Memory's Edge: Part One Read Free

Gretchen said, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know him.”
    “Then
introduce yourself. My name’s Maria, by the way.” She held her hand out and
Gretchen shook it. “Just press the call button if you need anything. Oh, and
there’s a blanket and pillow in the cupboard over there.”
    “When do
visiting hours end?” Gretchen asked.
    “Don’t
worry about it. Feel free to stay as long as you want tonight.”
    “Thanks,
Maria.”
    She smiled
and went on with her rounds. Her suggestion to talk to him stuck with Gretchen.
She thought about what she should say to him for a long time. Too long
probably. He was in a coma, after all. She didn’t even have a name for him, but
she didn’t want to keep calling the guy “Him” or “The Man.” The only name he
had was John Doe. Well , Gretchen thought, John isn’t so bad. He
could get stuck with worse. It would have to do for now. Still unsure of how to
start, she settled for simple.
    “Hi, John,
my name is Gretchen Gesner.”
     

 
     
    Chapter Three
    Just This Once
     
     
    Gretchen
thought she must have been asleep for at least an hour before Maria woke her at
three in the morning and told her to go home and rest. There had been no change
in John’s condition. Maria assured her there likely wouldn’t be for a while.
Damage that severe would take time to recover from. Feeling guilty, even still,
Gretchen had taken her advice and gone home.
    It wasn’t
until she pulled up to her house and heard her neighbor’s front door burst open
that she remembered he had been waiting for her. Carl stormed across their
front yards, panic and relief fighting for dominance in his expression and body
language.
    She only
managed to get her door open and put one foot on the ground before he made it
to her and yanked her into his arms. “Where have you been?” he demanded. “Did
you get any of my texts or calls? I’ve been freaking out! You were supposed to
be back by six o’clock. I thought something had happened to you. What is going
on?”
    Cringing at
the fear in his voice, Gretchen felt horrible for worrying him. They had
planned to watch a basketball game together that night when she got home, Carl
grilling burgers for dinner even though it was still too chilly for barbecuing.
It hadn’t even crossed her mind to text or call to tell him she wouldn’t make.
She hadn’t looked at her phone once since getting back into her car to follow
the ambulance.
    Her
relationship with Carl was complicated, but she felt awful for scaring him.
“I’m really sorry. It’s been a crazy night,” she said as she relaxed into his
embrace. It wasn’t something she would normally allow, but she was exhausted on
every level.
    “What
happened?” Carl asked, more calm now that he had her in his arms and knew she
wasn’t dead or kidnapped.
    That
thought made her flinch, because John wouldn’t be going home to his family, if
he had one, any time soon. Guilt she didn’t completely understand poked at her.
    “It’s a
really long story, and I need to get some sleep before school tomorrow.”
    “Call in
sick,” he ordered.
    “I’ll get
docked points on my evaluation,” Gretchen complained.
    “It doesn’t
matter. You’re about to drop. A few hours of sleep isn’t going to make you
ready to deal with a bunch of high school punks. Call in sick, or I’ll do it
for you.”
    “They
aren’t punks,” Gretchen snapped, though there wasn’t much bite behind it. “I’ll
be fine. And you can’t call in sick for me.”
    Carl laughed.
“I think you’re forgetting I’ve lived here all my life and have known your boss
a hell of a lot longer than you. I’ve been calling everyone, including her, to
try and figure out where you are. I’ll call her if you don’t. I mean it.”
    Even though
Gretchen hated when he bossed her around and pretended to always know what was
best for her, she could barely keep her eyes open and was on the verge of
asking Carl to carry her to her