Chapter Ten
Elizabeth had been contemplating her options all night, obsessively scrambling over the plausible steps she could take to get herself out of this hospital and away from the increasingly tense presence of her parents and Charles. The shock of the whole accident was slowly starting to wear off and Elizabeth was feeling the full emotional impact of losing a whole year of her life. She felt absolutely powerless, not completely convinced that the information about her life was entirely accurate. She heard their words, watched their faces, but yet didn't feel the resonation of truth in much of what she was told.
She was relieved to have the morning to herself, free of the monotonous company of her parents and fiance. The word fiance did not sit well with Elizabeth as she felt absolutely no attraction to him whatsoever. Physical or emotional. She could sense a deep tension in the room whenever her father and Charles were at the hospital at the same time and it made Elizabeth want to scream with madness.
Elizabeth looked down at the ring on her left hand and knit her eyebrows into a contemplative frown. She felt no adoration for the pricey jewel and contemplated ripping it off her finger and throwing out the window. As she was daydreaming about escaping the confines of this hospital, Nurse Carter's arrival broke her thoughts.
"You doin' okay Elizabeth? You look a little upset." The care and concern in her voice was genuine as she looked at her patient.
"I'm just...I don't know." Elizabeth looked down and shook her head gently, twisting her fingers nervously in her lap. "I just...I have the strangest feeling...like I've fallen into another world and I don't know who I am anymore. At least, this is not the Elizabeth Thatcher I would have pictured as myself a year ago."
Faith reached out her hand and clasped one of Elizabeth's gently, bringing an end to her obvious outward agitation. "I can't pretend to know how you feel, Elizabeth. But I do know you can never go wrong if you listen your heart." She smiled sweetly at her patient who returned her gesture half heartedly, Faith's words settling in soberingly.
As Nurse Carter exited the room, Elizabeth stood. She was craving fresh air, no matter how brisk, and went to open the second storey window. As she stood, letting the mid-autumn air sink into her skin, a noise below caught her attention. The door of a closing vehicle was followed by the sight of a man walking towards the entrance. Elizabeth froze still, jarred by the sight of this person she didn't even know. She stared intently, watching as the man walked directly under her window, and jumped slightly when he looked up and locked eyes with hers. Elizabeth was unable to move as the man held her gaze briefly before looking back towards the entrance.
Not until the man was out of sight did Elizabeth feel herself exhale in one sudden force of air. The breeze on her face was cool but a warmness spread through her body, just as the deafening thud of her heart beat in her ears. Elizabeth stood at the window, revelling in her body's heightened senses in response to seeing this stranger. This was the first time she had felt alive since regaining consciousness, and she clung to the spark it had created, hoping to sustain its uplifting effect on her.
Elizabeth was standing with her eyes closed, her back to the door when she was broken out of her reverie by Nurse Carter thoughtfully knocking. "Elizabeth?" Faith asked. "I have a Constable from the North West Mounted Police here who would like to ask you some questions about the night of the accident. Is that okay with you?" Elizabeth could feel the Nurse's eyes on the back of her head but made no motion of moving.
Elizabeth hadn't been prepared for a visitor. Her curiosity was peaked at the possibility that the man she had met eyes with from the window could be the Constable in question. Then she quickly dismissed that notion, realizing she would be in the company of someone wearing the familiar red coat of the Mounties, rather than the form-fitting trousers and plaid shirt that was seared in her mind currently. Elizabeth nodded softly and replied. "Yes. You can send them in."
Elizabeth continued to stand at the window, when she felt, rather than heard, a presence enter the room. Her shoulders tensed slightly as she slowly turned around, her eyes drawn to those of the man's directly in front of her. It was him! From just moments ago! Elizabeth felt suddenly flustered but continued to hold his gaze. A gaze that was trained to provide reassuring comfort. His voice eventually broke the silence.
"Miss Thatcher?" A look of sadness flashed on Jack's features, perhaps coinciding with his internal reaction at seeing the severe, albeit healing, bruise on her forehead. The swelling and redness was receding, leaving traces of impact twinged blue and purple, but the potential severity of her injury was inflicting internal damage to his soul. He watched her read his pained reaction and she shyly reached up to a comb her fingers through her hair, trying to cover the unsightly wound.
"Yes." Elizabeth breathed in response, her attention fully steered in Jack's direction. "And you? Who might you be?"
