Chapter 7
The four non-doctors in the room looked expectantly at the elder gentleman as he paused to sip his tea.
Lara shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she waited for the response to her question from Dr. Chambers. Terry leaned forward his brows knit in concern. Hillary and Bryce stood towards the back of the room looking like they were holding their breath.
"My dear, that's a good question and I wish I could give you a firm answer..." The doctor turned towards Terry. "His memory may return instantly or it may return slowly in the course of a few days." As if to add to the drama, the doctor took another sip of his tea. "However, he might never remember the event that caused his memory loss. This seems to be the case with many trauma victims."
Bryce giggled from the back of the room. "Well somethings aren't worth remember anyway," he said with a smirk. Hillary elbowed the young techie in the rib who then smiled apologetically at Lara. Lara gave him a look of disdain. If Terry were to remember the traumatic event that caused his memory loss it would be of Lara shooting him to prevent him from stealing a weapon of mass destruction. The thought made her uncomfortable.
"Dr. Chambers," Lara asked "is there a way that his memory might be triggered... right now he doesn't remember a thing..."
The old family doctor shrugged. "Quite possibly," he said. "And many im-possibilities seem possible with you Lara," he added with a smile. The old man stood up from his chair signaling that he was ready to leave. "Well the good news is that Terry is with people who care about him. Right now he needs rest and a safe and comfortable environment." The doctor seemed to emphasize the word 'safe' to Lara. If the circumstances were different she might have found the implication humorous, but having Terry remember his last moments while searching for Pandora's box was not a laughing matter at all.
"Doctor," Hillary intervened. "Of course you'll join us for breakfast?" The old doctor laughed.
"Oh no, I'm afraid I have another house call," he said with a smile. "Besides, the organic concoctions that this household prescribes to may be a little too advanced for my digestive system."
Lara frowned. "I thought you approved of my protein shakes," she said.
"Of course Lara, it's wonderful and highly nutritious for your body, but I'm afraid if the good Lord wanted me to eat grass he would have made me a cow," the doctor said with a joking smile about Lara's wheat grass morning shake.
"I'm a growing girl," Lara said with a grin.
"Yes, your father would be proud," Chambers said with a nostalgic smile. Lara returned the smile.
"Well, I'll be off then," Chamber said while moving towards the door. "Now remember, let's keep Terry in a comfortable and safe environment these next few days."
All four of them nodded in agreement, although none of them believed it would happen.
Terry took a step back adjusting to what he intuitively knew would be the weapon's recoil. He couldn't remember ever firing a gun, but this also seemed very familiar to him. "You know, I don't think this counts as a safe and comfortable environment that the doctor was talking about," he said referring to Lara's indoor gun range.
Lara shrugged. "It's quite tame I assure you." She fired a few rounds. "Besides you're capable of hitting the bulls eyes in your sleep."
Terry looked skeptical but aimed for the target. "Sure if you say so," he said before pulling the trigger.
"See," Lara quiped. Terry smiled to himself at the bulls eye he had just achieved.
Lara chuckled. "Don't get too thick headed, that's nothing." She fired four consecutive rounds then promptly pushed a button that would bring the target up to them. Terry looked puzzled at the single hole that went through the bulls eyes. Then his eyes lit up in recognition.
"You hit the same place four times," he said impressed. Lara nodded affirmative.
"Was I able to do that," Terry asked. Lara shrugged and nodded her head towards his target. Terry understood what she meant. Raising his firearm, four consecutive shots rang out, followed by a fifth as an after thought. As the target moved forward the results told the story as only one hole marked the paper.
Terry couldn't help the huge grin that crossed his face, but before he could speak Lara expertly reloaded her weapon and fired six shots.
"Ahem," she said as the target came forward with the same results.
Terry smiled at her. "You've made your point Croft."
"That I've always been a superior shot," she said.
"And that you're an impossible woman to please," he said. "No wonder our relationship didn't work out, or your other ones for that matter." Terry winced, he definitely didn't mean to say that last part out loud. Looking at Lara's face he knew the damage had been done.
Lara held her ground as she struggled to not shout that he was a murderous traitorous thug. But his comment on her other relationships, that was out of line. She wouldn't condone any judgment from him...
"Shut-up Terry, you don't know anything about me," was all she quietly said. The tomb raider turned around stalked out of the room.
Lara headed straight for her library, the one that contained her Arthurian lore. The sooner she solved the mystery of the Holy Grail, the sooner she could get Terry out of her life.
