Chasing My Shadow (2 page)

Tara Lee had been staring at him in astonishment. “Dr. Trainer has signed the release,” she asked, “when you are still dizzy?”

“Sure. I told him I felt pretty good now, and he agreed that I could go home. Now what about tonight?”

“I’d love to see you tonight,” she said, as she looked at him thoughtfully, then she handed him the list and rose to leave. “I get off duty at seven.”

“I’ll be here at seven and we’ll go somewhere for dinner.”

“No, you stay at the Horizon and rest and I’ll come there as soon as I can. You have to take it easy for a while you know.”

When she left the room his head was aching and the room was moving, but his heart was singing. He was taking Tara Lee to dinner tonight. He loved that name, but “Darling” was even better. Maybe sometime….He held his arm up to glance at his watch, then remembered that he didn’t have it. The band of white skin in contrast to his tan showed clearly on his wrist, and he supposed his watch was lost in the accident too as the strap wasn’t very sturdy. It was just a cheap one, but he missed it.

He stayed in his room resting and waiting for someone to bring him his clothes. He had already given the name of his Medical Insurance Company for the hospital records, and of course they now had his home address.

The old fellow behind the curtain in the room kept mumbling to himself, and Stone couldn’t wait to get out of here and be by himself. The two other men who had been in the room with them had been released. Now his only roommate was this very old man who probably wasn’t going to make it. The guy had a fixation about his car. When one of the nurses entered the room, old Joe asked her if she knew where it was now? He had asked everyone who entered the room. She explained to him that it was safe and not to worry about it, and just to eat something so he could go home.

“You and I both know I’m not going home,” he said. “I just want to know if my car is safe so my nephew can have it. I promised him.”

“When your nephew comes in again you can ask him about it. If you’re asleep, I’ll ask him if he knows where it is.”

After a while a young woman entered the room and, noting that Joe was asleep, asked Stone if he knew if Uncle Joe had eaten anything that day.

“I don’t think so,” he answered, “as I have heard the nurses keep trying to get him to eat. He does seem awfully worried about a car that he wants a nephew to have and he doesn’t know where it is.”

“Oh, that! He has forgotten that it was sold last year. He hasn’t been able to drive for three years now. He wanted my husband, his nephew, to have it. Uncle Joe is pretty mixed up most of the time.”

“Since he’s so worried about the car, couldn’t you make him think your husband already has it?”

“I’ll do that. I hadn’t realized he was worried about it.” Stone visited with the young lady for a few minutes longer, and when she left Uncle Joe was still sleeping.

A nurse finally brought Stone’s clothes and while he was dressing, his roommate awoke and asked him if he had ever seen his car. “No, I haven’t,” he answered impatiently, “but I….”

“It’s a 91 two-tone blue Oldsmobile Cutlass. A beauty and I want my nephew to have it. I wish I knew where it was.”

“I think I did hear that your nephew already has the car. It sounds like a beauty.”

“You think he already has it?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s what his wife said.” Stone had finished tying his shoes and felt dizzy from looking down.

“He’ll like it I know. He wouldn’t care that it was a two-door. Some people don’t like them.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” said Stone, “but I’ve got to get down to the desk and sign some papers. You take care, and do what the Doc says.

Good-by now.” He left the room, breathing a sigh of relief. He felt sorry for the old guy, but was tired of him and his car, and he was feeling dizzy and not particularly friendly right now. He just wanted to get out of there before someone decided he shouldn’t leave yet. Just as he got to the sun room he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and quickly entered the room and sat down. He gradually felt a little better, but since no one else was in the room at the time he decided to rest a little before going to the elevators. He probably was supposed to have waited for a nurse to accompany him, but was glad he hadn’t. He had a feeling she would have called Dr. Trainer, and he wouldn’t have been able to leave today after all.

