Chapter 3: The Police

“She knows! How can she know?” I asked myself while swallowing hard. Panic began to spread through me as the questions raced through my mind. I took a deep breath and then another. She just stood at the end of the bed staring at me. The slight curl on her lips could have been mischievous, or could have been predatory. I couldn’t tell. Suddenly, there were sounds from the hall as the door opened and David stepped into the room. He was followed by a pretty girl pushing a small cart with vials, tubes, and other testing supplies.

“Saved by the bell!” I thought, realizing that I had only postponed the inevitable.

“Good Morning, Michael. My name is Peggy Sue and I am the lab tech, but folks usually call me ‘The Vampire’,” she told me, laughing at her own quip. “Doctor Bales has ordered a set of tests for you. Do you know your blood type?” she intoned in a singsong voice.

“Uhhh, no,” I replied flatly.

She looked at me and laughed. “We figured that, but Doctor Bales said to ask you anyway. It doesn’t matter to us, because we already know.”

“What is it with this guy?” I wondered. It occurred to me that I would have to be very careful around the good doctor, especially if he was trying to trap me.

“Which arm?” she asked me as she laid out everything she would need to draw my blood.

“Well, since this one,” I said lifting my left arm slightly, “seems to be occupied at the moment, let’s try this one.” I held out my right arm.

Realizing she was about to touch me, I recoiled slightly, preparing for the shock that seemed to come when someone touched me. As Peggy Sue took my right arm, she wrapped a big rubber band around my bicep saying, “Okay, make a fist.”

I had been preparing myself for a shock that never came, so I didn’t respond at first. I just looked at her as I arched my eyebrows. It’s difficult to make a fist with a cast on your hand.

“Oh! That’s too funny!” she said as she laughed. “I’m sorry. I always say that out of habit.”

I guess I was a little let down that nothing had happened. I began to wonder if I had imagined it all the other times.

As Peggy Sue went through the procedure of taking my blood, Catherine sat down in the big chair. She didn’t say a word, but she never took her eyes off me. David came into the room again, this time with another nurse who was carrying linens and a toilet kit marked for males. As the new nurse began to set things up, she asked me, “How about a bath?”

“That would be great, but I’d rather have a shower instead,” I replied.

She just laughed, without bothering to reply. I heard David telling my grandmother that my breakfast was coming. He wanted to know if she would like to take a break and go to the cafeteria for some tea.

“I’d love some tea, but I don’t want to leave Michael just yet,” she answered.

“Okay,” David replied. “What would you like in it?”

“Just plain, thank you,” she said as David turned to leave.

“Oh, and Catherine,” David remembered at the last moment, “Peter is just outside. I’ll be heading back to the house soon to try and catch some sleep, so I can take you then if you’re ready to go.”

“Thank you, David. I believe I’ll stay around here today. I’ll take a break when Sarah gets up here and go to her office and make some calls. I have to call New York and let Wally know,” Catherine said, flashing an uneasy smile.

“Okay. If you change your mind, just tell Peter. Beth will be back with the girls after school,” David told her as he left to find my grandmother some tea.

My curiosity got the better of me, so as Peggy Sue finished up and said goodbye, I asked, “Who is David? And Peter, and Beth, and Sarah?”

Grandmother Catherine looked at me for a long moment, and then answered, “David works for me, and Peter and Beth work for David. They are my security. Sarah is my niece.”

“Security?” I asked.

“Michael, if you really have lost your memory, then there is much we need to discuss,” she told me. “But not right now. I promised Doctor Bales I would not give you any details until after you have spoken with the psychiatrist and the police.”

“I guess I’ll have to wait to find out who Wally is too.”

Closing my eyes, I tried to think. Then I realized that the nurse who had given me the sponge bath, and was now changing the bed, had touched me. However, if there had been any sensations, I hadn’t noticed. I tried to figure out why, considering several possibilities, but finally, I gave up.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, someone was saying my name.

“Michael, can you hear me?” said a very soft voice. The owner of the voice gently touched my cheek, saying, “Come on, Michael. Wake up.” As she touched me, I was once again flooded with thoughts and emotions.

“So this is Sarah,” I realized as I opened my eyes.

The room was full of people. My grandmother was there, still seated in the big chair. Standing beside her were two men; one in a suit and tie, the other had on a knit shirt with a sleeveless pullover. The suit had a slight bulge under his left arm, but sleeveless wore his gun on his hip. Cops!

Standing next to the bed was a guy whose demeanor just screamed ‘doctor’. He was dressed in a rumpled tweed sport coat with patches on the elbows and a wrapped cigar protruding from the breast pocket. Underneath the tweed sport coat was a rumpled, mismatched shirt and around his neck the inevitable bowtie. Next to him, closest to me was the soft voice of my dreams.

