Granger had fitful dreams filled with Carly and for some reason he kept seeing his own eyes. He jerked awake at the sound of the hospital door opening. Dr. Colton walked in.
“Ah, good to see you doctor.” Granger said.
“How are you feeling now Mr. Smith?”
“I am feeling good. I dozed off for a bit there.”
“Good. Rest is the best medicine in this case. Is your wife close? I was going to get started but wasn’t sure if she wanted to be here.”
Granger looked to the clock and noted it had just been fifteen minutes since she had left. “Go on and start doctor. She is getting me some good food non hospital food, no offense, and will be back in a little while.”
Dr. Colton scribbled something on the electronic pad and sat down ready to take notes. “I wanted to let you know that I consulted that psychiatrist colleague of mine and he concurs with my treatment of your amnesia. He also stated that this type of short term amnesia is mostly temporary and is best if the patient can recall on his or her own instead of being told. So if you would like we can get started with more recent memories. Tell me about the Tiki Hut that you and Mrs. Smith ate at.”
Granger thought for a moment. “It was a cute little place. I sat at the bar while Beth went and changed. I had ordered us a drink and noticed that the place had a wide variety of choices but I waited until my wife came out to order. Let me tell you doc, when she came out, I was proud and embarrassed at the same time. She was hot with a capital H-O-T. She had on this tee tiny bikini and a hat. I was so happy that she was mine but I didn’t want to show her to the world. She is mine after all.”
Granger and the doctor both laughed. “Go on.”
“We ate. I had a cheese burger and she had a salad. Then we kind of argued about whether we were going to a club or parasailing. She wanted to go dancing but I wanted to do something that did more with just the two of us. So as we decided to ponder the outcome of that one when I noticed the craft tent. It kind of drawled my attention. I’m not sure why but as we made our way over to see what they had and I …”
“Go on.”
“I noticed a picture of the sunset and it reminded me of… well it reminded me of the work that Carly used to do.” Granger stopped talking as he noticed the doctor watching him closely. “I remember looking at the lady who was running the tent and when she turned around….”
Granger’s eyes grew big. “Carly.” He whispered. “It was Carly who was the artist.” He looked to the doctor for confirmation and when he nodded his head, Granger let out a breath and sat back in silence as the doctor watched his reaction for a moment and then wrote in his file.
“Do you remember anything after seeing Ms. Carly?” Dr. Colton asked.
Granger thought for a minute, “I know seeing her was a bit of a shock but I shouldn’t have passed out.”
“Take a minute and see if it comes back to you.”
Granger thought for a moment and looked up to the door as Beth came in with a bag of food and sat it down on the small table.
“Hello Dr. Colton. I would like to apologize for my behavior earlier. We are under a lot of stress and I handled the situation very inappropriately.”
“That is alright Ms. Smith. I understand your stress. We are making progress right now. If it is alright with the both of you, I would like to continue for a few moments more.”
Granger noticed Beth smile but the apprehension in her eyes spoke volumes. “I would like to continue.” He said.
“I brought you a cheeseburger and fries.” Beth stated and turned to the doctor. “Do you mind if we continue while he eats? I grabbed extra cheeseburger if you would care to join us.”
“No thank you on the cheeseburger. This should only take a few minutes more. So whenever you are ready. You were saying that it was Ms. Carly that was the artist in the tent.”
Granger noticed Beth tense up as she shuffled the food containers. He looked back at the doctor. “She looked like she always had as if time hadn’t changed her a bit. I noticed that she hesitated a bit before saying hello. I remember something catching my attention but it gets a bit fuzzy there.”
Beth ran over and grabbed his hand. “Can we please take a break now? We can continue after you eat. You are going to need your strength.”
Granger looked into Beth’s pleading eyes. “Doctor, if it is alright with you, we would like to continue later, maybe after lunch if you have time.”
“That would be fine. I am not able to come back until after my rounds. The nurses are available anytime and if you need anything you just let them know. You may have visitors for about an hour at a time and your wife may stay as long as she likes. I would refrain from any partying while I am away.” He said jokingly.
