Remember Me by Priscilla Poole Rainwater

Kneeling down beside his wife, Granger called to her, pleading. “Cassandra, baby….please, open your eyes!” He reached for her but Doctor Joy Bishop pushed his hand away.

“Don’t touch her, you could make her injuries worse,” she said angrily as she checked for a pulse, praying that she was still alive.
     
     
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    Clicking on her right blinker, Cynne’ turned onto Cassandra’s usually quiet street, surprised and instantly alarmed to see emergency vehicles close to her friend’s apartment building. There were at least three dozen people milling around, and most of them looked very angry. They were talking amongst themselves and pointing in different directions, but mainly in the direction of a man who was talking to a group of police officers.

From the passenger seat, Jocelyn’s voice rose in surprise and alarm. “That’s my son-in-law, Granger.” she said, and pointed him out. Inner alarms going off, she thought, Lord, please don’t let it be her! Don’t let me have waited this long, and came all this way, only for something bad to have happened to her!

Spotting a nearby parking space and pulling in, Cynne’ hadn’t even came to a complete stop before Jocelyn was out of the car. Turning off the ignition, she scrambled out and hastily followed the older woman, who was making a beeline for her son-in-law.

Still talking to the ranking police officer, Granger’s voice trailed off mid-sentence, astonished to see his mother-in-law come running up to where they stood. “Jocelyn, how did…how did you find out I was coming here?”

With a fearful, irritated wave of her hand, she dismissed the question and blurted, “Where’s my baby, where is she?”

Dread washed over him, knowing he would have to tell her. Turning to the police officer, he said, “Will that be all for now? I need to get to my wife.”

Glancing down at his notepad, the officer carefully double-checked, making certain he had all the information he needed to file his report. This man, and the other three people who had been with him, had told them a tale that had seemed unbelievable at first, but the private detective, Raidon Bishop, had been able to produce a file proving that they had all been searching for this missing woman, Cassandra Mortenson. Looking at the photos the private detective had, and then at the victim’s face and driver’s license that was found in her purse, there had been no doubt in his mind that a missing woman had been found. The entire debacle had been a tragic misunderstanding, a bizarre accident in which no one was at fault. As far as he was concerned, no charges would be filed against anyone. “Yes sir, we’re finished. I’m turning this over to a detective in our special victims unit, but that’s normal procedure, no charges will be filed against you or anyone else. Someone from that unit will see you at the hospital, just to tie up any loose ends, but that‘s about it.” That said, he tipped his hat and gave them all a courteous smile.

Watching the policemen turn and leave, he sighed and rubbed his aching neck, dreading the confrontation that would soon follow. Turning to Jocelyn reluctantly, he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, as you obviously know by now, the private detective I hired found her. She…she got upset and became very agitated when we approached her. She panicked, ran away, and was so frightened she ran right out in the middle of the street. She was hit by a car.”

“Oh my God…”

“The paramedics believe it’s nothing life threatening..” he quickly added. Turning to the young woman who was accompanying her, he asked, “Miss , could I possibly ride with you to the hospital? I’ve sent my aid ahead of me, to arrange for payment of her treatment. He had to be driven there by the private detective I hired. I’m without transportation.”

Cynne’s accusing gaze was riveted on