Chapter Thirteen
Tammy found herself in a white room in which the walls were made of tightly corded bed sheets. On one side of the room was a white door with a glass window. A baby cried faintly in the background.
She spun in the room, trying to find the source of the crying, but there was no use. She ran toward the door and flung it open. On the other side was another white room, but the sheets were no longer tightly corded; they billowed as if in a gentle breeze.
Across the room stood a man with his back to her. He seemed very familiar. He turned. It was her father, Albert Veneze. He laughed a woman's laugh, and spoke with a woman's voice before turning and walking toward the sheets. Suddenly moonlight shone in the room. Tammy looked upward and could see a full moon in a cloudless sky. When she looked down again, her father was disappearing through the sheets/walls. She ran after him and a door appeared. It opened on a busy street, and a baby was again crying only much louder. The cars were coming closer, horns blaring and people yelling to her father to get out of the way. Before Tammy could go to him, the door slammed hard in her face. She tried to re-open it, but it was blocked by a white chain and she could only open it a crack. The harder she pushed the more difficult the task of opening seemed to be. Eventually the door sealed itself. But the sounds of the cars did not go away. The baby's screams became louder, nearly unbearable.
Tammy banged on the door, screaming for her father to move out of the way. But he did not hear her. The cars moved closer, and she could see the headlights bearing down on them both. They vehicles were unrelenting, they tore through the sheets despite her screams for them to stop.
As the cars neared her, her father, in the midst of the traffic turned as if he'd finally heard her. The vehicles rushed around him. He looked at her, and Tammy noticed for the first time that he was holding a baby in his arms. She wore a pink bow in her hair and was smiling at Tammy.
Tammy was forced to watch, horrified, as a giant big rig appeared on the horizon. It was headed directly for her father and the baby. Tammy screamed...
Tammy woke up screaming. Disoriented, and half tangled in the sheets, all she could hear was the pounding of her heart.
Moments later, the door slammed open and a dark figure stood silhouetted in the doorway. Tammy screamed again, and instinctively grabbed at the nearest object and began swinging.
The figure was running straight for her and could do nothing to avoid the alarm clock she wielded. The clock hit its marks, landing square against the man's skull and Tammy dashed past him, out the door. Momentum carried the man crashing into the dresser before he tumbled to the floor between the bed and the dresser. By then, Tammy had reached the hallway.
As she focused on her surroundings, sanity returned. Horrified, she ran back into the room and found the light switch. There lay David Brinkman, clad only in his underwear, out cold.
She ran to his side and hesitantly touched him. He appeared to be breathing, but he was going to have one heck of a knot on his forehead. Afraid to move him, but not wanting to leave him lying on the floor, either, Tammy fretted around him trying to choose the correct action.
Thankfully, David began to come around, saving her from making a decision.
Running to his side she touched him just to be sure he was breathing. His breathing appeared all right. She couldn't leave him there on the floor until he came around. But, how could she move him, he was no small boy?
She was saved from having to make a decision either way, because David was beginning to come around. An ugly bruise was already beginning to form around the spot where the clock had broken the skin.
David sat up with a start and immediately grabbed his head. "What happened?" he asked groggily. Pushing himself up off the floor, he sat heavily on the side of the bed, with Tammy's help.
Tammy eyed him sheepishly as he continued.
"I heard you screaming," he said slowly, pulling his hand away from his forehead. He froze, seeming to lose his train of thought when he saw the blood.
"Let me take care of that," Tammy said, jumping to action. It was the least she could do. Moving up off the bed, she rushed to the adjoining bathroom to get a cloth to clean the cut.
"Where's the first aid stuff?" she yelled from the bathroom. She riffled through the cabinets and beneath the sink. Nothing. And no answer from David.
"David?" she called again, poking her head out of the bathroom. going to the bathroom to get a washcloth to clean up the cut. "Where's the first aid stuff?" she yelled from the bathroom. She riffled through the cabinet and under the counter. No answer.
"David?," she yelled again, "where is the first aid stuff?" She stuck her head out of the bathroom. "Where's the first aid stuff?" She wandered out of the bathroom and into the hallway.
"I'll get it," David was saying as he reached, one-handedly into the hall closet. He grabbed a bottle of alcohol and a basket of first aid items. The entire works crashed to the carpet.
