Chapter Five

Jacqueline

Everything seemed strange to the auburn-haired woman from the moment she opened her green eyes. The room was very white and bleak, and the light above was annoyingly bright. Just then, a hand suddenly took hers and she turned her head curiously where a man with tossed light brown hair and brown eyes sat, smiling at her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said, glancing around the hospital. "Who are you again?"

"Jacqueline, it's me, Mark," the man said almost pleadingly. "Don't you remember? Your boyfriend?"

The woman stared at him for a long time.

"No," she said at last. "I don't remember you. What did you call me?"

"Jacqueline," he said again, shaking his head. "I had better get the doctor. You just wait here."

Jacqueline watched him leave and then sat up in bed. She was in a hospital, that was certain, but she didn't really feel bad except for a slight bump on the head. She touched it thoughtfully and felt the bandage, but the bump itself didn't seem to hurt that much. She glanced at the side of the bed where several flowers and balloons sat. Picking up one of the tags, she glanced at the back which read; Jacqueline Cassius, Room 4-11. The flowers, it seemed, were from Mark.

"Good morning, Jackie," said a man with a clipboard coming in with Mark. "I'm Doctor Miller. How are you feeling?"

"Why am I here?" Jacqueline asked.

"Your boyfriend brought you in after he found you unconscious in your apartment. Do you remember falling?" Miller asked.

"I don't remember anything," Jacqueline admitted.

"Well, we're going to run a series of tests so we can try to find out why, okay?" Miller said with a smile, making a note on the clipboard before heading out.

"You want me to turn on the T.V. or something? Or maybe I can go raid the snack room and sneak you something in," Mark suggested.

"T.V.?" Jacqueline repeated puzzledly.

"Not that there's probably much to watch, but I'm sure I can find something," Mark said, turning the set on and flipping through the channels. "Ah, here's one you like!" he said. But Jacqueline didn't look at the moving pictures for long. She didn't recognize any of the people in it. She got bored and started looking around again.

"So how long have we known each other?" Jacqueline asked.

"A couple of years. We met at the café. You know, the one across from our apartment," Mark said, gazing at her. "Do you remember the café?"

"No," Jacqueline said with a frown. "Our apartment?"

"Sure, just off of West 12th," he said casually.

A nurse came in then with a wheel chair, smiling at her.

"The doctor wants you to take a few tests while you still have an empty stomach," she explained, helping her up.

"Then after that, I can leave?" Jacqueline asked.

"Well, you'll be able to get something to eat at least," the nurse said, coaxing her into the chair. Mark followed behind them but soon got shooed to the waiting room, contenting himself to watch the repeating local news on the T.V. set above until finally an attendant came to take him to Miller's office.

Miller was glancing over some pictures in his hand when he came in, placing them aside as Mark sat down.

"Mr. Ghent, I'm not exactly sure why she was unconscious when you found her," Miller said, "but there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with her, all of the tests have come up negative."

"What about the bump on her head?" Mark asked.

"Artificial, probably happened when she hit the floor. I'd guess she fainted, but it doesn't look as if there's any physical reason why. The only conclusion I can draw from that is that it must have been some sort of psychological trauma that is causing her amnesia," Miller explained. Mark nodded.

"I see."

"Did you happen to have any fight, or perhaps there was a death in the family or stress at work?"

"No, no fight. Her parents are dead, which is why I had her sign a disclosure agreement so I could be here if anything happened," Mark said. "And she wasn't working. Laid off."

"Financial troubles?"

"No, we're comfortable at the moment," Mark said.

"Well, I am going to have to recommend that she get a full psychological evaluation before release. Now we have a doctor on call here…"

"Doctor Miller, I know a good psychiatrist upstate that my mother used to see. Any chance I can ask him to look at her?"

"Provided he's state certified," Miller nodded. "What about her children? Are they going to be told?"

"Children?" Mark asked, startled.

"We did give her a full examination when we weren't sure what was causing the problem," Miller said. "She's had several, and she must have been quite young at the time, considering from the records we have say that she's only twenty five now."

"Yes, I was just surprised because it's something she never talks about. She gave them up a long time ago. She was… as you say, young," Mark said, a bit uncomfortable.

"I understand," Miller said. "I'd like to talk to this doctor of yours when he gets here if you don't mind…"

"Erascus is the name," Mark nodded, getting up as Miller showed him to the door.

Miller stood in the doorway as he watched Mark head to her room, not quite sure why he was so bothered by the entire thing. It had been known to happen before, and yet, there was usually an easily spotted cause. He sighed softly. At least now it'd be out of his hands and to someone qualified to deal with it. At the same time, Miller couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't passing this one off too soon.

When Doctor Erascus arrived, he didn't talk to Jacqueline very long. He had her read for him and a few other simple tests to test what she remembered and what she didn't, filling out a report stating she had functional memory; knowing how to perform everyday tasks.

"My initial prescription is that she refamiliarizes herself with her surroundings, but don't leave her by herself until I give permission," Erascus had told Mark, Miller standing right behind them. "I'll see her weekly, but call me if you have a problem and I'll drop by."

"And I'd like to see her in a month," Miller said, earning a raised eyebrow from Erascus. "Just a quick follow up to make double sure I didn't miss anything. You can make her an appointment at my regular office, Mr. Ghent."

"I'm sure you've been more than thorough, Doctor Miller," Erascus said.

