Why doesn’t any of it feel familiar?
She reached for the laptop. “May I?”
Wincing at the pain in her ribs, she sat back and let Robert place the computer on her lap. She scrolled to the top of the web page, hoping to see something familiar.
Anything.
Three pairs of eyes watched her. She was almost as concerned about letting Faith and her sons down as she was about remembering something.
The website listed an older man with a goatee and kind eyes, named Dr. Joseph Lewis, as a psychiatrist. A blond woman, who looked to be in her mid-forties, by the name of Dr. Susan Miller came next. There was Emily’s face again, followed by Therapist Tyler Hall and Julie Moore, the receptionist.
If she’d worked with these people, shouldn’t they look familiar? Emily closed her eyes, willing some memory, any memory, to return.
Nothing.
Fear and frustration built behind her eyelids in the form of tears. She didn’t want to cry in front of these strangers. She took several deep breaths before opening her eyes, keeping them downcast. The faces on the computer screen may as well be strangers too. The thought was not comforting.
She looked up to find the two brothers staring at her.
Robert’s voice was quiet, compassionate. “Does any of it spark a memory?”
Emily scowled and shook her head. The motion hurt, but she didn’t care. She didn’t trust herself to speak.
“It’s okay, dear.” Faith patted her arm. “It’ll come.”
Robert motioned to the laptop. “I contacted Dr. Lewis and let him know about your accident and your memory loss. He said he’d like to talk to you if you feel up to calling him. I also asked him to review your case files for your clients... uh, patients to see if one of them could be behind your abduction.”
Emily looked back at Dr. Lewis’ picture.Call him?The man was as much a stranger, if not more so, than the three people staring at her.
Robert opened the file he’d brought in with him and pulled out a photo. “So far, the only living relative I’ve been able to identify is your brother, Cameron Anderson. He lives in Spokane. I’ve contacted the police there. They’ll locate him and inform him of your whereabouts and condition. We should hear from the police, if not your brother himself, in the next day or two.”
Emily reached out with a shaky hand and took the photo.Will it spark a memory?Surely, she’d recognize her own brother.
She studied the photo. It looked like an enlarged version of a driver’s license photo. The young man in the photo was attractive with wavy brown hair, blue eyes, and wore an expression that looked more like a smirk, than a smile.
Emily’s chest tightened, trapping the breath in her lungs.Why doesn’t he look familiar?
“Are you s-sure... this is my b-brother?” She hated the way her voice shook.
“Yes,” Robert said. “Your—”
“I can see the family resemblance,” Faith said, cutting Robert off. “He’s quite attractive.”
As she continued to study the picture, she spotted similarities to her image from the website. They had the same wavy hair and shape around the eyes. She couldn’t compare the image she saw in the photo with what she saw when she looked in the mirror.
“Why... can’t I... remember him?” Her voice grew husky as tears clogged her throat.
Faith squeezed her arm.
Emily blinked away the tears that filled her eyes and took several deep breaths. Setting the picture down, she grabbed the glass of water Faith had placed on the end table earlier and took several long swallows while she composed herself.
She set her glass down. “Is there anything else?”
Her stomach knotted. She wasn’t sure she could handle any more right now. She’d hoped something would spark a memory. But when nothing did, disappointment and the fear of her memory never returning made it difficult to breathe. She suddenly felt very heavy and very tired.
Robert looked at the file in his hand then set it on the ottoman. “No, I’m afraid that’s all for now. Unfortunately, having to rely on the police department in another city slows things down.”
“Thank you, Sheriff. I’m sure you’re doing the best you can.”
