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“It’s good to have you back, dear nephew. I was afraid we’d lost you for good.”
“But I…” I stammered on my words, groaning as I shook my head, the pain splitting through my skull too much for me to bear. “I don’t understand. What the hell happened?”
“You don’t remember?” asked my mother.
“I-I don’t. Not really. Bits and pieces, maybe? I’m hurting. Fuck, I’m hurting. I-I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not right now. How do I even know I’m—OUCH, what the fuck?”
“To help with the pain,” the man, who I’d now recognized as the vet, said as he withdrew the needle he’d just jabbed into my arm. “Welcome back to the land of the living. I can assure you everything you’re experiencing is in fact real.”
He turned away from me and glanced between my mother and uncle. I internally groaned as the meds instantly took effect, easing that dreaded beeping back to normal.
“It appears he has TGA—Transient Global Amnesia, which is to be expected given his injuries and how long he's been under sedation. Don’t worry though. His scans are clear, and I didn’t find anything alarming during the surgery.”
Surgery? When the fuck did I have surgery? And on what?
“Will he get his memories back?” my uncle asked.
The vet nodded. “In time, yes. It varies. Some cases subside within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Others take longer—days, sometimes weeks, hell, even months.”
They frowned at the news, as did I through the oxygen mask.
“And in regard to his treatment?” my mother wondered.
“Rest, obviously,” he replied. “He’s still pretty banged up, and it’ll be a few more days before I’m comfortable letting him get up or much less attempt to walk around this old dump. Internally, he’s fine. Externally, he’s got a long road before he’ll be 100% again. He’ll need constant supervision and now that he’s awake, we can start giving him food. Soft foods for the first few days and then you can slowly start working in solids. If he’s given too much too fast, it’ll make him painfully sick.”
“Understood, Doc,” my mother answered, nodding as she wiped around the dark bags sagging under her swollen eyes, a palpable sign she hadn’t been getting the desired rest she needed. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “I’m afraid so. My vacation time ends today, so I have no choice but to return to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning. Griffin will be in a grave deal of pain and unfortunately, I won’t be able to rush over and administer his medication as needed. If you can promise me someone will remain here with him at all times, then I can go ahead and stock you guys up with fresh needles, syringes, the whole works. All you have to do is administer his meds either through a shot in his arm or his IV. I’ll show you how to do it, and I’ll write down the dosage and designated times to make things easier on allof us. No offense, but after all the work and hours I put in to help keep Griffin alive, I’ll be gravely pissed if he dies from an overdose.”
“We’re not incompetent,” my uncle said thickly, appearing insulted at the vet’s words.
“Never said you are,” Vet replied curtly. “I’m just covering my own ass here. I shouldn’t have to remind you if my boss or the medical board were to ever find out about my connections to you and the services I provide, then that’s it, I’m ruined. My access to literally everything you need from me is permanently kaput. I could even go to prison. I take my job seriously, Niccolò. You know that. Griffin ismypatient, so excuse me if I’m not fully comfortable just leaving him here with you. I understand you and Val are his family, but with me being a surgeon and the things I’ve seen and heard working in a hospital, you wouldn’t believe the amount of deaths I’ve encountered by the hands of family members.”
“I understand your concerns,” was Unc’s calm reply, sighing. “Val will be here and starting tonight, I’ll have Sharkey and Prim alternate shifts to help give Val a break and some time to rest.”
The vet nodded, seeming pleased with the plan.
“Ginger too,” I demanded through the mask; the dryness is my throat making me cough and wince in pain. “I want her here with me. Please, can you send someone to get her? I know the risks butplease, Unc, I-I need to see her. She needs to know I’m okay. Bring her to me. Please. Bring her to me.”
It fell silent then, their shared, sad stares and my mother’s trembling bottom lip making my heart rate jump a little.
“What’s wrong?” I tried to sit up in bed, or at least I thought I did. The drugs pumping through my bloodstream had my limbs so weak I couldn’t be sure if any inch of my body had moved at all.
“I’ll leave you three to talk,” the vet said, stepping out of the way. “I’ll go start stocking up the supplies.”
When he was gone, my mother scooted the closest chair over to me and sat down, grasping my hand. “Griffin, baby… What is the last thing you remember?”
“Why? What does that have to do with Ginger?”
“We’ll explain everything to you soon,” my uncle spoke next, pulling up another chair and plopping down beside my mother. He leaned forward with his elbows draped across his knees, surveying me close. “I know you’re confused, but this is very, very important, Griffin. Just relax and try to think.”
I angrily sighed through the damn mask. At this point, having this thing stuck on my face was starting to aggravate me more than their refusal to answer my question.
“I…” I started, pausing as I breathed in and out, trying desperately to remember. Tears stung against my sore eyes as I gently shook my head. “I’m sorry. I want to say I was at my apartment…but I just don’t know. My head…” I squeezed my eyes closed, fumbling through another sharp breath. “There’s nothing there. It hurts. Everything is just…blank.Dark.”
“Maybe it would help if we explained what happened to him.” Mom turned to her brother for his input.
“Yeah, good idea. If we’re lucky, it might trigger a memory.” Unc sat up straighter in his seat, shifting his attention back on me. “I found you on my front porch. You were severely beaten, shot in both feet, and again near the back of your head. You’d lost a tremendous amount of blood andbarelyhad a pulse when I found you. You’ve gone through multiple blood transfusions, surpassed a gnarly infection, and surgery. The vet put a titanium plate in your head to fix the hole in your skull. It’s truly a miracle you survived this, Griffin.”
