Lost in Biloxi

Lost in Biloxi

The early June sun shone warmly on the small family settling their belongings under a huge beach umbrella before the parents slathered sun-block on the children and on each other. The near white sand extended about four blocks from the road to the swallow water. The Gulf sparkled with reflected light, creating a bright world. The two little girls squealed in delight as their father grabbed each with one arm and ran to the waiting gentle waves.

“Daddy, don’t drop me!” the five-year-old cried.

“Hurry, Daddy, hurry!” the three-year-old cheered her father on.

Under the umbrella, the pregnant mother watched, laughing with enjoyment as she watched her husband frolic with their children. Sighing, she leaned back on the beach recliner, glad to allow the three to play without her for awhile. The sounds of laughter, cries of sea gulls, and the lap of the waves lulled her to sleep. When she awoke, the smile she wore in her dreams remained.

The woman abruptly sat up in the bed, sobs racking her body. “Not again, oh, please not again,” she cried into her hands. “I want to remember. I don’t want to dream!”

Throwing herself back on the pillow, she curled into a ball, her arms wrapped around her head as the tears increased. Finally, the tears slowed and the sounds of agony decreased. Rolling over to the edge of the bed, she swung her legs over the side. She reached for tissues from the box on the table beside the bed. Wiping her face and nose, she stood to hobble to the window. Staring at a yard she didn’t find familiar, after six months still not familiar, she decided that she had to have help.

Turning back to the bedside table, she opened a drawer and picked up the phone book inside. Perching on the bed again, she opened the book before realizing the room was too dark to read. Stretching she touched the button on the lamp. Returning to the book, she explored the pages until she found one that might include help.

“Private investigations... maybe...maybe, they can help me find who I am.” Her whisper seemed loud in the small room.

The next morning, the young woman told her story, her story of nothing, to a older woman in the H and L Investigations office. She forced herself to speak calmly as she explained the need to find herself, literally.

“I was found by a highway patrolman in a wrecked car outside of town. Apparently, I wasn’t driving because I was in the backseat. I came to in the hospital, remembering nothing.” A brief flash of panic crossed her face before she fought for control once more. “I still don’t know who I am, where I came from, nothing. I didn’t have any identification, just the clothes on my back, a baggy swimming suit under a pair of shorts and a sleeveless blouse.” She looked down at her hands gripped tightly in her lap. “The doctor said that I had given birth to a baby not long before I was found, but there wasn’t any sign of a baby in the car.”

The woman behind the desk leaned forward. “I’m sure the police contacted other departments for a missing person with your description.”

The young woman nodded.

“Hmmm.” Marlene Wry peaked her hands under her chin. “So we have nothing to work with?”

“Just my dream, but I don’t know how it can help.”

“Dream?”

“Yes, I’m on a beach with my husband and two little girls. I’m pregnant. My husband takes the girls to the water. I lean back and fall asleep. I awake in bed at my room at the Y.”

“You’re at a beach. Do you recognize where the beach is? Is it the beach here?”

“No, it’s not this beach, but the color of the sand is the same. The water in the dream is shallow for a long way out from the beach, not like here.” Her body trembled hard enough to shake the chair.

Marlene rose from behind her desk to take the chair beside the younger woman. Lying a hand on Jane's, she offered, "Why don't we stop for today? I'll do some checking this afternoon, then contact you later."

"I'm sorry... I have this horrible feeling... Everytime I dream, when I think or talk about it." She bit her lip until a drop of blood beaded beside her tooth.

"I understand." Marlene handed her a tissue. "I've dealt with people before who've lost their memories. It's frightening." She smiled, "You gave your name as Jane Jones. Where did you get the name?"

“One of the nurses at the hospital brought me clothes, helped me find a job. Her name is Sherry Jones. She said I could use her last name. Everyone was already calling me Jane, for Jane Doe.”

Noting Jane’s breathing had calmed and her hands loosened, Marlene asked, "Would you do me a favor?"

"If I can." Jane eyed the investigator warily.

"Nothing hard, I promise. Would you write down everything you can remember about the beach? Keep paper and pen by your bed and jot down everything you can when you awaken after a dream. Will you do that?"

"I... Sure, I can do that."

"Good." Marlene stood. "I'll give you a call this evening."

