Case 04: Truth Can Be Forgotten

"I don't like memories because tears come so easily, and once again I break my promise to myself for this day. It's a constant battle. A war between remembering and forgetting. My heart and mind are ravaged." -Anonymous

Everything felt like a blurring haze just like his poor vision. His body felt heavy and weighed down. Jack could feel his cramped muscles and his healing bones ache throughout his tired body. He would have groaned if his soar throat had permitted his vocal cords to work... and his head. Ugghh. How it throbbed with sprouting pains, the pain of several migraines erupting everywhere.

With his blurred vision, he could barely notice the IV tubes inserted in his forearm... and the cieling was pure white with the white lights dimly lit. Damn, it was hard to keep his eyes barely open. It was exhausting to simply squint and whatever he saw... it was as if thick coat of fog was obscuring his vision; a lot like when you get out of the shower and the steamy clouds obscured everything.

He breathed in and out slowly as nausea began to sink in. He felt slightly dizzy despite the fact that he wasn't moving. Jack could blindly assume that he was stuck in a hospital and he attempted to move... ugh damn it hurts. The muscles refused to function properly. They screamed at him to stop his futile attempt to move. Jack turned his head very slowly and strained to see what was around him. In his room, there wasn't anyone except a woman's coat. Whose? He didn't have the slightest clue on who the owner was.

In the room next to his, he could see another patient like him. However, he couldn't make out the exact physical appearance of his neighbour. He strained his tired, blurry eyes and he could only make out the patient's long, dark brown hair; probably a woman. Jack groaned, his head kept pounding. It felt as if someone was continuously slamming a sledgehammer on his head. It hurt to even stay awake and it ached even more when he tried to focus on anything.

He would have simply relaxed his head onto the uncomfortable stack of pillows, but then he noticed a man walk into the room. It wasn't his business, but Jack instinctually felt the need to observe the ongoing scene. He blinked a few times while watching the man stare down at the patient who wasn't moving. The mysterious man soothingly pat the woman's head and he gently touched her long, brown hair.

What's he doing? Is he the woman's significant other? A tall man with dark brown hair.

That idea in his mind made logical sense. He was about to look away until the man raised one of the woman's slender arm. The hand dangled loosely which told him that she wasn't awake... perhaps even unconscious. It was alarming to watch the man bring out a hidden needle from his white coat pocket. Jack cocked his head in great confusion.

What is he doing? Is he a doctor or a nurse?

Jack lazily observed the scene slowly spin in front of him. There was a sinking feeling in his guts and it felt so fucking wrong to watch the man bring out a rubber band and tie it around her arm. If the patient next door was unconscious, there possibly couldn't have been a consent for the injection. He couldn't explain it, but watching the man tap the needle to get rid of the bubbles tore his body and mind with fear and the need to protect her although he had no idea who she was.

Every cell in his body screamed furiously to let them rest and heal, but Jack forced himself to move even if it felt as if his body was getting shredded apart. Did he understand why he was letting himself go through this amount of pain? Not in the least. He difficultly took a step forward and the alarms began to go off loudly while his wounds reopened.

He could curse the world because it hurt even more to breathe, but his mind was fixated on the room next door. Jack took one more step and felt like he could possibly faint from the pain, the dizziness, and the sheer anger of watching the man inject her with the needle. Then he could hear someone shouting something, but everything was getting blurry. However, he felt the need to keep moving towards her..somehow... I need to get there.

Then his vision and his hearing were beginning to fail miserably while rage fueled each of his movements. To his great horror, he clearly saw the needle turning empty as the man on the other injected the woman. Then he heard a piercing scream like that of a wild animal, a frenzied cry that pierced the dark silence... and it came from him. Finally he could feel all the energy fade as he felt the weight of his body fall forwards and as he fell slowly, the man turned around quickly, alarmed by his scream... and he fled from the woman's room.

Suddenly, he felt somebody grab hold of him... and he couldn't see the person any longer. The man with dark, thick hair.

Elsa and Dr. Tia came rushing up the stairs as they were immediately informed of the unfolding chaos in Jack Overland's room. The women were baffled by the scene and Elsa was even more shocked to see Detective Hans holding up a slumped Mr. Overland while a nurse cleaned up the needle she had used.

Dr. Tia demanded, "Nurse, what happened to Jack?"

Meanwhile, Elsa approached her subordinate, who was not expected to be here at the hospital and asked, "What are you doing here, Detective Hans?"

Hans helped the nurse to place a sedated Mr. Overland back in bed. The nurse replied, "The alarm went off because Dr. Overland woke up from his coma. We think he had a panic attack."

Feeling irritated, Dr. Tia slowly said, "We think he had a panic attack?"

The tired nurse's lips thinned at what her boss had to say and quickly explained, "We have responsibility to take care of other patients too. We are too busy to keep an eye on him."

Tia shook her head as she knew that the nurse was speaking the truth and she couldn't truly blame her as much as she wanted to. She asked, "Is he alright?"

