The IV itched like crazy. Apparently I was dehydrated and required liquids, I watched the bag of clear liquid slowly drip into my veins. Outside the room, a detective was talking with the doctor and my parents. I could see them, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying through the glass of the door. Finally the doctor motioned for them all to sit down on the chairs by the door and entered the room alone. He pulled the curtain closed and pulled up a plastic chair to my bedside.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Grant. We are all very concerned and curious about where you were this time. You don’t remember anything?” he asked, seemingly more out of personal curiosity than interest in my well being.
I shook my head no. “Nothing.”
“Alright. Your parents noticed right away some new injuries, we are hoping that doing a full physical and a series of easy tests will help with the investigation, but we need your consent. Will you do that?” He held out a clipboard and pen.
I scribbled my signature on the dotted line and gave him back the clipboard. “Investigation?”
“Mm-hmm. To find out where you were I suppose.” He looked over my signature.
“Alright, the nurse will take you to X-ray, then for blood work and complete exam.”
A nurse came in with a wheelchair and the doctor left. My parents stood as I was wheeled out of the room; I could tell that they desperately wanted to come with me. I looked to the nurse; she shook her head ever so slightly.
“I’ll be back in a bit, don’t worry.” I tried to be reassuring.
“We’ll be right here.” Dad said firmly.
I nodded. Mom kissed my head and stroked my hair like she does when she is trying to comfort me. It did little to help the pounding in my skull or pain in my stomach, but I did feel a bit better.
“Mom, is-“
The nurse wheeled me through the doors before I could finish.
“We have to start now, it’s going to be a long day.” She said coldly.
I spent the whole afternoon being scanned and examined. The nurse saw more of me than even I have ever seen. By the end of it I couldn’t stand the touch of one more gloved hand.
I thought that when it was all over that I would have a reprieve from the embarrassment to rest or see my parents. I had questions for them. I just closed my eyes for a moment when the curtain opened. I remembered vaguely the man standing there. I think he was one of the police officers that escorted me to the ambulance. He was a short man; his mousy hair was cut close to his scalp. His nostrils were like two gigantic holes in his face. I couldn’t decide if his mustache made them look bigger or not.
“I’m Detective Trevor; I just have a few questions for you; if you’re up for it of course.” He said quietly.
He cleared his throat and flipped open his notebook. “Alice, what’s the last thing you remember?”
I thought for a moment. “I think I was getting ready to go pick up Julie from school.”
He nodded as he wrote that down. “Do you remember where you got that?” He pointed his pen at my head. There was a patch of shorter hair on the back of my scalp; underneath it was a newly healed scar. According to the nursing student helping with the exam, it was pretty huge. I tried to cover it with the rest of my hair.
“No, it’s not the only one either.” I slid my leg out from under the blanket and showed him the long scar on the back of my calf and ankle. It was obviously a surgical scar; you could see the marks where staples held the skin together. There was also a thin scar across the right side of my neck, I didn’t like thinking about where that one came from.
YOU ARE READING
Six Years
一般小說Alice has been living a lie. For 6 years she has been away from her family and friends, living a life that was not hers. If only she could remember where she was all that time.
