The Woman in Blue

“Doctor Kinkade!” Dale called out, running down the corridor at the police station. The department’s head doctor turned and squinted with curiosity before recognition took over her features. “Oh, hey, it’s Detective Richardson, isn’t it?” Dale nodded. “Dale,” she said, extending her hand. “Gail. Just call me Gail. Doctor Kinkade sounds so impersonal.” Dale caught her breath. “What can I do for you?” “I have a lady at home that’s been acting rather—well—odd.” “Oh? Is this a friend of yours?” “She and I are legally married. Been together over a year now,” Dale said proudly. Gail smiled. “Good for you.” “She witnessed a convenience store shooting in Sacramento and was placed in WitPro. Ever hear of the Lawson/Gomez case?” The doctor thought about it for a moment. “Oh yes, the one where the two men shot a man and a woman?” Dale nodded. “The woman’s baby lived, and so did another woman. That must be yours,” Gail said. Dale nodded again. “Her name’s Misha.” “Misha. Pretty name.” Dale smiled. “Misha’s a wonderful little lady. Even her friends confirm that she’s always been a very smart, reliable girl with a very sound mind and memory. Since I’ve known her, she’s always been intelligent, sensitive, caring, compassionate, and fun to be around.” Gail smiled sincerely. “Lucky you. My lady’s a little jerk.” Dale brushed the hair out of her eyes. It had never occurred to her that the doctor might be a lesbian as well. “I’m sorry.” Gail flashed a quick smile. “Anyway, Misha’s been acting funny these past few weeks.” “Funny how?” “She’s been forgetting things. Forgetting people, forgetting events, forgetting places. I just don’t know what to make of it. She’s been moody, too. She even came at me in a fit, thinking I’d read her journal. Once I got her calmed down and asked her about it, she was like, what journal?” The doctor frowned thoughtfully as the two continued on down the corridor toward the elevator. “Could any of this be due to the convenience store trauma or the miscarriage she had a year ago?” “Hmm,” said Gail. “Well, if it is, it’s a hell of a delayed reaction time.” “That’s what I thought. She had a complete physical about a month ago and everything turned out fine.” “What about childhood abuse? Think she could be remembering something she might’ve been suppressing?” “Not that I know of. She’s always described her childhood as being a wonderful one with a wonderful family till her parents were killed in a plane crash a few years ago.” “Any siblings or other family?” Dale shook her head. “Just a few close friends.” “Think she’d be willing to meet with me?” Dale thought about it for a moment. “Somehow I doubt she’d be willing to meet you willingly.” “I could drop by,” suggested Gail as the elevator doors parted. “You know, maybe make a little house call.” “Ok,” said Dale with a nod, giving the doc two thumbs up before heading for the restroom. “Ok.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Voices grew louder as they got closer to where Misha sat on the guest room floor, digging through a box of old paperback books. Dale appeared in the doorway first. “Hi, sweetie. I brought someone who’d like to talk to you.” Dale made way for another woman to fill the doorway. “Hi,” she said cheerfully. The woman might’ve been able to pass for Dale’s sister, Misha noted. They were similar in looks, though the woman was more feminine. She also wasn’t quite as attractive as Dale was, as far as she was concerned. “How are you doing today, Misha?” asked the woman. The woman was a few inches taller than Dale but just as slender. She too, had dark eyes and hair that was just slightly below her shoulders. If Misha were unattached, she’d easily be attracted to this woman who wore a knee-length peach-colored skirt, a matching jacket, and a white blouse underneath it. Suddenly, fear gripped Misha’s heart with an iron fist. “No!” she screamed, turning toward Dale. “You can’t give me away.” The woman stepped into the room while Dale remained in the doorway, a sad, confused, and worried expression on her face. “She’d never do such a thing,” assured the woman. “Dale loves you very much, and she’d never give up on you.” “Didn’t we promise each other for better or for worse?” asked Dale with a smile. Misha nodded, stiff as a statue. “Whatcha doing?” asked the doctor, maintaining the cheery smile as she squatted down next to Misha. “Looking for a book to read.” “Even though I just took her to the library yesterday,” Dale said. The woman gestured with her hand for Dale to be silent, keeping her eyes on Misha. “I’m Doctor