Red (Part 10)
“Wait, I should be asking you that question. Who are you and what are you doing in my apartment?” I demanded as I walked towards her. She was surprised and didn’t move from the doorway. I heard Sawyer follow me. I folded my arms against my chest and shifted my weight to my left foot.
“My name is Melanie and I’m visiting my dad for Spring Break.” She was slightly taller than me, but she was wearing high heels. She had platinum blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was matching from her earrings to her nail polish to her outfit in green. Her big blue eyes shone with confusion. Her skin was flawless and her makeup looked completely natural.
“Well, you have the wrong apartment.”
“I don’t think so. He told me apartment number 705 and that the key would be under the welcome mat.”
“What’s your dad’s name?” I asked, but suddenly I wasn’t as confident.
“Raymond Conall.” She was as confused as I was.
“I don’t have a sister though. I’m an only child,” I mumbled to myself. “He can’t… you’re not…no…” I stared at the floor like it would give me all of the answers. She did look like the girl in the pictures, but that couldn’t be true.
Sawyer wrapped his arms around my shoulders as if I was going to faint. I have no why he would think this, but I was thankful for some sort of comfort. “Why don’t you close the door and come in for a few minutes so we can get this sorted out, Melanie?” He led all of us back to the couch. Sawyer sat with me on one end of the couch while Melanie sat on the edge of the opposite end.
“By the way, I’m Sawyer and this is Brooke.”
She turned her head sharply and glared at me. “What?” she asked as she looked back at Sawyer. “No she’s not. I am. I don’t know what kind of scam you two are trying to pull, but I’m not falling for it. And I’m telling my dad as soon as he gets here.” She was standing up now, yelling at us.
Sawyer stood up, too. “Whoa, let’s take this slowly. I though you said that your name was Melanie, not Brooke. We aren’t pulling any scam. Brooke – that Brooke –,” he said as he pointed to me, “was in a car accident a month ago and…”
“And I have amnesia. I live here with my dad and Linda. I have pictures if you want proof…”
“Let me see them. And my full name is Brooke Melanie Aldine, but it was Conall before my parents divorced and I went with my mother’s maiden name.” Both of them were sitting back down, but her blue eyes were still suspicious. I leaned over and opened the scrapbook once again.
She looked at the first page and flipped quickly through, pointing to each face as she described them. “These are pictures of me. That’s me at a Halloween party as a ladybug in first grade with my friends, Danielle, in the princess costume, and Ashley, in the vampire costume. And that’s me with Steve, Olivia, Mary, Christi, and Luke at my tenth birthday party that we had at the Rainforest Café. And that’s me with Ashley, Olivia, Christi, Danielle, and Mary at our Valentine’s Day tea party when we were eight. And these are school pictures of me from Fairmont Elementary. You are the ones who are mistaken.” She slammed the scrapbook closed once she pointed out the last picture of ‘her’ at the beach with ‘her’ friends last summer.
“I should talk to my dad–I mean Mr. Conall–when he gets here. He can sort this whole mess out. He should be home soon.”
“I have a better Why don’t Melanie–or do you want to be called Brooke?”
“Melanie, please. I hate the name Brooke.”
“Anyway, Melanie and I will leave and let you talk to him alone. Don’t let him know that Melanie was here and don’t let him know that I’ve been asking questions. Are you two okay with that?”
“Wait a minute, I just got here. I am supposed to be spending my vacation with my dad, not hiding for some stranger to talk to him. I did not come all the way from New York to be in San Francisco with strangers who are trying to steal my>
“Look, I will explain everything to you if you come with me. I promise that I won’t even touch you; we don’t even have to leave this building, but we have to get out of here before Mr. Conall gets here.” Sawyer was so logical; how could anyone disagree with him? Maybe he should be studying to become a lawyer instead of an architect. “Can you just go along with this so we can figure out what’s going on?”
She sat stiffly, thinking about the choices and weighing each of their consequences. Finally she spoke, “Okay, but I’m calling my boyfr– my fiancée and getting him to come out here. As soon as you,” she glared at me and then continued, “whoever you are, get some answers, I’m coming back, stay with my dad, and then heading back to New York on Monday. Let’s go.” She immediately whipped her cell phone out of her purse and hit a speed dial; she began to walk out of the apartment, demanding Sawyer to follow. “I thought you said we were in a hurry. You have to lead me to where we’re hiding. Let’s go! Oh, not you, Hayden, sorry. Actually that’s why I’m calling. I need you to get on the next possible flight to San Francisco.” She was already out the door, but Sawyer lingered in the kitchen, apologizing with his eyes.
He hesitated and then said, “You can do it. You have my number if anything happens. Call me if you find out anything.” I nodded like I understood, but this was too much for me to comprehend. He left and shut the door with regret. All I wanted was to be myself again, but what if everything I was told was a lie like Sawyer said? What if I wasn’t becoming me but someone else? What if I would never know the truth, the real me? I knew that I had to ask the man I called father for a month, but I also knew that he would answer any of my questions. All I could do was hope that I might remember something else, something that would give me a clue as to who I am or what I am doing here.
I went to the bookshelf that contained thick literature, biographies of well-known dead people, non-fiction, and a sparse amount of modern fiction; this way I could occupy my mind while I waited for Linda or Mr. Conall to arrive. I removed the most worn book and placed it into my lap as I sunk into the couch. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. I traced the embossed letters of gold and admired the simple binding of hard brown. I opened it to the dog-eared page in the beginning and started to read. The chapter was titled “Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack.”
After I finished the last line of the brief chapter, I heard talking from behind the front door. I knew that it was he this time. I was not as nervous as before, but I still didn’t know if I could ask him the questions. I didn’t know if I could ask him if I really was his daughter. What if I were wrong? What if this was some big mistake?