"Yes, I'm sure I have, but I've learned to trust my gut feelings when it comes to my patients. If in a month she has a physical complaint to report, it can show us something we've missed," Miller said. "Quite a bit of our information comes from our patients, and she wasn't able to give us that. It's hardly being overly cautious. Of course, I do expect her in here sooner if the complaint is more than minor. Especially things like constant migraine headaches, earaches…"

"Yes, doctor, we'll let you know," Mark agreed.

"Then I suppose that's it," Miller sighed, glancing back in the room where Jacqueline was reading a newspaper with a furrowed brow. "I'll let the nurses know that she's ready to go home."

The apartment building was several stories tall with a colonial style entrance and a curious metal speaker beside the door. Mark got out a conglomeration of keys and opened it, then led her up a staircase to another door he unlocked with a different key.

"Here we are, home sweet home," Mark said cheerfully, letting Jacqueline go in first.

The first room was a small living room with cream-colored carpets and rather boring, ivory plaster walls, covered with several framed printed photos. To the right was a kitchen, open to the living room and sectioned off by a simple bar with overhanging ivory cabinets. The back wall had large glass windows and a door leading out to a tiny patio, while to the left were two doors, the far left leading into what appeared to be a small bathroom, and the closer one to a bedroom. Jacqueline stared in the bedroom for a long time, frowning at it.

"So, should I make us something to eat? Drink? I bet you want to change first," Mark suggested, opening up the refrigerator.

"There's only one bed," Jacqueline said flatly.

"Well, yeah, I mean, you're… we're a couple," Mark said. Jacqueline stared at him. "Look, I'll sleep on the couch for now, okay? But don't expect me to do it forever. I do have to go to work eventually, you know, and I can't do it without enough sleep. How about a Coke?"

"Coke? Yes," Jacqueline said, looking around more. "What sort of work?"

"Trading assistant at the stock exchange. I just got promoted from clerk, actually. Basically it means I carry reports instead of coffee," he said.

"And what do I do?"

"Oh, you haven't been working lately. You got laid off and all that," Mark explained. "It's alright. I do okay for the two of us, and I've made some investments. Want to watch T.V.?"

"No," Jacqueline said, wandering around a moment before going over to the glass door, fiddling with it for some time before she figured out the latch and went outside.

The patio was bare except for a few pots of thirsty flowers and a couple of chairs. Jacqueline leaned against the rail, glancing out into the street and all of the surrounding buildings. How crowded everything was! Outside a group of teens on skates were dodging pedestrians, and cars seemed to pass by rather frequently, but none of them ever seemed to stop anywhere. Across the street, there was a café right next to Bergen's Grocery and Kosher Deli, where several people stood outside, chatting. But the more she looked at it, the more foreign everything seemed to her, and Jacqueline couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever remember.

"I guess it is kind of hot in there," Mark said as he came up behind her, handing her a can of soda and a pill.

"What's this?"

"Erascus prescribed it. One kind for daytime and one for night," Mark said. "I think I'll go turn the AC on."

"The what?"

"You know, the air conditioner," he said, going inside. She followed him in, watching him curiously as he opened a box on the wall and flipped a switch, then he went to shut the patio door. A moment later, Jacqueline heard a strange sound and felt air coming from all around her. Then she found herself staring at the vent.

"Why didn't we use the fireplace?" Jacqueline asked.

"Well, it's too hot for that, Jackie. Besides, the fireplace isn't a real fireplace. It's gas. Safer really."

"Gas is safer?" Jacqueline said skeptically.

"Sure, as long as the pilot stays lit," Mark said. "You know, you haven't taken your medicine yet."

Jacqueline had put her coke and pill down on the counter and was busy exploring the kitchen, looking curiously at the strange box under the cabinet, pulling the door open. A light came on, but all it had was a glass plate in it.

"Here, how about I give you a tour of the house. Will that make you feel better? I'll show you where everything is. But first, take your medicine. It'll help you remember things," Mark insisted.

Reluctantly Jacqueline downed the pill, taking several sips of soda with it. At least the soda seemed familiar. She gazed at Mark again thoughtfully.

"It didn't work," she said flatly.

"Well, it is going to take time. I don't think there's a miracle cure for this," he said with a sympathetic smile. "Come on, let's go through it all, one thing at a time."

But the more Mark showed her, the less familiar everything felt; every light switch, every gadget, even down to her clothes closet, glancing at her things and wondering what in the world she must have been thinking buying all of this. She definitely had questionable taste in clothes, she decided. Her first adventure into the refrigerator was even less appealing. It was filled with lots of plastic bags labeled "fresh" when they obviously weren't and "frozen dinners" that she was quite sure would break her teeth to try and eat them.

But the most annoying thing of all was when she finally gave up and went to bed. The moment she got nice and comfortable, she raised her hand absently and then frowned when she realized that the light was still on and the switch was on the other side of the room. Staring at it in complete annoyance, she couldn't help but wonder why anyone would put it so far out of reach from the bed. Finally she got up and turned it off, stubbing her toe in the process of trying to get back in.

Noises of talking with music was coming from the other room… Mark must have still been watching that T.V. contraption. Frustrated, she took her night medicine, lying with her eyes open for a long time. She wished she had something to read, but she hadn't seen any books in the house, and just a single financial newspaper. She sighed as a car horn started blowing in the distance. No doubt about it, it was going to take some time to readjust.