Kinkade, Misha,” she said, “but you can call me Gail.” “Gail and Dale,” said Misha, turning back to the box of books. “How cute.” Gail laughed, and Dale smiled. “She’s beautiful,” Gail told Dale. Dale smiled again. “And you’re right, she doesn’t look her age. She looks like she’s between sixteen and eighteen years old.” “Yes, people have asked me why I’m with someone a dozen or more years my junior,” Dale said with a laugh. “Look at that long shiny hair and those big round eyes,” said Gail with a look of admiration. “What do you want?” Misha asked with irritation, turning to look at her. “Oh, well, I just want to see if I can help figure out what’s going on. I’m a friend of Dale’s here, and I thought maybe I could…” “Strike one, Doctor. You ain’t no friend of Dale’s or else I’d have heard about it a long time ago. I’m her wife. She’s my one and only true love, and we keep nothing from each other.” Dale and Gail smiled with amusement. “Ok, so maybe I’m not a close friend, but we are very good acquaintances. I see her at the station.” “You a pig?” asked Misha. “No, I’m not a police officer of any kind, but I am a psychiatrist.” Misha’s eyes darted to Dale, who remained quiet, leaning in the doorway with her hands casually tucked in her pockets. “I should’ve known.” She looked back at Gail. “She works at home, right?” Gail asked Dale. Dale nodded. “Does she get out at all?” “Yes, she goes out with me. I take her out to various places, mostly on weekends. If she needs or really wants to go somewhere when I’m at work, she walks down to the bus stop.” “That’s right,” said Misha. “Just talk as if I’m not even here, then lock me up and throw away the key.” “Look,” Gail began, “if it’s of any consolation to you, nobody’s going to commit you to the hospital. Not as long as you’re not a danger to yourself or to others. Got it? I just want to chat with you. That’s all.” “Why can’t she do that?” Misha asked, gesturing toward Dale. “She can and she will. It’s just that sometimes it helps to involve a third party when things get rough.” “Who says things are rough?” “Well, you seem to be having memory lapses. Isn’t that a rough thing to have to deal with? Dale says you’ve had this problem for a few weeks now.” “Oh, my God!” Misha exclaimed suddenly. “I forgot to call and set up the appointment.” “The appointment for what, Misha?” Gail asked. “The baby.” “Oh, yes, that’s right. Dale told me about that. That’d be a wonderful thing too, but first I think Dale would like to see if we can figure out…” “What is this, Dale?” Misha interrupted. “You don’t think I’d be a good mother? You change your mind?” “No, I didn’t change my mind, and yes, I think you’ll be a fine mom, but first we need to find out what’s causing these memory lapses and get you whatever help you need.” Misha broke out in tears, placing her head down upon the plush carpet. This pained Dale so to see this. She stepped into the room and dropped to the floor next to Misha and gathered the diminutive girl into her arms. The doctor moved back a bit and directed her gaze out the window. “Oh, Misha, sweetie. I love you so. That’s why I’m trying to help you. I don’t want to give up on you or on our dreams. I just want to find out what’s wrong so you won’t be so confused so much of the time. Ok?” Misha nodded. Gail cleared her throat. “I think it might be best if I were left alone with Misha for a while.” “Ok.” Dale let go of Misha and rose to her feet. “I’ll be right downstairs if you need me. She might get a little feisty on you,” she added with a chuckle. With a small laugh, the doctor assured Dale that all would be fine. Dale glanced at Misha, winked, and left the room. Gail remained crouched on the floor as she studied Misha intently. My God, she was beautiful! Utterly adorable. She reminded her so much of Susie, only Susie wasn’t nearly as cute and their hair color was different. It was then and there that she made up her mind—she was going to make this girl her own, no matter what it took. “Mind if I pull myself up and sit in the chair?” Gail asked. Misha shook her head. The doctor settled in the chair and leaned on her elbows, which rested upon her thighs. “Tell me about yourself.” “What do you want to know?” “Oh, I don’t know,” shrugged the doctor. “Anything you want to tell me would be a good start.” “And just what are we starting, Doctor?” asked Misha, defiance evident in her eyes. “A cure for my craziness?” Gail smiled. “Oh, I don’t think you’re the least bit crazy, Misha. No, you’re much too intelligent to be crazy, aren’t you?” “I don’t know, Gail. Am I?” “Sure