CHAPTER TWELVE
“There’s no real change since your last visit.Your wife has what’s called retrograde amnesia affecting her episodic memory.”
“Episodic memory?”his dad asked.
Cujo listened carefully.
“Episodic memory contains your own autobiographical information.Semantic memory, the part that stores general information, like the current president or where Africa is, for example, isn’t generally affected.Memory doesn’t come back chronologically.You might remember a decade ago or you might remember last week.Evelyn remembered her maiden name and some of her youth.These are all positive signs.”
“What happens next?”Cujo asked.Would she move in with one of them?Connor lived too far away.Devon had the kids.He worked all day.Would it be too much for his dad to take on?
“She needs to stay here until she starts rehabilitation.As the police informed you, no identification was found on her, so we don’t know where to send her yet.”
Her married and maiden name had led the police to dead ends four years after she left Miami.She’d graduated from Boston University, and then disappeared.
“What else can we do?”His father was frustrated by the progress being made.
“Keep visiting.Talk to her.Show her photographs, share memories.It’s less for treatment and more to help her feel secure.But don’t push.Don’t discuss negative experiences, it could trigger her subconscious to resist the return of current memories.”
The doctor left them outside her room.
“Dad, can we talk?”
Alec nodded.“Sure.”
“I’m sorry.”Cujo started.They’d always been really close, and even if they couldn’t agree on the role his mom would play in their lives going forward, he didn’t want to destroy the bond they shared.“I hadn’t thought about this from your point of view.I was just being selfish.”
“I’m sorry, too, Brody.I should have shared more about your mom as you got older.”His dad grabbed his hand and turned to face him.“The funny thing is, you are so like her, without me ever saying a word.”
Cujo followed his dad into the room, surprised when he leaned over and kissed his mom’s cheek, like he’d been doing it for the last twenty years.Even more surprised when she blushed.
“Hello, boys,” she said.Her voice was a lot smoother than it had been the first time they met.Thankfully the blood had dissipated from her eye, leaving a dull purple cast.Remembering the doctor’s explanation of petechiae being a result of the botched strangulation made him feel sick to the stomach.Some of the dressings on her head and face were gone, revealing shaved and stitched patches.Evidence of how fast and hard the doctors fought to keep her alive.The small improvements showed progress, but the injuries were still extensive.
“I brought some photos of the boys when they were younger,” his dad said, reaching inside his jacket.
Evelyn held them with reverence.“Which one of you was Batman?”She angled the image toward Cujo.
“Dad,” he groaned.“You brought Halloween?”
It was disconcerting.His mind struggled to reconcile the woman in the hospital with the mom who’d left them.He wanted to like this woman, even help her.But what if they invested all this time with her, grew to like her even, for her to recover her memory and leave them all over again.
Evelyn chuckled, a difficult feat with the wiring across her jaw.She looked through more of the photos, pausing periodically to ask for the story behind them.When she asked more questions about his work, he pulled out his phone.
“Where is this?”she asked.
“It’s the tattoo studio I own.Second Circle.”
She tapped the next one.“Is that…?I feel like I know that place.”Zephyr had fallen asleep with her head hanging off the end of the sofa at Dad’s place.He’d grabbed the shot before lifting Zeph into a more comfortable position.
“Anything specific grab your attention?”He didn’t want to feed her memories.
“No.”Evelyn rubbed the bridge of her nose.“It’s a weird déjà vu feeling.Like I’ve been there before.But it’s all like that.Snapshots in my mind.I see faces.Two huge tractors.There’s a blue and white building.I’m wearing a ridiculously colorful outfit…”
He knew what she was talking about.The picture hung in the hallway for years.Guess that’s what happens when you got married at Miami City Hall at the start of the eighties.
His mom stopped on another photo.She studied it.Whatever she was looking at made her wince.Then she gasped and looked away.
“Evelyn, are you okay?”Alec leapt from his chair by the side of her bed.
