Chapter 26

Simon was careful to answer to Nomis, he didn't want to alert the staff that he knew his real name. Nurse Teller had been on general watch but did leave him alone when he was with other residents, and he made sure that more often than not, the other resident was Kitty.

They were playing chess again, this time in a conservatory overlooking the lawn, when a new face caught his eye, an orderly he hadn't seen before. He was cute, with a round face and blond hair, and was wearing the purple scrubs of the non-medically trained staff. He was staring at them, or he was until he remembered himself. Simon wondered if he recognised them from somewhere.

Ralph had warned him that the people who had held him prisoner might come after him, but he'd also come to the conclusion that Ralph was not being truthful over several things and he would take anything Ralph claimed with a huge pinch of salt.

The new orderly was heading over carrying a tray with water. "Can I get you anything?" he asked.

"You're new," Kitty said. "Or at least I haven't seen you before."

"I started yesterday." He seemed particularly taken with Kitty, but then Kitty was a pretty woman. "I'm Jack."

"You look like you recognise us. Do you?" she asked.

Jack glanced around, there was no one else about. "You seem familiar. Where might I know you from?"

Kitty shrugged. "We don't know ourselves, so if you do know who we are then maybe you can tell us."

Jack placed the glasses of water on the table. "Why don't you know? Maybe there's a reason you shouldn't."

Simon was convinced Jack knew who they were. Did he know a Jack? The name was common enough and he might have known a Jack, but he didn't think they were blond or an orderly. "I was told I was rescued from somewhere, and whatever they did to me made me lose my memories," he said.

"And I was abandoned by my family. No idea who or why."

Jack wrinkled his nose. "Right, sounds a bit contrived, don't you think?"

"Could be. All I do know is I don't feel right with my hair and I don't think I'm really called Kitty."

"Kitty? That's an unusual name unless it's a nickname. Someone could suggest your real name might be Catlin."

Her eyes widened and then she blinked several times. Jack reached out and placed his hand on the side of her face. She calmed immediately.

Jack crouched in front of her. "Don't say anything, but I do know who you are. You weren't abandoned and we will get you home. But we need to be careful."

"Who is we ?" Simon asked, he trusted this man, he didn't know why but he did.

"The same people who are looking for you. Simon . Now one of you do me a favour and knock the water off the table, cause a scene or something because we're about to get company."

Kitty sent the glass flying and screamed just as the door opened and a nurse arrived. Her name was Nurse Kin, not someone Simon had dealt with much.

"What's going on?"

Jack was picking up the glass shards. "I don't know, nurse. One minute she was fine, the next she says I'm a monster and throws her water at me."

"She is a bit highly strung." She pursed her lips. "I'll take Kitty back to her room."

Kitty struggled as Nurse Kin pulled to her feet. Nurse Kin might look like she'd snap in a stiff breeze but she was strong and soon wrestled Kitty out of the conservatory.

Jack was still on the floor collecting the glass. He kept his head down. "I'm here to help, but we need to be careful. There're more people coming, but if they find out there's a risk, they'll bolt and we'll lose you again."

"Why would they take me with them?"

"Because of who you are. I believe those cuffs you've got on are siphoning your magic so someone else can use it as an energy source."

Simon stared at the cuffs, a circle of warmth swam around his wrists as if trying to tell him something. Deep down he knew Jack was telling the truth. "How do I get them off?"

Jack stood, but didn't turn in Simon's direction. "I don't know. We need to get you out of here, then we can worry about the next part."

He would need to be careful, make sure nothing slipped. "What can I do?"

"Keep trying to remember. A couple should be arriving later, they'll be new patients from the last meeting. Rob and Will… you won't recognise them but one of them you know well."

"Rob… as in?—"

"Shush." He turned, and smiling held up the broken glass. "I'd better get rid of this. How about you go down to the main lounge? Be with people, it'll be good for you not to be on your own."

Jack hurried out and Simon took the hint. He made himself put one foot in front of each other, his mind whirling at the new information. People were coming for him, not to hurt him but to rescue him, and one of those people was Robin. The man who called himself his husband, but he didn't understand what Jack had meant when he said Simon wouldn't recognise him.

He took a seat at a table where several people were playing cards and tried not to get too distracted, but all he could think about was Jack and what he had said. The others commented on how poor his skill at the game was and he fobbed that off with an excuse that his concentration had been as affected as his memory. If he could get through to dinner, he could eat and excuse himself for the rest of the evening and wait it out until he could find this Rob and Will once they'd arrived.

His heart sank as he saw Nurse Teller coming his way. "Ah, Nomis, you're due a check-up. I need to take some blood work."

"Am I? Can it wait? I'm tired, thought I might take a nap before dinner."

"If you're feeling tired in the middle of the afternoon then that's even more of a reason to get you checked."

"Given my heritage, being tired in the afternoon is not unexpected."

She smiled but it was cold. "I didn't think that a topic for public conversation, Nomis. But as I understand it, only certain parts of your diet lend themselves to that side of your nature."

She was right, he wasn't nocturnal, had no issue with daylight, so apart from the blood, he hadn't any vampiric tendencies. He didn't even have the teeth, though his incisors were a little more pointy than most.

