Thanks for the reviews, guys! Now I'm all giddy about this story…even though it's sorta dark right now. ButIpromise! – it won't all be heart wrenching…eventually. Also, I hope this chapter clears up any confusion about the first one…it was supposed to be kinda fuzzy, helps with the suspense. Try reading Waiting For Godot, then you'll really know what confusion is. So yeah, on to the catch-up chapter! Ciao!
Woody stared at Dr. Schwartz, completely dumbfounded by what he was hearing. Jordan had been ushered out of the room fairly fast as she was nearing a panic attack and taken into a nearby room to calm down and be treated. Deep in his gut, Woody had wanted to go with her to sit by her side, hold her hand and tell her everything would be all right. But at this point it would have made no difference if the person holding her hand was him or a stranger. Because he was a stranger to her. All he had the power to do at the moment was inform the staff of who to call, that since she had no immediate family near the area to contact Dr. Nigel Townsend or Lily Lebowski. After that, Dr. Schwartz explained that Jordan had been brought into the ER by a woman who had witnessed Jordan collapse to her knees in the middle of the sidewalk. Apparently, all Jordan was able to tell this woman was her name, and that it was imperative that she get to the hospital. Using the information on the paper as a guide, the woman brought Jordan to the ER of the hospital knowing that Jordan was in need of help. Dr. Schwartz had seen her, but basically gave up trying to admit her when, after twenty minutes in the exam, Jordan tried to set off in search of the mystery room herself. And now, here they were.
"So she knows who she is?" Woody asked, still not quite grasping what was happening.
"She has the basic information about her life," Dr. Schwartz nodded. "Not really anything more than you would find in a file about her. What she seams to have forgotten is people: names, faces, past histories, that sort of thing."
Woody brought his hands to his forehead and slid them along to his temples, trying to make his mind focus. When Jordan had walked out of his hospital room two weeks ago, he had had every intention of permanently removing her from his life. He never wanted anything to do with her again; not her teasing, not her mood swings, not her jealous streaks, not her propensity for law breaking…not a damn thing. And now, all of sudden, here was a Jordan who was lost, completely stripped of all the things that made her who she was. It scared him that she knew nothing of the people in her life. How on earth could she survive in this world without that past? As much as he wanted to make her know he was pissed off at her, he had certainly never wished this upon Jordan. What a way for her to find a way back to him. Curse his stupid chivalrous heart for hurting for her.
"Is this common?" he asked, then added quickly, "I mean, has this ever happened before? Will she be able to recover?"
"Memory loss like this is less common than the typical amnesia that people think of. It's called Retrograde Amnesia. What's happened to her is that the right temporal lobe, the part of her brain that stores her personal history, has selectively shut off certain memories. As far as we can tell, there was no physical trauma that caused it. What often happens is that a person goes through severe emotional trauma, and in a coping mechanism the brain severs connections to those memories in an attempt to avoid an overload," Dr. Schwartz explained. "Stranger things have happened to people in these situations – we had a man in here once that inexplicably started talking with a British accent. Others become mute, or even lose their hearing. You mostly see things like this in war vets." He paused and looked cautiously at Woody. "Would you be in a position to give some insight as to what kind of trauma might have caused this?"
Woody laughed bitterly. He had more insight than he could ever say. It was just his luck that it would be left to him to fill in her past. "How much time do you have?" he questioned sarcastically. Dr. Schwartz gave a sad smile, knowing the kinds of things that had to happen to cause memory loss of this sort. He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and then settled himself into the chair beside the bed.
Woody still couldn't believe what he was happening. Never in his life had he ever had to deal with something like this. He turned his head to look out the window, letting out a frustrated sigh. Would things ever slow down for them? When would they be able to just live life without encountering disaster every other day? Woody furrowed his brow. Dr. Schwartz had left one question unanswered.
"Is she going to be ok?" he asked pointedly. When he was not answered right away, he looked over at the doctor with concern. Dr. Schwartz seemed to be weighing his answer carefully, which Woody took as a bad sign.
"Well," Dr. Schwartz started, "It's hard to tell at this point. It varies from patient to patient. There's no physical trauma to help us measure the damage. The best thing for her right now is to be surrounded by familiar things: friends, family, whatever she needs to bring her back. And you can help that process greatly if you can inform us of where she's coming from." He stopped then, pen at the ready and looking expectantly at Woody.
For the first time, Woody felt uncomfortable about the circumstances. Jordan was such a private person. She would have killed him if she knew what he was being forced to do. She would hate him. Hell, she already hates me, he thought. And I'm supposed to be hating her right now. As much as he wanted to feed his anger for her, he found a different feeling welling up inside of him, a feeling he really did not want to accept. He pitied her. He felt downright sorry for her. It was the very reason he had shut her out of his life, and now that's all he could feel for her. Now he had to make one of the most difficult decisions in his life. How much would he have to reveal about her in order to help her recovery? How much would he have to betray her?