A Beautiful New Life (9 page)

“Well I just got news and wanted to give it to you in person before we had our news conference.” He motioned toward the couch. “Here let’s have a seat.”

“Did you find the man Louise was with?” Arlin’s heart raced. Arlin sat on the couch next to Detective Sheldon.

“Yes we did.”

“Well, where is he? Where is my wife?” Arlin stood up and started pacing.

“Please, Mr. Gilab, come sit down.” When he continued to pace the room, Detective Sheldon continued. “He came forward after our press conference. He said he had met her at the resort for a romantic weekend but when he found out she was married, he told her he could not continue to see her.”

“What? So what happened to her? Where is she? Did he say?” He sat down again on the couch.

“He said she got really upset ran to her room, grabbed her overnight bag and went to the front desk to get her car.” Arlin got up again and paced the room.

“So where is she?”

“She had had a lot to drink. They tried to stop her from driving.”

“They let her drive drunk?” He paced the floor, wringing his hands.

“She insisted she had made a mistake and just wanted to go home. They offered to take her home and she declined.” Detective Sheldon got up and tried to get Arlin to sit down. “She said she would wait until morning but insisted on getting her keys now so she could leave first thing. They gave her the keys and she headed back to her room. She returned to the lobby a few minutes later and said she wanted to go for a walk. She didn’t have her bag so they let her go.”

“So where is she
then?
” He continued pac
ing
.

“Please Mr. Gilab, sit down.” Arlin sat down; he knew the news would not be good. “I’m sorry to inform you that we believe Louise is dead.”

“What? What do you mean, you believe she is dead?” He fidgeted.

“Her car, well the remains of her car were found off a cliff along the route she would have taken when returning home from the resort.”

“What do you mean remains of her car?
What about her?
Did you find her body? Maybe she is alive.” He stood now and paced again. His anger was real.

“The cliff
,
the car went off
,
was a pretty steep drop.
Those who found the car believes the force of the impact threw Louise from the car.
It is really rocky terrain.” He stopped. Arlin sat down again and Detective Sheldon continued. “It’s hard to say where her body would have ended up. I’m so sorry.”

“Well you are going to look for her. What if she is still alive?” He had to be sure.

“No. The terrain is too steep and rocky. When we heard she had left, we had authorities fly over and they found the car. They used thermal imaging and didn’t find her body.”

“But her body could be out there
r
ight? Thermal imaging would only find it if she was alive.” He had to be sure she was dead.

“I’m sorry, M
r. Gilab and yes you’re correct
the thermal imaging would have only picked
up on her
if she was still alive. We will be holding a press conference and would like for you to be there so we can publicly apologize for giving the perception that we believed you had something to do with this.”

“Yes, of course, I’ll be there. Oh my god, I need to get home.” He jumped up from the couch. “How am I going to tell my kids?” He held his head in his hands and sobbed. Detective Sheldon went to him.

“Is there someone I can call for you?”

“I’ll call my mom. I need…oh my god. I can’t believe this is happening.” He pressed his eyelids closed squeezing out the tears.

The days flew by as Arlin prepared for the memorial service. He
did
not expect all the support and never knew how many friends and acquaintances Louise had. Some had offered to help with the kids while he adapted to not having Louise
there to tend to them
.

“Arlin please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you.”

“Thanks Penny, you have been such a big help already. I don’t think I could have gotten the kids through this without your help.” He pulled her in his arms and gave her a friendly hug.

“Well they still have some adjusting to do but the important thing is to make sure they don’t forget her. She loved those kids more than anything.”

“I know, thank you.” As Penny left, Mitch walked up to Arlin.

“Arlin
I’m
sorry for your loss. Louise was like a daughter to me. I miss her.”

“Don’t bring your insincere wishes here. I know how you felt about me.” Arlin just wanted him to leave.

“I’m sorry to tell you, Arlin, but this.” He turned and waved his hand toward the room that those remaining had gathered. “This is about Louise.” He turned to go and then turned back to Arlin. “I don’t believe
for a minute
that this was an accident.”

“Well you would be the only one then Mitch, because everyone else does. Louise is dead, killed in a senseless car accident of her own doing.” He turned and walked away.

Chapter
Nine

“Good morning Megan.
I’m
glad to see you awake and alert. We were really worried about you” The nurse came in the room. “I’m Betty and you’re in the hospital sweetie, do you remember anything?”

Megan looked blank, not knowing how to answer.

“Oh my, let me go get the doctor. I’ll be right back.” She patted her leg and walked out of the room.

The doctor walked in, “Megan, I’m Dr. Howe, there was an accident. You came in with a severe head injury. We did everything we could but was afraid there may be some memory loss. Do you remember anything at all?”

“No.” The tears came now. “I can’t remember anything.”

“Do you remember if you have family? Maybe…we could call them.” Dr. Howe bated her with the question. They needed to know if the treatment worked

“I don’t know.” She yelled. “I can’t remember anything. It’s all a blank.”

