'That's good then.'
'Well yes but unfortunately she has no memory of not only the accident but of who she is and where she lives. She seems to know what year it is and even what month, basic facts like that but she can't tell me her age or anyone in her family. It's called functional amnesia.' Dr McNamara said shaking his head in dismay.
'Will her memory come back?' Ethan asked quietly, his anxious glance directed towards the door.
'Usually and quite spontaneously. Some patients regain it when faced with whatever or whoever caused the loss in the first place.'
'What …her head being driven into the concrete?' Ethan quipped.
Smiling the doctor replied 'No. The accident was probably only a trigger. The reason probably has more to do with her memories possibly being painful or stressful. But don't let me mislead you. She still has her memory. What we have here is a problem of accessibility. Her conscious mind for whatever reason is unable or unwilling to access the information in her memory while emotions, feelings from the past can be accessed. Facts unrelated to her self also aren't a problem. Their retrieval poses no threat to her state of mind. That's the psychological theory any way.'
'So if she is faced with something from her past she may recall all or some of her memory?' Ethan queried.
'Maybe, maybe not. There's always the problem that if the memory is too traumatic she may withdraw into some form of psychosis. Who knows she may have been suffering this functional amnesia before the accident. It would certainly explain the lack of I.D.'
'Don't think so. A bag wasn't found. The police think someone light fingered it during the confusion. Either way we won't know until she regains, sorry finds her memory.'
Ethan thanked the doctor, established that it was alright to return to her side and made his way back to the room where his responsibility lay, literally.
Since no one had reported her missing and now he finds out she has no idea who she is or who could come and claim her it fell to Ethan to take charge of her well being.
Of course there was the small matter of the debt he owed her, Ethan thought wryly.
Halting at the door Ethan found a more pleasant sight than when he first laid eyes on her. A nurse's aide had her sitting up sideways in bed gingerly washing her hair in a portable basin, the battered and bruised woman unaware of his entry.
The aide seeing him halt in the doorway raised her eyebrows in silent query but Ethan signaled for her to continue indicating he would be back, his raised 10 fingers receiving an answering nod.