Chapter 12

Colleen arrived like an earthquake; loud and sudden. She stormed into the examining room the same way Beth Ann burst past the receptionist. Her ensemble was perfectly in order, except for the fact that her hair was pointing four different directions and her face was flushed from the exertion of hurrying over from the office.

I kind of admired her look but only for a split second as she confronted Rebecca, demanding answers. They went to her office and conferred, only a little quieter, for some time, before Rebecca opened the door and beckoned us both in.

Colleen took the lead. "Mrs. Morse, I understand from Rebecca that there are serious issues Brian hadn't shared with you," pausing to kill me with her eyes, " - and his attorney, about his injuries. These injuries put an entirely new light on your claims and we need to discover everything there is to know about Brian's memory loss, so we know how to proceed.

"My father is quite experienced and once we gather everything together, I will have him consult extensively, with us to make sure we protect Brian's recovery and future claims.

"Rebecca did just tell me that Brian's reproductive health test was disappointing. He produced zero live. Obviously, he'll need to provide additional samples but it looks like Rebecca called it right, yesterday. Brian does not appear capable of fathering his own children. Add to that his injuries, the disruption of your lives and now a significant memory loss, and the trucking company has little, to nothing left for them to stand on, to defend themselves.

"Their truck forever changed Brian's life and now, if that wasn't enough damage, they changed his past, too. If his memory loss is deemed permanent, it will open an entirely different set of liability issues for us to examine.

"I hope you know we both are all in and want to protect Brian's health first, and then his rights. My father taught me a lot of things about being a good lawyer. The first lesson he shared with me was that my responsibility is to protect you and Brian, no matter what is good for me.

"I promise to do that in every way possible. Rebecca and I will become like partners with you, as this case unfolds. We'll know almost as much about Brian as you know, but that's a good thing, because we have only one objective – protecting Brian.

"Do you have any questions before we start?"

Beth Ann was as surprised at Colleen's passionate speech as I was. We let them lead us and they examined my "memories" for the next eight and a half hours. Colleen called her office and had her assistant pick up pizzas and Pepsi to keep us going while they filled legal pads with notes.

We were exhausted by the time the two women finally agreed we needed to quit for the day but extracted our firm promise to return to Colleen's office on Friday to resume, at eleven o'clock.

Beth Ann was quiet all the way back to the cabin. It didn't bother me because I had so much to think about. Losing my reproductive potency was no big deal. I hadn't wanted children and Judith hadn't reached a peace with herself where she was comfortable starting a family.

I played the perfect ventriloquist dummy, while being examined by Rebecca and Colleen. Other than admitting to knowing Beth Ann, I simply told them that I had no independent memory of the many, many things they asked. There were times I answered things and one, or the other would ask, "How do you know that?" Each time I assured them it was something Beth Ann had mentioned. I made no attempt to invent any memories. No matter what they asked the answer stayed consistent.

Driving home, it was obvious that Beth Ann was troubled by the facts and I could tell we would have some long, hard talks about it, before long.

When she parked the van and we were walking into the house Beth Ann asked, "Do you really have no memory of all those things? Is it possible your entire life was erased like a blackboard at some school? How have you coped? Why didn't you tell me? What were you afraid of, Baby?"

We got in the house and sat together on the couch, before I answered. "I was afraid," I said. "I was afraid that the hospital wouldn't let me out and I'd be stuck in some bed for weeks, or months, while head shrinkers poked around my skull asking about my toilet training and breast feeding memories. I don't want to be that guy. You know, the one that people point at and whisper behind his back because he was in a nut house.