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.