He tried to slow his spinning thoughts. “Um, I couldn’t tell you the exact date, but it would’ve been toward the end of April, like she said.”
Her gaze fastened on his. Disbelief warred with fear in her familiar green eyes. And he hated that he’d helped put them there.
The doctor laid a hand on Lauren’s, his voice softening. “I know this must be unsettling, Lauren. But you seem to have what is called temporally graded retrograde amnesia. It is a form of memory loss that can sometimes occur after a traumatic brain injury.”
Her fingers tightened on the sheet.“Traumatic brain injury?”
Jonah popped to his feet and approached the bed. “I thought her CT was normal.”
“A concussion is a traumatic brain injury, and the brain is a very complex organ. An injury that damages the region where memory is stored can cause this type of amnesia.”
He had to ask the question that was surging up from the deep, sludgy well inside him. “Will she—will she get her memory back?”
“I cannot say for certain, but often memory is restored within days or weeks.”
“Weeks?” Her breath rushed out. She blinked back tears. “This can’t be happening.”
“It’s gonna be okay.” Jonah started to grab her hand. Grabbed the railing instead. She wouldn’t welcome his touch. Once again he was just the pesky son of her boss, the man she had to deal with on a daily basis.
Only now that man was madly in love with her.
Jonah approached the ER waiting room where his mom and dad waited in hard plastic chairs. They jumped to their feet at his approach, his dad, gray hair windblown, towering over his mom.
His mom’s dark hair was caught up in a youthful ponytail. But worry lines marred her forehead and empathy filled her brown eyes. “How is she?”
He found himself swallowed up in his mother’s embrace. His dad’s beefy hand settled on his shoulder. Gave a firm squeeze.
“Physically she seems okay. The CT scan was normal and they’re running more tests.”
“That’s good news,” Dad said.
She hadn’t wanted him there for the tests. It was written all over her face. Since Mom had texted that they’d arrived, he used that as an excuse to slip away. Plus, he really did need some time to absorb all this.
April.
Mom’s intelligent eyes homed in on him. “What aren’t you telling us?”
He opened his mouth to relay what had happened. He could hardly believe this was happening. It felt so surreal. Maybe saying it out loud would help. “She’s lost some of her memory. When the doctor asked her the date, she thought it was April. But she understands now it’s not. She’s reeling a bit.”
Mom gasped. “April? That’s a lot of time to lose.” Her eyes flashed with a succession of emotions, putting it all together. Then they filled with compassion. “Oh, honey. She doesn’t remember...?”
“No.”
“She’ll get it back though, right?” Dad asked. “The memories will come back.”
Jonah swallowed around the boulder in his throat. “The doctor seemed optimistic they’d return in days or weeks. But he couldn’t say for sure. Hopefully they’ll know more after the tests.”
Mom squeezed his arm. “They’ll come back. They just have to. We’ll be praying hard.”
“We’ll do everything we can to help with her recovery,” Dad said. “Whatever she needs.”
“I have no idea what that’ll entail.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Mom said. “She’s family and we’ll be here for her. Now, you should go be with her. She must be scared and confused, poor thing.”
Jonah squeezed his neck as another piece of his heart cracked off. “She, uh, doesn’t really want me in the room, Mom.”
Her eyes watered. “Oh, honey.”
