Moments Lost and Found (22 page)

When she drove up to the emergency
entrance, there were nurses and doctors waiting for her. She assumed the 9-1-1
operator phoned ahead to let them know she was coming.

They helped her out of her car and
immediately put her into a wheelchair, wheeling her into the bright lights of
the ER. Finally, she was safe. Sam knew they were talking, she could hear
voices and she knew they were asking her questions, and even though she knew
they were right there next to her, they somehow sounded very, very far away.
All of the adrenaline, all of the fear, all of the pain finally gave way. The
last thing Sam remembered was being wheeled past people and lights and sounds
that didn’t register. She was still clutching her purse when slowly, finally,
everything went dark.

“Samantha. Ms. Davis. Samantha, can
you hear me?” Sam struggled to open her eyes, but only one would open. She
smelled something rank that jolted her awake. She was lying down and saw three
unfamiliar, but smiling, welcoming faces looking back at her.

 “Welcome back, it is
Samantha?” one of the faces asked.

Sam smiled and said weakly, not
recognizing her own voice, “You can call me Tham.”

 “Ok, Sam. How are you
feeling?” one of the nurses or doctors asked. She wasn’t sure who was who.

 “I hurt. A lot.” All the faces
looking at her were warm and sympathetic.

 “I’ll bet you do, honey. We’ve
got some work to do on you, but do you think you’re up to talking with an
officer first? They’d like to get your statement as soon as possible so they
can get who did this to you.” Sam looked over, having to turn her head so she
could see out of her good eye, and saw two officers waiting in the doorway. Sam
nodded. “Ok, good. They’ll be quick and then we’ll make you feel better, I
promise.” Sam felt like they were talking to her like they’d talk to a child,
but she didn’t care. Actually, she did, and she liked it. It felt comforting.
It felt caring.

The two officers walked over, one
man, one woman. Sam assumed that in a case like this, where a woman was
attacked, that was probably protocol.

 “Ms. Davis? I’m officer
McCallister, this is officer Hsu. Are you up for answering some questions?” Sam
nodded. “Ok, good. Like the doctor said, we’ll be quick. Can you tell us what
happened, who did this to you?”

Sam gave them as much detail as she
could including George’s name, address, his relationship with her. She told
them the things that he said to her, she wanted it to be clear that this wasn’t
just an attack, but an attempted rape. She told them how she fought back and
how she got away.

 “You did great, Sam. Really
great.” Officer Hsu, the man said, making Sam try to smile, which hurt given
her busted lip. She didn’t feel so great, but she knew how much worse it could
have been. As pathetic as it felt, she soaked up the praise. In light of
everything recently, it felt like it had been so long since Sam felt like she
had done something right, something good.

 “I really hope you get him.”
She said weakly.

 “We do too. We’re going to go
do that right now. We have all of your contact information and may need to have
you come down to the station if we need more, or if we catch him, we’ll need
you to come identify him, ok?” Sam nodded. Every little movement hurt.

 “All right, we’re going to let
the doctors take care of you and make you feel better.” They turned to leave
and then Officer McCallister turned back around and smiled, “You’re one of the
lucky ones, Sam. You should be proud of yourself. You remember that, ok?” Sam
tried to smile again, but it hurt her lip so much. She just swallowed and
nodded.

After the police left, one of the doctors, Dr.
Hernandez, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-40s, came back to Sam’s
bedside with another woman, Sun Yun, who Sam assumed was a nurse based on the
fact that Dr. Hernandez had a long white coat and Sun Yun just had patterned
scrubs. That, and the fact that there was no Dr. before her name. Sam was
focusing on the oddest things, her mind was not completely there, clearly. Sam
saw Sun Yun inject something into her IV right after the officers left.

 “So Samantha,” Dr. Hernandez started.

 “Pleathe, call me Stham.” Sam said with her
new lisp. Even the slightest talking or movement hurt and seemed like it
required so much energy. Energy she didn’t have. She knew they had given her
some type of pain killer because the stabbing, throbbing pain in both her shoulder
and eye had started to lessen. They were still very much there, but Sam was
finally feeling a little relief. Unfortunately, she was getting more groggy.