"Constable Thornton." He reached into his pocket to produce his badge and extended his right hand in welcoming, fighting the urge to envelope her into his arms and return her to Hope Valley with him immediately. The only thing stopping him was his concern for her potentially delicate physical condition and Jack wasn't about to remove her from the medical care she still required.
"Nice to meet you Constable." Elizabeth brought her hand out to shake his, noticing his gentle squeeze before releasing his hold. She continued to smile and looked expectantly at her guest. "I'm told you have some questions for me. Would you care to sit?" She motioned for the two chairs resting beside the bed.
Jack nodded and motioned towards the chair, his eyes following her careful movements as she sat down slowly, pulling the edges of her lilac robe together as she settled. His attention to fine detail told him Elizabeth was both agitated and excited...and he wished the latter was a result of him being in her presence. Looking Elizabeth directly in the eye, Jack replied. "Let me first start by saying how sorry I am. For your accident." He nodded slightly towards Elizabeth's head injury. "I'm told you were very lucky to survive." His voice turned suddenly quiet. Barely above whisper.
Elizabeth was watching the Constable speak but couldn't process what he was saying as all of her attention was spent focusing on the reaction her body was having to the sound of his voice. It felt reassuring, familiar even, but she struggled trying to pull out any recognition from the black hole of nothingness swirling in recent memories. "Yes. Lucky. It's definitely one word for it." Elizabeth sadly smirked and looked briefly away, as if she were trying to hide her true feelings reflected in her eyes.
Jack noticed her withdrawal and quickly tried understand it. "You seem upset, Miss Thatcher. Is everything alright?" Jack brought himself to rest near the edge of his seat, leaning his body closer to hers as he watched her reaction.
His nearness sent a warm flush to her cheeks as she struggled with how she would respond to him. The part of Elizabeth that felt like she could tell Constable Thornton anything loosened her tongue and caused her to want to pour out all of the troubles that were resting in her head, like how she had begun to obsessively doubt her existence. She looked gently to the man across from her and addressed his concern. "Nothing...is right. It's all wrong...All of it." She shook her head, straining to hold in her tumultuous emotions.
"What's wrong. Please...you can trust me." Jack reached out and momentarily touched her hand, a conditioned habit from their former courtship, and looked for any glimmer of recognition in her gaze.
Elizabeth took in a deep breath and sighed expressively. She was struggling with putting the words together that would make any sense to someone not in her position, let alone a Constable of the law she had just met. Elizabeth suddenly remembered the words that Faith had spoken only minutes earlier, a reminder to listen to her heart, and she decided to let her guard down to this man. She felt a sense of absolute trust emanating from his presence and went with her gut instinct.
"I feel I'm being lied to." Elizabeth softly began, tears forming in her soulful blue eyes. "The life I'm told I have does not feel like my life at all. It's all very...confounding." Elizabeth brought both hands up to her face and gently wiped away the stream of tears falling on her lap. She began to lightly laugh at her statement and tried to lighten the heavy moment. "But I'm sure that's not what you came here to find out. I'm sorry for distracting you from your purpose here today Constable Thornton..please, do proceed with the questions you had for me."
"Okay...umm…." Jack took a deep breath to re-focus on his original plan and looked at Elizabeth neutrally. "I need to know if you have any recall of the events that occurred the night of your sister's wedding. Anything at all...no matter how insignificant you feel it may be." He looked at her expectantly, hoping at any time to see the spark of his Elizabeth returning to him.
Elizabeth broke her gaze from his and looked over his shoulder, her face twisted with pain at trying to extract an image from her recollection. "No." She whispered heavily. "I can't remember a thing. Nothing. Trust me...I've wracked my brain for days already, desperate to know the truth. Don't you think I would have said something by now." She snapped back, clearly frustrated with her predicament.
"I don't know. Would you? How does Charles Kensington factor into all of this? Are you trying to protect him?" Jack was startled at his boldness, nervous that his unleashed hatred for Charles was going to scare Elizabeth into retreat. He watched her features contort into a confused scowl, clearly processing his words carefully.
"Protect him?" Elizabeth looked at Jack disbelievingly. "From what? I'm not sure I know what you are implying, Constable, but I am not the type of person to lie to officials of the law. I told you...I have no memories of that night...or the night before it, or the year's full of nights before that!" Elizabeth's breathing had intensified and she found her chest heaving in response. She stood up quickly and held on to the arm of the chair for support, a slight dizziness catching her off guard. Jack instantly stood and clasped her elbow in his, relieved when she grabbed on to his arm for extra support.
