Do I?

DO I ?

Jill Steele entered the patient’s room to check on her. She gently took her pulse and listened to her heart and breathing. She was startled when she straightened up to see Solace Rothchild’s eyes were open.

“Do you know who I am?” her lips said.

“Ms. Rothchild, you have been here in this ward since the accident.”

The patient wrinkled her brow.

“What accident?”

“You fell down the stairs and hit your head.”

“How long ago?”

“It’s been some time, about three months. You’ve been in a coma.”

The young woman struggled to sit up but didn’t make it due to extreme weakness. She sank back and closed her eyes. Nurse Steele smoothed her covers.

“You need more rest. We’ll talk in the morning if you’re up to it.”

“Do you know me?” Solace repeated vaguely.

“Sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Nurse Steele quietly left to do her report. The other nurses at the floor nursing station were surprised to hear the news.

“Does she remember anything,” one asked.

Jill shook her head no.

“She doesn’t even remember who she is for very long,” she added.

“Poor girl! Has her fiancé been here today?”

“No, he hasn’t been by days.”

“Really? After carrying on the way he did in the first week?” Jill said.

As Nurse Steele wrote her reports, she kept wondering. She picked up the phone and called Homicide.

“Detective Soames? Nurse Steele. Ms. Solace Rothchild is awake. But she is still confused. Come tomorrow. I have something I’d like to run past you before you speak to her.”

She hung up the phome and pulled a pad toward her. While it was fresh in her mind, Jill wrote down her attempted murder theory concerning Solace Rothchild.

"I think her fiance did it!" she murmured.