All thoughts cleared from my mind once he stormed through the door with Linda following and trying to soothe him. I shut the book closed and winced as it made a loud thud. He realized I was sitting on the couch for the first time since he entered our home, his home. He had relief all over his face, but that was only fleeting. Rage over took and he began to yell. “Brooke! Where were you? Why did you leave the hospital in the middle of your session? Who were you with? And why did you run off last night to meet some boy you don’t even know? Tell me, Brooke, tell me!”
Linda stood behind him and mouthed the word ‘sorry.’ I looked back to him and said in a small voice, “I’m sorry, Dad.” That word suddenly felt wrong on my lips. “But I met him after my session yesterday, and…”
“And what? Just because he says he knows you doesn’t mean it’s true! Linda.” He said her name softly and she quietly snuck away to the master bedroom.
“Well I believed you when you said you were my father!” I was yelling now, too. It felt natural to defend my actions, no matter how wrong they were. I stood to make myself feel bigger; sitting on the couch made me feel small and weak, but standing made me feel defiant and sturdier.
“And were you with this boy again today? Did he convince you to ditch Dr. Stav?”
“No, it was my He didn’t try to hurt me at all! All he was trying to do was be nice and help me figure out who I am! Not everybody is bad like you want them to be! You don’t have to keep me locked up in here like some prisoner! I went with him so I could feel normal for once! I thought maybe I could remember something from before last month! And I did!”
“You know what, Brooke? The doctors said that you could leave the hospital early only if you rested and attended daily sessions with Dr. Stav. And since gallivanting off with this boy is not resting and you left your sessions, Dr. Stav, Linda, and I think it would be best for you to return to the hospital until Dr. Stav sees fit.”
“You have got to be kidding me! You can’t do that!” I stepped backward, but the couch wouldn’t let me go far.
“I can and I am. I am doing this only because I am your father and I love you so much. I want you to get better, Brooke.” He came closer and grabbed my right arm tenderly.
“Are you really my dad? Or are you trying to cover something up?”
“Where is this coming from? Of course I’m your father. Did this boy tell you otherwise?”
“Yes. He. Did. And I believe him,” I said through my teeth. He tightened his grip on my arm.
“Linda!” Linda emerged from the bedroom and stood quietly on my left side. She too grabbed my arm, but her grip was gentle.
“They’re on their way. They should be up in at least five minutes.” She started to push me towards my room.
“Who’s on their way? Where are you taking me?”
“We just need you to stay calm. Can you stay in your room for a few minutes?” Linda was the only calm one. He was still furious and I was confused and starting to get frantic. They both started leading me to my room. I tried to make it as hard as possible by making my feet like lead. I tried to break my arms free of their grips. I succeeded in freeing my left arm, but she just grabbed it again.
“You’re not in your right state of mind, Brooke. You need some rest. Dr. Stav has arranged for you to stay at the hospital for as long as you need.” Too frustrated with me being uncooperative, he pinned my arms down and lifted me up. He carried me to my room and smoothly tossed me on my bed. He shut the door before I could try to stop him. I heard a locking sound from the other side and tried to open the door. It was locked. I banged on the door, pleading for them to let me out. I hit the door one last time before I remembered the fire escape I had used the night before. I tried to lift it but it remained shut. Linda must have done something to it this morning, I thought. I sat on my bed and took the picture out from under my mattress. The one picture I had burned into my brain, the one I thought was of my mother and me. I cried because I didn’t know what else to do
Then I heard his voice from the other side of my door. I was somewhat calmer than our screaming match less than five minutes prior. “Brooke, the people from the hospital are here. If you tell me the name of the boy you were with last night and this morning, I can talk to them. You’ll probably just stay in the hospital for one night. I’ll make sure he’ll never see you again.”
“No!” Sawyer was the only one who seemed to be helping me at this point; I wasn’t about to betray him. I heard some mumbling and then the door being unlocked. Two men dressed in white button-down shirts tucked into matching white pants came in. One was tall and tan. His hair was black and very short. The other was considerably shorter and had light red hair. His face was covered with freckles. Both were big with muscles. I got off my bed and tried to make a run for the door, but the bigger of the two grabbed my waist. I started kicking and hitting them to make them put me down, but the second man grabbed my legs. As strange as it was, I felt better. I felt like the old me was bubbling up and fighting to break the surface.
“No! No! Don’t do this to me! You can’t do this to me!” They carried me over to the stretcher they apparently brought with them. The bigger one held my arms down while the other cuffed my wrists to the stretcher. Then I began kicking harder, but the bigger one held them down too.
Somewhere between my screams, I heard him say, “She will receive the best care in the psych ward, correct? I don’t want her to share a room with anybody. Make sure she doesn’t hurt herself. I love you, Brooke.”
“Don’t worry, sir. We’ll take good care of her, but you might want to wait a few minutes for the screaming to subside.” I couldn’t tell which one was speaking, but I didn’t really care.
I struggled against the leather cuffs that chained me to the stretcher. The smaller one grabbed the head of the stretcher and began pulling out to the elevator. The larger one followed closely behind and was brandishing a needle. As we got closer to the elevator, I saw the curious people who had stayed at home today peeking out of their doorways. The larger one rolled up my left sleeve and shoved the needle into my skin. Despite my protests, I was beginning to calm down, but I knew it was the drug working. They wanted me passed out so I would be easier to deal with and transfer to the hospital. The last thing I saw out of my heavy eyelids was the elevator door closing. I thought they would follow me, but they didn’t. I fell into a drugged blackness and no matter how hard I tried to fight I tumbled farther and farther into it.
hey it's been awhile since you put up more red when are you going to put up some more?