And she looked like a dream too. Mid-thirties, about five foot six inches tall, slender, and dressed in a starched nurses’ uniform that looked like it had been tailored to fit her. This was definitely not an off-the-rack nurses’ uniform. And she was definitely not an off-the-rack type of woman. Even her demeanor screamed classy!

The nametag she was wearing confirmed that her name was indeed, Sarah.

“Michael...?” Sarah asked, saying my name as a question. I just nodded.

“Do you know who I am?” she continued.

“I can see from your nametag you are Sarah, but other than that, I don’t know. If I’m supposed to, I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, Michael. Don’t worry. I’m sure your memory will improve,” she said. “Yes, my name is Sarah.”

“Are you a relative?” I interrupted. “I mean, you seem familiar.”

Her eyes twinkled as she laid her hand on my shoulder, leaving it there.

“Why, yes. I’m your second cousin or something like that. Your Grandmother Catherine and my mother are sisters.”

Her thoughts were less jumbled now and I seemed to be able to focus on them better. I took a shot.

“Do I call her Grandma Liz, but she’s really like my great-aunt or something?”

“Very good, Michael!” Sarah gushed. I could feel a little rush of excitement coming from her.

“Well, I can’t seem to recall what she looks like, and I still don’t recall exactly who you are, but it seems close, kinda on the edge of my mind,” I said. Grandmother Catherine just looked at me, but didn’t smile.

Then Sarah assumed a more professional tone as she said, “Michael, this is Doctor Greenberg. He’s a psychiatrist. He is here to evaluate you. And this is Captain Sanford and Lieutenant Cable,” indicating the other two men. “They’re with the Tennessee Highway Patrol. They have jurisdiction in this matter, and are here to talk to you about the accident.”

“Accident?” I thought.

Trying to keep my face immobile, I quickly sifted through Sarah’s thoughts but could only find an overwhelming sense of grief. Looking at Grandmother Catherine, I asked, “Grandmother, are you okay with this?” I could sense her grief as well.

“No, but let’s get it over with,” she replied.

The Captain looked at the Lieutenant, nodding his head. Lieutenant Cable started by saying that they appreciated our cooperation and understood how painful this was for us, but they needed to ask me some questions. He said that Grandmother Catherine was here because I was a minor, and they had to have a parent present for the questions. And since mine could not be here, she was my next of kin and would probably be appointed my legal guardian.

“I already have been, Lieutenant, although Michael hadn’t been told yet,” Grandmother told him. “We will discuss this later, Michael,” Catherine added before turning back to face Lieutenant Cable.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said to my grandmother, and then turning to me he asked, “Michael, why don’t you start by telling us what you remember happening that night?”

I eyed the officer carefully, as I drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“My name is Michael. I don’t know my last name. That is my grandmother, Catherine,” I said pointing towards her. “I have a sister, Nicky, and apparently a beautiful second cousin whom I just met,” I said, smiling at Sarah.

“I also met Nurse Sydney, Doctor Bales, a lab tech named Peggy Sue, and another nurse who did not give me her name, but changed my bed and gave me a quick once-over with a sponge. That, Officer, seems to be the extent of my memory, all gained this morning.”

There was a quick intake of breath from Sarah, but no one spoke, so I continued.

“As to the accident you are referring to, I have no idea. I remember nothing of a personal nature prior to early this morning,” I said stoically.

“Do you mean you don’t even remember where you were going? Where you had been? Who was driving?”

“No sir,” I replied formally. “To all of that.”

“Excuse me, Officers. May I?” This came from Doctor Greenberg, as he looked at Lieutenant Cable’s superior. Captain Sanford nodded his head.

“Michael,” said Doctor Greenberg, “you said you didn’t know your last name?”

“Yes, sir. I heard my grandmother’s last name is Wagner. If she is my paternal grandmother, it would stand to reason it was my last name too. But if she is my maternal grandmother, I don’t even have a clue.”

“Do you remember your sister’s name?”

“Nicky?”

“No. That’s her nickname. Do you remember her given name?”

“No sir.”

“Do you remember where you live?”

“No sir.”

“Do you remember your birthday?”

“No sir.”

“Do you remember where you go to school? What grade you are in?”

“No sir. And no sir.”

Doctor Greenberg paused, and then asked, “Michael, do you remember your parents?”

Sarah, who had been next to me the whole time, placed her hand softly on my shoulder as she looked at me, waiting for me to respond. Her emotions; fear, sorrow, and grief, literally overwhelmed me and there was no stopping this deluge. Then, I became aware of Grandmother Catherine’s feelings too and it was just ... too ... much.

My world went black again.

I groaned. I didn’t actually hear myself groan as much as I felt it. But a new voice, a voice as soft as the wind, said my new name very gently, “Michael.”