Sun On My Face, Wind in My Hair

Chapter Nine

Chris lay in the silence of his room, wondering where he was, who was he? What did he do for a living? Did he have children? Looking in his nightstand, he wondered about his phone and his billfold. Perhaps he could find some answers by looking through his belongings.

Deciding to get up, he fell flat on his face. Hearing the noise, a patient care tech and Chris’s nurse burst into his room, finding him on the floor.

“I…I can’t feel my legs! I tried to stand, and I just collapsed, my legs wouldn’t hold me. What’s going on? Am I paralyzed?” Chris asked, concerned.

The doctor came in and checked Chris. A troubled look came over the man’s face as he tried checking Chris’s reflexes and his sensations. His legs lay motionless and did not react to the tests.

“It appears that you are experiencing some paralysis, yes. But don’t get excited. This could be temporary due to the swelling in your brain. We will do some testing to see exactly what is going on, Chris. Don’t worry. Things like this happen with brain trauma, and often reverse themselves,” the doctor assured him.

Josie came in just then as they were putting Chris back into bed with a mechanical lift.

“What’s going on? What happened?” Josie asked, concerned.

The doctor explained the situation to Josie and told her that hopefully the paralysis was temporary.

“But…there’s a possibility that…that it could be permanent? Josie asked, considering the fact that she may have to take care of Chris the rest of his life. She wasn’t sure that was the kind of life she wanted. With tears in her eyes, she looked at Chris apologetically and shook her head, running out of the room.

Disappointed and afraid, Chris looked at the medical staff, trying to process what was happening. This woman, who he does not recognize at all, says she is his wife, but yet when she finds out he may be paralyzed, leaves him? What would he do now? Who would help him? Chris wondered fretting about his situation.

“I’m sure she will be back, Sir. She’s been at your side the whole time you’ve been here,” Darlene, the Patient Care Tech assured him. Chris looked at the girl tearfully and nodded, hoping she was right.

“Yes, of course. It was just her reaction to some overwhelming news. She was afraid, but Dar is right, she will be back after she has time to process it all,” Cora assured him.

“In the meantime, we are in no hurry to send you out of here. We have tests to be done so that we can help you in the best way possible, Chris,” Dr Wyman told him.

Chris nodded and thanked them all. Before Darlene went out, though, Chris called to her.

“Darlene, did anyone find my billfold or my phone? Maybe I can answer some questions about my identity if I could have them,” he suggested. Darlene remembered her friend Rachel talking about her boyfriend finding a phone in the trash can outside. She wondered if it could possibly be Chris’s phone. She told him she would ask around.

Darlene told Cora that Chris was asking for his wallet and his phone and told her about the phone that had been found. Cora confided in Darlene that she saw a man’s billfold in Josie’s bag. She added that she wondered if Josie was really Chris’s wife because she was unable to answer most of his questions on the admission intake profile. The two were curious to look at the pictures on the phone and see if Chris’s information or hopefully his picture was on it.

At lunch, Darlene found Jeff and Rachel in the cafeteria and joined them. The three discussed her concerns about Chris and wondered whether the phone Jeff found could be his.

Thinking back to the conversation with Penny, Jeff remembered that her husband’s name was Christopher Reese, they lived in Virginia with their three children, and he was a pilot for Universal Airlines. He relayed the information to Rachel and Darlene.

Jeff had turned the phone into security, but the three decided they had to get it back and check it out. Darlene liked the security guard Kevin and volunteered to go with Jeff to get the phone.