He was in the corner of the room and out of sight of the doorway so he leaned his head back against the wall. Ah, much better. He would stay a few minutes longer to be sure he would be able to make it out of here. He looked around the room and noticed signs all around. On one of them much larger than the others he could just make out the word “HEARING”. He was glad he could see that much, but missed his glasses. Of course they were lost along with everything else. His nearsightedness had been a curse for him ever since he was a teen-ager. At least he could read easily, but not from across the room. He turned his head to read the ones nearest to him, and that effort brought back the dizziness. He had to remember not to look up or down, or turn his head too far either way. Well, he would just have to remember as the dizziness was frightening, but so was staying here. He knew he had to get out. He leaned back against the wall again which was just right—not far enough back to make him dizzier. After a few minutes of resting with his eyes shut, he began to feel somewhat better.

“Are you all right?” asked a middle-aged woman a little later as she entered the room and noticed him. “You look….”

His eyes popped open. “Oh, yes, thank you. I’m fine—just waiting until it’s time to go down to the desk to meet some people.”

“It’s hard isn’t it when you have someone you care about in the hospital?” said the woman as she got out her knitting. “I’m waiting for my aunt who’s being operated on right now.”

“I hope everything turns out just fine,” he said as he rose to leave. “This is a pretty well-known hospital and they seem to know what they’re doing.”

“Oh yes, I know, and I hope all goes well for your loved one too.”

He thanked her and walked as straight as he could out the door. He would have liked to wait a few minutes longer, but felt he could make it now.

By the time he had got through with the whole releasing procedure and they had taken him by wheel chair to the waiting cab he wondered if he could make it to the room reserved for him at the Horizon Hotel. His head was throbbing and he didn’t feel well at all. He had half-heartedly protested that he didn’t need the wheel chair, but was secretly relieved that this was a policy that didn’t change. He probably shouldn’t have told the doctor that he felt fine. He had this nagging suspicion that many things were not as they should be. He knew something had been bothering him this morning but his head ached so badly now that he couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

When he arrived at the hotel he explained to the desk clerk that his luggage had been lost. He didn’t mention that he had been on the downed Grayline flight as he didn’t want to be delayed by questions. He only wanted to get to the bed waiting for him in his room, and he entered the elevator.

He slept for several hours and when he awoke he did feel better but was glad that Tara Lee was coming here.

He took a quick shower and as he was dressing he recalled what had been bothering him this morning. These were not his clothes. After the nurse had brought them to him in the hospital he had rested a bit, then when he started to get dressed he had realized the clothes weren’t his. The first thing he had noticed was the laced shoes but they fit him perfectly and he told no one. He had to get out of there. If he had waited while they straightened out the mix-up he might not have been able to leave until much later. He might even have had to wait another day and he wanted to get out as fast as possible. Then suddenly he groaned. He remembered worrying about it when he first heard about the laced shoes. That surely meant that the thousand dollars found in his shoes belonged to this person whose clothes he was wearing. After much soul-searching he stayed with his first decision. He would still wait until he got home, then contact the hospital and would find out where to send the money and clothes. He needed some of it now to pay the hotel bill, and buy a ticket to Colburgh. The doctor had told him he was one of the fast healers, and Tara Lee had told him he was lucky compared to many of the other passengers. He gambled on the other patient not being released until he had time to get home and get to the bank. He wouldn’t spend any more money than he had to so he could deposit the cash that was left and be able to write a check for the thousand dollars when he returned the clothes to the hospital.

As soon as he was dressed, he stretched out on the hotel bed again. He knew now that he didn’t feel well enough to go out to dinner as he had promised Tara Lee. Maybe she wouldn’t mind if they got room service and ate right here. That round table was plenty large enough and the chairs looked comfortable, or if she preferred, they could eat on the little balcony beyond the sliding doors. If she knew how rotten he felt she would insist that he go back to the hospital, and he wanted no part of that.

He looked down at the strange clothes he was wearing and felt a rush of guilt at not saying anything to the nurse who brought them. He hadn’t really examined them at first—only to note that they were not his. Now he realized that he could never have afforded anything like this material. What would the true owner think when they handed him Stone’s clothing? The thought occurred to him again that he should call the hospital to tell them, but his head was aching, and to go there would have been too much of an ordeal. He should have told them before he left, but old Joe had kept talking and distracting him until he completely forgot what was bothering him.

