by Mina Carter
Dr. Walker had been by her side throughout her stay at the hospital, but he started keeping his distance when she moved to the facility. Her appointments with him became fewer and fewer, and he only visited her once in a while when he had another patient to check on at the facility.
As she looked down at the paper, the letters blurred as tears sprang in her eyes. She slammed the pencil down on the paper, causing the pointed lead to break off and sail across the table.
Daryl walked over to her. "Are you ready for the rest of your leg exercises?" he asked.
"No," she whispered.
He leaned closer, thinking that he misheard her. "Pardon me?"
"No!" she yelled. She stood and limped around the table. "I'm done! No more!"
"But, Jane ---."
"Don’t call me that! That's not my name!"
* * *
Jack was on his way to lunch when his BlackBerry buzzed in his coat. He fished the phone out of his pocket and answered it. "Hello?"
"Dr. Walker, this is Patty over at the rehab center. There's something wrong with your patient, Jane Doe. My staff can't calm her down. What should we do?"
"I'll be there in a minute. Don't do anything until I get there," he instructed. He ended the call and put the phone away. He jogged out of the hospital and to the neighboring building.
Inside he heard people yelling. "Damn it, Jane," he muttered. He burst through the double doors and saw Jane cornered in the room by two physical therapists.
Her light green eyes were wild with fear, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed. "Don't touch me!" she screamed as one man stepped towards her.
"Jane!" Jack called.
She looked up at him, and he stared at her. Her beauty was breathtaking. Over the past few weeks, the bandages had come off. The bruises had healed. Her skin was like porcelain --- delicate and white. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and focus on the matter at hand. "What is going on?" he asked her.
She was too upset to answer him. He looked at Patty, the receptionist. "Jane and I are going to lunch," he said. "We'll be back in an hour." He waited for Jane to walk over to him, and then held the door open for her as they walked outside. She had a limp from the broken bone that was healing in her leg, but the limp was getting better week by week. Her progress had truly been remarkable considering the condition she had been in when he first saw her.
"Stay here," he ordered. "I'll bring my car around." As he walked through the parking lot, reality slowly hit him. He was taking one of his patients out to lunch. He cursed under his breath and muttered, "Yeah, like this won't look like preferential treatment and suspicious behavior."
He jumped in the driver's seat of his car and pulled the car around to the front of the building. As he watched Jane climb into the passenger's seat, his apprehension about the preferential treatment slowly diminished. He wanted to help her, and he was sick of worrying about the consequences.
He put the car in gear and drove out of the parking lot. Reaching over into the glove compartment, he pulled out a few napkins and handed them to Jane. "Here."
She blotted the tears on her cheeks with the napkins. "Thank you," she muttered.
After she calmed down a bit, he asked, "What happened back there?"
She stared down at the knotted napkins in her hands. "I'm just…tired," she finally said.
"Tired?" he asked, not fully understanding.
"Tired of not knowing who I am. Tired of people calling me Jane. Tired of physical therapy." She stopped and her breath hitched. "What's the point of it all? After I am finished with therapy, what will happen to me then?" She held back a sob. "I have no family, no friends. I have no one."
He looked over at her and caught her gaze. "You have me."
She shook her head. "No, I don't." After a long silence, she whispered, "You've been so distant."
He frowned. "Jane, it's not because I don't care for you. I have to be distant so that I don't lose my job. I thought you understood that." He pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. "Let's eat."
* * *
Jack watched Jane carefully as she picked at the salad on her plate with her fork. Her second-hand clothes were too large and looked like they were going to swallow her up at any moment. She had lost a considerable amount of weight, and he was worried about her. He imagined that stress had a lot to do with it.
It was difficult for him to be in close proximity to her. He had been trying to keep his distance, but not out of choice. Every time he saw her, his stomach did flips. For weeks, he had been carrying a consent agreement in his pocket for Jane to sign. It would release her from his care. The only thing that was holding him back was that he knew he was the best doctor to give her the best of care. On the other hand, he also wanted to get close to Jane without worrying about putting his job on the line.
"How is therapy going?" he asked, making an attempt at chitchat.
"Fine," she said simply.
"You were doing so well. What happened today that set you off?"
"I was trying to do the memory worksheet."
He nodded. He was familiar with the questionnaire. "Things like that will be frustrating until your memory comes back."
She looked up at him. "What if it never comes back?"
He hesitated. "You have to think positively, Jane."
After a few minutes of silence, Jane said, "There was one question that asked about remembering things before the memory loss. There is one thing I do remember before I woke up."
He raised a brow, anxious for the information.
"I remember hearing your voice in my dreams. At the time, I didn't have a face to put with the voice. You were the first one there when I woke up. When you spoke, I recognized your voice instantly."
Jack slowly reached across the table and took her hands into his. "Every night at the end of my shift I would go into your room. I would talk to you, tell you about my day or even just talk about the weather. I knew that you needed someone to be there for you. And maybe, at the time, I really needed someone too." He swallowed hard. "You looked so peaceful, and you put my mind at peace at the end of a very hectic day."
