CHAPTER 20

A few hours later found Beth asleep with Carlton close to following her when the doctor came in with a couple of orderlies.

"Is this a bad time?" Doctor James asked.

"No, not at all." Carlton yawned as he nudged Beth awake. She protested at first, snuggling into his side more. Blushing at their audience, Carlton whispered in her ear, "Come on, rise and shine. The doctor's here and you're embarrassing me."

Groaning, she finally sat up a little and opened her eyes. "Fine. But only because I don't want to waste too much of the doctor's time. I'll embarrass you more later."

James tried to hide a snicker as he stepped forward. "Miss March. They're ready for you in radiology. It shouldn't take more than 40 minutes to do both tests. And in the mean time, I can take the detective back to his room to check his shoulder and hopefully release him."

"Sounds good," Carlton replied as he started to stand up.

"Detective. You know that you're not suppose to be walking around by yourself until I clear you." James said sternly as he motioned for one of the orderlies to help him.

Beth laughed as Carlton grudgingly sat in the proffered wheelchair. "Gosh Lassie, why have you been such a bad dog lately?"

Carlton just glared at her as he was wheeled out of the room.

A half hour later, after being released with instructions to take it easy for the next few days and to get his shoulder rechecked within the week, Carlton was waiting patiently in Beth's room when the door opened. Expecting Beth, he was surprised to see Henry Spencer.

"Henry, sir. I wasn't expecting you until noon, at the earliest."

"Yeah, well I was able to catch an earlier flight. And then the damn car rental place only had minivans and compact cars available. So I ended up getting a '92 Stratus, ugly old rusted thing, but I figured that it would do better in the snow than a '98 Caravan." Collapsing in the seat next to Carlton, Henry looked him over. "So, how did you fair?"

Carlton shrugged his good shoulder. "Dislocated shoulder and a mild concussion. No big deal."

Henry snorted as he drank from his coffee cup. "And Beth?"

"Sprained ankle and amnesia. She's getting tests done now to figure out if there's any brain damage."

"Amnesia eh? How bad is it?"

Carlton sighed, "She can't remember the last 2 months. From the sound of it, her memories stop the night before Fred attacked the two of you in your house. But she seems to be remembering random bits here and there."

"That's a shame. It took her long enough to accept what happened, I'd hate for her to have to relive it all over again."

"Yeah, the doctor said not to push her on that subject and not leave her alone for long periods of time for now."

Henry nodded, "Have you brought up the subject of moving? Does she still want to do it?"

"Yep. Said that she's always wanted to move and that she's not going to let a little memory loss or anyone for that matter stop her."

"That's my girl," Henry chuckled as the door opened.

When Beth was wheeled in, she looked tired but as soon as she saw Henry, her face lit up. "Mr. Spencer! Carlton said that you were coming, but he said later in the day."

"Well, when I heard that my favorite gal was in trouble, I didn't see any point in wasting time," Henry replied smoothly.

She blushed as the orderly helped her get resettled. "Why, Mr. Spencer, you sure know how to cheer a girl up. I guess Shawn had to learn it somewhere."

"You mean he actually learned some manners from me? Now isn't that something. And I've told you plenty of times before, call me Henry."

"Sorry, but the manners that I've grown up with told me to respect my elders, which means calling them by their last names."

"Unless they tell you explicitly not to."

"Very well, Henry." She giggled as she looked towards Carlton. "So, cat's got your tongue, Carlton?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "Nope. Just letting the two of you catch up, that's all."

"So," Henry interrupted while Beth stuck her tongue out at Carlton. "How are you feeling? Besides the whole amnesia bit."

Beth shrugged, "I don't know. Anxious to leave, I guess."

James entered at that point with another doctor. "I guess that's to be expected." James replied as opened the chart. "And I'm happy to report that according to your preliminary reports, you should be able to leave this afternoon, tomorrow morning at the latest."

"Yes!" Beth said excitedly.

Carlton smiled as James chuckled, "Nice to see you in good spirits. Now, I'll be heading out in a few minutes, so Doctor Morgan here will be taking over. I've updated him on your case and he agrees with my suggestions: Crutches for the next few weeks, no pressure on that ankle for at least 2, and no being alone for a few days, at least until your memories come back. Since it doesn't look like a physical trauma, more of a psychological one, we don't know how you will react when your memories return. I've gotten reassurances from both the detective and your sister that you will not stay here any longer than necessary, so we are letting you go as soon as possible."

"Are there any other instructions? And will she be getting pain meds?" Henry asked.

Dr. Morgan stepped forward and said, "She will be getting a prescription for a mild pain reliever, very similar to the detective's, although I strongly suggest against sharing since these two drugs have an interesting interaction with each other."

"Thanks, doctors," Beth smiled.

"No, problem. Let one of the nurses know if you need anything," Dr. Morgan nodded before leaving.

James came over and shook Carlton's hand, "Good day to you. I hope that you guys both heal nicely and quickly."

"Thanks," Carlton replied as James turned to Beth.

"Good Luck, Miss March." James shook her hand as she just smiled slightly.

Once they were left alone, Beth sighed, "So, would now be a bad time to ask about Fred?"

Carlton shared a look with Henry before replying, "What about him?"

She shrugged as she crossed her arms and looked down. "I don't know, how about did you ever catch him? Am I likely to run into him while we're here? Oh God, I hope my family never found out about him!"

Seeing how distressed she was becoming, Carlton leaned forward and took her hand. "Hey, look at me." Once he was looking into her eyes, he squeezed her hand. "You trust me, right?" She nodded. "Then trust me when I say that he is no longer a threat to you. He's behind bars for a few years, nowhere near you. As for your family, only Amy and Susie know, that's it. We already had the awkward mentioning of Fred last weekend with your family, so no worries about having to talk about it, okay?"

Beth took a deep breath and gave him a small smile, "Okay."

"Good." Carlton leaned back and gave her a smile, not letting go of her hand.

Henry coughed lightly and said, "How about a game of chess?"

Beth frowned as she turned to Henry, "Um, I guess? I have to warn you though, I'm not very good at it."

"Nonsense! We play every few weeks and you win often enough to be a bit of a challenge." Henry leaned over and picked up his bag that Carlton hadn't notice before, and pulled out a pretty decent sized board, folded in half to hold all of the pieces.

Beth giggled, "Do you always carry a chess board with you?"

"No. But for some reason, as I was leaving my house last night, I felt the need to grab it." Henry stood up and brought the tray table closer.

"Maybe Shawn got some of his psychic gift from you?"

Henry scoffed, "Believe me, he got that from his mother. I just helped him to focus."

Beth just smiled as she set up her pieces.