Page 14 of Zane

Frowning, Zane stared at the woman for a long moment. “Who are you?”

The woman’s eyes widened as shock and then devastation crossed her face. Letting go of where she held onto his hand, she took a step back, away from the bed.

“Zane, darling.” This time it was his mom who spoke and approached him to give him a kiss.

“What happened?”

“You were in a car accident. You’re in a hospital in Tampa.”

“Was I down here for Spring Break?” He looked around the room. “Where’s Sarah?”

His mom frowned and glanced over at his dad before focusing on Zane again. “What’s the last thing you remember, darling?”

Before he could answer, the nurse, who had been checking the machines beside his bed, said, “The doctor should be here in a couple of minutes. How is your pain?”

“Terrible,” he managed. “I hurt everywhere.”

“Let me get something for you.”

Zane closed his eyes, struggling to take in everything. Clearly, he’d forgotten a few things. Like who the blonde woman was. And what he’d been doing in Tampa. And where was Sarah? The more he tried to think about all of it, the more his head hurt.

What was the last thing he remembered? Nothing immediately came to mind.

“Zane?” A deep voice broke into his thoughts. “Can you open your eyes?”

Zane opened his eyes to find a tall man with a white coat standing where the nurse had been. He had silver hair that was professionally styled, and his smile was warm as he asked Zane a series of questions.

The man’s expression didn’t change with Zane’s answers. However, he could hear whispered discussions in the room that told him the others weren’t happy with what he was saying.

“It would seem that we’re dealing with a case of amnesia here,” the doctor said.

“Amnesia?” Zane asked, words coming easier now that he’d had a bit of water from the nurse.

“Temporary?” his mom asked.

“For the moment, we don’t know,” the doctor replied. “We’ll have to do some additional scans.”

“What have I forgotten?” Zane asked. “What don’t I know?”

Looks were exchanged. Even in the dimness of the room, he could see that.

“Just tell me.”

“Perhaps we should wait until after we have a better idea of what’s going on,” his dad said, caution in his tone.

“Justtellme,” Zane demanded, then gritted his teeth as that brought on a pulse of pain in his head. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

After a stretch of silence, his mom took his hand. “It appears that you’ve lost about four years.”

Fouryears!?How was that possible?

When he asked that question, it was the doctor who answered. “There’s never a set amount of memories that are lost in situations like this. The complete workings of the brain are still beyond our understanding. We know a lot, but not everything. I have no idea why your brain has lost four years and not six or two.”

“But I’ll get them back, right?” Zane desperately needed him to say yes. So much must have happened in four years’ time.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that guarantee. There is a possibility as your brain heals from this injury that your memories will return. Maybe all of them. Maybe just some of them. I’m afraid there is no definitive answer I can offer you.”

“What did I miss?” Zane asked. “Why am I here in Tampa?”

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