"You're more than my doctor, Jack. You're my only friend," she whispered.
He closed his eyes for a moment. "It's been hard to keep my distance from you. I've wanted so badly to hold you and tell you that everything is going to be okay."
A stray tear flowed down her porcelain cheek. Jack raised his hand and wiped the tear away. "Jane," he started, but didn't finish. He reluctantly pulled away from her. "I'm sorry. I'm crossing that line again."
Jane nodded wearily. "I understand."
Jack motioned to the waitress for the check. A few minutes later, the blonde waitress set the check on the table. Jack fished a fifty-dollar bill out of his wallet and told her to keep the change.
He stood and offered his hand to Jane. She took his hand, and he helped her up.
They left the restaurant and climbed into his car. The drive back to the facility was silent. Jack waited for Jane to say something, anything, but she stayed quiet in the passenger's seat.
As he pulled the vehicle in front of the building. Jane quickly climbed out. Before he could say anything, she slammed the door and retreated inside the double doors.
Jack sighed loudly. "I just wanted to tell you I was sorry," he said aloud. "And that I think I'm falling in love with you, Jane." The words surprised him as they came out of his mouth, but he knew they were true. He did love Jane, but he didn't know if he would ever get the chance to tell her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE NEWSPAPERS CONTINUED to run articles about Jane asking for anyone with information to come forward. Local news stations and stations from the surrounding area had featured a few stories on television about her. Another month passed, and no one came forward. Inside, Jack was relieved. It's not that he didn't want Jane to find her family. That was the one thing he wanted for her. But he knew if she found her family, she would leave
and he may never see her again. That thought scared him and kept him awake at night.
He walked into the therapy center and stood outside the room watching Jane through the large glass window. She was doing leg exercises and talking with the physical therapist. The therapist said something, and Jane laughed. Even though Jack couldn't actually hear her laugh, he heard it in his mind. It was always a wonderful sound, and it caused him to smile.
As he watched her go through her exercises, a thought crossed his mind. How could anyone not possibly come forward and claim her as their relative…or their wife? Jane was absolutely beautiful. Beyond her looks, she was smart, funny and had a great sense of humor. She was perfect.
Ever since they ate lunch at the restaurant, Jack had been making excuses to visit the center more often and spend more time with Jane. He was careful to keep his emotions in check and prohibited physical contact completely. He enjoyed Jane's company, and he found himself slowly falling even more in love with her.
"Are you going to stare at her all day or go in and talk to her?" a voice asked.
Jack turned and saw an elderly man sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. Jack cleared his throat, nervously. "She --- she's my patient," he stammered.
"I see." The old man smiled and pointed to the elderly woman on the other side of the room from Jane. “That’s my wife Beth. Been married fifty-four years.”
“Wow. That’s great.”
He nodded. “Yeah. She broke her hip last month. I miss her not being at home, so most days I come here and wait while she does her therapy.” He folded up the newspaper and stared at Jack over top of his bifocals. “I married Beth after dating her for only three weeks. I knew the moment I saw her it was love at first sight. And we've been together ever since.” He stood slowly, gripping his cane with a weathered hand. “The way you look at that girl is the same way I look at my Beth. Life is short. Don’t waste it and bide your time being single. Snatch that girl up and marry her before somebody else does.”
Jack smiled. “Thanks for the advice."
He watched the old man leave the room and then turned his attention back to Jane. She was the only girl he had ever met that made him think of marriage and settling down. He could see a bright future with Jane. After she left the facility, she would go on with her life and perhaps find someone else. Jack couldn't let that happen. He wanted to be the someone in her life.
Jane glanced up, as if she knew he was watching her, and caught his gaze. A smile played over her lips. She gave him a small wave, and he waved back. Then she stood and walked across the room to the door. Jack noticed that her limp was barely noticeable. The physical therapy had done wonders for her.
Jane opened the door. "Hi, Jack," she said.
"Hi. I heard your therapy is over tomorrow."
She nodded. "The social services lady is coming in to talk to me tomorrow, and then I think I am going to be released."
"That's really great, Jane. You've come so far over the past few months." His BlackBerry buzzed in his pocket, and he sighed as he checked the notifications. "Duty calls I'm afraid," he said.
"Of course. See you tomorrow?" she asked.
"Definitely," he promised.
CHAPTER NINE
THE BIG DAY had arrived. Jack had a big smile on his face as he knocked on the open door to Jane's room. Jane was sitting on the bed, facing the window. When she turned, his smile quickly faded. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. Tears streamed down her face, and she swiped them away with several tissues balled in her hands. "Hi," she muttered. She stood and threw the tissues in the trashcan.
"I thought you would be in a better mood. You're done with therapy."
She nodded slowly. "I just got done talking to the social services lady."
"Oh?" he prompted.
Jane exhaled a shaky breath. "She put me on a waiting list for a group home."
Jack cringed at the words group home. "A waiting list." He hesitated. "How long is the wait?"