Dr. Hernandez smiled softly, “Sam, we’re going to
take you down for some X-rays and a CT scan of your shoulder and chest to see
just what type of damage has been done. We’re also going to get a CT scan of
your head to see if there’s any sign of bleeding on your brain.”

 “Bleeding on my brain?” Sam said groggily.
Yeah, they definitely must have given her some drugs because even though she
mentally thought about how much that phrase should panic her, she was somehow
calm.

 “That’s quite a nasty knot you’ve got there
on your eye. And, as you described it, your head was slammed into a wall. You
might have a concussion, and we just want to make sure there’s nothing more
than that.”

 “Ok.” Sam’s head was swirling. She tried to
sit up a little, but couldn’t even manage that.

 “Sam, whoa, where are you trying to go?”

 “I need to make a phone call. Can I do that
before the sthcans?” Sam could hear herself talking and knew she sounded like
her head wasn’t all there, which, it wasn’t. But everything seemed clearer
inside her head than when it came out. When she heard the words, it didn’t even
sound like her.

 “You’ve got a few minutes before they wheel
you off to radiology. Is your cell in your purse?” for the first time, Sam
realized she had no idea where her purse or her belongings were. She knew she
came in with them. She nodded, hoping the doctor could see the purse and find
her phone for her. “Ok, Sun here can help you find it.”

Sun, also on her right side, walked around her bed
to retrieve her purse. Sam was relieved, though, given everything else, she
knew her priorities were a little out of whack. “Is it ok if I look in here for
your phone, Sam?” Sam nodded. Sun found the phone quickly and handed it to her.
Sam realized, as she tried to look at the phone that dialing was tricky being
drugged up and only having the use of one eye and one hand. Sam looked at the
phone for a moment and then back at Sun. Sun got it pretty quickly, “Maybe I
can help dial for you? I have the same type of cell, so I’m used to this one.”
She said, probably to make Sam feel a little less helpless.

 “Yesth, pleasthe. Can you dial Steve –
home?” Sun found the number, dialed, and when it was ringing, handed it to Sam.

 “Hey, Sam! God, that was some nasty food
poisoning. I think I lost five pounds today.”

 “Steve.” Was all she said, but she knew that
the way she said it, with her slurry speech, he immediately knew something was
wrong.

 “Sammy! What’s wrong? Where are you?”

 “Steve, I can’t talk much. I’m in the
hosthpital, St. Joeth. I’ll tell you everything later, but can you pleasthe
come here to get my keysth and go take care of my boysth?” God, that was an
effort.

 “Oh my God, Sam, yes, I’m on my way. I’ll be
there in 15 minutes, less.”

 “I might be getting sthome sthcans when you
get here, but tell them you’re my brother, ok?”

 “Ok, Sammy, I’ll be right there.” Then Sam
ended the call. She hated worrying him like that, but someone had to take care
of Max and Ben and she didn’t know who else to call. Now was not the time to
reflect on just how alone she was, and luckily, the pain meds were doing a
pretty good job of cancelling out most deep thought. Sam handed the phone back
to Sun who placed it back into her purse.

Soon, a heavy-set man came in, “Hi, Ms. Davis, I’m
with hospital admissions, and before they wheel you back, I’m going to need you
to sign some forms for me, ok?” Sam just nodded. “Now, do you have health
insurance?” Sam nodded again. “Great, do you have your insurance card on you?”
She nodded again and said,

 “In my wallet.” Pointing with her one eye
over to her purse.

 “Wonderful, are any family members on their
way? We can wait to gather that if someone’s on their way to help you.” Sam
nodded “Great, then if we can just get your signature here, this is a consent
for treatment.” He held a form on a clipboard. Sam signed. She thought, I’m
signing something and I have no idea what it is other than what this man just
told me…”Ok, and this form is your agreement to mediation…” In total, Sam
scribbled her name about a half dozen times. She wondered what they did with
people who were unconscious. Her mind drifted wondering if this would stand up
in a court. Her mind drifted from thought to thought as he left and soon she
was being wheeled down the hallway for her scans.

