Chapter Six

When Captain Stanley heard the door to the room he was occupying start to open, he turned his eyes away from the window. It was Cassie Hansen bringing him some lunch.

"Mother figured you might be hungry." She set the plate on the TV tray that still stood next to the bed.

"What's wrong?" Captain Stanley asked her, after thanking her for the meal. "And don't tell me nothing. I can see it all over your face."

Cassie wanted to tell him he was wrong, only she couldn't. She sat down on the chair that set next to the bedroom wall. "As I said before, Mom's cousin is supposed to have our car back to us today, only she has no clue when it comes to the time. As far as we know he could show up at as late as eight or nine o'clock tonight. He's done that before. I mean, been that late when he was bringing something up to us." She looked towards the window; she could see their dog, along with the dog that had been following 'Mr. Cap' chasing each other around one of the trees. She then looked back at her new friend. "I heard Mother say she really would feel better if a doctor looked at you. You seem to be doing okay to me."

"Your mother has a point. And if I'm to be honest, I would too." Captain Stanley admitted. "Don't let it worry you though." Then, due to the fact that he felt strongly there was something else bothering her, he again asked what was bothering her.

"You still don't have a place to go once you're well. I asked Mother if you could stay with us until your memory comes back." Cassie squirmed a little. "You need help."

Captain Stanley couldn't help but feel touched. "You and your mother have helped, and are helping me. I really appreciate that."

"I like helping people. In fact, I want to be a para- mmm," Cassie hesitated and then smiled even wider than she was, "I want to be a paramedic when I grow up, like the one who carried me out of the fire when I was four. I know he was a paramedic because, when I asked him, he said he was a firefighter and a paramedic both."

Captain Stanley, who had had a couple of conversations with Cassie's mother, was amazed to hear such words coming from the eight-year-old. "Your mother says you were only four when that fire happened. You remember it?"

"I don't know that I remember all of it." Cassie shrugged her shoulders. "Only, yes, I remember some...especially that man, the one that picked me up and got me out of it. He held onto me after putting a mask on me...I heard someone call it oxygen. Or, maybe, I was holding onto him. I don't rightly know. I kept looking at him, and he talked with me-kept me ca.." she stopped talking and turned her head when she heard footsteps. Her mother was looking at her, the surprise Jennifer felt was showing in her eyes.

"Don't stop talking on my account." Jennifer, who was extremely interested in her daughter's memories, urged her. "What else do you remember?"

"The kind fireman-paramedic who was helping me telling me not to worry about you. He said 'My partner is helping your mother now since the captain got you out'." Cassie went onto say she would still see the man who helped her in her dreams now and then – adding that he was always as clear as her mother and 'Mr. Cap' were at that moment. Cassie then changed the subject back to where Mr. Cap would stay- once he was all the way better. "He's all alone."

Her mother and Captain Stanley made no attempt to hide their smiles. "Tell you what, stop worrying about it-and I promise you, no matter what Mr. Cap won't be sleeping on the ground. One way or the other, we'll make sure he has a roof over his head. Okay?"

Cassie looked at her mother, and then at Captain Stanley. "Will the three of us still be friends forever-even if you live somewhere else?"

The question made Captain Stanley and her mother smile even wider, though it was the amnesiac captain who replied. "No reason we can't be."

"I think you best let Mr. Cap be. There's other things you can be doing." Jennifer Hansen spoke to her daughter while pointing towards the bedroom door.

"Yes, Mother." Cassie practically skipped out of the room.

"You have quite the child there." Captain Stanley said as he re-positioned himself in the bed.

"Yes, I do." Jennifer sighed and then admitted she was glad that, if he was to be hurt, it happened that week. "I go back to work soon. We're only up here three months out of the year. I hate to think of what would have happened otherwise." She wasn't surprised when he gave her a look of confusion. "I'm a schoolteacher. I quit doing teaching when I married only, after my husband died, I went back to it. During the school year, I rent a couple of rooms from a cousin of mine. How I manage to keep this place, and live in it during the summer, is another story altogether...and not really important when it comes to your situation now." Then, not knowing Cassie had already talked about their car, Jennifer repeated what her daughter had already told him. "I think it best that we take you straight to a doctor tomorrow. Unless you remember who yours is by tomorrow morning, I will take you to Dr. Moore. He's been our family doctor for a number of years. I mean, if that's okay with you. And, before you say anything, don't worry about paying him. I'll take care of it, and you can always pay me back later. It's not a big deal."

Captain Stanley eased into a more relaxed state. While he wasn't lying when he told Cassie he wanted a doctor to check him, his underlying concern had been how to cover any medical bills he incurred as a result of his being hurt. However, before he could voice any of his thoughts, he and Jennifer were taken aback by Cassie's exuberant squeal. It was a sound that resonated with sheer delight, as if she had just unwrapped the best gift imaginable.

"I'll be back." Jennifer assured Captain Stanley as she hurried out the bedroom door.