Chapter Fourteen
“See, there he is,” Noah says, stopping in front of Elijah Garcia’s room.
“That’s Elijah’s room,” I say as I walk over to the nurse’s station, still in disbelief as I pull Elijah’s chart and cover everything up but the name and age, not wanting to get fired for a HIPAA violation. “See?”
“Woah,” Zack replies. “Well, I’ll be dipped, she’s right.”
“Obviously I can’t show you the computer records, but I saw them,” I say with tears in my eyes. “They said he was dead and I just. . .”
“Sheesh, this is a nightmare,” Zack says as he hugs me from the side. “I’m sorry, I should have texted you. Things just got so crazy!”
“It’s okay, I just figured you guys were going through enough,” I reply. “I didn’t want to be a bother.”
“Yeah, well, now we have to figure out what in the blue blazes is going on here,” Noah says. “Something about this whole situation has been weird to me from the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Noah please don’t start with your conspiracy theories right now,” Zack groans. “Let’s just figure out why Dad is dead on paper.”
Conspiracy theories?I think to myself. I wonder what Zack means by that.
“Alright,” Noah sighs, and while my curiosity is piqued as to what they’re talking about, I decide to leave it alone. “So, what do we do?”
“Is his doctor also Doctor Trachner?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Zack replies.
“Wait here,” I say as I walk through the ward, searching for him and finding him in another patient’s room. “Excuse me? Doctor Trachner?” I say, peeking into the room.
“Oh! Darla! What are you doing here?” he asks. “Weren’t you on the overnight shift last night?”
“Yes, well, I need to speak with you about something important,” I say.
“Alright, well I’ll be there in a moment,” Doctor Trachner says before he turns back to his patient, and I slink back to the hallway to wait. When he comes back, he passes right by me, but I’m hot on his tail. “Doctor Trachner!”
“Ah, there you are!” Doctor Trachner replies, stopping to turn to me. “What seems to be the trouble?”
“Elijah Garcia is not Elijah Garcia,” I say, and Doctor Trachner raises his eyebrow at me.
“I don’t follow. . .”
“Someone messed with the charts,” I reply. “That’s not Elijah Garcia, that’s Eli Garcia.”
“That’s not possible, Darla,” he says as he shakes his head. “Listen, I’ve heard that you lost someone—”
“That’s just it, Doc,” Zack calls out from behind me, “she didn’t.”
“Their father is Eli Garcia, not Elijah,” I say. “And Eli—my boyfriend—is in that bed. I checked the computer, and the record claims Eli is dead. But I can assure you with one hundred percent certainty that he’s not.”
“You’re sure?” the doctor asks, his voice cracking.
“Elijah was in his seventies,” I say. “Does he sound like a seventy-year-old to you?”
“Oh boy,” he says with a sigh. “I was wondering what a seventy-year-old man was doing taking care of horses. . .”
“And you never thought to check on it?” I ask.
“Well, no, because I trust the staff. . . and you can’t see half his face because of the bandages,” he says. “I thought Eli was just his nickname. It’s what I heard that one friend of his call him. . . This is bad.”
“Very. Not only is this not Elijah, but Elijah’s family also has no idea that he’s dead,” I reply, and Doctor Trachner deflates immediately, a look of terror on his face.
“I’ve got to go fix this,” he says. “Or at least try. . . Thank you, Darla!” Doctor Trachner says, and before I can say anything else, he starts jogging toward his office.
“Thank you for setting things straight,” Zack says.
“It’s really no problem,” I say as I stand there, wringing my hands. “I’m just really glad he’s okay.”
“He’s doing as well as he can right now,” Noah says. “I hope they recheck him after all of this, make sure there’s nothing else going on in his brain, that his meds are right. . .”
“I’m sure they will,” I say, trying to reassure them. But after witnessing this major faux pas, I’m not really sure how much I trust the hospital. Or at least, the computer system. But even if the computer system had messed up, how did no one catch this mistake?
“Would you like to see him?” Zack asks.
“That would be lovely,” I say as I try not to cry, feeling immensely relieved that the nightmare is over.
“There may be a problem. . .” Noah says.
“Why’s that?” I ask.
“Well. . . remember when I said he doesn’t remember stuff?” Noah begins, and immediately, it hits me.
“He doesn’t remember me, does he?” I ask. “That’s why when I helped him drink last night, he didn’t say anything to me about it.”
“Unfortunately, it’s true,” Zack confirms, and I feel a new sense of grief. “Did you still want to try?”
I stood there for a moment, trying to shuffle through the new sense of loss I’m feeling. To be in love with someone and to watch them die was already a cruel fate. But to love someone and be forgotten is still painful, just a different kind.
At least this way, there’s a chance we can make it work,I think to myself, trying to stay positive. Maybe he will remember me again. Or, if need be, I can get him to fall for me again. Hopefully, if the new Eli and I click. Anything is possible.
“Yes, I do,” I say.
“Well alright then, let’s take you in.”
***
Quiet whispers wake me up as Zack and Noah walk through the door, putting a smile on my face. Even though things are still a bit odd for me in the brain department, I hate being here in the hospital. However, the two of them visiting as much as possible almost makes it tolerable.
“Hey there!” I call out to them cheerfully, yawning loudly before blinking my eyes to try to get rid of the lingering haze. I then notice that there’s someone lingering behind them, but much to my surprise, it’s not Jeffrey.
