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Tessa was as professional as they came but she might have just dropped a tad more information to a trusted and respected ex-nurse like Marielle than she would have to any of the other volunteers. Of course, there was always the possibility that Sabrina, if that’s what she really was called, was deliberately withholding information because it wouldn’t have been the first time someone had feigned amnesia, usually for nefarious reasons. But they also had to consider she was in danger from something or someone and that was forcing her to keep her details to herself. Often in these cases, a patient ‘suddenly recalled’ things like allergies and a past medical history if it meant that, by not remembering them, they might be at some risk, but Tessa did have to admit that Sabrina was either a genuine case of memory loss or a damned fine actress. There seemed to be no medical reason why she couldn’t remember, so if she wasn’t pretending, the block had to be a psychological one, and that could be very tricky to unlock, especially if serious trauma had caused it.
‘Is she still in the same bed?’ asked Marielle.
‘We’ve had to move her into bay three as we needed theprivate room,’ said Tessa. ‘Try and work some magic for us will you?’
Marielle walked into the bay of six beds and over to the bottom corner where the lost lady was sitting by the window reading a newspaper.
‘Hello Sabrina,’ she said. ‘Up for some company?’
Sabrina looked up, recognising her voice. Her mouth curved into a smile at the sight of the kind woman with the dark auburn hair and the bright blue eyes.
‘Hello Marielle. How lovely to see you again.’
Marielle pulled over a chair and put the holdall on the bed, then she unzipped it and took out what was inside.
‘I’ve brought you a few things,’ Marielle said. ‘If they aren’t right, I can change them.’
There were a couple of soft flannelette nightdresses and two packs of pants from Marks and Spencer, a waffle dressing gown and a pair of cosy slipper-moccasins, a loose boho top in pinks and blues and some grey marl jogging bottoms. There was also a couple of books and a bag of pick ’n’ mix. Marielle put them in the storage cupboard by the bed for her.
‘Thank you.’ Sabrina sounded both humbled and crushed, not how Marielle had intended to make her feel.
‘They’re just bits and they cost hardly anything,’ Marielle said.
‘It’s very kind of you.’
‘What are you reading?’
‘A days-old newspaper,’ Sabrina replied. ‘TheDaily Trumpet. My goodness, the spelling mistakes. I don’t know how they’re in business.’
‘TheDaily Trumpetis renowned for its mistakes,’ said Marielle, picking it up and reading out the headline: ‘Sheffield Woman Bitten by Cobbler on Indian Holiday.’
‘Surely they meancobra,’ said Sabrina.
‘You’d hope so,’ replied Marielle, thinking that if she’d never heard of the newspaper, she couldn’t have come from Yorkshire, though her accent suggested she was from somewhere up north.
They were interrupted by the tea lady trundling her trolley through the ward.
‘I don’t like milk in my drinks,’ said Sabrina, sipping on her coffee. ‘So I know that about myself.’
‘Well it’s good you know some things,’ Marielle chuckled. ‘More will follow.’
‘I spoke to a consultant today,’ said Sabrina. ‘I think they’re satisfied I’m not lying when I say I really can’t remember anything of what happened. I wish I could, I really do…’ Her voice trailed off and she shook her head as if she was having a small inner battle with herself before she started speaking again, more quietly this time though. ‘Marielle, I do know more than I’m letting on though.’
‘Ah.’ It wasn’t a surprise. ‘Do you want to tell me?’
Sabrina licked her lips nervously. ‘Please don’t say anything to anyone… I know I’m a business analyst,’ she said with absolute surety. ‘I know I have a daughter and that she’s out in Australia and that’s good because I know she’s safe and I know I ended up here to get away from what was happening in my life and that I’m absolutely sure no one will think to look for me in this place.’
Marielle knew that she arrived with a wedding ring on a necklace. She’d taken it off her finger for some reason and put it on a chain. She waited for Sabrina to say more but all she got was a regretful smile.
‘That’s it. That’s all I have. Other than an overpowering feeling that I don’t want to go back to wherever I came from.’
Marielle had been expecting more and she wasn’t quite sure if what Sabrina was telling her was true because it did sound a little dramatic, although she seemed convinced of it herself.
‘It must be very frightening for you,’ said Marielle.
That was putting it mildly, thought Sabrina. Why did she remember just these few details about herself, and that she had run from someone and she didn’t want him to find her? Somehow she had to make a cake of the rest of her identity using only those random ingredients.
‘I asked the doctors what will happen to me and they said that I might be in hospital for a while. Apparently they’ll set up social care and get the safeguarding adults team involved and that can take ages.’
