I couldn't speak.<\/p>\n
Julian reached for the phone.<\/p>\n
I handed it to him.<\/p>\n
He looked at the photograph once, then again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that your mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My answer came immediately.<\/p>\n
There was no uncertainty.<\/p>\n
No room for it.<\/p>\n
The woman in the photograph had my mother's face, her gray hair, her narrow shoulders, and the small crease between her eyebrows that appeared whenever she was concentrating.<\/p>\n
She was older than I remembered.<\/p>\n
Thinner.<\/p>\n
But it was her.<\/p>\n
My mother.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Julian looked at the timestamp attached to the image.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room tilted.<\/p>\n
I grabbed the edge of the desk.<\/p>\n
Four months.<\/p>\n
Four months of police searches.<\/p>\n
Four months of unanswered calls.<\/p>\n
Four months of looking at the same photograph and wondering whether I would ever see her again.<\/p>\n
And someone had photographed her yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
The phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
Another message.<\/p>\n
No words this time.<\/p>\n
Only an address.<\/p>\n
A hospital.<\/p>\n
I looked at Julian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'll drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know those people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither do I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took his keys.<\/p>\n
I wanted to argue.<\/p>\n
Instead, I followed him.<\/p>\n
The hospital was twelve minutes away.<\/p>\n
Every traffic light felt like an obstacle.<\/p>\n
I kept staring at the photograph on my phone.<\/p>\n
My mother was sitting beside a bed.<\/p>\n
There was an IV pole behind her.<\/p>\n
A blanket covered her legs.<\/p>\n
Someone had taken the photograph from across the room.<\/p>\n
I couldn't see the patient's face.<\/p>\n
Only my mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould she have been there all this time?\u201d Julian asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wouldn't the hospital contact you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they didn't know who she was.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thought made my stomach twist.<\/p>\n
My mother had a phone.<\/p>\n
Identification.<\/p>\n
A home address.<\/p>\n
She wasn't the kind of person who wandered off without telling someone.<\/p>\n
Unless she hadn't known where she was.<\/p>\n
We parked.<\/p>\n
I ran inside.<\/p>\n
At the reception desk, I showed the woman my mother's photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm looking for Margaret Vance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The receptionist typed.<\/p>\n
Her expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have the patient's date of birth?\u201d<\/p>\n
I gave it.<\/p>\n
She searched again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't have a Margaret Vance.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart dropped.<\/p>\n
I pushed the photograph closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may be registered under another name.\u201d<\/p>\n
The receptionist looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have an unidentified female patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was she admitted?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFour months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the counter.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I see her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need proof of relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled out my identification.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
The receptionist studied the documents.<\/p>\n
Then she looked toward the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'll call the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she made the call, Julian stood behind me.<\/p>\n
My hands were shaking.<\/p>\n
A nurse eventually came down.<\/p>\n
She was middle-aged, with tired eyes and a pen clipped to her collar.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're Laura?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm Nurse Patel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she here?\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost collapsed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThird floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wasn't I contacted?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was admitted under an unidentified patient designation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't have identification when she arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my mother had a phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had no phone. No wallet. No identification.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse's expression softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Vance, I understand this is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did she come from?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice brought her in after she was found walking near the highway.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFour months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Julian.<\/p>\n
Four months.<\/p>\n
The exact same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could nobody connect her to the missing-person report?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gave us almost no usable information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she know her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would sometimes say fragments. Mostly places, memories, names that didn't correspond to anything in our records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat names?\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse looked down at her notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cChloe.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe also mentioned Laura.\u201d<\/p>\n
I covered my mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to her memory?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe she suffered a head injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the elevator.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I see her?\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse nodded.<\/p>\n
Room 318.<\/p>\n
I walked down the corridor feeling as though every step was taking me deeper into a dream.<\/p>\n
The door was partly open.<\/p>\n
I saw the bed.<\/p>\n
I saw the window.<\/p>\n
I saw a woman sitting beside my mother.<\/p>\n
She stood immediately when she saw me.<\/p>\n
She was the woman from the restaurant.<\/p>\n
The woman who had been sitting at table twelve.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
She stopped too.<\/p>\n
For several seconds neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Then she said my name.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura.\u201d<\/p>\n
My voice came out hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had my mother's ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn't breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother gave you that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman took a shaky breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Margaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband's name is Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe couple from the restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou followed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked ashamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we needed to make sure you were really Laura.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your mother couldn't tell us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the bed.<\/p>\n
My mother was asleep.<\/p>\n
Her face was turned toward the window.<\/p>\n
She looked impossibly fragile.<\/p>\n
Margaret continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found her weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a rural road outside town.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was wrong with her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was confused. Frightened. She didn't know where she lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you contact the police?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe called an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n
She swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was taken here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn't you leave?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret's eyes moved toward my mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she was terrified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the paramedics tried to separate her from me, she panicked. She kept saying she needed to go home, but she couldn't tell anyone where home was.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at my mother's hands.<\/p>\n
There was a hospital bracelet around one wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe trusted you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why were you investigating me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas entered the room behind her.<\/p>\n
He was the man from the restaurant.<\/p>\n
He looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren't investigating you because we wanted to hurt you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what were you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to identify her family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have contacted the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey couldn't connect the woman to the missing-person case because she gave a different name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n
Then back at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother's middle name.<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
She had given them the one name she could remember.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy the restaurant?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked embarrassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we had finally confirmed your workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough an old document found among your mother's belongings.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stiffened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat document?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who does?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur Vance.<\/p>\n
The name passed through my mind.<\/p>\n
I looked at Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Arthur send you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he had been trying to locate you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother had been involved in a family trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't care about the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither did she.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret reached into her purse.<\/p>\n
She pulled out a small folded paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what she was carrying when we found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took it.<\/p>\n
It was old.<\/p>\n
The paper had been folded and unfolded so many times that the edges were soft.<\/p>\n
There was one sentence written on it.<\/p>\n
If anything happens to me, keep Laura and Chloe away from Arthur.<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would she write that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know,\u201d Margaret said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she tell you anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFragments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat fragments?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked toward my mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was afraid someone would find her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe never said.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down at the note again.<\/p>\n
My mother had been afraid of Arthur.<\/p>\n
Yet Arthur had been trying to find me.<\/p>\n
Something didn't fit.<\/p>\n
The hospital monitor beside my mother gave a soft rhythmic beep.<\/p>\n
She moved.<\/p>\n
Her eyelids fluttered.<\/p>\n
Then she opened them.<\/p>\n
At first, she looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n
Then at Thomas.<\/p>\n
Finally, her eyes settled on me.<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
Not recognition.<\/p>\n
Confusion.<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
She stared at me.<\/p>\n
I wanted to touch her.<\/p>\n
I was afraid.<\/p>\n
Then her lips moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sound broke something inside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took her hand.<\/p>\n
Her fingers were cold.<\/p>\n
She stared at me for several seconds.<\/p>\n
Then she whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cChloe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
A tear slid down her cheek.<\/p>\n
I leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her lips moved again.<\/p>\n
This time, the words were barely audible.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't trust\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She stopped.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't trust who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes opened.<\/p>\n
She looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
Fear appeared in her face.<\/p>\n
Then she whispered one name.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn't speak. Julian reached for the phone. I handed it to him. He looked at the photograph once, then again. \u201cIs that your mother?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d My answer came immediately. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4164,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152\/revisions\/4164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}