The nurse replied, "Yes, everything is stable. He should awaken in about two hours."

Dr. Tia sighed in relief before asking, "Can you please have someone keep on eye on him so that we can be there when he wakes up?"

Elsa quickly stepped forward and bowed her head while stating, "I will stay here. This was also my fault, Doctor Tia. I should have been here and I am sorry."

The doctor nodded her head to show acceptance of her apology and said, "Well then, I will have to leave now, detective. Please keep an eye on him for us."

Detective Elsa quickly replied, "Of course, ma'am."

Thus, the old nurse and the Dean of Medicine left the room with a quick glance to their dear friend. The moment the click and clacks from their shoes could no longer be heard, Elsa turned to her subordinate and demanded the same question, "Detective Hans, I ask you again, why are you here?"

Hans replied, "You had your phone off so I had no other choice than to come see you."

Elsa groaned as she remembered how she turned off her phone due to the fact that the hospital workers often asked her not to make calls in certain areas throughout the hospital because it interfered with some of the machines. After a couple of days, she learned that it was much easier to keep the phone off and only turn in on outside of the building.

She said, "I'm sorry about that. So what do you need?"

Hans showed her one of the documents and reported, "We received a warrant to investigate the suspect's home. We wanted to check who should go lead the search."

Elsa thought over whom she should sent to find the valuable evidence in the suspect's home. Detective Anna was one of the best detective she had known and she often left her in charge while she was busy. However, she knew that she was busy with her mother and she looked at Detective Hans. He worked for her for a couple of years now and she trusted this man as her colleague. He was also a good detective and perhaps it was now his turn to shine and step up in this case to show how much he had grown as a seasoned detective.

The Head Detective watched Detective Hans, who looked more than ready to call someone to take the lead. Instead, she confidently said, "Detective Hans, I think you are capable to lead this search. You've worked for me the last four years. I know you are ready."

Detective Hans's mouth became agape as he was more than excited to hear her words. He looked like a little boy who received the best Christmas present from Santa Clause as he beamed a huge smile. He licked his lips and said, "You think I'm ready?"

Detective Elsa nodded her head and stated, "Yes. You are more than ready. Please show me that my choice was not wrong, Detective Hans."

He eagerly nodded his head and said, "Of course!"

Then she yawned from her exhaustion and Hans noted, "Oh, I should get you some coffee."

Elsa replied, "Yes, please."

Detective Hans quickly left Mr. Overland's room and ran down the corridor in order to race to the small cafeteria on the first floor of the hospital. While he did this, Elsa turned around and approached Jack, who was sleeping like usual. She smiled softly and no longer hesitated to gently touch his face. She whispered, "You finally woke up, Mr. Overland... Jack. I am sure that so many people would be happy to see you again. It will be my first time to actually meet you too. I have questions which can be answered only by you."

Then she whispered, "And I am very sorry that I wasn't around when you woke up, Jack."

Although he had his eyes closed like usual, this time his expression turned more relaxed as she rubbed her thumb over his forehead. Furthermore, she also noticed that some of his facial hair grew slightly on his jawline. She wondered what she should say to Jack once he woke up again. She felt calm around him as he heard lots of her inner secrets and she often used his first name while nobody was around to hear her words. It wasn't such a long time since she met him, but she felt like she knew him. She felt close to him- intimate even. However, it wasn't possible for him to know her and it was obvious that she would need to behave professionally around him and she wasn't certain how she felt about that.

Elsa quickly stepped back away from him as Detective Hans quickly returned back into the room with two hot cups of steaming coffee. She smiled back at him as he offered her one of the hot beverage. She said, "Thank you."

Hans also stared at Mr. Overland and sighed, "It was actually scary earlier..."

She raised her brows inquisitively and asked, "What actually happened earlier?"

Her colleague sipped and hissed a curse due to the temperature of the coffee. He placed his coffee on the side and explained, "Like I said, your phone was turned off and we knew where Mr. Overland was held. So I came to find you here, but I saw Mr. Overland awake. You were gone. He was shouting and dragging himself out of his room even though he was opening his wounds. I shouted for a nurse, but before she arrived, he fainted and I had to catch him. Then we put him back into bed and the nurse treated his wounds. I tried calming him down, but he kept screaming. It was quite freaky."

Elsa eyed the blood stain on Han's suit and she retorted, "That explains your red stain."

He shrugged and said, "It isn't our first time getting blood over our clothes and this isn't much."

They were enjoying their coffee break and observing over the man who was protected by them until another alarm started to ring loudly throughout the floor. The two were shocked by the noise and their hands immediately went to their guns. However, they quickly realized that the alarm was coming from the room next to Mr. Overland where Mrs. Overland was recovering her health. Elsa rushed to the room and felt panic shooting up her body. Her body was shaking violently in great spasm and her arms and legs flailed around.

Nevertheless, she took control over her emotion and maintained calm as she rolled over Mrs. Overland. She turned around at a stunned detective and shouted, "Get a nurse immediately!"