Both Granger and Beth laughed as the doctor left.
“Beth honey, I am so ready for that great smelling cheeseburger.”
“Oh! I am so sorry Grangy. I’ll get that right away. I grabbed you a sweet tea to wash it all down.”
“Sounds wonderful. Beth?”
“Yes sweetheart?”
“Was that Carly that you were arguing with earlier?”
You could cut the tension in the room with a spoon. Beth stood there, looking away from him not saying a word but her actions answered for him, yet he wanted her to say it. He wanted her to be truthful with him. After all what is a marriage without trust?
She let out a breath and said, “I tell you what. I will answer every question you ask if you wait until after we eat.” She turned and smiled her beautiful smile. “I can hear your stomach from over here.”
Granger agreed laughing because his stomach let out another loud growl which lightened the atmosphere in the room. They ate in silence but the thoughts going through his head were so confusing. He kept trying to remember but the only thing that came to mind was his eyes, whatever that meant.
After Beth cleaned up and helped him get comfortable, she sat in a chair beside his bed grabbing his hand as if it were a lifeline.
“Alright, I am ready to answer your questions, but first let me begin by saying everything I did was to protect you. I love you so much I just don’t want to see you hurt ever again and I will do anything to prevent that from happening. Anything!”
Granger studied her for a moment. He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “I love you, my Beth. We can and will work through whatever obstacle we encounter, but there cannot be any lies in our relationship. Trust is a big part of marriage and lying by omission is still a lie. I am going to trust you to help me if you trust me to help you too.”
Beth nodded with tears in her eyes. “I am sorry. Let’s get started or would you like to wait on the doctor?”
Granger leaned in and kissed his wife. “Let’s go ahead. Anything we uncover, we can relay to him later.”
Beth nodded once more taking a deep breath.
“Tell me why you kept Carly from me?”
“I felt that since you had passed out that it would be too much for you to see her so quickly.”
“Fair enough. Can you tell me what happened at the craft tent?”
Beth looked at him with worry. “Are you sure?”
“I want the truth Beth. I am alright now. Whatever had shocked me so badly is apparently out of my system.”
“Okay. I followed you to that tent and was looking around at the pictures. They were quite good. In fact I had planned on buying Daddy the one of the sunset. It was beautiful. But I heard you stutter out her name and by the time I looked around I seen you fall to your knees in front of her and her child. I was so…”
“Child? Carly has a child?” He said more to himself. He looked to Beth in confusion as a though grabbed hold of him. “What color were the child’s eyes?”
“I don’t know the color. But I do know that when she introduced you to the little girl you just passed out cold.”
Granger closed his eyes as the memory came slamming in
to his head. The little girl’s eyes were the same as his. His breathing started to become erratic.
“Grangy! Should I get the doctor?”
He took a few deep slowing breaths. “No I am fine.” He done some more deep breathing as Beth fussed with his pillows saying over and over how sorry she was. “Stop Beth, honey just stop. Sit down. I know why I was so shocked. I am that little girl’s father.” He looked up as she plopped down in the chair.
“Maybe, maybe not. You haven’t seen that woman in a long time and she could have just said the little girl was yours.”
“Beth, I have known Carly for a long time and she isn’t one to go sleeping around.” The more Granger thought about it the more angry he got. “I am not sure why she would keep her from me but I will get to the bottom of it. If memory and the math serves me correctly I have already missed almost three years of my child’s life and that… that just isn’t acceptable. Starting right now, we are going to find out the truth and then we are going to settle this. I will not have any child of mine grow up without me.”
“Grangy honey. Please calm down. There is no guarantee that she is yours. Please wait a few days to recover first. Please just wait.”
“Beth, the girl has my eyes. I can’t remember exactly what Carly said but I know that child has my eyes. That unique color was passed down from my mother from her father. She is mine. I can feel it. As soon as the doctor gives me the go ahead we are going to have a little meeting with Carly and she is not going to like what I have to say.”
Beth just stared at him as if he were a stranger. He was angry, beyond angry, livid.