Sam didn’t remember much from her scans and
X-rays. She was vaguely aware of what they were doing, but she was so foggy.
She thought it was a good thing that she had the pain meds because she didn’t
have to work at holding still. So she just lay there, drifting in and out, half
listening to what was going on around her, the random conversations of doctors
and nurses, the overhead paging system that would break in every time Sam would
drift off, the different noises of the various machines and equipment. Sam knew
she was out of it as she noted the sound the gurney made as she was wheeled
down the hallway, focusing on one squeak that the wheels made every few
seconds.

When she was wheeled back to her room, she found
Steve there. Sam didn’t really have any idea what she looked like until she saw
Steve’s face. He bolted up out of his chair, staring at her as they wheeled her
back into place. As groggy as she still was, it was clear that whatever he saw,
he was horrified. “Oh my God, Sammy, what happened? Were you in a car
accident?” Sam realized she’d have to repeat the whole story over again. She
was so tired.

He came over to hold her good hand as she looked
at him and said simply, “George.” Steve’s face crumpled.

 “Oh my God, Sam. I should have been there, I
should have been with you. Oh Sammy, I am so sorry.” He looked at her with
horror, “He did this to you?”

 “Mmmhmm.” She said and felt the emotion of
it all start welling up again as she started silently crying. Steve stood there
and cooed, stroking her hand until she sniffled exhaled.

 “Do the police know?” Sam nodded. “Did they
arrest him?” Sam shrugged.

 “Steve, I’m so tired, itsth stho hard for me
to talk. Do you mind going and taking care of the boysth? They know you, they
like you.”

 “Shhh, shhh, yes, I’ll go feed them and then
I’ll come right back. Are you sure you want me to go though? I could wait here,
stay with you…”

Sam tried to smile again, each time forgetting how
much it hurt. “There’sth nothing you can do here Steve. And I’m stho tired. I
just want to sthleep.”

 “Ok, I’ll go take care of them, and then I’m
coming right back. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Sam could see the pain on
Steve’s face and wished she didn’t need to ask him to do this, wished he
weren’t seeing her like this. But the drugs made her loopy and she couldn’t
worry too much.

 “Mmm, thank you.” Sam could feel herself
drifting off. She was so tired and so sore. She just wanted to sleep for a
little. Just sleep.

Sam’s dreams were violent and painful. She was
struggling and fighting and trying to get away from someone, a faceless man,
and the more she pulled away, the more this man pulled on her arm. Even in her
dreams her arm throbbed. Then she heard a voice tell her to relax, give in,
stop fighting. But she couldn’t. She had to fight, she had to resist. But the
voice was so calm, so sweet, she was so tired of fighting. Maybe if she just relaxed
for a moment, so she did, and then the calm voice became a horrific terrifying
laugh, and the moment she relaxed, her arm was ripped clean off, and Sam
watched blood pour out of her shoulder and thought, ‘this is what happens when
you give in, Sam. You give in, you die.’

When Sam did finally wake up, she tried to open
her eyes, but only one would, and even that one was having a heck of a time
opening and adjusting. Her mouth was dry, so dry. She tried to lick her lips,
but they were all swollen and cracked, and just that little movement hurt. Her
shoulder was still throbbing, but even with all this pain, she felt her good
hand being held and stroked.

She struggled to open her one good eye, expecting
to see Steve, remembering he was the last person she saw last night before she
fell asleep, but instead of Steve, she found Laurent. Sitting, staring at her,
stroking her hand. She blinked to make sure what she was seeing was real, she
squeezed his hand and he squeezed hers back, then lifted it to his lips and
kissed it, holding it there for a moment.

The last time Sam had seen Laurent, he had walked
out of their hotel room in New York. She truly never thought he’d ever want to
see her again. She knew she’d betrayed him, yet here he was. All she could
think to say was a whisper.

 “I’m sthorry. I’m stho sthorry, Laurent.”
And then the tears started pouring out of her eyes, which was literally like
adding salt to her wounds, it stung so much in her bad eye, but she couldn’t
stop sobbing and shaking and mumbling, “I’m stho sthorry.”

He stroked her hair and carefully wiped away her
tears as he tried to comfort her, “Shhh,
Cheri
, shhh.”

As much as Sam loved that he was there, seeing him
just made her feel worse, more depressed, more upset. Seeing him almost hurt more
than all the physical pain that she felt.

 “What are you doing here? How did you know I
wasth here?”