Chapter Twenty-Three
Two days.
Eli had been sitting by Clare's bed for two days and nothing had changed. Absolutely nothing.
It was driving Eli crazy.
"Miss! Miss, wait!" Eli exclaimed, releasing Clare's hand and running after the poor nurse who must not have known his tendency to make a nurse check on Clare.
The nurse stopped and turned, regarding Eli coldly. "You must be Mr. Goldsworthy," She said, looking him once over and relaxing slightly seeing his unkempt state. "You should really go home. We'll call you the moment that there is news."
"It's not even in consideration." Eli retorted, gesturing towards Clare's room. "Could you please run some tests, please? You're the only nurse I've seen in a while. It's like they're avoiding me..."
"An apt observation." The nurse said evenly. "You're driving them up a wall with these tests you keep asking for. There's nothing we can do, Mr. Goldsworthy. It's up to Clare now."
"There's got to be something you―"
"No. I'm sorry."
The nurse managed a sad smile as she turned away and continued along her way, leaving a frustrated Eli in her wake. He murmured a few profanities as he leaned his head against the wall. He was running out of options. There wasn't anything he could do except sit there and wait, hope, for Clare to wake up.
Could anything be more impossible?
At the moment, Eli didn't think so. With a resigned sigh, he made his way back into Clare's room. He closed his eyes and put his head into his hands and sleep threatened to claim him, but he opened them before it could.
It took him a moment to realize that Clare's eye were open.
His heart skipped a beat. "Clare? Clare? Clare, baby..."
Her eyes shot over to him and he knew that this wasn't a dream. He wasn't asleep. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips, despite Clare cringing away from him. That hurt, but he figured she was just getting used to everything again.
"W-Where am I?" She whispered.
"You're at the hospital, baby. Somebody attacked you, but you're all right now." He stood up. "Before I say anything else, let me go get a nurse or a doctor. They're going to need to look at you."
Just as he reached the threshold of the door, her voice stopped him in his tracks.
"W-Who are you?"
He turned. "I'm Eli, remember? Your boyfriend?"
She turned away from him. "I-I don't know..."
"Nurse!" Eli cried out, stepping out into the hallway. "NURSE!"
For what seemed like an eternity, no nurse arrived. Just when he was about to abandon that approach and run down the hall, the rather cold nurse from before emerged and approached Eli cautiously. "Is there a problem, Mr. Goldsworthy?"
"It's Clare, she's awake," Eli said quickly, "But she doesn't know where she is... or who I am."
"The damage must've effected her memory. It'll be awhile before the doctor can determine if this is short term memory loss or long term amnesia." The nurse explained, pressing what Eli assumed was a pager as she took him by the arm and led him away from Clare's room. "They're going to have to run some tests. That will take some time. You should go home now; get some rest. You're going to need as much of it as you can take."
No longer in the mood to argue, Eli nodded his understanding. She did have a point. Mustering a smile, he turned and made his way towards the exit of the hospital.
Get some sleep... and do a little investigation of my own.
Eli began to smirk. Yes. Yes, that sounded like a good plan. The authorities were doing very little to help him or Clare and he suspected either corruption or simply lazy officers. As he passed the reception desk, he saw a crowd of people looking up at the TV and one nurse turning the volume up.
"The Toronto Police Department has issued the warrant out for the arrest of this man, Kyle Martin. He is the cousin of slain police captain Jake Martin. He is considered armed and dangerous. If you have any information, or if you think you might have seen him, please call the number below."
Eli's smirk disappeared. Clare had never mentioned Jake had a cousin.
"Excuse me," Eli said, approaching the front desk and catching the attention of a nurse, "But what's the deal with this Kyle Martin character?"
"He's a convicted criminal with many priors." The nurse explained, starting to point towards the TV. "Didn't you see?"
"I missed some of it." Eli explained with a sad smile. "What were his priors?"
"They mentioned arson and various accounts of battery."
Arson. It finally made sense. This Kyle was the one who burnt Clare's house down. He was the one who was responsible for Clare's current state. He's the one who made her forget me. Eli's eyes narrowed and the nurse raised a brow. "Everything okay, sir?"
Eli nodded stiffly. "Thank you for your time."
He turned on his heels and exited the hospital.
He needed to find Kyle Martin before the police did. The problem was that Eli had no idea where to begin. He also didn't want to travel too far just in case Clare's condition either worsened or improved. He needed to be there for her now more than ever.
But he wanted to dish out some... personal revenge on Kyle before the police dealt with him and he never saw the light of day again.
But where to look?
Eli got to his car and opened the driver's side door, getting in and closing the door. He rested his head on the steering wheel, thinking.
Glen Martin, Clare's former stepfather. He'd know. If not, then Eli would try Clare's mother. Between the two of them there was bound to be an answer.
Eli turned the key and started the car and began driving in the direction of Glen Martin's home.