Amnesia

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

  Amnesia

  TOP SHELF

  An imprint of Torquere Press Publishers

  PO Box 2545

  Round Rock, TX 78680

  Copyright 2006 © by Sean Michael

  Cover illustration by Pluto

  Published with permission

  ISBN: 978-1-60370-021-4, 1-60370-021-8

  www.torquerepress.com

  All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S. Copyright Law. For information address Torquere Press. Inc., PO Box 2545, Round Rock, TX 78680.

  First Torquere Press Printing: May 2007

  Printed in the USA

  Prologue

  Jerry was working late. He looked at his watch and flipped on the eleven o'clock news. Okay, so he was working very late. He glanced up at the gray-haired anchor giving a brief overview of the top stories and then went back to his research, reading through the reports on Stiller Inc.'s assets.

  The floor was empty aside from his office. Hell, the whole building was probably empty -- there weren't many who burned the midnight oil these days. Of course that gave him an advantage and he wasn't one to pass up an advantage.

  He took notes as he read and managed to time it perfectly -- he dotted his last i just as the sports came on. The Astros had won their game, three-zip. Cool. They were on their way to a pennant this year if they kept winning like they were. He was about to pick up the next report when the next sports news report caught his eye.

  "Also, today at the Mesquite Rodeo, Houston native, Thaine Russell was riding Destiny's Son when he was thrown and trampled. Mr. Russell is in critical condition in Mesquite Medical Center. His sponsor, Wayne Leathers, says their prayers are with the family and they hope to see Thaine back on the circuit next year."

  Thaine Russell. Lord, lord, there was a name he hadn't heard in... well it had to be five years. Not since they'd gone their separate ways.

  He waited to see if there'd be more, but the anchor went on to talk about the football scores around the country and Jerry turned off the TV.

  Jerry stood and went over to the little wet bar, poured himself a finger of whiskey before going to the window and looking out over the bright lights of the city.

  Thaine Russell.

  Well if anyone could recover from getting trampled it would be Thaine. That was the most stubborn, ornery man he knew. Gave those bulls a run for their money.

  Jerry chuckled and sipped at his drink.

  "Good luck, T. You come back and get that bull next year."

  He shot back the rest of his whiskey and went back to his desk, picked up the next report. If he pushed he could have a plan in place to take over Stiller Inc. by morning.

  Chapter One

  Fuck him, his head hurt.

  Thaine’s eyes rolled. Man, what the fuck happened to him? He wiggled his fingers, toes. Okay. Okay.

  Those worked.

  He could smell hospital, the antiseptic, clean, sort of grey smell just fucking everywhere. Okay. He wasn't dead.

  Broken.

  Just hurt.

  "Thaine? Thaine are you awake? Nurse! I saw him move his fingers, his toes, too, I think. Nurse!" The voice had started off soft, careful, but it grew louder, shouting with excitement.

  He frowned, tried to open his eyes. Who the fuck was screaming?

  "Nurse!" This time the noise came from a little farther away, but it still echoed around the room and in his head and then his hand was taken, squeezed. "Come on, Thaine. Please wake up?" At least the shouting had stopped.

  He licked his lips, the sound loud. Damn, he was dry. "Thirsty."

  There was a husky laugh. "Okay. Okay, Cowboy. I just bet you are. I'm not sure you're allow -- Oh! Here's the nurse, she'll know. Can he drink? He says he's thirsty."

  A female chuckle sounded and a cool hand touched his, turning it to check his pulse. "Easy now, son. Let’s just see what his vitals are."

  Where the hell was JJ?

  Where the hell was he?

  The nurse let his hand drop and put something in his ear that clicked, but didn't hurt.

  "Is he okay? Why isn't he opening his eyes? I swear on my momma he said he was thirsty and I saw his fingers move."

  Then the nurse peeled back one of his eyelids and shone a bright light in.

  "Ow." His eyes rolled back into his head, trying to escape the light.

  The first voice crowed at that and the nurse chuckled again and then treated his other eyeball to the same torture. "He does indeed appear to be awake. I'll turn the lights lower when I go out and I'll get the doctor. You can feed him ice chips, but only a few until the doctor's seen him."

  The lights went down and he took a deep breath. Oh. Better. Fuck him raw, what was the name of the bull that whacked him?

  His hand was taken again. "Oh, man Thaine, I thought you were a goner for a bit there."

  Naw, he was too mean to die. "Wha' happened?"

  "You were riding Destiny's Son and man, it was a beautiful ride. Just awesome. Then he threw you and trampled you. The doctor said you were lucky your insides weren't screwed up. You've been out for hours."

  Destiny's Son... That was a new bull. Damn. "Where's JJ?"

  "JJ?"

  "Uhn. Jerry. Jerry Wortmeyer."

  "Jerry Wortmeyer." The kid, and that's what he was, blond haired and good honest working muscles, blue eyes looking worriedly at him, repeated the name, a frown pulling his eyebrows together. "Why do you want to know where Jerry is?"