Tammy bent over and picked it up for him. "You should let me do that," she said leading him back to the guest room and sitting him on the edge of the bed. She quickly cleaned the wound and put a Band-Aid on it. She couldn't began to remember why they all had little green shamrocks on them.
When she raised a questioning brow in David's direction, he merely shrugged. "I'm pleading the fifth."
"Hmmm," Tammy mused, but remained silent. The fact that he would be walking around with a green and white Band-Aid in the middle of his forehead would give her ample opportunity to tease him later. She could afford to let him slide on the matter at present.
When she completed the task, David sat the first aid basket aside. "What it another bad dream?"
Tammy looked down at her hands. "Yeah...uh, it was. I'm sorry I caused all of this mess." She gestured toward the broken clock and lamp. "And I'm really sorry about your head."
David sighed and grinned at her. "What's a battle scar here and there?" She noticed that he tried to hide a wince.
"You're going to have one monster of a headache."
"Going to?" David asked, a moment too late. His eyes had strayed from her face, and that longing look was back. Tammy was not immune.
David cleared his throat, and met her eyes. His gaze burned into her and Tammy felt a rush of heat engulf her. Her heart began to pound and breathing became more difficult. She may not have remembered him, but her body certainly did.
David's eyes dropped to her lips and half before she realized what happened, his lips were touching hers. Tentatively, gently exploring, they brushed against hers, requesting entry.
Tammy didn't fight him. She couldn't. She allowed him to gently love her mouth with his own.
Encouraged, David lifted his hands to touch her face. "Tammy," he breathed. "Oh, Tammy, I love you. I--"
Tammy pulled back. "No," she mumbled. "I can't." The hurt in David's eyes was nearly her undoing, but she steeled herself. She didn't know this man. And she didn't know herself. She knew that she liked him a lot, but that did not equate to love. And she was only just rediscovering herself as a person. If she gave herself to him without love then she risked losing what little of herself she had.
David forced a sad smile, and nodded his acceptance of her decision. Sighing deeply, he touched her hand. "Want to talk about your dream?"
Tammy's eyes displayed her gratitude when she responded. "It was about Daddy. That's all I can remember."
"Hmmm," David considered that. "Maybe it means something," he offered. "Hope so," Tammy replied.
David nodded, then winced slightly. "Want some company for a little while?"
"No," she told him matter-of-factly. "You need to take some aspirin and get to bed. I'm sure you're head's killing you."
"You're right," he agreed, and smiled at her. He patted her hand once, and stood to leave. "Good night, Tammy."
"Night, David."
~*~
"I remember!" David sat up with a start to find Tammy leaning over him. His head ached, and he was having difficulty thinking clearly.
"Huh?"
"I remember!" Tammy said bouncing on the bed. Laughter was visible in her eyes, and she reached up and threw her arms around him. Her mood was contagious.
"You remember?!" David was stunned and hugged her back. "When? How did it happen?"
Tammy's glee diminished slightly. "Not everything," she said. "I remember my father dying--can you imagine that, being happy for remembering a death?--and I remember moving to the city."
"Really? That's wonderful Tammy," David tried not to sound to deflated. He pulled her to him and hugged her again. This was a start. He would just have to wait a little longer. "I'm so glad. We have to celebrate!"
"Agreed," Tammy said, grinning.
"Good," David threw back the covers. "Get dressed."
"Yes Sir," Tammy saluted smartly. "Where we going?"
"Breakfast," David informed her. "I know just the place."
~*~
Breakfast was a pancake house that they often enjoyed. The restaurant was part of a chain that Tammy had remembered enjoying before. After breakfast, somehow David managed to end up at the zoo. He was so adorable in his desire to see the polar bear exhibit that Tammy couldn't deny him.
Once they finally reached the aforementioned exhibit, David had stared at her with an odd warm look in his eyes. When she'd questioned him, he simply smiled secretively and pointed toward the two animals.
"I'd like to introduce you to Buffy and Bip." Thus a debate ensued concerning the ridiculousness of such names for polar creatures. Shortly after, David bought cotton candy and peanuts, seeming determined to stuff her silly with junk food. Tammy decided that if she didn't get her memory back soon, she would need to go on a diet.
The couple spent most of the morning at the zoo, after which David disappeared inside of a gift shop. When he reappeared, he presented Tammy with a cap bearing the logo of the zoo.
"Where to next?" Tammy asked, as they climbed into the car.
"You'll see," was David's cryptic reply.