Page 43 of The Do-Over
She got a glass of ice water and put it in front of him on the table. He reached for it and flinched.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“My shoulder hurts.”
“Okay, let me just examine it really quick, all right?”
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “I know what I’m doing.”
The more disturbing question was whether he knew what he was doing. Rob was a doctor. He was experienced in field combat. Thea manipulated his arm carefully and decided he was probably dealing with a rotator cuff tear—but he should have been able to figure that out for himself. Why hadn’t he known what was going on?
Why didn’t he seem to know what was going on with regard to anything?
She decided the best thing to do was to start slowly. “What happened tonight?” she asked him. “How did you end up driving off the road?”
He sighed. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember. The whole day is kind of a blur.”
“Okay,” she said. “That can happen after a traumatic event. That’s okay. Can you tell me what the last thing you remember clearly is?”
He appeared to think for a moment. “I guess…probably the game?”
“The game?”
“Yeah, the basketball game.”
“What game?”
“You were there, Thee. We played Sinclair High. Was that tonight?” He shook his head. “It couldn’t have been, because the weather was clear.”
Thea’s heart plummeted. “Rob.”
“So I guess a few days are fuzzy,” he said, forcing a laugh—she could tell he was starting to be concerned. “I must have hit my head harder than I thought. Maybe someone should check me for that concussion.”
“I don’t think you have a concussion,” Thea said softly. “I checked you earlier, Rob.”
“But you’re not a doctor, Thea.”
“I’m the closest thing we have right now. No one is getting through this snow.”
“Well, I’ll wait for a professional opinion,” he said. “But in the meantime, I probably shouldn’t let myself fall asleep or anything, right? Maybe you can help me stay awake.”
He grinned a little saucily and reached out for her.
Thea pulled away. “Rob, just…just wait.” She felt in over her head by a mile. Something was really wrong here. Rob seemed to be experiencing serious memory loss, and she needed to find a way to make him aware of that fact without completely freaking him out. “Listen…who’s the president right now?”
He laughed. “I’m not that out of it, Thee.”
“Just answer the question, okay?”
He rolled his eyes and named the president who had held office when they were in high school. “The big doofus,” he added.
Thea pressed her hands to her face.
“Thea?” He reached out and grabbed her wrist. “What’s the matter?”
She looked down, feeling something sticky and damp against her skin. “You’re bleeding,” she said.