"Elizabeth!" He breathed and closed his eyes, realizing he had spoken her first name aloud. Jack was reaching his breaking point. Elizabeth's inability to remember him or their relationship was more tortuous than any form of medieval methods he had read about in books.
"Yes, Constable?" She gently responded, her eyes focused on the feel of his hand on her arm. She froze in one place and refused to separate herself from such a close electric proximity to him.
"Well...don't hesitate to call Headquarters if you start to remember anything more. From that night of the accident...to anything. Please." Jack slowly released his grasp on Elizabeth's arm and turned his professionally appointed stare her way. "I hope to hear from you soon."
As he took a few steps back toward the door, Elizabeth instantly missed their closeness, even if she had only experienced it as fleeting seconds in time. She could still feel the imprint his hand had left on her arm. Elizabeth half-smiled and asked, inquisitively. "And who shall I ask for? May I ask for you by name?"
"You can ask for Jack. Constable Jack Thornton." He smiled knowingly at Elizabeth, desperate to see any spark of their connection in her eyes.
"Have a good day, Jack." Elizabeth replied.
Jack nodded and hurriedly turned to walk out of her room, fearful for the tears he would unleash at leaving Elizabeth. His plan to exit the hospital quickly was interrupted by Faith who stopped him at the Nurse's counter. "Jack. Before you go...I have something for you."
Jack turned at approached the counter, masking his devastation with a look of defeat. "I'm sorry, Faith. Can this wait? I just want to get out of here...I can't…" His voice wavered and completely stopped when he saw what Faith was holding.
"It's Elizabeth's ring." Faith spoke gently. The one, I assume, you gave her. I just wanted to make sure it got back to it's rightful owner...and I'm sure you're right person to make that happen."
Moments later, Elizabeth walked back to the window to catch a glimpse of Constable Thornton leaving. She watched him as he exited the building to make his way towards his vehicle and secretly hoped he would care enough to look her way again. Elizabeth desperately watched him and felt tears streaming down her cheek, completely powerless to the surge of emotions that were overflowing within her heart as she watched this man walk away. "Jack." She whispered, hoping he felt her use his name.
Jack quickly walked past Elizabeth's window and didn't look up as he feared if he did, he would not be able to follow-through with his official orders and stick to the case at hand. As much as he loved Elizabeth, and wanted to be the one to help restore her memories, he knew it was best to pursue the ongoing investigation into Charles Kensington's shady business dealings and remove this man from the picture for good. From recent updates at Headquarters, he knew they were only a matter of days away from being able to serve arrest warrants to key players in the ring, and felt he would be able to focus all of his attentions to Elizabeth once it was all out of the way. Then they could start rebuilding their life, together, after their biggest obstacle to their relationship was sufficiently behind bars.
"Jack…" Elizabeth whispered again, slightly louder than the last time. She was watching him enter his vehicle and close the door, oblivious to her attentions to him. "No...Jack. Please!" Elizabeth started to panic at this impending departure, a rise of memories was hovering on the brink of explosion in her mind.
As the vehicle started to slowly leave it's spot, Elizabeth was struck by an intense realization that she knew this man. All of the memories from the past year washed over her like a tsunami, flooding her senses with the intense love and longing for Jack that were buried in her subconscious since the accident. Elizabeth pulled herself up to the window, trying to get his attention in any way possible. "Jack!" She cried loudly waving her hands wildly in the open air. "I remember! Please...don't leave. You can't….leave…!"
The vehicle did not stop. Jack could not hear Elizabeth's cries.
Elizabeth spun around quickly, intending to run for the door and make her way to Mountie Headquarters to find Jack and tell him how much she remembered. As she flew to the door, she was stopped in her tracks by the appearance of a large body hovering in front of her. Large hands squeezed both of her shoulders tightly, preventing her from moving.
Elizabeth looked up, shocked to see the contorted face of Charles leering down at her. "Hello Elizabeth." Charles calmly spoke and maintained his strong grip on her shoulders. "I hope you said your goodbyes to your precious Jack...because that's the last time you will ever see him again." Elizabeth's eyes widened in horror and she struggled to release herself from his grasp. Her efforts, however, were useless against the syringe of liquid used to sedate her.
For the second time in a week, Elizabeth's world went blank.