Part 2 (1/2)
When I climbed into bed, my phone chimed again with a text from James.
Karina, please forgive me.
I stared at it for a few moments. Then I turned the phone off and went to sleep.
Two.
Believing the Strangest Things The hospital loomed, gray and white, as the taxi pulled up. Hospitals are kind of frightening. Maybe from watching medical dramas on TV when I was a kid, I found them scary. There are things that go on there that I don't know or understand, and people get a lot of bad news in hospitals.
The nurse who met me at the ward desk was friendly but very matter-of-fact about everything. Her name was Rita. ”Your mom's got the room to herself right now. Her roomie was discharged this morning. So you've got a little s.p.a.ce to spread out in there if you want. At least for a while.”
”Great, thanks.”
”Everything's looking good right now,” Rita added in a low voice. ”She just needs to clear up here.” She waved her hand in a circle over her face, signaling mental confusion. ”She had her lunch already, and your sister is in there, too. Go on in.”
I hadn't even taken notice of the other occupant in the room last night. The curtain that separated the two beds was drawn back now, though, and the sun came through the window onto the empty bed. Mom was in the bed closer to the door. Jill was in a chair against the wall. It looked like she had fallen asleep while sitting up.
The bed was set so that Mom was reclined at an angle, sitting most of the way upright but with her head back on a pillow. She was asleep, too.
I wondered if I should tiptoe back out and let them both rest. Jill had let me sleep in that morning, and I had been so tired I hadn't even noticed her leaving. The least I could do was return the favor, I thought.
Before I could sneak out, though, Mom's eyes fluttered open. She stared at me a moment, then said, as if she were continuing our conversation from last night, ”You know, I was watching the television last night and they were showing these women in the latest dresses and they were so cute! I thought you would look really wonderful in one of them. As soon as I get out of here, I'll take you shopping. How does that sound?”
”That sounds great, Mom.” I sat down in the chair closest to the bed and she adjusted the angle so she could see me easily. Jill hadn't moved, her head still back and her mouth partway open. I racked my brain for something I could talk to my mother about. ”I bought a dress recently you might like.”
”Did you? Tell me about it.”
”Oh, I can do better. I have a photo.” I took out my phone and flipped to one of the photos of me trying the blue ball gown on. One of the ”clean” photos, of course.
”Oh, darling! It's lovely! What was the dress for, though?” A sly smile spread across her face. ”You met someone, didn't you?”
That was the problem with talking. It led to more talking and more talking. I was out of the habit of lying, and, well, if we were going to bring her into the present, she needed to be told the truth about as much as possible, I supposed.
”I did meet a man,” I said.
”Ooh, a man. You must be serious about this one, KayKay. Usually you tell me you met a guy.”
”He's different from the others.”
”What's his name?”
”James. I met him in New York.”
”What is he like?”
”He's tall, well dressed...”
”Well heeled?”
”Um, yes.”
She gave a little squeal of delight. ”How wonderful! What's the point of going to a big city like that unless you can meet someone?”
”Well, Mom, the city has a lot to offer. Art museums, culture, restaurants...”
She clucked her tongue. ”All those things are better enjoyed with a partner, dear.”
”I... suppose that's true.”
”So he's cultured? He takes you places?”
I couldn't help but blush. ”Yes. In a private car. He has his own chauffeur.”
”Goodness, Karina. Are you worried he's out of your league, though?”
”No, Mom, I'm not worried about that.” I wasn't about to tell her I was contemplating cutting him off for good. The red haze of rage I felt when thinking about how he'd hidden things from me couldn't be healthy for a relations.h.i.+p, could it? Besides, she looked so happy for me right now. Sticking to good news seemed the right plan for the moment.
”So when can I meet him?” My mother's hands flew to her hair then. ”Oh goodness, but not looking like this. When are they going to let me go home where I can do my hair properly? I have to make a better impression than this.” She clucked her tongue again. ”My ankle feels much better. They have to let me go soon.”
”They want to make sure everything is healed up so you don't end up right back here again,” I said. ”I should... Oh, here's a doctor now.”
A dark-skinned man in blue scrubs came in. ”Are you Karina? Jill told me to be expecting you. I'm Dr. Mukherjee.” I stood up and he shook my hand. Jill shook herself and stood up, too, and exchanged handshakes with the doctor as well. He then said to my mother, ”Mrs. Casper, how are you today? I'm going to borrow your daughters for a minute and we'll be right back.”
His hair was thinning a little, but he didn't look that old, maybe forty.
We followed him into the hallway. He turned to Jill. ”How's her memory today?”
Jill shrugged. ”She's been asleep most of the day and I really haven't been pus.h.i.+ng the issue.”
”She seemed pretty together just now,” I said, ”though for all I know she still thinks I'm in college. Doctor, yesterday she acted like she didn't even know who Jill was. Is that normal?”
”Well, as she reorients herself, it may be quite literally as if she is moving herself forward in time. She will probably never recover the memory of the trauma itself, but she may be working her way forward in her memories up until then.”
Jill nodded. ”She thought I was Aunt Tera when I first got here.”
”She might have thought you were her sister,” he said, ”then when Karina appeared, that triggered her to jump forward a bit more. Is there anyone from her current life who's important to her who might trigger memories that are more recent?”
”Um.” I exchanged a glance with Jill.
”We're concerned that her boyfriend might be the one who pushed her down the stairs,” Jill said.
”Yes, you had mentioned that to me before.” Dr. Mukherjee s.h.i.+fted back and forth from his toes to his heels. ”All I can say is we've doc.u.mented her injuries in case it should come up, and while she's here, she's in our care. But I don't think we should keep her longer than necessary. If she seems competent to leave tomorrow, I think she should go home. Her wrist should heal normally. Her ankle will be a little tender, and her ribs, too, but by noon tomorrow she really should be fit to go home. Mentally she may be behind the times, but she seems competent enough to be able to function in her own home.”
”At least going home will make her happy,” I said.
”But it'll make it harder to keep Phil away from her,” Jill said. ”Doctor, you have to understand, I think this guy is trying to pull a snow job. If she's susceptible, or suggestible, I worry he could convince her of things that aren't even true.”