Thoroughbred

"Sure, I have a number of them. I can forward them with my phone."

"Okay, send them to my phone and I will forward them to him. Do you have a photo of just yourself, maybe a bit more personal that could jog his memory?"

"Oh, yeah. It is very personal though." Audra hesitantly said.

"It might be just the thing to make him remember." He said, and thought, 'and I wouldn't mind adding it to my personal collection.'

Kurt

Kurt was called into Mr Miller's office and directed to the psychologist's office again. He was puzzled by the necessity for an additional visit.

"Mr. Bryant, please sit down."

"May I ask why I need another evaluation? Is there a problem?"

"Just a follow up. It shouldn't take long." He said.

Mr. Miller had filled him in on the events of the previous day at the restaurant. He had also forwarded the photos to him.

"Do you know a Miss Audra Jackson?" (Using her maiden name.)

"No, I haven't met anyone by that name." As he said this he has rubbing the palm of his hand.

"Could you look at this photo and tell me what you see?" The photo was of Kurt and Audra taken at a restaurant shortly after they had started dating.

"It is a picture of me sitting at a restaurant that I frequented in the L.A. area."

"Who else is in the photo?"

"There are a couple people in the background, but I don't know who they are, just some customers."

The doctor looked at the photo. Kurt was obviously sitting at a table with his arm around a woman that Mr. Miller had told him was Kurt's wife. He tried another photo.

"That is me at the beach, at the cabana. How did you get these photos? Is the government spying on me?"

"Oh no, I got them from Mr Miller. He got them from a friend of yours in L.A."

He showed him a few more photos and the response was the same. Although his wife was in every picture he didn't see her. He was starting to get a little irritated, all the time rubbing his palm.

"Just one more, Mr. Bryant." he said as he showed him the photo of his wife, in a teddy, sitting up in a bed.

"It is a picture of what looks to be an expensive bedroom, maybe a hotel."

"Okay, Kurt. Thank you, that will be all."

Dismissed, Kurt got up and left, returning to work.

When Mr. Miller was informed about the result of the appointment, he asked, "Should I be concerned about him working here?"

"No, I don't believe so. He seems to be fully functional. Other than him blocking out anything in regards to his wife, there should be no problem. He may at some time in the future recover those memories, but he may not. Those years with her are just filled with his work life. However, if he appears to have any memory return, or issues dealing with the time he was married, please get back in touch with me."

Mr. Miller called Audra, "Mrs. Bryant, I spoke with the doctor. The pictures didn't help. It is the selective amnesia. He has forgotten about you and your marriage."

It was then that Audrey remembered what Kurt had said to her before she walked out of that bedroom, before she walked out of her marriage to have sex with her boss.

She didn't even bother saying goodbye, she just hung up. Kurt had told her she could forget about being married, he was the one that forgot about their marriage.

Finally realizing that she had destroyed her marriage, and also needing to get back to work, she started packing for the drive back to L.A. As she was packing she thought about the end of her marriage and also about her job. She was sorrowful for her marriage and had mixed feelings for her job. She would need to stay working there at least for now, she needed money to survive and she was compensated well for her position as HR Director. She knew, however, that her heart would not be in it like it had been.

As she was getting ready to leave and settling up her hotel bill. She opened her Gucci purse to retrieve her car keys. There in the bottom of her purse was Kurt's ring. She had brought it in hopes that they would reconcile and he would put it back on. What was she going to do with it now? She would leave that decision for another day.

As she started out on the long trek back, tears in her eyes, she said out loud, "I hope you find happiness Kurt."

Epilogue - About one year later

"Audra," Chet Halverson said. "Why do you seem so sad?"

"This weekend will be one year." She said quietly.

"I understand." He said, and he did understand. After Audra returned from her vacation, she was distant. Chet tried to cheer her up and even suggested a repeat performance of that fateful night. She turned him down flatly, and even informed him that his advances were unwanted and any further effort to have anything but a professional relationship with her, would meet with a sexual harassment suit. He took that warning to heart and made no further advance toward her.

It was a week later that Audra filed for divorce. She knew that the marriage was over, but had held out hope that Kurt would have an epiphany and remember the good times they had together. In speaking with Mr. Miller, she knew that he still hadn't shown any signs of acknowledging his marriage.

When the papers arrived, by certified mail, Kurt opened the envelope with curiosity, but when he read the first few lines his mind went blank and he dropped the envelope and its contents in the trash. Then he absentmindedly rubbed the palm of his left hand.

Ninety days went by and Audra was with her lawyer in front of a judge. She had the doctor's report, as well as Mr. Miller's report that made it obvious to everyone there that there was no reason not to grant the divorce. She would never forget her marriage to Kurt. Hopefully, she could find someone else and learn from her past mistake.

