Forget to Remember Read Free Page A

Angeles
somewhere.”
    “They…?”
    “The people from Los Angeles County.” She
attempted another smile. “I’m still confused between Los Angeles
County and Los Angeles City.” She picked up a map sitting on the
table beside her. “One of the nurses was nice enough to give me
this map. It shows where everything is, including Torrance and
Palos Verdes. I think this shelter is about twenty miles from here.
Los Angeles is a big place.”
    “So these people making the decisions work
for Los Angeles County?”
    “Yes, most of them. Not the doctors and
nurses here, although the county may be paying for my care. I feel
a little guilty about that. But I’ve received great care. They
think I’m in my mid twenties. I even had a gynecological exam.”
    Rigo must have made a face, because Carol
said, “Just be thankful you’re a man and don’t have to have them.
The doc said I’ve never had a baby. At least I don’t have to worry
that I’m deserting a child. He didn’t go so far as to say I’m a
virgin.” She looked mischievous. “I wouldn’t have believed him if
he had.”
    Rigo decided he’d better not comment. “Who
have you talked to from Los Angeles County?”
    “I’ve talked to Los Angeles County sheriff’s
deputies, a Los Angeles County social worker, a Los Angeles County
psychiatrist. He said he didn’t think I was crazy, by the way. Nice
of him. I just have amnesia. He didn’t know when I might get my
memory back.”
    A young woman dressed in a light green top
and pants came bustling in. “Time to take your vitals, Carol.” She
started to take Carol’s blood pressure. Rigo got up, but she said,
“Sit still, sir. This’ll just take a minute.”
    Blood pressure, pulse, temperature. Then she
left as fast as she had entered.
    “It’s hard to get any sleep around here.”
Carol gestured toward the vanishing figure. “They do this all night
long. I’ll be glad to leave.”
    What did she have to look forward to? “Can
you get a job?”
    Carol shook her head. “This was explained to
me by Andrea, the social worker. I don’t have a birth certificate,
so I can’t get a Social Security card. Without a Social Security
card I can’t get a job. I also can’t get a driver’s license
although I’m sure I know how to drive. I can’t apply for any kind
of assistance. I think that as of tomorrow, Los Angeles County’s
going to wash its hands of me. Officially, as far as the county,
and I guess any state and the federal government, are concerned,
I’m a non-person.”
     
    CHAPTER 3
    That night Rigo worked late at the
restaurant. When he got home, he went to bed, too tired to even
watch TV. He awoke several hours later with an unease that was
close to panic. His heart raced like it did when he had a
nightmare. It took him a minute to figure out the cause.
    It was Carol. She had said she was a
non-person as far as the government was concerned. The full meaning
of this hadn’t sunk in until he was asleep and dreaming. As a
non-person, it would be easy for her to disappear. If she did, he
would never find her. There would be no official record of her. He
had a lot of emotion invested in her, having found her almost dead,
and he wanted to make sure she was all right.
    Having made a decision, he finally relaxed
and went back to sleep. Then he overslept. By the time he awoke,
his parents had gone to work at the business they owned. He jumped
out of bed and dressed. While he was eating a bowl of some sugary
cereal, he called his mother on his cell phone and spoke to her for
several minutes. Then he drove to the hospital.
    Rigo walked into the hospital about ten. He
didn’t remember any signs concerning visitors’ hours. He went
rapidly past the reception area and straight to an elevator. Nobody
questioned him. He exited at Carol’s floor and walked to her room,
trying to look as if he belonged there.
    Her room was empty, and the bed was made.
There was no sign anybody inhabited the room. Rigo’s