Read Online Mind of Her Own by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer - Free Book Online Page B

and waited for him to come in after examining Louisa. The desk held a few family pictures but nothing else on its expansive oak top. Unlike mine. At this moment his desk overflowed with manila folders and stacks of papers, work he should have completed by now and would have if Louisa hadn’t turned into Jazz. He should be at the office and would be if his wife hadn’t called him insisting he needed to report her as a missing person. And all because of a pair of jeans. He had immediately called their family doctor for an appointment. On his way out of the office, he’d paused only long enough to tell his secretary he wouldn’t be back for the rest of the day.
    The door swished behind him. Collin rose from the chair and offered an outstretched hand to the doctor.
    Shaking Collin’s hand, Dr. Allen said, “Sit down and let’s talk about your wife.” Dr. Allen plopped a folder on his desk and flipped it open before he sat.
    Collin perched on the edge of his seat. He pinched his pants and slid his finger and thumb down the crease on his thigh.
    “Before she comes in, I’d like to make a suggestion to you,” Dr. Allen said as he carefully turned a few pages over in the folder.
    “Anything.” Collin felt a moment of hope.
    “Her memory isn’t coming back, and I believe she has retrograde amnesia.” He leaned his elbows on the desktop and made a triangle with his hands, tapping his nose. “Has she experienced an unusual trauma in her life?”
    “Like what? We have three kids—sometimes that can be dramatic.”
    Dr. Allen shook his head. “Nice evasion, Counselor, but I said trauma , not drama . Retrograde amnesia can be triggered by a bump on the head or a seizure. We’ve determined that Louisa didn’t have a seizure. The grill is heavy and could be the reason for the amnesia. Retrograde amnesia can cause a loss of memory from the time of a specific event. Is it possible your wife had something happen to her as a child that she hasn’t told you about?”
    “No, no. I don’t recall anything that she’d want to forget.”
    “There is more you need to be aware of: it is likely she’ll have problems remembering things from now on as well, although that shouldn’t last long. We have seen in some cases like this that patients don’t remember their past, so they fill in the details of what they think happened in their past, believing those details to be correct. They aren’t trying to lie, understand, but they may offer an exaggerated version of some truth.” He paused for a breath, steepling his hands again and resting them on the desk. “She’ll likely have frequent headaches that will get worse as she gets closer to remembering.”
    Collin leaned back into the chair. “Does she know all of this?”
    “I’ve explained it to her, but I’m not sure she’ll remember it.” Dr. Allen closed the folder.
    “Is there anything good about this? Is there something I can do to move the process along?”
    “Time will tell. You could try nudging her memory—sometimes a place or a smell will bring back the memory. It is usually a smell associated with the previous trauma that the patient doesn’t want to recall.”
    “How am I going to accomplish that?” Collin would do anything to get his life back on track. He straightened his tie as if that would reinforce the need for normalcy.
    “Talk to her mom and see if she remembers anything that might have happened to Louisa as a child—but to forewarn you, many parents are clueless about traumatic episodes, or they refuse to acknowledge them.” Dr. Allen leaned back in his chair. “Perhaps you could start by re-creating how you first met, your first date, that sort of thing? I hope your memory is better than mine. My wife tells me she is the only one who recalls everything about our dating years.”
    “I’m not sure I can remember everything.” Collin reached for the BlackBerry in his coat pocket. He typed in Repeat dates. What had they done together? They