Remember
Charlie felt his face flush. “No, thank you,” he replied, and since she’d asked, he did distinctly remember having had to use one of those recently, which wasn’t the most dignified experience of his life.
“Well, Dr. Hunt examined you while you were sleeping, but I will let him know that you’re awake, and he’ll make his way in shortly.” She cut her eyes at the other woman. “You know you’ll have to go when the doctor comes in?”
“Yes, I know,” the blonde woman replied, her voice indicating she didn’t need the reminder. She crossed her arms. “He’s hearing them again.”
The nurse’s eyes went back to Charlie. “Are you hearing them now, Charlie? The screams?”
Her face indicated that the wrong answer might land him in Belleview. “No, I don’t hear anything right now,” Charlie replied, ignoring the wails that seemed to whisper to him in the distance.
“Good,” she said, and the first smile she’d managed since she came in the room briefly shadowed her face as she gave the blonde another look of annoyance. “The doctor will be in soon.” She turned on her heel and made her way the few steps to the door.
The blonde shook her head in disgust. Still looking at the door, she said quietly, “They don’t know who I am.” She turned her head so that she was looking at Charlie. “I told the stewards who brought you over from Carpathia not to tell them but to let them know I am to stay with you until your parents arrive or Jonathan catches up to us.”
She looked familiar now, he realized. Asking who she was seemed rude, especially if she knew Jonathan. There must be a way to discover her name and significance without admitting he couldn’t remember ever seeing her before. “Are we in New York then?” Charlie asked, thinking perhaps he might gather a clue that way.
“Yes, we disembarked about an hour ago. You’re in hospital. I’m not sure the name of it. I know Jonathan will be able to tell you when he arrives. I believe it’s the closest one to the port, but he said something earlier about making sure you had the best medical care available, so it’s possible he’d already arranged to have you taken elsewhere. I’ve never been to New York before so I haven’t any idea if we went across town or not. It didn’t seem far.”
She was looking at the small window across the room by the end of her statement, as if she was trying to see New York through the panes, but it was near the ceiling and it was very dark out. Eventually, she dropped her head and unfolded her arms so that her hands were clasped in front of her. Even though he still couldn’t place her, he realized, even in this disheveled state, she was quite lovely. Obviously, she was worried about him as well.
“I’m happy to be back in New York,” he said quietly. “It really is the most amazing place on Earth. If you’ve never been here before, you’ll want to see everything. Perhaps when I’m feeling better, I can take you to Central Park. There’s a zoo there, you know?”
Her blue eyes flittered over to him, and he could see they were glistening. “I know,” she said quietly. “Charlie,” she took a step in his direction, “have you forgotten who I am again?”
He felt his face flush a bit, though not as deeply as when the other nurse had mentioned the bed pan. What had given him away?” I’m sorry,” he admitted, watching her face fall. “I remember very little, actually. I do remember the water.” He didn’t feel the need to elaborate—to add that the water was freezing, that it was sucking him down into an abyss, that it was alive with screaming souls.
She nodded and swallowed hard enough for him to see it in her elegant neck. “Do you remember what ship you were on? What the ship was called that sank?”
Sank. He hadn’t considered that word, but it made sense. Why else would so many people be in the water all at once? And then he remembered—he was aboard a ship that wasn’t supposed to be capable of sinking. “Titanic.” He said the word as if it were a curse, and then looked up at her face. Her nod let him know that he was correct. “It hit an iceberg.”
“Yes,” the woman replied. “And you decided not to get on a lifeboat because you wanted other people, women and children, to have a chance.”
He remembered that as well, now that she mentioned it. Except, they hadn’t had a chance. There were plenty of them thrashing around in the water as well. Plenty who stopped thrashing rather quickly.
Before he could elaborate on the thought, she asked another question. “Do you remember where you had been? Before you boarded Titanic?”
It wasn’t a difficult question. Surely, he knew where he had been. And yet, it took him a moment of consideration. He knew he’d gone to England for… something… and that he was coming home sooner than expected. Why would he need to go to England? Suddenly, he remembered. Flickers of images from a ball crossed his mind, and then a house, an older woman crying. He was angry, embarrassed, about something. He’d told Jonathan he was done and to book passage on the next ship to depart… Southampton.
“Mary Margaret!” The words flew out of his mouth before he had any context for them. A look of relief spread across her face, like he knew everything, though he’d still have to admit all of it was coming back together very slowly, as if he were doing a jigsaw puzzle without benefit of seeing a picture of the completed work beforehand.
“Yes, that’s right. You were in Southampton. To see me.” A cautious smile adorned her pretty face. “Do you remember me now?”
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