“Well don’t give up hope, it could be just temporary.” The doctor said and left the room.

Betty now spoke again, “We’ve done all we could but there is no missing persons report and no one responded to any of the news stories.”

“How do you know my name is Megan, what is my last name?” If they had her name, surely they could find someone who knew her.
Did
she no
t have any family or friends?

“Does Megan mean anything to you?”

“No! Is that my name?” She asked again.

“When the paramedics brought you in, you came to for just a moment and yelled out that name.” Betty sat next to her bed and reached for her hand. “Did you know a Megan?”

“I already told you I don’t remember anything.”
Megan started to cry. She felt so lost. She searched her mind but there was nothing. She
pulled away from Betty,
curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

“Megan.”
Betty
was back
and
shaking her
gently to wake up.
“Megan, I brought you some lunch dear. You really need to eat.”

Megan stirred then rolled over and tried to sit up. Her body ached and Betty helped her sit up, putting pillows behind her to support her. She pulled the bed tray over to her. “You need to eat to build your strength.” Megan looked at the bowl of broth
,
picked up the spoon and started to eat it. She did not have much thought about anything and
just did what
the
told her to do.
She felt lost. She did not know who th
is woman was or where she was
. Even the taste of the broth
did not stir a memory.
She neither liked it nor hated it. It was just broth.

As each
day
passed,
and
with
help from Betty, Megan began to come out of her depression. As any other morning
,
Betty came in the room in her regular chipper morning fashion.  “Good morning, Megan. Are you ready to get out of here?”

“Yes ma’am.” Megan
cheerfully responded
. She had grown attached to Betty and was sad for this day to come.
O
nce
was
settled
in her new life, Megan
promised to visit her.

“Now as we’ve told you when this day came that there’ll still be a lot of work that needs to be done. You’ll need to continue your physical therapy and start vocational training.”

“I know I was just hoping you had other news for me.” Megan sunk deep under her covers, the
cheery attitude
gone.

“I’m sorry
Megan;
we still haven’t been able to find any of your family. I wish there was something you could remember.”

“
No.”
T
ears
fell down her face. “No, there’s nothing.”

“I know you don’t want to hear this but you know I believe things happen for a reason, maybe it’s a life you don’t want to go back to.”

“I guess that’s a way to look at it but I can’t remember anything. It could’ve been a good life too.”

“Well sulking around here is not going to help you out any.”

“I do have a question though, something…something I’ve been wondering.” Betty gave her a look that said she did not want to hear
anymore
about her lost memory. “It’s about my hair. Is it going to grow back?
I mean…all of it…
going to
grow back?”

“What do you mean, of course it should.”

“Well when I run my hands over my head it feels like…well it feels like it
i
s growing back in patches.”

“Your head injury was so severe and took numerous surgeries.
Let’s
just wait and see. It’s still early.” She left the room. Megan settled down but still worried about it.

Betty returned carrying some clothes. “Here
now get changed.
Someone will be along in a few minutes to get you and take you to your new room. We have a great rehabilitation service here.
We’ll
put you up at one of our facilities. Be sure to take advantage of it since
we’ll
be giving you opportunities to learn skills and get a job so you’ll be able to support yourself.

This news gave her some hope that maybe someday she would find where she belonged. She
dressed
quickly and sat to wait when the door
opened. Her heart skipped a beat when h
e
walked in the room
. He was dark and handsome. The light reflected off his head and she thought that if he had hair he would not have been as good looking. The thought of his lack of hair made her conscious of her own.

“You could always shave it and look like me.” He
smiled
. His
voice
was smooth and calming
.

Megan blushed and pulled her hand from her head. “I…really don’t think I’d look
any where
as good as you.”
She felt so comfortable with him. She felt safe. It was the first real feelings she had since she woke up a few weeks early. She felt she knew him and could trust him. She only wished her brain would let her know why and where she knew him.

“Hi I’m Michael Dawson.
I’ll
be your counselor and physical therapist until you get back on your feet.
So
if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Are you ready for the tour of the town?”

“Sure, maybe something will jog my memory or someone will recognize me.” She hurried off the bed she was sitting on.

“Megan, I don’t want to discourage you but we don’t believe you were from this area.” He saw her positive attitude melt away at his words so he added. “But you know what…you never know.
Let’s
go. Positive thoughts okay?” He extended his hand to her.
He felt bad for misleading her but knew when the time came he would be there and tell her everything.

She took
his hand
and put her best smile on. “Okay.” They stopped by the front desk to check out and
to
get her follow up appointments scheduled.

“Okay Megan, here are your list of appointments and your initial allowance.” Betty handed her a hundred dollars. “This will get you started until you can work.”

“No, really you don’t have to.” Megan did not want to accept this handout.

“Oh sweetie, it’s part of aftercare.” Betty patted her hand. “Now go get out of here.”

They walked out as Michael led her to his
truck.
He
helped her get in the passenger
seat
and then he
walked around, got in, and started the
truck
.