right?’
Bruce shook his head gently as he followed her inside and closed the door behind him. ‘No… everyone who knows him- and that’s a rather small circle right now- is fully aware that the name he uses is not likely the one he was born with. But given his condition, we’re hardly going to judge the poor bastard for it.’
‘His condition?’ Leigh’s pulse accelerated. ‘What condition? Argh! I knew he had something weird wrong with him… what is it? Schizophrenia? Early dementia? Multiple personality disorder?’
But Bruce’s brows lifted. ‘He didn’t tell you?’
‘Tell me what?’
Bruce sighed. ‘Ryan’s got amnesia, Leigh. He doesn’t remember a thing about his life, up until three months ago when his body was pulled out of Niagara Gorge.’
And just like that, the pages in Leigh’s heart fluttered until the words were swept away, and the parchment left blank. ‘Are you serious?!’
Bruce nodded gravely. ‘Yeah, I um... I need to make a quick call to the desk. But if you want, I can explain what I know in a minute…?’
Leigh nodded woodenly, dropping her forehead to the table and rapping it gently while Bruce lifted the phone and began to speak to someone in hushed tones. Ryan had amnesia? Why had he seemed so upbeat, back at the falls?
Duh. ‘Cos he probably can’t remember any unpleasant experiences… until he met you!
Leigh groaned and hit her head a little harder, wishing that she could just knock herself out and do the world a favour.
‘Yeah it was bad,’ Bruce eventually said after clacking the phone down. ‘He had some major head wounds, and I think he was even blind for the first week after he came out of his coma.’
‘Amnesia…’ Leigh took her glasses off and ground the heels of her hands into her suddenly heavy eyelids. ‘And I was so… ugh!’
The chair across from her dragged across the carpet. ‘Don’t feel bad- it sounds so far-fetched. In fact, I actually laughed when he first told me, thinking it was some joke he was making but no… it’s true.’
Leigh lifted her head. ‘I believe you. I’m just wishing for a case of amnesia myself so I can pretend this day never happened…’
Bruce stared at her for a moment, right into her eyes, and then his gaze traced an invisible loop around her face. Leigh tensed somewhat, turning her face in profile and glaring at him. ‘What?’
‘Huh? Oh no it’s just…’ Bruce let his ear fall towards his left shoulder and smiled in a strange way. ‘Your eyes… they’re...’
Unusual. Bright. Cartoonish. Reminiscent of squid. Out of whack. Leigh had heard all the possible adjectives to describe her eyes over the years, which was precisely why she wore glasses with the broadest frames possible. She wasted no time shoving her glasses back onto her face then, and averting her eyes. ‘Yeah I know. They’re… anyway…’ self-consciousness swelled inside her, puffing up her tongue. ‘You were saying?’
Bruce stared at her a moment longer, then seemed to realise that she wasn’t enjoying it, and dropped his own for a moment. ‘The guy doesn’t have a clue who he is, where he’s from or even how old he is… he’s made some guess-timations of course; the Aussie accent is a bit of a giveaway,’ he looked up and gave her an inclusive smile, ‘and the doctors think that he’s about twenty-two, twenty-three years old… but that’s all he’s got. There are no missing person files that are compatible with his case, and there wasn’t any identification found washed up with him. In fact, I believe that he was naked. Not that that’s so surprising- anyone who goes through Devil’s rapids, as they think he may have, is likely to not only lose a shirt, but a pound of flesh as he did. And it’s a good thing that it was summer when he washed up, or he would have died of Hypothermia.’
Leigh winced. They’d driven past Devil’s Rapids on the way to the falls in the coach, and the driver had made a big
Bruce shook his head gently as he followed her inside and closed the door behind him. ‘No… everyone who knows him- and that’s a rather small circle right now- is fully aware that the name he uses is not likely the one he was born with. But given his condition, we’re hardly going to judge the poor bastard for it.’
‘His condition?’ Leigh’s pulse accelerated. ‘What condition? Argh! I knew he had something weird wrong with him… what is it? Schizophrenia? Early dementia? Multiple personality disorder?’
But Bruce’s brows lifted. ‘He didn’t tell you?’
‘Tell me what?’
Bruce sighed. ‘Ryan’s got amnesia, Leigh. He doesn’t remember a thing about his life, up until three months ago when his body was pulled out of Niagara Gorge.’
And just like that, the pages in Leigh’s heart fluttered until the words were swept away, and the parchment left blank. ‘Are you serious?!’
Bruce nodded gravely. ‘Yeah, I um... I need to make a quick call to the desk. But if you want, I can explain what I know in a minute…?’
Leigh nodded woodenly, dropping her forehead to the table and rapping it gently while Bruce lifted the phone and began to speak to someone in hushed tones. Ryan had amnesia? Why had he seemed so upbeat, back at the falls?
Duh. ‘Cos he probably can’t remember any unpleasant experiences… until he met you!
Leigh groaned and hit her head a little harder, wishing that she could just knock herself out and do the world a favour.
‘Yeah it was bad,’ Bruce eventually said after clacking the phone down. ‘He had some major head wounds, and I think he was even blind for the first week after he came out of his coma.’
‘Amnesia…’ Leigh took her glasses off and ground the heels of her hands into her suddenly heavy eyelids. ‘And I was so… ugh!’
The chair across from her dragged across the carpet. ‘Don’t feel bad- it sounds so far-fetched. In fact, I actually laughed when he first told me, thinking it was some joke he was making but no… it’s true.’
Leigh lifted her head. ‘I believe you. I’m just wishing for a case of amnesia myself so I can pretend this day never happened…’
Bruce stared at her for a moment, right into her eyes, and then his gaze traced an invisible loop around her face. Leigh tensed somewhat, turning her face in profile and glaring at him. ‘What?’
‘Huh? Oh no it’s just…’ Bruce let his ear fall towards his left shoulder and smiled in a strange way. ‘Your eyes… they’re...’
Unusual. Bright. Cartoonish. Reminiscent of squid. Out of whack. Leigh had heard all the possible adjectives to describe her eyes over the years, which was precisely why she wore glasses with the broadest frames possible. She wasted no time shoving her glasses back onto her face then, and averting her eyes. ‘Yeah I know. They’re… anyway…’ self-consciousness swelled inside her, puffing up her tongue. ‘You were saying?’
Bruce stared at her a moment longer, then seemed to realise that she wasn’t enjoying it, and dropped his own for a moment. ‘The guy doesn’t have a clue who he is, where he’s from or even how old he is… he’s made some guess-timations of course; the Aussie accent is a bit of a giveaway,’ he looked up and gave her an inclusive smile, ‘and the doctors think that he’s about twenty-two, twenty-three years old… but that’s all he’s got. There are no missing person files that are compatible with his case, and there wasn’t any identification found washed up with him. In fact, I believe that he was naked. Not that that’s so surprising- anyone who goes through Devil’s rapids, as they think he may have, is likely to not only lose a shirt, but a pound of flesh as he did. And it’s a good thing that it was summer when he washed up, or he would have died of Hypothermia.’
Leigh winced. They’d driven past Devil’s Rapids on the way to the falls in the coach, and the driver had made a big
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