For Their Child's Sake
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Jules Bennett
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18
Chapter One
“Just tell us the prognosis.”
Sam Bailey had been on an emotional roller coaster the past two years. And now, huddled in a small consultation room at Mercy Hospital in Stonerock, Tennessee, waiting to hear the diagnosis of his five-year-old daughter while sitting next to the wife who’d left him...well, Sam’s nerves were flat-out shot.
Dr. Benson displayed a glossy page with several images. “You can see on Marley’s CT scan that everything appears to be in good shape.”
Actually, Sam couldn’t see that because he was an architect, not a doctor.
“If things are good, then why did you bring us in here?” Tara asked. “I want to be with my daughter.”
His wife sat too close, smelled too good and was clutching the strap of her purse like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. If they were a normal couple, he’d reach out and take her white-knuckled hand to offer support. If they were a normal couple, they would’ve driven here together when the school called and said that Marley had hit her head when she fell from the playground equipment at a party on the last day of a summer school program.
If they were a normal couple, he wouldn’t have divorce papers waiting for his signature just below where his wife had already signed away their marriage.
“Marley is a lively little girl. I can tell from the time I spent with her doing my assessment. This fall could have been much worse.” Dr. Benson shifted his focus from Sam to Tara. “A head trauma can cause multiple issues and some aren’t seen by simply looking at the outward appearance.”
“Just say it,” Sam demanded. “What’s wrong with my daughter?”
Technically, she was his adopted daughter. When he’d met Tara, Marley had just turned two. He’d fallen in love with both raven-haired beauties and quickly made them his family. Marley was his in every single way that mattered. Even if Sam and Tara’s marriage was one signature away from the end, Marley was still his.
Sam couldn’t figure out what was actually wrong with her, though. He’d seen Marley, he’d talked to her. She showed him where her head hurt and the scrapes on her legs from the fall.
She’d been talking just fine and even asked when they could go home. So why the cryptic chat in private?
“I consulted with another colleague,” the doctor went on. “We both believe Marley has retrograde amnesia.”
The doctor’s words took a moment to sink in. Sam wasn’t sure what retrograde amnesia was, but he sure as hell knew the term amnesia. Marley had fallen off the top of a slide and hit her head on the pole holding up the ladder. Amnesia? Wasn’t that a term used in movies? This was real life—this was his daughter’s life.
“Amnesia?” Tara’s whispered question had an underlying hint of denial. “But I talked to her. She called me Mommy and talked like she always does. She didn’t seem confused.”
The doctor nodded. “She’s not right now. Retrograde amnesia is where the patient is missing a portion of time, so unless you asked her about something specific, she wouldn’t know she was missing the memory. RA patients have retained information in their minds. In Marley’s case she knows her parents, where she lives, her favorite toy. Those are all things that have been a constant in her life. But she’s not aware she’s finished kindergarten. She remembers being in preschool, which isn’t part of the camp she’s in today. She remembers the two of you marrying—or, at least, the pictures from that day and memories you’ve discussed with her since she was little. She’s chatted quite a bit with me, but from listening, she’s lost the last year of her life.”
An entire year? His daughter was only five years old and she’d lost twenty percent of her life? How did something as common as a fall on the playground result in his baby girl being robbed of her memories?
Sam struggled to wrap his thoughts, his emotions, around this moment. How the hell had they landed here? How had he and Tara gone from the happiest, most loving couple to being separated and now dealing with Marley having amnesia? Life could spin out of control in an instant and he was more than done with the ride.
An accident of his own had stolen the life he and Tara had created. Little by little, the addiction chipped away until he’d left Tara no choice but to leave and protect their daughter.
And now look where they were. Him clean and sober for a year, holding down a steady job he was proud of, and desperately wanting his family to be whole again. He hadn’t even been sure that was possible, but now his baby girl...
“We want another opinion,” Sam stated, shifting in his seat.
Damn it. He’d gotten his life together; he’d overcome addiction and was ready to fight for his family, to get them back to where they used to be before pills destroyed them. He might have lost Tara, but that didn’t mean he was abandoning them. He planned on being a provider, damn it. He would make this up to them, even if he’d killed any chance of being Tara’s husband again.
Panic stirred at the thought of his sweet Marley totally unaware of what she faced. His sole purpose and goal over the past year had been to repair his life, Tara’s and Marley’s lives. How the hell did he fix this? He was her father. He was supposed to fix things when she got hurt or was sad.
“Wanting another opinion is understandable.” Dr. Benson slid the images into Marley’s medical folder. “As I stated before, I consulted with one of my colleagues and his prognosis was the same. I’m a parent myself, so I understand the concern and the fear.”
