But I wanted to make sure Thea was going to be okay first.
“Nope,” Rita said. “I won’t let you.”
“It’s okay. It’s better this way.”
“For who? Delia? But not Thea.” She leaned toward me. “She’s doing well, painting again, but she’s not like she was. She’s not as happy as she was when you were taking her for walks and—”
“She’s not as happy because she’s still recovering from Brett,” I said. “It’s not me.”
Rita crossed her arms and flumped back against her chair. “You were right about what made Thea happy, Jim, except you forgot to include yourself in that equation.”
“It’s better—”
“Stop saying that,” she cried. “It’s not better for you and Thea.”
“There is no ‘me and Thea,’” I said, my skin burning. “F-F-Forget it.” I got to my feet and went to the door.
“Jim,” Rita said, her soft tone stopping me. “You’re a good man. That you’re willing to leave her only proves it. But what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You put Thea’s happiness in all our faces. You made it important.”
“Because it is.”
“And yours? What about your happiness?”
I don’t know what that is.
“I gotta get back to work.”
I found Alonzo on a bench outside, having his smoke break. He held up his hand before I could speak. “I know. Rita got to me first. Why?”
I shrugged. “It’s just time.”
“Is it about Miss Hughes?”
“Maybe I just don’t want to work here anymore.”
He narrowed his eyes. “So this is two weeks’ notice?”
I nodded.
Alonzo took a long pull off his smoke. “Okay. Can’t stop you. Can’t say that I’m glad though.”
“It is what it is,” I said.
He snorted. “If there was ever a more empty phrase in the English language—”
“Hey, boss.” Joaquin rounded the corner. “Dr. Chen wants a meeting.”
“All righty.” He hauled himself off the bench with a groan. “This should be interesting.”
“She wants you there too, Jim,” Joaquin said.
My head whipped up. “Me?”
Alonzo chuckled. “You ain’t done with us yet.”
In the conference room, Dr. Chen sat riffling through a stack of notes and open leather-bound files in front of her, conferring quietly with a young, female intern.
Anna and Rita sat together, talking in low voices. They both stopped and beamed when Alonzo and I came in.
Delia Hughes did not beam. “What is he doing here?” she demanded.
Dr. Chen muttered something to the intern who nodded and left the room, then she folded her hands on her papers and smiled warmly.
“Mr. Waters, Mr. Whelan. Happy you could join us.” She turned to Delia. “I wanted everyone who’s been involved in Thea’s care present for what I have to say.” She glanced at me. “All things considered, I feel it’s only right.”
Delia didn’t argue but watched as I took a seat beside Rita, who was vibrating with excitement that jumped to me like an electric current.
“I’ll get right to it,” Dr. Chen said. “Dr. Stevens’ standing diagnosis of Thea states she’s unable to lay down new memories, and any memories of her life before the car accident have been washed away. The word chain phenomena in her artwork is, in his words, nothing more than her brain utilizing whatever limited means it had to express itself. I believe he’s wrong.”
“Wrong,” Delia said. “In what way, exactly?”
“Given my observations and the information provided me by the staff here, I feel there is a correlation between Thea’s artwork and what she experiences in her short window of consciousness.” Her smile widened. “I am prepared to change her diagnosis.”
“To what?” Delia asked, while in my chest, my heart began to thud, as if counting off the seconds until Dr. Chen said something that was going to change Thea’s life forever.
“Brain damage can result in the patient losing their long-term memory or losing the ability to create new memory. Or, as in Thea’s case, both. But current, new developments are revealing that there are rare instances in which a patient is able to retain and make memories, but the mechanism to recall them is what’s damaged. I believe that this is true for Thea.”
“You mean… she hasn’t lost her memory?” Delia asked.
Dr. Chen smiled. “Rather, she’s misplaced it. We’re going to help her get it back.”
Holy shit, I thought. Hold on, Thea. They’re coming. They’re coming to get you out.
Dr. Chen’s next words confirmed it.
“Therefore, I believe she would be an ideal candidate for the procedure Dr. Bernard Milton is performing at the Sydney Medical Foundation.”
“What kind of procedure?” Delia said.
“Dr. Milton has developed a treatment involving stem cell surgery combined with a powerful binding agent that