Jane closed her eyes. "Six months at least, maybe longer." She shook her head and opened her eyes. "In the meantime, she said I could stay with family or friends." Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks again. "I told her I have no one and nowhere to go."
"Jane…" his voice trailed off.
"They are talking about making me a ward of the state and putting me in an institution," she cried, the tears overflowing. She turned away from him.
Jack retrieved the piece of paper that had been in his pocket for weeks. He slowly unfolded it and set it on the bed with a pen from the nightstand. "I want you to sign this," he said.
She slowly turned and looked down at the paper. "What is this?"
"That is a consent agreement. You're agreeing to leave my care voluntarily."
She eyed him suspiciously. "You don't want to see me anymore?"
He shook his head. "No. I want you to sign it so that I can see you more."
A smile spread across her tear-stained face. She quickly signed the document.
"I have a friend who is one of the best doctors in the area. He is going to take over your care."
Jane set the pen down. Jack came around the bed and stood in front of her. "And you do have somewhere to go, Jane." He slowly bent down on one knee. Out of his left pocket, he withdrew a small black box. He opened the box to reveal a dazzling diamond ring inside.
Jane gasped and put her trembling hands up to her face. "Jack," she whispered.
"I know this is sudden. I know this is crazy, and I know this is unexpected." He swallowed hard. "I know it's all of those things and more. But, Jane, I have loved you from the first moment you came into my operating room. You were broken, and I put you back together again." He took her left hand into his and held it tightly for support. "I don't want you to go home with anyone else. I want you to come home with me." He gazed up into her eyes. "Will you marry me?"
She took a deep breath, and then blurted out, "Yes!" It was sudden, crazy and unexpected, but she loved him. He was her home.
Jack placed the ring on her finger and then stood. He gently took her face into his hands and kissed her.
The kiss was everything Jane had expected and more. She had felt something for Jack since the first time she ever saw him.
When he finally broke the kiss, Jack said, "I've been wanting to do that for months."
Jane smiled. "It took you long enough."
CHAPTER TEN
JANE STOOD IN front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. The white gown that she had meticulously picked out the week before fit her perfectly. She carefully arranged the veil, so that it cascaded down her long hair. She bit her lower lip out of nervousness, and she could not stop her hands from shaking. Her life had drastically changed in the matter of a few weeks, and she was nervous and excited for what was to come.
A knock sounded on the door. "Come in," Jane called.
The minister's wife, Rose, entered the small room. Her eyes widened as she said, "You look beautiful."
Jane blushed. "Thank you."
"Are you nervous?"
Jane nodded quickly.
"Every woman goes through that, and sometimes even the men do. The good thing is that you don't have a big audience. It's just you and your husband."
Since the wedding was put together last minute and Jane had no family of her own to invite, it was Jack's idea to have a small ceremony in a church.
"Are you ready to become Mrs. Walker?" Rose asked.
Jane smiled from ear to ear. "Yes."
Rose grinned. "All right. I’m going to walk out to the piano. When you hear me start to play, you can start down the aisle." She left the room.
Jane stared at herself in the mirror once more to make sure everything looked perfect. Suddenly, an eerie feeling crept over her, and she felt like she was being watched. She walked to the window and gazed into the street. There was a park across the street, and dozens of people were walking around. One man in particular caught her eye. He was leaning agains
t his car reading a newspaper. His black hair fell over his dark sunglasses as he stared down at the paper. For a moment, she felt a sense of recognition, but the feeling quickly faded as the sound of music from the piano filled the church.
Jane's heart skipped a beat. She was about to get married. That feeling of not knowing her past still nagged in the back of her mind, but she was ready to let go of her forgotten past and focus on her future.
Jack was standing on the stage as she walked slowly down the aisle. His eyes instantly lit up when he saw her. He didn't look nervous at all, and his calm demeanor made her nerves settle quickly.
When Jane finally made it to the stage, Jack took her hands in his. He leaned in and whispered, "You look absolutely breathtaking."
Jane smiled and gave his hands a squeeze. Her world had been so rocky and unstable since she had woken up in the hospital, and now she was about to be married to the only person in her life who had kept her grounded and safe. It was a dream come true, and she couldn't wait to be his wife. She finally felt like she belonged somewhere.
She watched Jack's lips move as he spoke his vows. She stared at him, savoring the moment. She said her vows, meaning every single word.
The minister turned to Jane. "Jane, do you take Jack to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” she responded.
“And, Jack, do you take Jane to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do,” Jack said.
Before the minister could finish the rest of his speech, Jack scooped Jane into his arms and kissed her. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.
* * *
Sebastian stood across the street and watched Jane through the window of the church. He leaned against his car with a newspaper in his hands, shielding half of his face from view. He stared at her through his dark sunglasses. She looked so striking in her wedding dress. He could sense her nervousness as she stared at herself in a mirror. She bit her lip, a nervous habit she had had ever since they met. A part of him wanted to run in there, confess his love for her and tell her everything, but the other part of him saw how happy she was and didn't want to ruin her chance at a life with someone she loved.
