12. Chapter 12
twelve
“Are you just gonna keep buttering that biscuit or eat it?”
Gene looked up to his dad, then back to his hands where he was, indeed, buttering a half of a biscuit. Well, smothering was more like it. He put the knife down and took a bite of the warm, pillowy hunk of biscuit. It reminded him of Amanda’s hankering for biscuits and gravy.
I haven’t taken her out for the proper breakfast I promised.
“What’s wrong, hon?” Martha asked. “You’re awfully quiet this morning. Your date didn’t go well last night?”
“It wasn’t a date,” Gene bit out shortly, regretting it right away.
“Whatever it is, did something happen?” Mom probed.
“Amanda’s not happy with me,” he replied.
“You’ve just saved her and taken care of her after an accident. What reason does that young woman have to be unhappy with you?”
His father—loyal to his son—looked offended.
“I suggested she might have confabulation, that her brain might create the girl to fill in blanks in her memory,” Gene said.
“You did not.” Mom looked aghast.
“It’s a perfectly sound explanation of what could’ve happened,” Gene said. “I told her to get a CT to make sure there isn’t something we missed.”
“Something you missed, you mean?” Mom clarified.
“She refused treatment, Mom. Neither I nor the paramedics could force her to do anything. But I thought she would trust me enough now to listen.”
“I don’t understand. Why would she be mad at you for suggesting she gets a CT. She could just refuse again,” Dad said.
“Amanda’s not mad about that, is she?” Martha clicked her tongue. “She’s mad because you basically said she was making the whole girl thing up.”
“That’s not what I said at all!”
“That’s what she heard.” Mom shrugged with a sounds-obvious-to-me expression on her face.
Gene knew what his mom was getting at.
“Am I supposed to let her believe she crashed her car avoiding a non-existent girl when there might be something serious causing this?”
“Your concern is valid,” Mom said. “But until your theory is proven, who’s to say she didn’t see what she said she saw?”
Dad frowned at Mom. “What if she did see this girl? What can she do about it?”
“You don’t know Amanda, Dad,” Gene said.
“And you do?” Dad retorted as he got up from the table, having finished his breakfast and coffee. “You’ve only known her since Sunday night.”
“I knew her in high school.”
“Barely,” Dad pointed out. “I say let her be. You gave her advice, that’s all you can do. A doctor can only do so much.”
His dad gave Mom a kiss and headed out the back door. “I’ll see you after work. Love you.”
“Your dad has a point,” Mom said after Dad left. “I understand you’re worried about Amanda, but it’s her decision to make.”
“Maybe I can ask Dr. Bloom to talk to her,” Gene said.
“Wouldn’t that violate her privacy?”
“Dr. Bloom is her primary doctor. I could just express my concern without giving details. He could examine her himself and make his own suggestion.”
“He still can’t order her to come for an examination if she doesn’t want to.”
Annoyed by his mother’s argument, Gene glared at her.
“We probably should be able to because obviously most people brush off their issues until it’s a life and death situation. And then they expect us to play god and save them.”
Mom studied him with concern in her eyes.
“Gene, what’s wrong, honey? You’re not quite yourself.”
Gene pushed back his chair and stood abruptly.
“I’m tired of not being able to help people, either from an illness, an injury, or themselves! When certain things can be avoided with some caution or forethought. Like Amanda getting a CT will ease my mind. If there’s nothing, then we can all breathe easier. She won’t have to worry about future complications. But what if there is something? A swelling or bleeding?”
“Why didn’t you suggest a CT right after the accident?” Mom asked calmly.
“I did, but she refused, remember? She didn’t want to incur more cost. Since she didn’t exhibit any concerning symptoms of a head injury, I let her do what she wanted. I know how medical bills can bankrupt people. I wasn’t going to force her to go to the hospital unless it was an emergency.”
Gene took a deep breath and exhaled audibly to clear his head.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I don’t mean to lay this on you.”
“That’s all right.” She stood and patted his cheek like when he was a child. “It’s more than Amanda, isn’t it? It’s why you’ve been listless this past year?”
Gene could only shrug.
“Well, the health system is beyond my power,” Mom said. “But I can tell you’ve come to care about Amanda a lot in a brief period. Honestly, the possibility of you becoming attached to her makes me happy.”
“Mom, we just met,” Gene automatically protested.
His mother lifted her hands in surrender. “A mother can hope. I’d be lucky to have a woman like Amanda for a daughter-in-law.”
“Oh, my god.” Gene looked to the heavens.
She’s marrying us already?
“Hey, listen.” Mom patted his chest for his attention. “All kidding aside, I know you care about her, then you need to remember this: she’s not something for you to fix.”
“What?”
“As a doctor, especially in your ER, you’re geared to fix problems. If something’s broken, you mend it. If there isn’t an obvious reason for a problem, you want to figure it out,” Mom said. “You’ve always been like that since you were a child.”
“What are you getting at?”
“You obviously consider Amanda’s claim about this mysterious girl as an issue you need to solve.” Mom smiled at his confused face. “To her, finding the girl is the issue. When you suggested she might’ve confabulated the memory, you made her the problem to fix.”
Gene shook his head. “I’m not trying to fix anything. I just want to make sure she’s fine.”
“Then do that without shattering her reality.”
Gene scoffed. “I don’t want her to keep worrying about this girl if she’s only a figment of her imagination. She’s convinced the girl needs help, that she’s running from something.”
“Then help her find the girl. You and I both know Amanda’s not gonna rest easy until she tries everything she can to find the girl. If, in the end, there really isn’t a girl, then Amanda might listen to your medical suggestions.”
