Silent Vows

Amnesic patients remember day to day things, just not who they are or the people around them.”

“But I won’t know those day to day things,” Myra said. “I know. When in doubt of what to say, say nothing. Act innocent. You don’t remember anything.

Name, home, family...nothing! Someone will eventually call the police, tell them my sister’s name, and they will take it from there.”

“I’m frightened, Tara.”

“I know, I was too when I first came here. Lizzy will help. Give her my letter. You can count on her.”

The sound of a dog barking on the TV shook the memories from Myra’s head. How the peoples’

images made their way into the small box, she had no idea, but it would be a great help in studying the people of this time.

She laughed at the pictures of dogs chasing their tails and falling over each other with long wet tongues.

Someone watched.

Myra felt his presence before glancing up to see blue eyes staring at her. The frown on his face worried her almost as much as the imposing clothes he wore, stripes and angles, with a belt that looked like it weighed ten pounds. A metallic badge glistened proudly on his pocket.

The stranger wore his hair long on the top and short at the nape of his neck. His age was close enough to hers to send a slight wave of awareness over her. Yet, his firm jaw was set in a way that told Myra she needed to be careful about what she said.

A strange fluttering sensation formed deep in her stomach.

“Hello.” Myra pushed the button that turned off the box, and then smiled at the ease of the task. “I didn’t see you come in.”

“No problem.” He nodded toward the TV. “I’m interrupting.”

“Nay. Excuse me, I mean no. Of course you’re not. Please take a seat.” Myra indicated a chair with her hand. Being alone with a man, a stranger, in her room wasn’t something Myra was accustomed to.

The way this man gazed at her, she wondered if she had reason to worry. Her eyes slid to his again, his attractive face and smooth speech caused her heartbeat to rise.

“I’m Officer Blakely.” He extended his hand to shake hers.

Myra offered her hand. With his touch, the fluttering in her stomach grew. Her hand trembled in his as energy flowed through her fingers. She snatched her hand away hoping the man hadn’t noticed the heat in her palm. Myra suddenly realized she felt more vulnerable under his eyes than she had all day with the doctors and nurses poking her with their strange objects.

“I’m here to take a report on today’s incident.”

He remained standing while he removed a tablet of parchment, or paper as Tara had called it, and a writing device. Thank goodness Tara schooled her in modern day writing and reading before her journey.

Otherwise, the simple acts of the people in this time would have been quite foreign to her.

“I’ve gone over this already.” She counted off the number of people who heard her story. The daunting man from the theme park asked her everything twice, the medic in the ambulance on the way to the hospital asked once, an emergency room nurse, an emergency room Doctor as well as a Neurologist.

Myra wondered if anyone in this time spoke to one another.

“Not for us, Miss.” He flipped the pages to an empty spot. “I’m told you ‘woke up’ at Magicland.

Can you tell me what happened?”

Officer Blakely breathed suspicion. She couldn’t tell if her Druid’s blood told her this or his body language did.

“I woke up on the small island surrounded by a moat.”

“Atlantis Island?”

“That is what the man who found me called it.”

There were so many questions she had about the place she’d landed after her trip through time. Why were there ships in a moat? Where could they possibly go? Why had the beautiful village been abandoned? Where were the people who lived there?

But she didn’t ask.

Keep it simple! Tara’s mantra for Myra’s visit to the twenty-first century repeated in her head. “I think I hit my head. Although the doctors are not finding any injury to correlate with my lack of memory.”

“You don’t remember going to Magicland?”

“Nay.”

“How long were you there?”

“I don’t know. I woke up and found a kind man who called others to help me. They asked questions like you, but I couldn’t give them any answers either.”

“What do you remember?”

“I woke up, met the kind man who called the people from the hospital who eventually brought me here.”

“Uh-huh.” He turned the page. “Okay, let me just fill in a few blanks for my report.” He sat down.

She relaxed slightly.

“Are you married?”

“No,” she said automatically.

His eyes shot up, catching hers. “How can you be sure, if you have no memory?”

Her stomach twisted. “I’m not sure. It just doesn’t seem right.” She watched her fingers clench.

“Maybe I am. I should remember something like that, shouldn’t I?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he stared.

“I do remember a name,” she said quickly, trying to divert his attention away from her slip.

“Whose name?”

Myra fumbled with the blankets. The fluttering, which wasn’t all together unpleasant only a few minutes ago, now felt like a lump in the back of her throat. “I’m not sure.” She took a breath. “I remembered the name Lizzy McAllister a short time ago.” He scribbled the name on his notebook. “It isn’t your name?”

“I don’t think so, but I thought maybe if I said the name enough it would assist my memory as to who she is.”

“Has it?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“I’ll check out the name, see if your picture pops up in any missing persons reports. Is there anything else you’d like to add?”

“No.”

He blew out a breath before he stood. He placed his book in his pocket and prepared to leave.

“You don’t believe me do you?” Now why had she asked that? She knew he didn’t.

“It isn’t for me to believe or not, Miss. I only have to write the report.”

“Why don’t you believe me?”

He walked over to the room’s window, pulled back the shade, and exposed the skyline of the city.

She hadn’t noticed the sky grow dark, or how the lights from the surrounding buildings glowed.