Forever Blue Chapter Two
Previously:
"We need help, and there's not enough room in my small car to get him to the hospital." Robert said as he looked toward the entrance to the building they were in; rain was still falling, and rather hard.
"It's what you get for buying a car with no back seat." Eliza refrained from saying what she thought when it came to her cousin's 'fancy' car-as he put it. There was nothing fancy about it, and was the ugliest color of orange she'd ever seen. "Once it stops raining, or eases off anyway, get in that thing and drive as fast as you legally can. First to the hospital and then the police station; they need to know about this."
He sat on a nearby crate while Eliza continued to care for her patient. "All right."
Eliza stood next to the window and watched as rain once again fell from the sky. It wouldn't have bothered her, only it was coming down rather hard. That made her nervous, as she had no way of knowing whether her cousin had reached either the hospital or police station yet. Glancing back at the stranger, she sighed. Her mind wandered to the few minutes before Robert left to get help.
Eliza turned away from the window and went to the foot of the bed she and her cousin had laid their injured 'guest' in -the one that still held the mattress she and her friends had put on it when they first arrived. Naturally, all other bedding had been taken away by those same friends. Now, she was speaking to Robert only keeping an eye on the injured stranger. "Like I said, drive as fast as you can without endangering anyone." She glared at him, knowing her cousin knew full well she was telling him to take the conditions of the roads in a storm into consideration. "As I've said a number of times, he needs to be taken to a hospital, and this has got to be reported." Then, due to her cousin 'having the nerve to say he was nervous about leaving her alone with the stranger', Eliza added rather sternly, "I still have a blanket of my own; I've slept on a floor many times and have earned two black belts in Karate! On top of all that, he's got two broken ribs! And you're seriously worried about him doing something?" Her eyes shouted the question, 'Have you lost your mind?' The fact that the gentleman hadn't woken up was concerning her greatly and had been the force behind her being so blunt with her cousin.
When she heard a moan behind her, relief flooded through her as the injured stranger finally opened his eyes. Though, she practically flew to his side when he acted as if he was going to try to move. "Please, sir, lie still." She laid her hand on his arm- even as she shocked herself by silently thinking 'Blue eyes never looked so good before'. Silently chastising herself for thinking such a thing, Eliza started talking again. "You've taken quite the beating, and have a couple of broken ribs. Before you ask, the name is Dr. Eliza R. Parker. May I ask your name?"
She watched as the gentleman surveyed the room. She had to fight a small bit of laughter from escaping- as she could very well imagine the doubts that were going through his mind at the moment. "You're not in any hospital or clinic." Eliza proceeded to say where they were, why she was there and why he was in the bed. She wasn't surprised by the shocked look that leapt into his eyes. "Again, may I have your name?"
Eliza grew worried as the gentleman's eyebrows turned downwards and a look of great concern appeared in his eyes. She didn't know if it was because he didn't believe her, or if there was another problem. "Sir?"
"Mac," the gentleman spoke slowly, unsettled by what he had to admit to himself. "It's… it's the only name I can give you. I don't know if it's mine or not."
Eliza sucked in her breath. Amnesia! "Can you remember anything else?"
Mac didn't speak for a moment, a look of one searching for something, anything, was in his eyes. It made Eliza feel very sorry for him. However, before she could say a word, he was speaking again.
"I.. I think I work in Los Angeles. And," he glanced at the gold band on his left hand. He got an instant feeling of loss. "I'm pretty sure I'm a widower." He paused, closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them back up. "I don't remember anything else only, when you talked about those men dumping me here, I… I don't get a good feeling. I hope I'm not like them."
"I don't believe you are." Eliza kept her eyes on him. "I don't know why only, sometimes, I can actually see a sort of light around a person. Sometimes, I simply get a good or bad feeling. Sometimes I have both happen. When I saw those men drive in, I had a horrible feeling wash over me. When they left...so did that feeling-and there's a light about you- a good one. No, there's nothing bad about you. I can almost guarantee it. Though, coming from a doctor, you may think that a bit of crazy talk."
Mac didn't know what to think about it only it wasn't important at the moment. "Just what kind of damage was done?" He asked even as his hand moved to the bandages wrapped around his chest.
"As I just said, you have a couple of broken ribs for sure." Eliza then told him how she and Robert had both examined him. "He works as a paramedic in another county only he's starting another job soon. You have no other broken bones that I can tell; though, I will say, you have more than a few bruises -pretty bad looking ones too. I wouldn't be surprised if some of your bones have been badly bruised, even if they're not broken. I've cleaned up the numbers of cuts you have the best I could. Let's pray they don't get infected."
"Explains the pain I'm in." Mac winced as he tried to move.
"I'll prop you up the best I can, considering we don't exactly have everything I would like. Only, please, don't try to move otherwise. You don't need to have those broken ribs do anything but heal." After Eliza finished helping Mac get as comfortable as she could, she went over to the old, faded, dresser where her emergency medical bag sat. "I have some pain killers in here, not many mind you, but enough to last until Robert brings help. Sorry, they're not as strong as I might prescribe for one of my patients, only they're all I have at the moment." After retrieving two pills, she got her water bottle and went back to the bed.
"Thanks," Mac took the pills she gave him, and then handed her back her water bottle.
"You're welcome." Eliza might have said more only Mac had turned his head towards the wall, closed his eyes and fallen asleep. At least he'd woken up long enough to talk a bit. Sleep was probably the best thing for him now.
'For your sake, I hope your amnesia doesn't last long.' She thought-even as she wondered how soon help would arrive.