He didn't have an excuse and Nurse Teller escorted him out of the communal lounge. It hadn't been one of his favourite places—a bit too stark with white walls and basic furniture but it was preferable to the nurses' offices—then he realised that wasn't where she was leading him. "Why are we going to Ralph's? I thought you were taking bloods?"

"Dr Mettle wants to speak to you personally. As your husband, he will want to attend to you as often as his schedule allows, and he's back from his last meeting."

Again he couldn't justify a reason not to and was shown into Ralph's private rooms, not his consulting room, and told to wait. He'd been here a couple of times now, but all the visits were hazy, the first time had been for dinner, but as he was meant to be Ralph's husband, it would be strange if he didn't spend time here.

Ralph arrived, he moved a lot slower and seemed older than the last time Simon had seen him. "Ah, perfect, I'm glad you're here."

"Nurse Teller said you wanted to take my samples yourself."

Ralph sat next to him. "That and I was away yesterday, so as your husband, I would want to see you on my return."

Simon flinched as Ralph took his hand. "You're cold."

"I think I may have picked up a bug while I was away."

"I hadn't realised you were gone." Ralph stroked the edge of his cuff with his thumb. "Where were you?"

"I conduct meetings to help the unfortunate amongst the paranormal community who have run out of other options and had one arranged for yesterday. I tend to do two a month for several months a year."

"Oh, I had heard that, it is very kind of you." Somehow he didn't think it was an altruistic venture on Ralph's part. "Were you able to help people?"

"Several. There'll be five new patients coming, I'm afraid I couldn't do much for them in a short time, but I'm confident I can help them in the long term."

If he trusted Ralph then this should have been something to be congratulated, but based on what Jack had said and the observations he'd made about the others here, he thought these newcomers must be providing something more than a professional challenge on Ralph's part.

"A bit like me, then."

Ralph smiled. "Yes. Actually, Nomis, I wanted to talk to you about a few things."

Simon's mind raced, there were so many things Ralph might want to talk to him about and most of them Simon wouldn't want to. "What?"

Ralph slipped the tips of his fingers under the cuff and Simon watched as the tiredness began to melt away. "I've been thinking a lot about you. How you're working so hard to get better and move past the terrible situation we found you in."

"I'm sure that's because you're such a good doctor."

Ralph's eyelids fluttered and he let out a deep breath before remembering himself. "I think there's more to it than that. I know I told you I prefer my partners to be female, but there's something about you I can't get out of my head."

He did not like the direction this conversation. "I don't think I'm in the right place to date at the moment."

"I understand completely and I will respect your boundaries as we negotiate a new path together."

Ralph brought Simon's hand up to his mouth and kissed it. There was something oddly reminiscent as he saw Ralph's tongue dart out and lick him. They locked eyes and Simon tried to pull back. "I will make you mine. But I can be patient, we can work through your issues and then make our marriage a real one."

"I…"

Ralph withdrew and let go of Simon's hand. "Shush, I just wanted to make my intentions transparent. You're such a beauty, it would be a pity for you to be on your own."

Simon fought to keep down the bile as Ralph swooped in and kissed him, it was brief, nothing more than a peck but it was not welcome, and he was relieved when Ralph stood.

"Now, I do need some samples for your bloodwork. I've some new ideas on how to free your magic and perhaps that will also help restore your memories."

Ralph left the room but returned in seconds with his phlebotomy kit. Simon couldn't speak and instead rolled up his sleeve, he wouldn't react, he needed to keep calm. He couldn't believe that whatever Ralph might come up with would help return his real memories but would work to serve a different purpose. At least he had hope with the arrival of Jack and the two others he'd spoken about. He kept still as Ralph collected enough blood to fill a small bag, and he began to feel lightheaded.

"Do you need to take so much?"

"It looks a lot but it's not really. Are you feeling okay?"

"A little fuzzy."

"Some tea and chocolate will solve that." From the top pocket of his white coat, he removed a chocolate bar. "Eat that then Nurse Teller can return you to the lounge and you can have something to drink."

He chewed on the chocolate bar. Ralph wasn't going to let him leave without eating and this was the quickest way to escape.

"Feeling better?" Ralph asked.

Even if he hadn't been there'd be no way he'd admit it. "Almost right as rain."

"Excellent. Now you go back to the lounge. I can't dine with you tonight as I need to admit new patients, but tomorrow we'll make a proper date of it, and I hope to have good news regarding a treatment plan in a fewdays once I've run some tests on your blood."

Simon didn't wait for Nurse Teller to be called, instead he returned to the lounge. He would need to be careful but he couldn't risk Ralph embarking on a new treatment for him. If Ralph had somehow found what he called a cure for Simon's ills, Simon was sure he would never find out who he was. Jack's words from earlier were now seared into his brain about how his magic was being drained. Ralph had gone from looking tired and older to recovered after his fingers had been under Simon's cuffs. He might not know who he was but he didn't think he was stupid, and Ralph was the one he was most at risk from. Simon needed to get away from here as soon as he could.