Gene had a headache just listening to his mother. But his middle school teacher of a mother made some sense in a very roundabout way. He liked solving problems, and he got frustrated when some matters were beyond his power to remedy. In Amanda’s case, he couldn’t just fix her the way he would treat a trauma patient in the ER.
“You’re saying I should just accept this?”
“Sometimes a girl just needs to know you have her back.”
Gene had some time to burn after his mother left for work. He also had a list of things to do, like find temporary lodging that wouldn’t mind a short lease. Though he loved his parents and enjoyed their company, he couldn’t see himself living under their roof, in his childhood room, for three months.
He found some prospective places and checked them out. It’d be nice if he could move in before he started at the clinic on Monday. He grabbed his keys and headed out.
I was supposed to take Amanda to the car rental place today.
Staring at his phone, Gene contemplated texting or calling Amanda. Would that be a good idea?
What would I say? I’m sorry, but I still think you need a CT?
Gene stowed the phone away and started driving. He decided against contacting Amanda for now until he deciphered his mother’s advice. He still couldn’t understand why he was wrong to want to figure out a problem? In this case, Amanda’s head injury. He never said he wanted to fix her.
Well, maybe.
Even if he wasn’t her official doctor, he was still a doctor. Confabulation was something he could understand, even if he wasn’t a neurologist or a psychiatrist. But he needed more information about her brain, and he could only get that if she got a CT. Whatever they’d find, he could figure out a solution.
But she’s not your patient. You made sure she didn’t see you as her doctor last night, you asshole.
Amanda’s passion filled face appeared in his mind eye. She’d been so responsive to his touch and so trusting of his intention that the hurt in her voice at the end of the night had done him in.
He turned into the parking lot of an apartment complex and got out to get the feel of the place. But his head and heart weren’t quite ready. He got an application form, a brief tour of the one-bedroom unit, and headed out. He’d been driving toward downtown to get some lunch when he spotted the red-brick building.
The police department.
Gene might not know how to find a missing person, but the police should. Though, the officers who had responded to Amanda’s accident hadn’t put much stock into her story, either. He would’ve bet they’d been the ones spreading the lady in the blue dress sighting story instead. He had to deal with the police more often than he’d like working in an ER. Believe it or not; the police didn’t just listen to chatter for info; they liked to gossip, too.
Gene pulled into the police department parking lot and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number.
“Detective Alden,” the man on the other end said gruffly.
“Do I have to call you detective now?” Gene ridiculed.
The other man didn’t reply. Sounds of ringing phones and the low buzzing of people talking in the background filtered through the speaker.
“Only if I have to call you doctor, you prick,” Patrick Alden finally answered in a more lighthearted voice. “I heard you were in town. In fact, that’s all I’ve been hearing for two days. About time you call.”
“As you might’ve heard, I’ve been preoccupied,” Gene said lightly. Though he wasn’t happy, he was still the subject of interest around town. “You’re free for lunch?”
“I only have a pile of paperwork. Sure, I can do lunch.”
Fifteen minutes later, Gene sat opposite Patrick in the Collegiate Grill, ordering cheeseburgers and fries.
“You look good, man.”
Gene sat back and studied his old buddy. Though he still had impressive muscles on his shoulders and chest, the retired Marine looked leaner since his return from Iraq four years ago. But there was a more relaxed aura around him.
“Things have been better.” Patrick nodded solemnly.
Gene doubted Patrick would completely forget the nightmare of war. His friend returned home mostly physically intact, but he had to work hard to keep the horrifying memories at bay. He was glad to see less of a shadow in Patrick’s eyes.
“So, you hooking up with my favorite baker in town?”
Patrick didn’t hold back on his first question.
“Wow.” Gene didn’t expect the approach. “Is that what they taught you in the police academy? Shock the suspect into a confession?”
Patrick grinned. “Is that a confession?”
“Why are you interested? Crime must be low here if you have time to listen to gossip.”
“Is it gossip? I heard from a reliable source you spent the night at her house Sunday night, then drove her around all day the next day. Then you were spotted again last night at her place of business and drove her home.”
“It’s disturbing how many details you heard from the gossips.”
Gene was perplexed.
“There are different versions of the rumors, but I filtered most of the speculation and stuck with the simplest information.” Patrick leaned in. “From the look on your face, I gather I’m mostly right.”
Gene bit the inside of his cheek, annoyed he was that easy to read.
“Would I step on anyone’s toes if I were… y’know, interested in said baker?”
“Not that I know of,” Patrick answered. “But Amanda is beloved by many in the community, so I would tread carefully if I were you. The newest tea seems to be about trouble brewing already.”
Great, everyone knew Amanda gave him the boot last night. Damn Miss Lydia.
“I hope that’s not the only part of the gossip you focused on.”
“I heard about the accident.” Patrick shrugged. “Single car incident, no casualties except for minor injuries on Amanda’s part. The report was straightforward, unless you listened to the unsolicited commentary from Penn and his partner regarding a certain lady in blue sighting.”
“You know that’s not what happened.”
“Generally, you take these legends around the lake as a grain of salt.” Patrick sat back, giving the pretty waitress room to put down their drinks. He flashed an ‘I see you, gorgeous’ smile at her. “Thank you, Corrine.”
Gene waited until Corrine’s curious ears were out of earshot.
“Amanda’s adamant she swerved to avoid a girl running on the road—not an apparition. And she’s determined to find her.”
“Penn’s report said they searched the surrounding area but found nothing.”
“I gathered as much. Amanda and I also went back and looked the next day. We saw broken twigs, maybe some disturbed ground coverage, but that might’ve been left by the responders the night before.”
Patrick eyed Gene with curiosity now. “I got a feeling you called me for more than cheeseburgers and fries.”
Gene held his friend’s gaze. “No. I need your help to find this girl.”