That weekend Chet was in his stable telling his groomer to saddle up the Thoroughbred. The groomer looked at him surprised. Chet didn't like riding the horse, it was too high strung. He preferred the Quarter horse, a much easier ride. However, Audra had mentioned the finalization of her divorce and he got to thinking about how her husband had handled the beast with such ease. He also remembered how he had shown him up on that weekend. He needed to prove to himself that he was not second place, especially to a man that threw away such a beautiful woman.

He had been out on the trails for about a half an hour when all of a sudden the horse screamed and bucked Chet off his back. Chet fell hard, but as he lay on the ground he felt a burning sensation in his left hand and as he pulled his hand to his chest he saw the horse rear and his front feet come down upon him.

He woke up in the hospital three days later. His hand was bandaged and he was confused, trying to remember what had happened.

The nurse, noticing his activity came into the room. "Mr. Halverson, how are you feeling? You are in the hospital. You have suffered an accident. I will get the doctor and she will explain everything."

He hadn't even had a chance to answer her, or ask any questions before she was gone.

He wondered what had happened. He didn't remember much. He started accessing his situation. His hand still hurt. He remembered that much of what had happened. His back was sore, but other than that he didn't feel too bad.

Then the doctor entered. She was a lovely redhead, early forties, with a serious yet empathetic look on her face.

"Mr. Halverson, my name is Dr. Pattin. How are you feeling?"

"My hand hurts and also my back, but other than that, okay."

"You took quite the fall from your horse. What do you remember?"

"I was riding my Thoroughbred through the hills around my estate." He said, trying to impress this lovely doctor. "Something spooked my horse and it bucked me off. I remember hitting the ground, then my hand hurt. That is all I remember."

"We'll discuss the hand in a minute. Can you tell me how your body feels? Where else do you hurt?"

"My back hurts, but I hit the ground pretty hard."

"Mr. Halverson..."

"Call me Chet please." He said, no reason they shouldn't be on a first name basis.

"Okay Chet. I need you to tell me, can you feel your toes?"

Chet thought about it, then panic started to set in. He couldn't feel his toes, or his feet, or even his legs. He tilted his head up to see if somehow they were gone. Nope, they were still there, but he couldn't feel them and as hard as he tried he couldn't move them.

"Your horse accidentally came down on your pelvic region with it's front feet. You have internal damage and your pelvic bone is shattered. If it wasn't for one of you neighbors being out on the trails, seeing what happened, and calling for an ambulance immediately, you probably would be dead from internal bleeding.

Chet was in shock.

The doctor continued. "Your spinal cord was severed and you have lost all feeling and function in the lower half of your body."

Chet's head was spinning. The doctor was continuing to talk to him about his condition and the prognosis going forward, but he didn't hear her. He was paralyzed from the waist down. That is all he could think about.

"Kurt?" Mr. Miller had said, "You've been smiling all week. Is there some reason, maybe you remembered some happy memories from the past?"

"No, actually I don't really know why, but life just seems so great right now. There is no reason to go around being Mr. Broody. It is a sunny day and things have just been great this last week."

Kurt loved his job. He had been working on a pet project for the last year. It involved an extremely remote drone guidance system. They had tested it over the last weekend, and even from half a country away he could fly a laser equipped 3 foot diameter drone. The laser could hit a target from three thousand feet up with pinpoint accuracy. The military, as well as law enforcement's applications were almost immeasurable. This would give us a tremendous edge against our enemies.

He stood talking to Mr. Miller absentmindedly rubbing the palm of his left hand, feeling the circle under his skin.

"Well, I'm glad for you Kurt. Keep up the good work."

Three weeks later Chet was home trying to get used to his new normal. He had to move into one of the main floor bedrooms as his Master bedroom was upstairs. His wheel chair wouldn't allow for him to stay there. He also had to get used to having a colostomy bag and all the new routines as well as the requirements that were foisted upon his life.

"His life," he thought. "What kind of a life would this be?"

His groomer, cook, and now nurse had all been very sympathetic about his new situation, but they were just paid hands. Other than a few neighbors, and the guy that found him and called the ambulance, he hadn't had any other friends visit him. Did he have any true friends? Were they all just acquaintances?

As he was pondering that, staring out the back of his house overlooking the hills, his groomer came in and had a concerned look on his face. "What is it?" Chet asked.

"Sir, I think I may have to have the vet out tomorrow."

"Why is that?"

"There is a sore that, no matter what salve I've applied, refuses to heal. Here, let me zoom in so you can see it."

There, in the picture, was an obvious sore, a perfect circle about the size of a nickle.

Chet opened his left hand and showed it to the groomer. They both stared, amazed. There in his palm was a perfect circle about the size of a nickle. They didn't know what to make of it.

That night as Chet was maneuvering his wheelchair to the side of his bed he took off his watch and set it on the nightstand. There, something caught his eye. There was an indent on the nightstand. He just looked at it, and then looked at his hand.