Page 9 of Boys Like You

“Now that everyone is here, I want to ask the kids to wait outside for a minute,” one of the doctors says. I start shaking my head, my chest starts to close in and I grab Mercer’s hand.

“Please don’t leave me,” I whisper. I don’t want to beg, but I will if I have to.

“Why don’t we let one of them stay? She is clearly distressed and seems to have taken to the boys,” the unfamiliar lady says, and the doctor agrees.

When Rocky, Levi and Maximus have left the room, the doctor opens my file, his eyes gazing over a few pages before he begins to talk.

“I have asked you all to be here so we can be on the same page, if that’s okay with you?” He looks at me as he talks, I nod for him to continue.

“We ran some extensive tests. The rape kit came back negative, there is no signs of any sexual contact at all, although she did have some skin cells under her nails that we have sent away for further testing, as per your instructions, Officers. She has a couple of bruised ribs which will heal over time, there were no broken or fractured bones in the pelvis, just some bruising. An oral exam has estimated our Jane Doe is—”

“JD,” I correct.

“Excuse me?” the doctor asks, facing me.

“Call me JD. As in Jane Doe but not so over used.” The ladies in the room all smile, and I’m sure I hear the one I don’t know mumble something about Rocky as the doctor continues.

“Okay, JD is approximately sixteen to eighteen years old, my educated guess is closer to seventeen. Now, as for the memory loss; there are no indicators in the blood work, Your MRI looks good. I have consulted some of my colleagues and we believe it may be dissociative amnesia.”

“What is that in English, Doc?” Mercer asks. I squeeze his hand and he gives a small squeeze back.

“It’s where the person blocks out certain events. In this case, JD has blocked out her entire life. It’s often caused by stress or trauma. With a little therapy and a stress-free, nurturing environment, we hope to see some improvements with her memories. We will keep a close eye on her in our clinics, but for now she is pretty much free to go. That is where child safety takes over. I will write up a script for some pain medicine and make her an appointment to see me again in a week. I’ll give you the name of a therapist I work closely with, she is brilliant.”

The police officers follow the doctor outside, and Marlene from child safety steps forward.

“JD, I have brought Beth here with me today. She is a foster carer. After I came to see you yesterday and saw the bond you have formed with the boys, I asked around and found out Beth cared for them when they were younger. It appears the boys are still a big part of her life. I didn’t want to place you with strangers and them not be comfortable with five teenage boys turning up at their house.” She has a smile on her face as she looks at Mercer.

“Smart move,” he agrees. Beth giggles.

“Anyway, if you’re comfortable with that, Beth is here to take you to her house. I will be popping in, and so will the police; we need to make sure the whole process of finding out who you are goes as smoothly as possible.”

“Thank you,” I say. She runs me through a few more things when the officers come back into the room, and then she asks to talk to one of them. Officer Deacon follows her out of the room.

“JD, we went through some missing person reports and have found nothing. Due to your age and your condition, we are going to speak with our boss. We need to not push your memory and with your injuries make sure that it didn’t happen by someone close to you. If you remember anything, even something small, let me know. You can call me or tell one of the boys and they can directly call my phone.

All the adults leave the room. Being crowded with information has made me feel claustrophobic.

“Everything will be fine. Mumma B is amazing, she helped all of us through our…struggles.” Mercer squeezes my hand, and my eyes water. What did I do to deserve their kindness? Mercer stands. “Hey, don’t cry, I won’t leave you until you realise how much of an asshole I am and kick me to the curb.” I smile as he wipes the tears from my face with his thumbs.

“Sorry, I just don’t know how I should feel. Shouldn’t I want to know who I am? When I looked in the mirror earlier, this hair and these nails, I don’t know, it all feels fake, and the thought of you and the others leaving me makes the room close in on me. Isn’t that stupid? I’m more worried about that than finding myself.”

“Don’t ever feel bad for how you feel. And we’re not going anywhere. When we found you alone and bruised up it triggered something in us; we knew that feeling too well. We were lucky to have each other, so now you’re stuck with us.”

“Who is stuck with who?” Rocky asks, walking back into the room, followed by Levi and Maximus.

“JD is stuck with us until she realises we’re bad news and runs as fast as she can.” Rocky laughs at Mercer’s comment.

“Hey, speak for yourself. I’m awesome. When she realises that, she will be trying to jump me.” Rocky sits on the bed by my legs, placing his large hand over my knee.

“In your dreams, Casanova,” I throw at him. I love his playfulness, that he says what he thinks.

“Hell yes, in my dreams. I’ll wear you down, you just wait and see.” He winks at me.

“If you say so.” I wink back and he laughs. Finally feeling calm, I notice Levi’s outfit. He has on a dark blue basketball singlet top with Cougars written across the front in white, paired with dark blue basketball shorts that hang below his knees. A long black pair of skins underneath cut off where his white socks start, and a pair of black Nike high tops with a gold tick along the side.

“Do you have basketball practice again?” I want him to open up and like me.

“Nah, me and the team are just going to shoot some hoops. It’s school holidays so we get a break, but we have a new player and want him up to speed.” His face lights up as he talks about his team.

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