“Look, Julian, it’s not good for you to be here right now. I think you should go home.”
“To Beckett and Samantha McCallister? No thanks.”
“Okay, but you can’t stay here.”
“Why not? Because I don’t belong? Because I didn’t grow up in Shepherd’s Bay, like the rest of you? That sounds like discrimination where I come from.”
“Boo-fricking-hoo, rich boy,” Ray said.
“Stay out of this, Ray,” Karl snapped. “Look, kid, I don’t really care where you came from. I’m telling you to leave this hospital.”
“It’s a free country, last time I checked,” Julian retorted.
“Then, I’ll be forced to call security and have them drag you out.”
“Want me to do it for you, Bjorny?” Ray said.
“Thought I told you to butt out, Ray?”
“Forget you, man. I know when I’m not wanted,” Julian said. “I was only here for Katie, anyway. Check up on her. See how she’s doing.” He threw his arms up in resignation and took off down the corridor.
Isla saw Karl looking at her, as if asking whether he had done the right thing. Personally, she thought he should have kicked Drew out first and then taken care of Julian. Did he suspect that the McCallister boy had lied to him? She had no idea what to believe anymore. She just knew that she needed to get to Katie’s room and speak to her daughter before anyone else got to her first.
She dimmed the light before she closed the door behind her. She edged slowly toward the bed and saw that Katie was lying on her back and gazing up at the ceiling. Her hands were folded neatly over her midsection. Aside from the bruises and cuts on her face, Isla thought she looked angelic. She wondered what Katie was thinking or if she had any recollection of the horrific event she’d experienced. She pulled up a chair and sat next to her, and for a brief second, she thought her daughter might be in some kind of a trance.
“Katie?”
Her daughter didn’t move.
“It’s going to be okay, honey. I’m here for you.”
Katie turned to look at her mother.
“Don’t worry. We’re going to get you the help you need.”
“Where’s Willow? I just want to know what happened to her.” She closed her eyes.
“We don’t know yet, sweetie. The police are still searching for her.”
“How can I ever be right again when Willow’s not here?” She snapped open her eyes and resumed staring at the ceiling.
“I know it’s still early in your recovery, but Officer Bjornson wants to come in and talk to you about the night you two went missing.”
“I can’t tell him what I don’t know.”
“Weren’t you with Willow that night?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I don’t remember anything that happened.”
Isla heard footsteps behind her. When she looked up, she saw a doctor standing above her, with a stethoscope around his neck. He was wearing round tortoiseshell glasses. He held out his hand, and Isla thought he looked more like a college freshman than a doctor.
“Dr. Rosen,” he said. “I’m the resident neurologist on staff here.”
She shook his slender hand.
“After examining your daughter, it appears that she’s suffering from a traumatic head injury. It’s best we take some brain scans, just to be on the safe side, but my best guess right now is a severe concussion. Possibly grade three.”
“She’s also suffering memory loss, Doctor.”
“Retrograde amnesia is normal for an injury of this magnitude. I would imagine that as her brain heals, her memory will return in full. Whether this happens in days or weeks, I can’t really tell you right now. It might be best for her to talk to a therapist.”
“Of course. We’ll set that up right away.”
“Just to let you know, she’s not letting us draw her blood.”
“No needles,” Katie interjected.
“I suppose that’s something we can do later, when she’s feeling better,” the doctor said. “Your daughter may also be experiencing some emotional trauma, caused by whatever happened to her while she was missing. That’s why talking to a therapist might help her unlock those painful memories and then deal with the pain she suffered from that incident.”
“What are you implying? That this memory loss is all in her head?”
“I wouldn’t say all of it, but she may be experiencing what’s known as selective memory loss. Whatever happened to her may be too painful to recall, so her brain, for all intents and purposes, is blocking out everything until she’s better equipped to handle the truth.”