Free White Lies by Linda Howard Page B

instinct to go to him was so strong it was
almost painful. She forced herself to sit still, to understand more. "He
has total amnesia? He doesn't remember anything?"
                  "He doesn't even know his own name."
Frank sighed again, a heavy sound.
                  "He doesn't remember anything about the
explosion or why he was there. Nothing. A total blank. Damn it!" The last
expressed his helpless frustration.
                  "What does Major Lunning think?"
                  "He said total amnesia is extremely rare.
More often it's a sort of spot amnesia that blocks out the accident itself and
anything that happened a short while before it. With the head trauma Steve
suffered, amnesia wasn't that unexpected, but this..." He made a helpless
gesture.
                  She tried to think of what she had read about
amnesia, but all that came to mind was the dramatic use often made of it on
soap operas. Invariably the amnesiac recovered his full memory during a highly
dramatic moment, just in time to prevent a murder or keep from being murdered
himself. It was good melodrama, but that was all it was.
                  "Will he regain his memory?"
                  "Probably. Part of it, at least. There's
no way to be certain. It might start coming back almost immediately, or it
could take months before he begins remembering anything. Major Lunning said
that his memory will come back in bits and pieces, usually the oldest memories
first."
                  Might. Probably. Could. Usually. What it all
added up to was that they simply didn't know. In the meantime Steve lay in his
bed, unable to talk, unable to see, unable to move. All he could do was hear
and think.
                  What would it be like to be so cut adrift from
everything familiar, even himself? He had no point of reference for anything.
The thought of the inner terror he must be feeling squeezed her heart.
                  "Are you still willing to stay?"
Frank asked, his clear eyes filled with concern. "Knowing that it might
take months or even years?"
                  "Years?" she echoed faintly.
"But you only wanted me to stay until the surgery on his eyes was
completed."
                  "We didn't know then that he wouldn't
remember anything. Major Lunning said that being around familiar things and
people would help stimulate his memory, give him a feeling of stability."
                  "You want me to stay until he regains his
memory," Jay stated, putting it into words. The idea frightened her. The
longer she stayed with Steve, the more strongly she reacted to him. What would
happen to her if she fell in love with him far more deeply than she had the
first time, only to lose him again when he returned to his footloose life? She
was afraid that she already cared too much to simply walk away. How could she
walk away when he needed her?
                  "He needs you," Frank said, echoing
her thoughts. "He's asking for you. He responds to you so strongly that he
keeps confounding Major Lunning's predictions. And we need you, Jay. We need
you to help him in any way you can, because we need to know what he
knows."
                  "If sentiment won't get me, try
patriotism?" she asked tiredly, leaning her head back against the padded
orange vinyl chair. "It wasn't necessary. I won't leave him. I don't know
what's going to happen, or how we'll handle it if he doesn't get his memory
back soon, but I won't leave him."
                  She got up and walked out, and Frank sat there
for a moment staring at the cup still in his hands. From what she'd just said,
he knew that Jay sensed she was being manipulated, but she was willing to let
them do it because Steve was so important to her. He had to talk to the Man
about this latest development, and he wondered what would happen. They had
counted on Steve's