Jane worked in a fog for the rest of the day. She had taken an early lunch to talk to Marlene Wry but hadn't taken time to eat. Concern about who she was and the reoccuring dream pushed all thought of food out of her mind. However, as she left the hospital admissions office, where she worked, her stomach reminded her with a rumbling growl. By the time she arrived at her room at the YWCA, a bag with an early supper in hand, she didn't know whether to wish for a call or to dread it.

She had just finished her hamburger and fries when someone rapped on her door. Opening it, she found the woman investigator standing in the hall.

"Mrs. Wry! I, uh, didn't expect you. Please, won't you come in?" Jane stepped back from the opening.

"I won't take but a minute, Jane. I have a question that I hope you won't mind trying to answer."

"Of course. Please have a seat." She motioned to the small table with two chairs in one corner.

After both women were seated, Marlene reached across the table to take the younger woman's hand. "Jane, would you try to remember everything you can about the beach?"

With a frown, Jane asked, "Why? I think I've told you all I remember."

"Would you lean back, close your eyes, and see if you can remember anything other than what you've already told me?"

"I'll try." Jane closed her eyes. "The sand spread between a road and the water. The distance between them was about three or four blocks, maybe." She paused, her eyes still closed. "From where I sat under the umbrella, I could see a warf way down the beach to my right, sticking out into the Gulf."

"The Gulf?"

Jane's eyes popped open. "Oh, where did that come from? Could I have really remembered something."

"You very well could have. That description sounds very familiar..." Marlene pushed back her chair. Standing, she walked to the window to stare sightlessly into the darkening sky. "I can almost picture the scene you just described."

At Jane's short laugh, she turned back to face the room. "Was that a real laugh, or an attempt to keep from crying?"

With a slight shrug, Jane replied, "I guess a combination. I just thought,when you said you can almost picture the beach, that it's the only thing I can picture."

"I know." Marlene returned to the chair. "But, I can almost say where this beach is. If you stand on the road, or street, you can gaze out forever across the sand and the water. On the west sits the wharf... Biloxi... That sounds like the beach around Biloxi."

"Biloxi, but that's in Mississippi. We're in Florida."

"Um, hum. Jane, could you come by my office tomorrow after you get off work?"

"Yes, why?"

"I just remember something I heard about when I was on vacation about five months ago. I read... No, I'm not saying any more until I know."

"Sure, I'll be there. I get off about four o'clock usually."

"Then I'll see you as soon after four as you can get there."

The next afternoon, Jane once again sat in the chair across from Marlene.

"Well, what did you find out?" she begged. "Did you remember anything that helped?"

"I believe so." She came around the desk to sit in the other chair beside Jane.“I think we found your family, including your six-month-old little boy.”

“I have a family, a baby boy?” Her hands shaking, she reached toward the woman who had given part of her life back. “But why didn’t they try to find me?”

“They have been, Jane, rather, Elizabeth, if you are this woman. They just never looked far enough or in this direction.”

“But what...”

“You had some difficulties, went into a coma on the beach. You were rushed to a hospital, had your baby, disappeared the next day.” Watching the play of expressions cross Jane’s face, Marlene waited a few minutes. "What am I saying? We think that woman was you."

“Then why didn’t anyone know...”

“The search stayed around Biloxi, even though Elizabeth's family was from Florida, in fact about twenty-five miles from here. I was there about five months ago, as I told you, and read about the case, or I wouldn’t know.” She stopped to pat one of the hands grasping hers. "We need to be sure if she is you. Don't... We'll know in just a minute."

Jane buried her face in her hands. “Maybe I can remember... someday... Maybe I can... a family... my baby... I have a baby.” She looked up. “The two little girls in my dream, are they mine, too.”

Marlene nodded. "If you're Elizabeth, they are."

"Then all along, a part of me was remembering."

When a knock sounded at the door, Marlene rose to open it. Jane pivoted in her chair to stare up at the tall man, who paused to gaze at her just a moment before swooping her into his arms.

"Elizabeth, oh, Elizabeth, I thought I'd never see you again."

She could feel his tears drip on her cheek. His arms gathered her with safety and strength and comfort. Pulling back to look at his face, she reached to wipe tears from his jaw with her fingertips. "I know you, don't I?" she whispered. "I know you." Suddenly, she felt at peace, at home. "I don't know when, if, or what I'll ever completely remember, but I know you."

A dazed smile crossed his lips. "Yes, sweetheart, you know me. The rest will take care of itself, in time." He gently kissed her mouth, which responded automatically. "Let's go home."