Leapholes

Chapter 4

For breakfast Ryan ate blueberry waffles with butter and extra maple syrup. To drink, he had a chocolate milkshake. A whole pitcher of milkshakes, and another one with whipped cream, and the pitchers were never empty, no matter how many glasses he filled.

Then he woke, and there was nothing but hunger in his belly.

He'd had no food since breakfast. Even then he'd managed only a few bites of toast and some cereal before his anger had driven him from the kitchen. That painkiller from the nurse had promptly sent him off to dreamland, and the dreams were only making him hungry.

"Man, what does it take to get something to eat around here?" He was speaking aloud but to no one in particular.

The plastic curtain slid open, and suddenly Ryan was no longer alone. A girl was in the cubicle beside him, lying in a bed just like his. With the curtain thrown back, it was suddenly as if they were sharing a room. She said, "I have a granola bar, if you want one."

Ryan looked at her curiously. She seemed nice enough, with light brown hair, a dimple when she smiled, and hazel eyes that sparkled. Girls that pretty often made him nervous, especially when they looked older than him.

"I'm Kay lee." She reached across the gap between them, offering her granola bar. "Go ahead. I have more."

"Thanks." Ryan took it and tore off almost half of it in one bite.

"You're Ryan, right? Ryan L'new?"

"L'new?" said Ryan, his mouth full of granola.

"That's what it says on that chart over there."

Ryan glanced toward the busy work station in the center of the ER. A big white board on the wall had all the patients listed, their names written in colored grease pen. The box for ER bed number twelve read: Ryan LNU.

Ryan thought for a moment, and then it came to him. "Oh, you think my name is pronounced L'new? That's just an abbreviation. LNU-Last Name Unknown."

"Lucky you. L'new is a pretty goofy sounding last name."

Beats the heck out of Coolidge, thought Ryan. "Yeah. I guess so."

"So, what's up with you? Can't remember your own name? You got amnesia or something?"

Ryan chewed off another bite of granola bar. "Something like that. I just can't remember."

"Well, maybe I can help you."

"I don't think so."

"No, really. I'm good at these kinds of things. Let's try it this way. I'll bet you like knock-knock jokes, don't you?"

Ohy yes. And Barney and Teletubbies, too. Ryan said, "To tell you the truth, I hate knock-knock jokes."

"Work with me on this."

"No. I mean, I really hate knock-knock jokes."

"Trust me," said Kaylee. "This just might work. Now, you start."

"All right," he said with a sigh. "Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"Ryan."

"Ryan who… She made an exaggerated gesture, as if that were supposed to trigger his memory.

Ryan shook his head. "It's not working."

"Hmm. This is going to be tougher than I thought. Well, to heck with your name. Maybe I can just make you laugh. I'll start this time. "Knock-knock."

"Can we do something else? I'm just not a knock-knock person."

"Knock-knock."

"Kaylee, please."

"Knock-knock."

"Come in!" he said. His tone had a certain finality to it.

Kaylee paused, not quite sure what to say. Then a smile came to her lips. "Knock-knock-Come in!" She snickered and said, "Cute. I like that."

Ryan returned the smile. "Works every time. It's the perfect knock-knock buster."

He rolled the empty granola bar wrapper into a ball and shot it into the waste basket. Two points. "So, what happened to you?"

She sighed, then glanced at her leg. "I got hit by a car."

"Really? Me too. How did your accident happen?"

"Well, I was out jogging, because my dance instructor says I need to improve my wind. Anyway, I was crossing the street when this car seemed to come out of nowhere."

"What did it look like?"

"I think it was a white station wagon."

"You've got to be kidding," said Ryan, his voice racing. "Did you see the driver?"

"Yes. But not at first. The car cut right in front of me. It didn't exactly hit me. It was more like a bump or a glancing blow. Knocked me right to the ground."

"And then-don't tell me-a guy with a flat face jumped out, right?"

"How did you know?" she said.

"Because that's what happened to me! I was riding my bike, and this white station wagon came out from nowhere. Then this strange-looking dude got out and put me in the back of the car."

"Yeah. Except that when he opened the back of the car, it didn't look like a normal car. It was more like… like an ambulance."

Ryan's mouth was agape. "We're talking about the exact same guy! Did he do that finger-waving thing to you?"

"Yes," she said. "Back and forth, like a windshield wiper. And then I blacked out."

"And the next thing you know…" Ryan paused and gave her a chance to catch up. Then they finished his sentence together: "I'm waking up in the ER."

They locked eyes but said nothing. They'd been through the same experience, the same strange accident. The fact that it had happened to someone else was comforting on one level. But in some ways, it made it even more bizarre.

"Except I'm not having any trouble remembering my last name," said Kaylee.

"Well, maybe you didn't bump your head like I did."

She glanced at the bandage on Ryan's elbow. "Yeah, sure. Head injury, huh?"

Ryan smiled nervously, sensing that perhaps she was beginning to see through his little LNU-charade. The doctor showed up just in time, before Kaylee could probe any further.

"Hello, I' m Doctor Morales. How are we doing here today, Ryan?"

"Pretty good, I think."

Dr. Morales checked Ryan's chart, speed-reading from top to bottom. She had a round, full face, and her short black hair was in tight, efficient curls. Ryan saw only concern in her dark brown eyes. No scorn, no ridicule-no clue as to who he was.

She laid the chart aside. "How's that memory coming along?"

"I thought it was getting better, but now I don't remember."

She smiled, realizing that it was a joke. "Do you know your last name yet?"

"No."

"Well, don't worry. I'm sure it will improve with time. But I want you to know that we've notified the police that you're here. As soon as your parents get worried enough to file a missing persons report with the authorities, we'll be able to link you up, okay?"

"Okay, great."

"I'll check back with you in about an hour," the doctor said as she walked away, moving on to the next patient.

Ryan's head settled back into his pillow. A missing persons report. Wonderful. Ryan hadn't figured on that. He had no plan, and running away from home was a pretty stupid idea. But he wasn't ready to go back. He didn't want to cause his mother too much heartache, but the fact was, both his parents had lied to him. They'd both assured him that the criminal charges were bogus. For the first time since his father had pleaded guilty and gone away to prison, Ryan wasn't a part of the Coolidge family. It felt good, and he wanted to keep that feeling going,' at least a little bit longer.

Kaylee said, "You don't want to go home, do you, Ryan?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Instinct. Intuition. I don't know. Something tells me you like being Ryan L'new better than Ryan whatever your name is."

Ryan didn't answer. He just looked at the big white board, toward the name penned in beside bed number twelve. Ryan LNU. A little goofy, but he'd heard worse. His gaze drifted toward the EXIT sign over the ER's double doorway. They were automatic doors, and people seemed to come and go at will. His elbow still hurt a little, but his legs were fine. He could ask to use the bathroom, walk out those doors, and just keep going. His mother would find him when he was ready to be found, not when she filed that missing persons report and the police came to get him.

"Hey, Kaylee."

"What?"

"You think anyone named L'new has ever been to prison?"

"I don't know. Why do you ask?"

Ryan drew a deep breath, then let it out. "Just wondering."