Page 46 of Chasing the Past

“Could shrapnel be responsible for that type of injury and consequently the loss of Asal’s memories?” Eli explained that Asal hadn’t remembered anything about her past.

“It would depend on the size of the shrapnel, but I’d say normally that’s highly unlikely.”

“What about injuries sustained from an explosion close by,” Eli asked.

“That’s more likely a severe open head injury. I doubt that shrapnel would have caused memory loss. At least not to such a degree. Normally, memory loss from a concussion would clear up over a short period of time.”

Another one of Rafiq’s stories was proven a lie. “Do you have any idea how old the injury is?”

Blake was quiet for a while. Eli pictured him studying the photos. “From the healing of the scar, I’m going to say five years at the very least. Of course, I can’t really pinpoint an exact time.”

But that timeframe didn’t fit with what Rafiq had told her.

“Anything else you can tell us?” Eli asked his friend.

“Only one thought. I believe if Asal had been in a hospital and receiving proper care then the scar would possibly not have been so extensive, certainly nothing that a skilled plastic surgeon could not have improved upon.”

Eli noticed Asal flinch and attempt to cover the scar. “So, you’re saying she may not have been treated at a hospital?”

“I’d say that’s a good possibility.”

Eli’s mind raced. If Asal had been held in the abandoned building following her injury then she wouldn’t have received the proper care . . . yet someone had taken care of her. Sashi? What if . . . ?

“Thank you, Blake. I appreciate your help.”

“Anything. When you can talk about this one, I’d love to hear the details.”

“You got it.” He ended the call and faced Asal. “I need you to consider the dream as the place where you were being held for a moment.”

Asal’s huge eyes held his. “Okay.”

“Was there ever anyone else there with you?” Before she could respond, he said, “I know that you said you heard others in the building but was there someone with you where you were held?”

Her attention shifted from him to a place beyond his shoulder. She was going back there. “There wasn’t. I was alone and being held in a small windowless room.” She stopped and placed her hand over her mouth. “I did it. It was me.”

His frown deepened. “What do you mean it was you?”

“I treated my wound.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

She touched the scar. There was no doubt anymore. The dream, or more accurately, the nightmare was her reality. She’d been held in the building for how long? Days? Weeks? Longer? When she woke up, she’d screamed for help.

“You’re beginning to remember things,” Eli said, his attention on her face.

“Yes.” She told him about how she’d woken to find herself alone in the dark room. “No one came until the shadow figure appeared.” She glanced over at Eli. “That’s what I called the person who would occasionally deliver food and water. From time to time, pain medicine.”

“You said you treated your injury. Do you remember what you did?”

She went back to the dark place. She’d hated it so much that she had turned it into a dream rather than her reality. “I don’t know . . . I bandaged it using strips of my clothing. When he brought water, I tried to clean it the best I could. And then . . .” She touched her head. Something wasn’t clear and she tried to pull it out. “I think my drinking water may have been tampered with before I left. The next thing I remember was waking up in what I thought was a hospital, but now that I can see it clearly, I believe it wasn’t. I think Omar staged the place to appear as if it were a hospital so that I would buy his lies.”

“Why do you say that?”

“When I woke up, I was groggy. Confused. Omar was there. When I first saw him, I was terrified, but he told me he was my fiancé and that I’d been flown from Kabul to Cairo where I lived after escaping the fall of Kabul.”

“Did you believe him at the time?”

In the back of her mind there was always doubt, but Omar said they’d been engaged for several years, and he treated her nicely. “I think I let myself be convinced by the story he told me.”

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