Adam still debated pressing that red button beside the bed when Dr. Russo himself came in to check on him.
“I heard you were awake,” the man said, sweeping into the room in a white lab coat like one of those cranes that settled on the banks of the creek.
Adam had been crying, the news of Mariana’s death raw. His voice was still scratchy and rough, but he grated out, “Yes, sir.”
“Good, good.” The doctor stood at Adam’s bedside and took hisvitals. “Everything is looking good. No fever, which means there’s likely no infection. How are you feeling?”
“Like hell,” Adam said, sniffling. He wondered what his face looked like, but the doctor didn’t touch the bandages.
“Pain level, from one to ten?”
“Twelve.” Adam’s parents weren’t there, which meant he could finally answer truthfully.
The doctor gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll have the nurse up your morphine levels.”
Adam thanked him, so grateful to have relief on the horizon. He expected the doctor to head out to find the nurse. Instead, the man sat down on the edge of his bed. “How are you feeling about…the accident?”
“The accident?” Adam didn’t quite understand the question.
“About Mariana. Can you tell me what happened?”
“Oh.” Adam’s heart sank, and he feared he might cry again in front of this man. “I only just heard about her.”
“The papers are saying you tried to save her. That you got your injuries by throwing yourself into the burning car to pull her out. That it exploded before you succeeded.”
Adam didn’t answer. He couldn’t, since in his mind, the incident never existed.
Dr. Russo’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t want to tell me?”
“No, it’s—it’s not that I don’twantto tell you. It’s that I can’t. I don’t remember.”
“Oh.” Dr. Russo’s face darkened. “I see.”
Adam thought he recognized the look. Disappointment? Disbelief? Perhaps some combination of the two.
“Well, there are some detectives here to speak with you, if you’re up to it.”
Adam nodded, and the doctor rose and strode through the room. “Though I guess,” the man added, pausing at the door, “if you can’tremember, it will be rather difficult for you.”
There was no mistaking the man’s sardonic tone then. Dr. Russo thought Adam was lying about his memory.
Mysteriously, the nurse never received the message about the morphine.
For a while, Adam had many visitors. Friends from school flooded the reception area, taking turns, a few at a time. The entire team brought football-shaped balloons, repeating lines about how he needed to get better in time for next season. Adam saw the looks in their eyes, though. No one believed he could recover from such horrific injuries.
An entire team of doctors and nurses visited daily to change Adam’s dressings. The process was excruciating and took over an hour. One afternoon, about two weeks into Adam’s stay, Dr. Russo himself led the team primarily made up of interns. They removed the old dressing on Adam’s hand. “This is healing up nicely,” Dr. Russo said, squinting at the raw flesh.
Adam didn’t think there was anythingniceabout the way his hand looked, and when the doctor poked at it with his sharp metal instrument, Adam couldn’t feel a thing.
“Hmm,” the doctor said. “It may simply take more time. Can you move your fingers?”
Adam could, just barely. Panic started to set in, a little insect in the pit of his stomach that started to spawn until it became dozens of skittering bugs. He was hyperventilating.
“Calm down, boy,” the doctor snapped. “I’ve ordered a psychiatrist to come and speak with you about your memory issues. Seems like it couldn’t come at a better time.” He gave Adam another disdainful look and then removed the bandages from Adam’s face himself. It was different than when the other doctors had performed the removal—lacking that careful, gentle touch. Adam thought it odd, since surgeons are known for having steady hands.
The pain built, and Adam started to feel woozy until a nurse, apparently unable to keep quiet, offered to take over.
“Fine,” Dr. Russo said gruffly. “We’ll need to take some pictures for educational purposes as well as for our records.” He motioned for an intern with a digital camera to come closer.
