The rain poured down on her as if from a fast running faucet, cold and stinging as it hit her bare skin. Her senses seemed dulled and heightened in different ways and, had she been more aware, the contrasts would probably have intrigued her. She could feel the path the water took on her skin but she could not hear the noise of it falling. She came to full consciousness slowly, as if opening her eyes was impossible and her lids felt like lead. Her body felt as if it weighed much more than it should and though she felt the need to get away from the freezing downpour it felt unattainable. Just lifting her head or arms was a chore and she struggled to move, despite how cold the rain was. Slowly she rolled to her stomach, her body sticking in the wet ground, and pulled herself to her knees, her hands sliding in the thick mud in an effort to stand. She pulled her self forward crawling up a small incline, wanting to figure out where she was and she knew she needed to find someone. “Cassie!!” Her scream filled the night as she tried to find Cassie. She slipped and slid as she crawled, her body constantly slipping through the muck as she desperately searched for some sign or clue to where Cassie was. She pulled herself up on a small tree she found, finally being able to stand. She saw lights speeding by a hundred yards in front of her and knew it was a road and would be her rescue and salvation. Using the assorted scrub brush and small trees she slowly worked her way towards the road, instinctively knowing that her only hope at finding Cassie was to get help. Though her body became more battered with each scrape of branch and step through rock-littered mud she felt nothing. Her body was numbed from the cold and she never felt the blood begin to trickle down the side of her face. Finally her feet touched pavement and she was able to stand taller with out struggling to find purchase in the slimy muck. She stood where she was and tried to stop her head from spinning, the world seemingly moving topsy-turvy around her. As the dizziness passed she began to wave at the cars that sped by. She knew it had to be the middle of the night since minutes would pass before another car would come. With every car that passed she felt her hope plummet. She had to find Cassie. Why wouldn’t anyone help her? Didn’t they see her? See how pitiful she looked as the rain beat down on her. She needed their help, why didn’t they stop? Her thoughts swirled around her mind, everything fuzzy and garbled. She let the tears fall as she ached for safety, for rescue, and most of all for Cassie. Hal Raines kept his eyes peeled watching for highway patrol and animals as he drove his big rig over the speed limit in an effort to get to his destination and have time to spare. When he saw the flash of white at the edge of his high beams move he slammed his breaks. Whatever it was it had been bigger than he liked and he wanted to avoid hitting it. His tires screamed as he swerved left to miss hitting the object that was slowly moving into the roadway. He felt his trailer start to jack knife as his tires lost traction on the slick pavement and knew he would be late now, knew he had underestimated the slickness of the rural highway. He threw a curse heavenward as he came to a stop. He leapt to the ground and dashed to the bin on the side of his truck to get the flares and safety triangles to avoid an even bigger mess than the one he had. He had forgotten the white form until it flashed into his peripheral vision. What he saw stunned him. A woman was staggering toward him. She was completely naked and he could see the rain water run red and brown as it dripped off of her body cleaning the blood and rain. “Miss, are you okay?” He asked quietly as her eyes were darting all over the place and she seemed very jittery. “I need to find Cassie. Have you seen her?” Her voice sounded gravely and rough. He was confused but tried to hide it. “Why don’t I call the highway patrol and have them help us find Cassie?” He felt better as his words seemed to calm the battered woman and went to his radio to call for help. “This is AMC freighter 165. I am at mile marker 115 out on Interstate 84. I jackknifed my truck and I found a woman on the road. She is pretty banged up and is trying to find someone named Cassie. I need a tow to help me right the truck and I think she needs an ambulance.” A female voice crackled a response. “Okay 165, I am calling local emergency and a tow for you. Hang tight, they should be there soon.” He grabbed a blanket from his sleeper and went to drape it around the woman when she staggered away and lost consciousness again, falling hard to the pavement before he could catch her. He covered her with the blanket but didn’t want to move her as he saw how bad her head was banged up. Sirens blared and he saw the flashing lights of two police cars, an ambulance and a tow truck in the distance. He threw a prayer of thanks heavenward and waited for help to reach him before he left the mysterious woman’s side. He tucked a mud caked lock of hair behind one of her dainty ears and noticed for the fist time how beautiful she was. Her face was heart shaped and her lips were full and seemed to be naturally a gorgeous pink, looking deliciously kissable in their plumpness. He shook himself from his thoughts as the ambulance pulled up along side. Hal knew thinking about a very hurt woman was a bad sign. He smothered a chuckle as he realized he had been without a woman way to long. Two men jumped from the front of the ambulance and a woman with a big medical bag came from the rear. He felt an unseen weight lift as he absorbed that medical professionals were there to take care of the fragile woman. They moved to get the stretcher from the ambulance while the woman hurried toward where he sat by the woman on the ground. She was plump and had a kind face so he felt even more at ease giving the woman over to her care. Her name was Felicity. “Hello, sir. Can you tell me what happened to her?” Felicity asked as she took note of the gashes and bruises that strangely did not take away from