her a wry smile.

      His brown eyes were warm and glowing, and, just as she had thought, the lines around his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Her stomach swooped and dipped, and she tightened her grip on the bed rail.

      “Do you have any questions I could answer?” she asked hurriedly.

      “Can I look in a mirror?” he asked.

      “Of course.” She found a hand mirror in the bathroom and handed it to him.

      Tom took the mirror with the same sensation of unreality that had enveloped him since he’d woken up to see the nurse smiling down at him. He stared at the face in the mirror for a long time, but it looked utterly foreign to him, as unfamiliar as the name “Tom Flynt.” He struggled to beat back the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. Finally, he handed the mirror back to the nurse who stood next to the bed. He noticed that his hand was shaking.

      “I don’t look familiar at all.”

      “It’s all right,” she said quietly. “Don’t try to force yourself to remember. That will only make it worse.”

      Tom stared at her bright blue eyes and the rich, dark red of her hair. “You haven’t told me your name.”

      “I’m Tina. Tina White,” she said.

      He turned the name over in his mind, but it didn’t sound familiar, either. Fear clawed at him again, its dark fangs waiting to devour him. He closed his eyes, forcing the monster to recede, until there was nothing inside him at all. His mind felt like a huge black void, totally empty. Except for this woman’s voice.

      He grasped at the one familiar thing he’d found. “Did I know you before…before the accident?” he asked.

      “No.” She shook her head. “We never met before last night.”

      “But your voice sounds familiar to me. It’s the only thing that feels familiar.”

      To his surprise, he saw her face turn a delicate shade of pink. “I think that’s because I was talking to you last night. You were unconscious, but I didn’t know how much you might be able to hear. And you were alone. So I…talked to you.”

      “You did?” As he watched her, fascinated, her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

      “We always encourage family members to talk to unconscious patients,” she said, her voice prim. He watched her try to regain her composure. “It can’t hurt, and we think it might help. So I talked to you.”

      “And I remembered,” he said slowly.

      “On some level, I guess you do.” Tina moved around the room, keeping her back to him, straightening the already-straight machines that surrounded his bed.

      “I definitely remember your voice.”

      “Then I guess you weren’t as deeply unconscious as we’d feared.” She turned to face him again and pasted what looked like a professionally detached smile on her face. “Maybe that means your memory will come back quickly, also.”

      The reminder about his memory jogged something deep in his brain. A sense of urgency surfaced, made more frantic by the fact that he couldn’t remember why.

      “I need to remember something,” he said suddenly.

      “Don’t worry, Mr. Flynt. It will come back.” Tina’s voice was once again warm and soothing.

      “No, there’s something specific. Something I need to do.” He moved restlessly, ignoring the stabbing pain in his left side and the pounding in his head. “Maybe if I got up and walked around, I would remember.”

      “You can’t do that,” Tina said, moving closer to the bed. Her blue eyes stared down at him, full of concern and understanding. “I know it’s hard, but you’re going to have to stay in bed for a while and let your lung heal. And your head.” She hesitated, then leaned forward. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to forget everything, including who you are. It must be horrible. You must feel so helpless and alone. But we’ll do everything we can to help you heal. And I know the police are trying to find out more about you. Chances are we’ll have your family standing next to your bed in a few hours.”

      She hesitated, then said, “Do you think you have a wife, or children?”

      “No,” he said immediately, then frowned. “I don’t know if that’s true or not. But I don’t feel married.”

      Her mouth curled into a slow smile, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. His heart began racing, and it had nothing to do with his injuries. Tina’s whole face seemed to light up when she smiled. “I’ve heard that line before,” she said.

      For the first time since he’d woken up, Tom relaxed. “Yeah, I guess you probably have. But it’s true—I don’t feel married.” He smiled at her. “But then, I don’t feel like my name is Tom Flynt, and I’ve never heard of Grand Springs, Colorado, either.”

      Tina СКАЧАТЬ