you are. Dale tells me how good you are with computers and foreign languages and how you sing really pretty.” “I’m good at a lot of things,” Misha told her. “Know what else I’m good at, Doc?” “Uh, no, I don’t, to tell you the truth. Why don’t you tell me?” “I’m really good at sniffing out the bad amongst the good, and I smell some very bad vibes coming from you.” “You do?” Gail said with surprise. “And why is that? I’m just an ordinary person.” “Sometimes the ordinary becomes extraordinary, you know?” “Well, I suppose that’s possible, but I assure you there’s nothing extraordinary about me, little one,” Gail said with a smile, doing all she could to maintain her composure. She hadn’t expected the girl to be this receptive. “My name is Misha.” “Misha,” Gail stated, wanting to slap the smug look right off the pretty little face before her. It shouldn’t take much to soften this one up, she told herself reassuringly as she took a deep breath. Misha continued to look at Gail with wary eyes. “Misha, all we want to do is two things. The first thing we want to try and accomplish is to figure out what’s causing the memory loss you’ve been having. The second is to then figure out what would be the best method of dealing with it when we do.” “You’re a shrink, so I’m sure you’re rather biased when it comes to certain remedies now, aren’t you, Doc?” “No, not necessarily.” “No?” Misha asked, still skeptical. “You wouldn’t want to dope me up or commit me to the local funny farm?” “I can’t say for sure if there is or isn’t a medication out there you should take that might be able to help you, but I do know that I see no need to commit you.” “Well, why don’t we just cut to the chase and take care of step one right here and right now,” suggested Misha. “Alright. What do you have in mind?” “I know how I got this way. It’s been coming back to me little by little. I was meaning to tell Dale about it before you showed up.” “What happened, Misha?” “I fell.” “You fell?” Misha nodded. “It happened after I gathered some wildflowers to put on the dinner table that evening. I was climbing down an embankment when I slipped and hit my head. I also remember having quite a lump on the back of my head. I was dizzy for a while, and my vision was blurry, but somehow I made it home. Only there was a gap of time in between, which no one could account for or understand. Although I thought it odd and definitely not like me, I figured I had just lost track of time.” “So you think you might’ve had a concussion?” Gail asked. Misha nodded, gazing out the window at the cloudless cerulean blue sky. “Has any of this affected your sex life?” Misha glanced back at the doctor, surprised by the question. “No. Should it?” “I guess everybody’s different.” “I don’t mind bragging a little, Doc, and I can assure you my woman’s the best.” “How would you know? You don’t exactly have anyone to compare her with, do you?” Misha stilled and stared deeply into the doctor’s dark eyes. Unless she was imagining it, she could swear the corners of the doctor’s lips slowly curved into a slight smile of self-satisfaction. Later that day, after Misha explained to Dale all about the fall she’d had, she went on to explain her distaste for the doctor. “It’s nothing I can really put my finger on. She just gives me the creeps, is all I can say.” “Misha, don’t you think it’s a rather convenient time to be remembering this? Just when you’ve met a doctor you say you don’t like? You can see someone else if you don’t…” “I’m telling you the truth, Dale!” Misha insisted with pleading eyes. “If I remembered any sooner than I did, I’d have gladly told you. I wanted to make sure I got enough memories of the fall back to be sure of them before I went and told you about it.” “Then how about going to a doctor for an exam? One who will do X-rays or CAT scans?” Misha agreed as Dale pulled her toward her. “Oh, baby, you know I love you and don’t want to do anything other than see to it that you’ve got the best and that you’re well taken care of.” “Yes, I know,” Misha told her. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to put up with me like this.” “It’s not your fault, babe.” They glanced toward the corner of the living room. The rats had jumped up to the door of their cage, anxious for attention and to be set free to run around loose as they loved to do. “Looks like the horror-movie-size rats are jealous,” said Dale. Misha giggled. “Too bad for them. They’ll just have to be patient and wait.” They made love passionately on the living room couch while a certain doctor made her evil plans.