the fallen woman’s beauty. “I saw something white flash in my headlights and swerved to miss it. After I got the truck stopped I discovered the shape I saw was this woman. She was crying for someone named Cassie and didn’t seem to relax until I told her I was calling the police. I grabbed a blanket for her and that is when she passed out. I didn’t want to move her.” Felicity tried to smile in reassurance, knowing the trucker was upset. “Guys bring the neck brace and the backboard. I want to get her totally immobilized. She is pretty beat up and there is a huge knot on her temple so we better not take any chances.” She checked the woman’s vital signs and knew something was familiar about this woman. Something in the back of her head that she couldn’t quite come up with. The officers walked up to let the tow truck do its job and to question the trucker. The EMT’s carefully loaded the woman onto the stretcher and took her towards the waiting ambulance. “Hey Felicity, who is she?” The officer closest to the ambulance called out. “Well she doesn’t have any pockets on the birthday suit she is wearing so I have no clue. She isn’t local that’s for sure.” “Well have the doc call me when she is awake. I would like to figure out who she is.” “Sure thing officer.” The guys slammed the double doors shut as Felicity started an IV. As she worked a thought kept trying to nag at her but every time she tried to concentrate on it the thought disappeared like a wisp of smoke. She used a wet washcloth to clean the woman’s face so she could get a better look at the cuts and scrapes and as her face became cleaner the tingling became more profound. When the woman moaned and cried for Cassie it slammed into place. “Oh my,” She whispered to herself as things lined up in her mind. “Hey guys you better radio those cops. We found Laura Dixon.” She woke feeling disoriented and groggy. She tried to burrow into the warmth of her blanket as she slowly opened her eyes, despite the grainy feeling as her lids parted. The walls were a stark white and made the room seem bright even with the lights dimmed. She noticed the lights were very industrial looking. She jerked as she realized she was in a hospital. She had an IV in her arm and a heart monitor taped to her chest under her hospital gown. She lifted the blanket and saw all the scrapes had been bandaged. Her deeper cuts had been stitched and she felt them tug as she looked for a mirror or something to see her reflection. She saw a silver tray sitting by her bed filled with what might have been meatloaf and mashed potatoes in another life. She carefully put the food to the side and picked up the tray. Though a bit distorted she could see her green eyes past her swollen lids. She winced at the bandages on her cheek and forehead. The corner of her mouth was swollen. She tried to remember what had happened but realized nothing came except the name Cassie. She some how knew that wasn’t her name but she had no idea who it could be. She panicked as she realized that even the little things seemed so far away. How old was she? What did she like to eat? She felt a sob rise in her throat as even her name was like a shadow fleeing in the mist. “Mrs. Dixon are you okay?” She jumped as she realized the voice was talking to her. She glanced up, using her sheet to wipe her tears away. “Are you talking to me? Am I Mrs. Dixon?” The woman was in scrubs so it had to be a nurse or doctor and she felt hope that she would get the answers she needed. Anything to erase the fog floating around her brain. Her blonde hair was tightly wound in a bun at the back of her head. Her shoulders were broad and her body fit as if she were used to hard work and she took comfort in that. “Yes dear. Laura Dixon, right? My name is Christie and I am the night nurse here.” She sat at the edge of the bed seeming to know Laura needed some comfort. She grabbed the hand without the IV. She felt the tears start to fall and hated it. She hated being so confused. “Is my name Laura Dixon? I know this is weird but I feel so lost. The only thing I can think of is Cassie, and even then I am not sure who that is. Why is this happening to me?” Christie felt so bad for the woman beside her. She wanted to tell Laura all she knew but the doctor wanted the husband to do the explaining. “After trauma memory loss is pretty common. It is usually very temporary.” “What do you mean usually? Is there a chance it will never come back?” “Sweety, everything has chances and risks. It is very rare to never get the memories back but it has happened. Be patient with your self, when your husband gets here he will help you through everything.” Laura felt nothing but shock at the fact that she didn’t even remember having a husband. She felt so empty. She knew she had to have other family, friends, even a job and she hated not knowing. The name Cassie still flitted through her mind. “Who is Cassie?” She saw Christie jerk in response and Laura knew that she knew who it was. She tried to contain her hope, not wanting to be disappointed yet again in so short a time. Christine new she couldn’t be the one to explain who Cassie was. It was something Laura’s husband would have to do. “Honey I am sure your husband will explain everything and answer all of your questions. I really am just here to take care of you.” Laura felt her self begin to get hysterical. “Take care of me? Answering my questions would be taking care of me. I need to know what is going on. My life has basically been erased. I don’t even remember my husband. The only reason I know my name is because you told me. The only think in my head is Cassie and I have no clue who that is. It has to be important if it is the only thing that stuck with me through what ever happened to me. How do I know my husband didn’t do this? How do I know you are even honest?” The words tumbled out of her mouth in a wave. With each sentence she felt more and more fear and confusion descend on her like an avalanche. She felt like she were suffocating and her head began to spin. She felt a pin prick in her arm and then everything went black. |