When Tara Lee arrived he was able to let her in, then sat in the recliner and tried to act as though he felt fine. He did feel much better just having her here.

“You’re dizzy now, aren’t you?” she asked, looking at him intently. “You really should be in the hospital for a while longer. Dr. Trainer wouldn’t have signed your discharge if he had known you were still dizzy.”

“No, no, I don’t want to go back there. I knew there was something still wrong this morning, but I didn’t want to stay any longer. I even thought maybe that constant odor of disinfectants and cleaning supplies might be contributing to my dizziness.”

“I doubt that very much, but if you won’t go back to the hospital, will you stay here in the hotel a few days before going home?” she asked.

“I suppose I could do that—if I can see you while I’m here.”

“I hope so,” she smiled at him. “If you want me to come, I will.”

“I sure do. And I suppose I could call Jerry from here—and my bank too. It is strange not having any identification with me, and I’ll be glad to get home and get things straightened out.”

“If you could stay here just a few days resting it might make a big difference in the way you feel,” she told him. “I’ll be glad to do any shopping for you if you like, then you wouldn’t even have to go out.”

“You’d do that for me?” he asked. “You’re some nurse, Tara Lee. Now how about calling room service and ordering us some dinner. You choose. I know I promised to take you out but….”

“But it will be much better for you if you stay right here, and I’d like it better too. “She took the menu from the top of the desk and, after looking it over, called in the order. She chose for both of them, and wisely asked for cheese omelets, hot muffins, and fruit, with decaffeinated coffee, knowing it would be better if Stone had a light meal.

After the meal Stone did feel better and he lounged in the recliner at Tara Lee’s insistence, while she sat on the hassock at his feet. She took a note pad from her pocketbook and made out a list of things to get for Stone. A wallet was the first item he thought of. With the money in his wallet and that in his pocket, it would give him some semblance of normalcy. It seemed so strange not to have his driver’s license, credit cards, business card and Millie’s and his grandmother’s pictures.

Tara Lee had brought the personal items that had been furnished by the hospital as he hadn’t bothered with them when he left. Therefore, he had a tooth brush, tooth paste, throw-away razor, and other personal items. He did need pajamas, a change of clothes, and a suitcase. Tara Lee assured him that she would get everything he would need for a few days until he reached home, and he gave her enough money to cover the items.

True to her word she shopped for all of the things he needed and after four days of resting at the hotel he felt much better. He had only occasional dizziness and his head ached only when he was tired. He was glad she had stopped trying to convince him to go back to the hospital.

They were together as much as possible during the days he stayed at the hotel and both were realizing how much they meant to each other. The feeling had seemed to be mutual from their first meeting in the hospital, though neither had known how the other had felt. He realized he was spending more of the thousand dollars than he had intended, but he also knew, if he had to, he could borrow enough from Jerry to make up what he had to return. Tara Lee had called a local travel agency from the hotel, and made reservations for him to fly home, and picked up the ticket for him.

She was becoming so dear to him that he knew he would be back to see her as soon as possible. But first he had to straighten out things at home, and get his identification back and get a duplicate driver’s license. One day he sat down in the chair near the desk and dialed his store number from memory,then waited while it rang.He heard, “We’re sorry, the number you have dialed cannot….” He hung up and dialed again with the same results. What in the world was wrong? He certainly knew his own number. He was disgusted. Telephone service in small towns wasn’t always up to par, but he knew if Jerry had to leave he would have got someone he trusted to tend the store until Stone returned—and the number was the same for both the store and the apartment. He could surely depend on Jerry to take care of things at the store, but no one was answering. He hoped Tina hadn’t jilted him as the last girl had. Maybe he had found a place of his own so he and Tina could move in there after the wedding. That must be it, so he called information and was told that there was no Jerry Holmes listed in Colburgh. Then he must still be at the apartment over the store, so why didn’t he answer that number. He was more anxious than ever to get home and see what the problem was.