“Does she know?” Sam asked, swallowing his own worry so he could focus on finding a quick fix. Unfortunately, he had a sinking feeling there was no quick or easy fix. This sounded like something that could only be healed by time.
Dr. Benson shook his head. “I wanted to discuss everything with the two of you and let you figure out how to tell her. The news would be best coming from the people she’s closest to.”
Sam glanced to Tara. Tears slid down her face as she stared at the doctor. She’d shed too many tears because of him and his selfish actions. He didn’t even remember the last time he saw her smile, and every single time she hurt, it gutted him.
Unable to watch her suffer alone, Sam reached across for her hand, which she quickly pulled away. The rejection wasn’t a surprise. Knowing Tara would rather face this unknown future with Marley’s medical issue than accept his touch stung...but why had he expected her to let him in? He deserved nothing.
“What can we do for her?” Tara swiped at her damp cheeks before smoothing her wavy hair behind her shoulders. “How can we make her memories return?”
“You’re going to want to make her life as stress-free as possible,” Dr. Benson stated simply. “Right now she’s floating around the time frame when she was about three or so. She’s a happy girl. When I asked about her home life to see what she recalled, she mentioned her dog, Daisy, that the two of you just got married and that you guys were planning a beach vacation.”
Sam’s heart sank. She’d been at the altar with them when they married—that was one thing he’d insisted on. Her dog had been hit by a car when Sam hadn’t fixed the back door and she’d gotten out and darted after a stray cat. And that beach vacation was supposed to have taken place right after she turned four. Everything happy in her memory bank had been tarnished. He’d done that. He’d ruined her childhood.
When pills had overtaken Sam’s life, taking priority over his family, and he’d missed her fourth birthday party, Tara had officially had enough and kicked him out. There had gone the loving beach vacation as a family.
“I’d say with a stable home life and doing what you always did as a family, Marley will have a better chance at regaining her memories. But whatever was going on when she was three will have to be going on now, I’m afraid. Slowly her memory should return, but the mind is so complex, we just don’t know.”
Sam’s thoughts tumbled into each other as he tried to figure out exactly what all of this meant. Dr. Benson had no clue he and Tara were separated, and at the time Marley was three their family hadn’t quite started falling apart yet. So as far as his daughter was concerned, her parents were still happily married and Daisy the faithful dog was alive and well.
Damn it.
Perhaps they could find a new Daisy dog for her. But the marriage? He didn’t want to make things more difficult for Tara. If she was constantly questioned...it would make a bad situation even more uncomfortable. There was no way he would make her life that much more unbearable. From the moment he’d gotten clean and sober, Sam had vowed to do whatever he could to make Tara’s and Marley’s lives better...even if that meant he wasn’t living under the same roof...though that was exactly what he wanted. More than anything.
Tara might have pushed him out of their home, out of the marriage, but that act of tough love had been the exact slap in the face he’d needed to make him seek help. Losing his family, his life, had utterly destroyed him.
Sam had always heard the term rock bottom, and losing everything he held precious had no doubt been his bottom. Through counseling, he realized now that no one could heal him until he actually wanted to be healed. Damn, he’d been so selfish for so long.
Would they all be in this predicament if he hadn’t turned to pills to cope with life? Would his daughter be fine?
He honestly had no reason to think this was his fault, but he needed to place the blame somewhere and his shoulders already carried the brunt of the load of his screwed-up life.
“When can I take her home?” Tara asked, cutting into his wandering thoughts.
I. Not we.
Sam wasn’t about to correct her, not here. But there was no way he’d let either of the ladies he loved go through this without him. He would be the foundation in this family once again and he’d make damn sure Marley got the best care and recovered fully. Clearly, Tara didn’t want him around, but that was too damn bad. Not only did Marley need taking care of, but Tara couldn’t do all of this alone—and she shouldn’t have to.
Above his need to prove to Tara that he was a different man, their little girl and her condition had to come first. Those initial goals after becoming sober were now completely different. Sam hated the thought of telling his innocent daughter what had happened. She was so young. How could she possibly understand what all of this meant? He was thirty-six and could barely wrap his mind around this whole amnesia thing himself.
“We will keep her here overnight,” Dr. Benson told Tara. “One of you can stay with her and she will be dismissed first thing in the morning, provided there are no surprises. I scheduled a repeat CT scan for later tonight to double-check for swelling. I suspect it will be clear, but with children and head traumas, unexpected things pop up and I’m taking precautions.”
“I’ll stay,” Tara stated.
Again, Sam wasn’t going to argue. Besides, Marley would want her mother here. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make provisions for when they returned home. Already he’d started planning and plotting.
Sam would make sure Marley got her memories restored, then he’d prove to Tara that he’d changed and he was able to provide for his family. Life might have knocked him down, but he was coming back now, stronger than ever.
