Page 21 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

6

The next few days passed by in a blur.

There were mental exercises that the staff took her through, including common sense questions, general knowledge, and IQ puzzles. All were designed to gauge the health of her brain.

Jane felt as if she was back at school and taking her SAT exams. At least, what she thought it must have felt like to take them — she didn’t have much to compare it to.

The bruises had faded from the vivid black to an ugly yellow and green. The cuts and scratches were beginning to heal with any pain that came from them taken care of with painkillers.

Her body was improving at a daily rate, though Jane couldn’t say the same for her memory.

She’d watched reruns of Grey’s Anatomy in the evenings, in the hope that it would spark up more in her subconscious other than the fact that she had seen the show before, though yet, nothing had come to mind.

This was now her fifth day at the hospital. Detective Summers would be swinging by within the next hour to talk to her.

Jane had hoped to pick up a clue on whether the detective had any news on her identity or family, but Summers had kept the phone call informing her of his impending visit, brief and businesslike: she wouldn’t learn anything until the man showed up at the hospital.

She stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror for what must have been the millionth time since she had woken up on that beach.

Running a brush through her hair, she tied it into a ponytail as a knock sounded.

“Jane? Can I come in?” Dr. Lewis asked.

“Yes, I’m decent.” Jane emerged from the bathroom to see his kindly face smiling at her.

Although she had only known him a short while, she was confident that he truly cared about her well-being. She felt safe under his care that he would do everything in his power to help her through this ordeal.

“How are you today? Anything new to report?”

“No. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on. The magazines in the nurses lounge, whatever they bring to me. I’ve watched television until my eyes turned blurry, but I’ve got nothing. Nothing is coming back to me.”

Just saying the words had panic welling up inside her chest again. As he had instructed her to do before, she took several deep breaths until the thumping of her heart began to slow to something more manageable.

“We said this might happen. Worrying about it is not going to make your memory return any sooner. Your brain has suffered quite the shock. It needs time to mend itself. You’ve already remembered that you like to watch that show so, believe it or not, we are making progress already. It may only seem like a small thing, but that actually means your memory is starting to come back — no matter how slow. If this was the worst case of amnesia, you would not remember anything at all, so we need to take this as a positive sign.”

Jane nodded, although she couldn’t quite force her lips to smile. Crossing to the armchair by the window, she sat down, folding her hands in her lap.

“So, what kind of fun and games do you have for me today?”

She tried to muster up some enthusiasm, though another day of testing was the last thing she wanted. Stuck inside the room and hospital, several floors above the ground, she was beginning to get cabin fever.

“Actually, were done with the tests,” Dr. Lewis revealed. “Your vitals are good and your wounds healing nicely. Barring your memory loss, there is nothing physically wrong with you that you need to be in a hospital so… you are being discharged today.”

Of all the things she had expected to hear, it wasn’t that.

The panic she had managed to clamp down returned with a vengeance. She shot to her feet so fast that the world swam. She had to hold out her arms to steady herself.

Seeing her distress, Dr. Lewis crossed the room. She gripped onto the hand he held out for her.

“But… where am I supposed to go? I don’t have any money, no identification. What’s going to happen to me?”

He sent a reassuring smile her way.

“Detective Summers is on his way. He will explain your options to you, but you don’t need to worry: you will be taken care of.”

His cell started to ring inside his pants. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the screen. “I’m sorry Jane, I’m needed urgently.”

He detached himself from her grasp, edging toward the door.

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