  "Huh?" Come on, Thaine. Think. Don't fuck yourself. "He's my roommate."

  That didn't seem to make the kid any happier. "Your roommate. Okay..." The kid bit his lip and then opened his mouth to say something when the nurse came back, this time with the doctor in tow.

  He blinked over, nodded. "Hey."

  Oh.

  Fuck.

  No nodding.

  None.

  Ow.

  "Hi there, Mr. Russell. I'm Doctor Simpson. I take it you're still experiencing some pain in your head?"

  The kid was hovering in the background, blue eyes just worried as fuck.

  "Some. When can I get out of here?" He could hurt at home, just as well as here.

  "Now, Mr. Russell, you've had a severe knock to your head and you've been unconscious for several hours. I think we'll need to keep you for awhile for observation."

  The trick with the light in his eyes was done again. "Pupils are reacting well. Do you know where you are, Mr. Russell?"

  "In a hospital." He hoped to hell that was good enough.

  The doctor nodded, smiling. "Yes. And the date?"

  "Uh..." Fuck. Fuck. "August. August something, 2000."

  The kid behind the doctor gasped, but the doctor just nodded and asked another question. "And what city are you in?"

  "Uh... Tulsa? Enid?" Was he in Oklahoma? He must be. If he'd been in Texas, JJ'd be there.

  "Just one more question, Mr. Russell, how many fingers am I holding up?" The doctor held up his hand, three fingers showing.

  "Three." Finally, an easy one.

  "Excellent. There's certainly nothing wrong with your eyes, is there? I'm going to have the nurse add some meds to your IV to help with the pain. They might make you sleepy, too, but you've had quite the bump to your head and we won't want you sleeping more than four hours at a time. I'll come back and see how you're progressing tomorrow."

  The doctor patted his arm and no
dded to the kid still hovering, looking more than a little panicked. "Come with me, please."

  "Can someone call my roommate? Jerry Wortmeyer. His number's in my wallet." He just wanted JJ here taking care of shit.

  "Your friend has your stuff, Mr. Russell, I'm sure he'd be happy to call anyone you need." The nurse reached for a cup and took out an ice chip, held it to his lips.

  "My friend..." He took the ice chip gratefully. He was spitting dust. "More?"

  Smiling, she fed him another one and then another. "You're going to be just fine. Amazing really -- I've seen the footage from your fall. You landed right on your head and then that bull tried to make mince meat out of you."

  "They're evil things. Everybody else okay? I can't remember a blasted thing."

  "You're the only one in the hospital," she told him. Then she giggled a little and gave him another chip of ice. "My sister is going to be so jealous. We've been watching you ride for years. You’re our favorite."

  Thaine grinned, groaning as the motion pulled shit in his face that shouldn't pull. Damn.

  He was given a sympathetic look and the nurse adjusted something on the IV. "There, you should be feeling a little better soon." She turned as the door opened and the kid came in again. "I should go. I have other patients. You take care of yourself, Mr. Russell."

  "Thanks, darlin'. You're a honey." He sighed, let his eyes close, trying to remember who the hell this kid was.

  "Hey, Thaine." He could hear the kid come over to the bed and then his hand was taken. "You hurting?"

  "Some, yeah. I took a fall, huh?"

  "Yeah, smashed your head pretty good. Rattled things up some." There was a thread of worry in the kid's voice and the hand holding his squeezed tight for a moment.

  "You okay, kid? You get hurt?"

  "Me? No, no, I'm fine, Thaine. Just worried about you, you know?"

  "Oh, I'm a stubborn one. I'll be fine. Just a little. Uh." Tired. Hurting. Addlepated. Yeah, that was it. "Addlepated."

  "Yeah. You seemed a little fuzzy on place and date there." The kid sighed and patted his hand. "I bet you'll feel a lot better after a night's rest. Even if they are going to wake you up every few hours."

  "Yeah, I hope so. Look, can you call Jerry for me? It's not like him not to come." Really.

  The kid made a bit of a noise, took a breath and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll call him."

  "Thanks, man. Really." He found another half-smile, searching the kid's face. So sad. So wigged out. "Don't worry, yeah? I'm just gonna doze for a bit."

  "Yeah, you do that, Thaine. You'll be fine in the morning. Just fine." It sounded less like a reassurance and more like a prayer.

  "Mmmhmm. Night, kid. Thanks for hanging out with me. Jerry's number's in my wallet." He was fading, fading fast.

  "I'll find it."

  His cheek was stroked, his chest, and his hand was patted again, the touches surprisingly comforting.

  "Thanks." He sighed softly, sinking into the mattress, breathing slow.

  The kid just sat quietly next to him, holding his hand as he drifted off.

  Man, what a fucking ride. Damn.

  Chapter Two

  Drew paced in the hallway, wondering what on God's green Earth he was going to do.