Hans ran out into the hallway and ran down the corridor to look for a nurse. While doing so, he shouted, "Help! Somebody please help us!"

Finally, he saw an alerted nurse running down from the opposite side of the hall. Meanwhile, Elsa tried to remain calm, but Mrs. Overland's breathing quickly stopped. However, she knew that she couldn't leave her side and stayed in position. Elsa whispered, "Mrs. Overland, please stay with us. You can't give up the fight."

Then she watched the cardiac monitor as it showed that her heart had stopped beating and Elsa too felt her heart stop beating from the sight. Finally, the nurse rushed into the room and saw the chaos getting unleased. She pressed a button before grabbing the paddle and processing to save Mrs. Overland's life. Hans also looked exasperated by the ongoing scene as horror and fear set in his guts.

More nurses came into the room in order to support the first nurse. A lot of commands were barked amongst each other as they desperately tried to save her. Then everyone watched the patient's arm dangle from the side of the bed and calmness returned back into the room. The gloomy atmosphere set into the room while everyone kept their heads down as they knew that they had failed. Then Doctor Tia also rushed into the room and noticed the somber mood which was darkening the room.

As a doctor, she knew what had happened and she joined the silence as a singe tear drop cascaded down her cheek. The same happened to Detective Elsa as she knew and felt miserable like the others. She knew it was unprofessional of her, but she embraced Dr. Tia who trembled as she broke into quiet, dry sobs.

It had been around two hours after the indescribable incident and every worker in the hospital heard the depressing news. Everyone's spirits had deflated and lots of tears were shed that day by those who loved and knew Mrs. Overland. However, nearly everyone decided to complete their job as they wished to keep their minds away from the incident. Detective Elsa and Detective Hans expressed the condolences to the doctors and nurses before Detective Hans also left to start his task. Over the hours, Mrs. Overland's body was respectively taken away from the room and the room was cleaned by interning students. That job was impossible to do by the Overland family friends.

It was such a horrible, sad feeling to watch the scene and Detective Elsa kept her head down in Jack Overland's room. She sighed and felt down despite of the fact that she didn't know Mrs. Overland. Elsa felt that she was a remarkable woman who was going to be greatly missed in the world. It was even more depressing as silence coated the whole hallway.

However, a small groan came from the bed as Jack Overland inhaled a great mouthful of air. From the noise, Elsa jumped from the seat and hesitantly walked over the bed and stared at a pair of beautiful blue eyes. She faintly whispered the man's name, "Jack."

He smiled softly back at her as she said his name. He groaned loudly as he tried sitting up. She quickly said, "No! Don't get up. Just lie there. You've been injured."

Jack frowned and then looked down at his bandaged body. He knew his bones were broken as he felt the erupting pain when he tried sitting up. He breathed heavily and rasped, "I know you..."

This time, Elsa frowned as she knew that was impossible. She never met him before and this was the first time to hear his deep, husky voice. She told him the truth, "That isn't possible, Ja-, Mr. Overland. We have never met before."

Jack feebly shook his head and said, "Maybe. But I recognize your voice.. I don't know what you said to me. But I know that I know your voice."

She held her breath and couldn't believe that the man knew her voice. She found the fact that he heard her voice while he was in a coma to be unbelievable. It was absolutely stunning. She had no words to say except, "I need to call some of your friends. They have been waiting to see you for a while."

Although it was painful, he shouted, "Don't leave."

His eyes looked greatly panicked and she said, "I won't. I will just call them. Don't worry."

She used the phone on the wall just like Doctor Tia had taught her and she frowned slightly as Mr. Overland looked around the room. When he looked at the room that had sheltered his deceased wife, he did not spend more than a second to look at it. Elsa stuttered into the phone, "Um... Doctor. Doctor Tooth, Jack Overland woke up. I think you need to come here."

She may not have had any medical background, except the basics, she asked, "Mr. Overland."

Jack interrupted her and said, "Call me Jack."

She sighed and said, "Jack. What do you remember?"

Jack answered, "From the look of my injuries, I have been in an accident. I don't know why though." He blinked several times as he tried to remember. He couldn't recall anything and shook his head.

Then Tia, Eric, and Nick bolted into the room and looked so relieved to find their friend awake. However, Jack looked confused more than ever and felt overwhelmed as they shouted, "Thank God, you are awake, Jack!" and "This a blessing man. We were so worried."

Instead he coldly asked, "Who are you? I don't know you." Then he turned to the only person whom he felt that he could trust and said, "I thought you said my friends were coming to see me..."

Eric asked, "What are you talking about, Jack?"

Jack stated, "Don't call me Jack. I don't know you people."

Eric swallowed nervously as he realized what may have happened and Tia looked so pained by those words while Eric looked simply stunned. Then Jack stared at Elsa who stood next to him and she looked at his friends as she also thought she knew what was happening.

Jack felt apologetic and said, "I am sorry, but I don't know any of you. So please get out. I am getting tired."

Thank you for reading as always and please review! :D I'm grateful as always.