Running on Empty

Ms. Doe looked up at him and smiled, and it washed over him like sunshine. Ribbons of golden hair fanned out across the pillow framing her delicate face like a halo. Her skin was milky white and smooth—fragile looking, like the porcelain figurines his mother collected. He recalled how soft her skin had felt against his fingers when he’d touched her face back in the store. The sudden, intense pull of lust the memory evoked nearly floored him.

What the hell was he doing? Fantasizing about her? Real smart, Mitch. Like she didn’t already have enough problems.

His pager vibrated and he wasn’t surprised to see that it was his sister. She would hound him relentlessly until he picked up her groceries. He erased the number and stuck it back in his pocket.

“They’re cutting me loose,” Jane said. “I’m a free woman.”

“I’ll sign her release and have the nurse find her some clothes,” the doctor said. “She’ll need to come back in a week to have the stitches removed.”

“And the amnesia?” Mitch asked. “Can you do anything for that?”

“Give it a little time. Try taking her back to the scene of her attack if she’s comfortable with that. When she’s ready to deal with the incident, I think her memory will come back on it’s own.”

“But you think she should try to find something familiar?”

“As long as she’s okay with that, I think it’s a good idea,” the doctor said.

Ms. Doe shot Mitch an I-told-you-so look. Christ, she had attitude. She was going to be a major pain in the behind, he could just tell.

“And if her memory doesn’t come back?” Mitch asked.

“If her condition hasn’t improved in a week we’ll schedule an appointment with a neurologist.” The doctor hooked her chart on the foot of the bed. “Ibuprofen every four to six hours should ease any discomfort.”

“I’ll be right back,” Mitch told her, and followed the doctor into the hall. “Did you find anyone with injuries matching hers?”

“Not yet. It could take a day or two.”

Mitch pulled a business card out of his jacket pocket. “Call me if you find anything.”

When he stepped back into the room, Ms. Doe was out of bed, her back to him, gazing out the window. Her height surprised him. Based on tenacity alone, he’d expected her to be taller. He guessed now that the top of her head would barely reach his chin. She was slight, delicate-looking even, until she opened her mouth and all of that attitude spilled out. It was obvious, if it weren’t for the amnesia—assuming she really did have it—she was the kind of woman who looked out for herself.

It was hard to imagine someone physically abusing her—or her allowing it.

She leaned forward to look out the window, the edges of her gown pulling open and—whoa! He got an eyeful of smooth, rounded, ivory flesh. Something hot and carnal flickered to life inside of him. Something he hadn’t let himself feel in an awfully long time. Apparently, too long. Try as he might, he had a hell of a time looking away.

He forced himself to speak. “Recognize anything?”

She spun around, startled. As if realizing the view she’d just given him, she reached back to hold her gown closed. “No, I don’t. And I just want to say for the record, I don’t appreciate you talking about me behind my back.”

He folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorjamb. “Who says we were talking about you?”

“Oh, please. I have amnesia, I’m not brain-dead. Who else would you be talking about? If you have information about me, I want to hear it. I may remember something.”

There were certain things he didn’t really want to tell her yet, things he wasn’t sure she was ready to hear, but she was right, anything could trigger a memory. “We were talking about healed injuries he found in your X rays.”

She frowned, her pale brows pulling together. “What kinds of injuries?”

“Bone fractures. Eleven that he can see. He seems to think it was domestic abuse.”

“Domestic abuse?” Her eyes widened, shimmering like beach stones resting just below the surface of the water. “Does that mean I’m married?”

“You weren’t wearing a wedding band. But when I found you, you had diapers and baby food in your cart.”

“Diapers?” She backed toward the window clinging to the sill. “I have a baby?”

“It’s possible,” he said, noting that she’d paled several shades. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe it was too much all at once.

She shook her head. “No, if I had children I would remember. I couldn’t forget something like that.”

“You could if you had amnesia.”

“You don’t understand. I just have this feeling, deep down, that I don’t have kids. I can’t explain it. It’s not that I remember not having kids. But I feel like I would know in my heart if I did, even if I couldn’t specifically remember them.” She puffed out a long breath, stirring the hair on her forehead. “Does that make any sense?”

“It doesn’t explain the items in your cart.”

“Maybe I was picking them up for someone else. A friend or relative?”

“If that’s the case, maybe they’ll report you missing.”

“Maybe,” she said, gnawing her bottom lip with her front teeth. She glanced toward the bathroom door, then back at him. “I, um, need to use the bathroom.”

“Okay.”

She just stood there, adjusting her weight from one foot to the other.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked, amused to see her cheeks flush a vibrant pink. He didn’t figure her as the type of woman who would embarrass easily. Though she did seem to wear all of her emotions right out on her sleeve.

“Actually, I’m kind of afraid to go in there.”

He gestured over his shoulder. “You want me to get a nurse to help you.”

“No! I don’t need help, I just…this is going to sound so lame. I’m afraid of what I’m going to see when I look in the mirror.”

“You’re afraid you won’t recognize yourself?”

“Well, that, too. But I have no idea what I look like.”

He frowned. “I’m not following you.”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “I could be a troll. I could be hideous looking.”

He fought the smile tugging at his lips. Just like a woman to worry about beauty. In the looks department, she had nothing to worry about. “You’re not a troll.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh, yeah? How do I know you’re not just saying that to be nice?”

“Because I’m not that nice. Besides, maybe when you look at yourself, you’ll remember who you are.”

She pressed a hand to her chest, accentuating the swell of two perky breasts under the thin gown. “My heart is pounding like crazy.”