It’s a woman, but not just any woman. She’s far different than anyone I recall seeing before. I mean, even with amnesia, there’s no way I could forget someone who looks like that.
When she finally steps through the doorway, the morning light glimmers across her skin, making her look like an angel even though she’s teary-eyed and in scrubs. She’s got big, beautiful, doe-like brown eyes that are easy to get lost in. Her long lashes brush against her porcelain skin, which contrasts greatly with her vibrant, ruby-red lips, but she makes it work to her advantage.
I feel a fluttering in my chest as she comes out from behind them and begins fussing with the flowers by the window, a bouquet of something in her own hands. She seems nervous, and frankly, for some reason, so am I. Who wouldn’t be. . . in the same room as her?
“Hey, Dad,” Zack says as the mystery woman continues to play with the get-well cards and flowers near the window. “We’ve brought a friend with us.”
The woman turns toward me, and is now more composed, beaming big and bright.
“Hello, Eli,” the woman says, and her voice is such a sultry, smooth tone that it gives me goosebumps.
“I’m sure I’m supposed to remember you,” I say with a sigh. “But sadly, I don’t.”
“That’s alright,” she replies as her eyes open wider for a second. She scampers back to the window and places the lilies she brought into a vase. I stare at them for a moment as the morning sun gleams across their petals. There’s something about them that’s familiar.
“You know. . . I feel like I knew a girl who liked lilies,” I say.
“Yeah, that’s me,” she replies with a nod, her eyes welling with tears all over again. I try to think hard, but still, nothing. “Lilies are my favorite.”
I feel horrible, but the woman in front of me doesn’t even register in the limited number of memories I now possess. It’s a real shame. I hate that she seems so upset; I want to comfort her in some way, but I’m not really sure how.
“What’s your name?” I ask, giving in to the fact that I’m completely stumped.
“I’m Darla,” she says, and I begin to study her even more closely. So, this is the girl that everyone has been whispering about. . .
“You’re gorgeous you know,” I say, and I can see a blush blossoming on her cheeks as a smile pushes through the tears. “I’ve been told I’m pretty good looking myself, though you wouldn’t know it what with me being half wrapped up like a mummy.”
She laughs, and the very sound of it gives me butterflies in my stomach and fills me with this odd, happy feeling. After all the days of being stuck in the hospital and all the pain, it makes me feel human again, filling my AC-chilled bones with radiating warmth.
“Well, I can say with confidence that you certainly are, with or without the bandages,” Darla says with a wink. “I just hope in time you’ll remember me, or at least that we can become friends.”
“I hope so too,” I say as she offers me her hand to take, deciding to be bold and kiss it. “Because I cannot imagine a world where I could forget a pretty face like yours.”
***
After visiting Eli for a few more minutes, I need a little bit of a break. Although it’s nice to see him, and he’s still the same charming Eli, it’s hard to accept that all the memories we’ve made together have just evaporated into thin air. . . at least for him. I know it’s not his fault. Accidents happen. But I’d be lying if I said that it doesn’t pull at my heartstrings and bring on a new wave of hurt.
Either way, I’m not going to abandon him, that’s for sure. No. I’m going to stick around and see what happens. However, there is something I do need to take care of—figuring out what exactly went wrong with the hospital records.
“Thank you for letting me see him,” I say to Zack as he walks me out.
“No problem,” Zack replies. “We are supposed to be a bit gentle with him, but you can visit whenever you want.”
“Well, to be fair, he is my patient,” I say with a snort. “I thought I was going insane last night when I heard his voice, but I didn’t recognize it was him given the circumstances. Plus, it was really dark in there.”
“Understandable,” Zack says as his eyes flit away from me, and I turn to see Doctor Trachner walking through the hallway.
“Excuse me,” I say as I pat Zack on the shoulder, “I’ve got a mystery to solve.”
Before he can answer, I’m already long gone, stalking Doctor Trachner and pulling on his arm before he ducks back into his office.
“Hey!” he gasps as he twirls around and then puts a hand on his chest. “Oh, it’s just you,” he says, and I cannot help but notice the little bit of annoyance in his voice.
“Yeah, it’s me,” I say. “So, how’s the detective work going on the case of the two Garcia’s?”
“Well, from what I can tell, it was all just a big mistake,” Doctor Tracher says quietly. “I’m sorry for the confusion and the stress that it’s caused you.”
“You’re lucky nothing bad has happened to him and that he’s been given the right meds and stuff,” Noah growls from behind me, catching me off guard. “What if he’d been given the other guys’ meds? He could have gotten hurt!”
That is strange,I think to myself as I listen to Doctor Trachner and Noah go back and forth, Doctor Trachner trying his best to fend off Noah’s threats of a lawsuit the best he can.“Mr. Garcia, I’m really not sure what happened, but I don’t think a lawsuit is in order.” Doctor Trachner laughs nervously. “These kinds of things happen from time to time. . .”
Noah is right. If Elijah had died, and obviously Eli hadn’t, but his identity was mixed up. . . how did they know to give him the correct meds?I think to myself. I wonder for a moment if I should ask the doctor about it, but I decide against it. Especially while Noah is tearing him a new one.
I’ll do some snooping on my next shift,I think to myself. It’s obvious that Doctor Trachner seems to be more interested in covering his own butt than helping, that’s for sure. He just wants to make it go away. But something here isn’t right, and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it.