I only wished I owned 21 Jump Street
Chapter 5: Memories
Doug Penhall followed his fellow officers back out into the waiting room. He took a seat and quickly wiped away the last few tears that fell upon his cheek. Judy sat down beside him and put her head on his shoulder.
"I can't believe he didn't recognize us." Judy looked up at Captain Fuller. "What are we going to do Captain? He was so angry and rude with us."
Captain Fuller put a hand on Judy's shoulder and let out a sigh. He honestly didn't know what they could do right now for Hanson. "We just have to be there for him Judy and hope and pray that he regains his memory."
Harry spoke up, "Well, he's definitely got the McQuaid thing down…I just can't believe that he chose that person to become."
Doug finally looked up and everyone could see the pain in his eyes. He looked as if he had lost his best friend. Actually, in a way he felt like he had lost his best friend. The caring, hard working, funny guy that was Tom Hanson. Tom Hanson had been replaced with a rough, uncaring, rude and smart-assed Tommy McQuaid. Under other circumstances, Doug would have possibly thought this was funny. After all, he did enjoy being the McQuaid brothers while undercover. He and Tommy always had fun with their alter egos. But after realizing that the Tom Hanson he knew was no longer in that body in the hospital room, Doug didn't find the situation funny at all. All he felt was sadness and a nagging fear that his best friend was gone…only to be replaced by Tommy McQuaid.
Doug stood up and glared at the others. "I don't find that so funny Harry. Don't you care that our friend is in there in that hospital room and he doesn't know who the hell he is?"
Harry put a hand on Doug's arm. "Of course I don't think this is funny Doug. Tom is my friend too and I'm scared to death that he isn't going to remember who he is. We all want him to remember, okay?"
Doug nodded and mumbled, "Yeah, sorry. I just hate seeing him in there like this." He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "What are we going to do about him Captain?"
"We're just going to have to keep an eye on him…make sure he doesn't get into trouble. Hopefully being around us will help jog his memory." Fuller stood and continued, " I think we should all go home right now though and get some rest. Something tells me that we're going to need it."
Judy and Harry stood up and turned to leave. "Aren't you coming Doug?"
"You guys go ahead. I'm going to stay here with Tom. I'll let you know if anything changes." He looked at Fuller, who sent him a questioning look. "You can't change my mind Captain. I'm staying."
Fuller just nodded and said, "Okay, I know I can't change your mind. Let us know if anything changes." With that he and the others said their goodbyes and turned to leave.
Doug walked back to Tom's room and peeked inside. He noticed his friend had fallen asleep so he snuck inside his room and sat down in the chair beside his bed. Tom seemed to be sleeping peacefully, so Doug carefully took his hand and leaned in to whisper, "Come back to us Tom. We… I need my best friend back." With that Doug sat back in the chair and before long his eyes slipped shut and he fell fast asleep.
His peaceful sleep didn't last long however as he was awakened by a loud scream and a thump. Doug sat up quickly in his chair and discovered that Tom was now on the floor, his eyes squeezed tightly shut and he was screaming "No… stay away, stay away!"
Doug knelt down beside the frightened young man and put a hand on his arm. "Tommy…. hey man, open your eyes. It's all right; it's just you and me here. You're safe."
After hearing the voice, Tom slowly opened his eyes. He found himself looking into the face of the man from before… Doug? Yes, Doug that was his name. "What the hell are you doing in my room again?"
Doug was caught off guard by the harshness of Tom's words, but still held his ground. "You were screaming in your sleep… did you remember something?"
Tom stood up and got back into his bed. He had remembered something in his dreams, but he couldn't understand them. They were more like quick flashes than an actual memory. He remembered seeing himself holding a gun and pointing it at a tall, dark haired man. Then his memory switched to someone coming up behind him and hitting him in the head. Tom shivered at the memory that must have landed him in the hospital.
"Tom, hey man… did you remember something?" Doug was getting worried about the confused look slowly making its way across Tom's face.
"Yeah…Well, no." Tom ran his hand through his hair and brushed it out of his face. "I just keep seeing all these flashes… like parts of a memory."
Doug couldn't hide his disappointment. He was hoping that his friend had regained his memory and the good old Tom Hanson was back. However, by the look that he was getting from the man on the hospital bed, he knew that hadn't happened.
"Oh, okay then… why don't you just lay down and go back to sleep then." Doug sat down in the chair beside the bed again. "I'll just stay here with you tonight."
Tom looked at Doug and could feel himself getting angry. "Why can't you take no for an answer? I don't know you and I don't want you here."
Doug had had enough. He was sick of his friend trying to push him away and he wasn't going to take it anymore. "No… I'm not going anywhere. You are my best friend and my partner." He stood up and walked over to the bed. "You can yell at me and tell me to fuck off all you want, but I'm not going anywhere, do you understand that?"
Tom looked at Doug with disbelief. He didn't think that anyone would ever stand up to him. He was a McQuaid after all and nobody ever stood up to a McQuaid! Just then, Tom saw another memory flash. He saw himself and Doug standing in a church and they were doing some kind of handshake…
Doug watched as Tom's expression once again became confused and noticed that Tom looked down at his hands. He was startled when Tom looked up at him, grinned and yelled "Heh!"
"Y-You remember?" Doug wondered exactly what was going on in Tom's mind at that moment. Did he really remember? Was the old Tom Hanson back?
TBC… sorry, I know I know… but we need a few cliffhangers now and then!