A Forever Christmas(19)

“Right,” she acknowledged. “Gotta start somewhere,” she echoed.

“Well, I have more than half a dozen X-rays, MRIs and CT scans waiting for my attention,” Holliman announced, signaling an end to the meeting. “I hope this reassures you two a little,” he added, then reached into his left breast pocket and took out a card. “If you find you need something further, or if you experience any complications, feel free to give me a call.”

“Complications?” she echoed, looking down at the business card he had just handed her. The word sounded ominous to her. “What sort of complications?” she asked.

“Complicated ones” was all Holliman had time to answer before hurrying back through the swinging doors that separated the people in the waiting room from the actual area where the tests were performed.

Gabe could see that she was disappointed. He supposed he couldn’t blame her. She wanted a solution, a clear-cut reason why she had lost her memory. And then, she wanted to do whatever was necessary to fix that and get her memory back.

Except it wasn’t that easy.

Which in turn had to be very frustrating to her.

“Focus on the positive side,” he advised as he opened the door that led out into the long corridor and held it for her. “There’s no brain damage, no abscess or lesion, nothing ruptured.”

That all sounded well and good—except for the fact that she was still very much in the dark. “No rupture,” she repeated. “The screen just went blank.” There was a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

That was one way of putting it, he supposed. “Right. But since there’s no problem with the wiring, the picture’ll come back on. You just have to give it time.”

She nodded, knowing he was right. Still, that didn’t make waiting any less difficult. “It would be a lot easier to do if I knew how much time I have to give it.”

“That’s simple,” he said cheerfully. When she looked at him quizzically, he added, “You have to give it until the picture comes back.”

“Very funny,” she retorted in a tone that said the exact opposite.

“Just trying to lighten things up a little,” he told her. And so far, I’m not doing all that well, he thought. “Did you know that doctors believe that laughter really is the best medicine?”

She laughed shortly as they walked through the maze of hospital corridors, heading toward the main entrance/exit. The parking lot where he’d left his truck was just beyond that.

“Bet the pharmaceutical companies don’t want that getting around or else they’d be out of business. What?” Angel asked when she saw the satisfied expression on his face.

“See? Something else you know.”

Had she missed something? What was he referring to? “What do I know?” she asked.

“You know about pharmaceutical companies enough to form an opinion.”

And more than just in passing, would be his guess. Most people said “drug companies.” Referring to them as “pharmaceutical companies” could mean that she had some sort of connection to that field. She could be a researcher or even a sales rep for one of companies, or know someone who was. It might give them a starting point to begin their search for her name.

Angel opened the truck’s passenger door and got in. She slanted a glance in his direction as she pulled out the seat belt. “That’s really reaching.”

“Maybe not as much as you think,” Gabe countered as he got in on his side.

She supposed he had a point. Leaning back in her seat, she secured the seat belt and then let out a long breath. Gabe started up the truck.

“Now what?” she asked.

That was simple enough. “Now we drive back to Forever.”

For a second, she looked at him, confused by his answer. And then she remembered. “That’s the town’s name, right?”

“Right,” Gabe answered with a grin.

“Forever,” Angel repeated, rolling the name along her tongue. “Is there some kind of legend that goes along with that name?”

In no time at all, they’d reached Pine Ridge’s town limits. Gabe thought for a moment. “I think the original founder fell in love with the countryside and said to his wife that he hoped that it would stay like this forever, that civilization with its progress and its grimy fingerprints would just bypass them.”

That sounded incredibly hokey even to someone with no memory, Angel couldn’t help thinking.