animated.
A young nurse rushed to greet him, "Detective Cassell she's awake."
Tom smiled and bowed his head acknowledging the words. His body had a feeling of euphoria. He wanted to run to Jane Doe's room, but kept a steady pace as he walked down the corridor. Doctor Gold and his staff were still in the room. A nurse moved aside allowing Tom to enter. He listened to the doctor as he explained to Jane her current condition and future prognosis.
"Samantha, we're going to set up for physical therapy and a light menu plan to get you started. I'll check in with you tomorrow to discuss a more inclusive plan." The doctor gave some instructions to the nurses and then left the room.
Tom entered the room at looked at the nurse and mouthed, "Samantha?"
The nurse replied, "Samantha Goodrich, I'd like to introduce you to Detective Cassell."
Samantha's brow knitted. She seemed confused. Weakly, Samantha replied, "Hi."
Tom smiled, "Is it all right if I ask you a few questions?"
She took a breath and replied, "Okay."
"Your say your name is Samantha Goodrich. Do you remember where you lived?"
With a knitted brow, she looked at Tom and answered, "No, I can't remember."
The nurse interrupted, "Doctor Gold says she has retrograde amnesia. He not even sure that's her real name. It's probably a name she has heard or read about."
"I don't understand."
"It doesn't always happen, but there has been case documents of the side affect of retrograde amnesia."
Samantha lay in bed trying to listen to their conversation and sort things out. She was hoping it would help her understand what was happening.
"Samantha, can you tell me about how you were injured."
Her eyes started closing and she whispered, "I'm so tired."
The nurse laid her hand to Tom's arm, "I think it's time for our patient to rest. It has been a busy morning for her."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Later in the morning Tom called Jenny to give her the news.
"What's up Tom?"
"There's good news and there is bad news."
"Which do I want to hear first?"
"Let's go with the good news. Our patient has woken up."
"That's is good. What's, the bad news?"
"She doesn't remember her name or what happened."
"I don't understand."
"She has amnesia. She said her name is Samantha Goodrich."
"Am I dumb? I don't understand how that can be bad."
"It seems retrograde amnesia can cause some confusion in the brain, and the name probably isn't her real name."
"Why do you think it isn't her real name detective?"
"None of the missing persons reports filed in Illinois match that name."
"Yea, but maybe she was from another state?"
"You would think that would be a possibility. I called when I left the hospital. Steve checked out the Samantha Goodrich's on the Internet. There were three others listed: one in Ohio and two in California. So, we will assume she's an Illinois resident. It's going take a lot more digging. If she didn't have that amnesia, things would be so much easier."
"How long does amnesia last?"
"Based of what I've researched and what the doctor said, it could be weeks or months. Her memory should come back when something tickles it.”
"I'll call Carole. I think it's time for us women to get personal with your Samantha."
"That's great. Maybe being comforted by women not involved in her daily health care will help restore her memory."
***
The next morning Carole and Jenny arrived at the hospital.
"I never liked hospitals."
"I feel like hospitals are my second home. It's the first place I usually meet victims of crime," Carole replied in a low voice.
They arrived at the firth floor nurses' station as Dr. Gold was at the counter filling out paperwork and relaying some instructions to the nurses on duty for the patients he just visited. Carole waited for him to finish.
"Dr. Gold."
"Oh, good morning Carole. I see you got the news."
"Yes. This