  Thaine thought it was five years ago. He thought he and Jerry were still lovers. He didn't even know Drew existed.

  And that quack of a doctor seemed to think they should just play along for a day or two. Give Thaine’s brain time to catch up on its own. Something about shock and temporary amnesia and not making it worse.

  Aside from the fact that he didn't want to call Jerry, because Jerry wasn't Thaine’s lover anymore, he was, he didn't even know if Jerry would come. If the man would play along.

  He checked his watch. Shit, it was after midnight. He couldn't call now, right?

  But if he didn't, Thaine would be upset and he'd have to come up with some reason why he hadn't called yet.

  God. He'd been prepared for this, prepared for Thaine being seriously hurt. It certainly wasn't the first time the man had been in the hospital and it wouldn't be the last, and Drew took it all in stride. Okay, he fussed and worried, but he handled it. He knew when to let Thaine rage about being hurt, and when to coddle. But this? He wasn't ready for this.

  He didn't even know where he'd find Jerry's number. What was the guy's last name? Wart something or other. It wasn't like you went around memorizing the names and numbers of your lover's exes.

  But Jesse might know. God, he could use a friendly voice at the moment anyway. Someone who knew who he was, who knew he and Thaine were together.

  Jesse was Thaine’s best friend and had been for ages. He'd been at the hospital earlier and was planning on coming back in the morning, but Drew didn't want to wait.

  He dug some change out of his pocket and planted himself in front of a pay phone, dialing up Jesse's cell number.

  "'lo?" Jesse's voice was just a growl, low and rumbly.

  "Hey, Jesse." Drew cleared his own throat, his voice all raspy, tight. "Sorry to bug you so late."

  "S'okay, Drew. What's wrong? Thaine’s okay? He didn't. I mean, he's not..."

  "No, no. He's fine. Well he's awake. He's..." He swallowed and then just spit it out. "He's got amnesia and thinks it's August 2000."

  "Pardon?"

  "He thinks it’s the year 2000 and he doesn't know who I am and he wants to know why Jerry's not here with him." He picked at a spot on the wall where the paint was peeling.

  "Oh, fuck a duck." He could hear the blatant disbelief in Jesse's voice. "What did that damn critter do to him?"

  "Dumped him on his head. And the doctor says we need to play along. At least for a day or two, maybe longer. He said it could come back at any time, but trying to force it could do damage." He took a deep breath and shook himself. God, it was good to hear a familiar voice, someone who thought this was as nuts as he did. "I don't want to have to wait days before he remembers me, Jesse. I don't want to call Jerry and tell him to come." He was whining and he knew it, but he just couldn't help it.

  "Oh, man. No. No, you shouldn't call Jerry. If anyone has to, I will, okay? Damn. Does the doc think Thaine'll come around?"

  He took a deep breath, just the sound of Jesse's voice calming him. Man, what a baby he was, out here whining to Thaine’s best friend while Thaine himself was in the hospital with fucking amnesia.

  "He said amnesia victims almost always do. It's just a matter of time. Apparently everyone's different. Wanted to know if there was some trauma in Thaine’s life over the last five years that Thaine’s brain was protecting itself from."

  "Trauma? You mean like another whack to the noggin? The man rides bulls. He gets whacked."

  Drew nodded. "I told the doctor that. Told him where he could find Thaine’s medical history. Then he started in on emotional trauma and crap. Ah, I don't know, Jesse." He sighed and leaned back against the wall, letting his head drop back against it, his eyes closing.

  "Hey. Hey, now. You want me to come up? My trailer's parked not five minutes away and there's a McDonald's on the way. I could bring coffee."

  He bit his lip, part of him saying he should be a man and step up, just deal with this, but the rest of him... Thaine didn't have a clue who he was and he didn't know if he could just go back in there and pretend to be... God, he'd have to come up with some reason for being there, for being the one who knew what he knew. "I don't want to put you out, Jesse..."

  "Hey. No sweat. I'll be there in fifteen with food, bud. You just hold tight and ride."

  "Thanks, man. Thanks." He swallowed again and hung up the phone.

  He rubbed the heels of his hand into his eyes and then went back into Thaine’s room to check up on him. Thaine was sound asleep, poor face swollen and bruised and scraped up, head stitched and wrapped in bandages. Damn, it hurt just to look at. It was amazing he was alive, it really was. When Drew'd seen that bull go back to trample Thaine, he'd thought that was it.

  A
little amnesia was actually getting off pretty light considering.

  Yeah. Yeah, that was the way to think about it. This was a blessing in disguise. Thaine should have been dead; instead he'd lost five years. It wasn't that bad a trade-off if you thought of it like that.

  He didn't know how long he'd stood there when a hand fell on his shoulder, Jesse's steps too quiet to hear. He jerked in surprise and then turned with a smile. It seemed easier, with Jesse here. He looked up -- the man was tall, tanned, good looking, too, really, in a quiet, steady way.