PARENTHOOD
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven "I woke up but had no idea who I was or where I was. All the sisters would tell me was my name, how old I was an' that I had some sort of accident," Jamie said as Duer sighed and Zoe nodded. "Would you like tae see the day I met Grannie?" "Aye," Zoe said as Jamie closed his eyes and the room changed. The walls and ceiling were stark white with a candle stick sitting on the white night table and the bed near the window. White curtains covered the window while a white wardrobe sat next to the window and a chair sat to the right of the door. Jamie was lying under the blankets when the door opened and a young nurse and a tall man wearing a dark brown suit, a white shirt, a brown tie, brown shoes and white doctor's coat walked into the room. "Yes, now, this is our latest trauma case. He is twenty-six years old and answers to the name "Jamie"," the doctor said as the young nurse nodded and walked to the bed. "Jamie, someone is here to see you." Jamie looked at the nurse as she gently smiled at him and he blinked. She noted that he was wearing a white nightshirt, which had the top button undone, and he tilted his head to one side. "Hello, Jamie, my name is Rosealie," Rosealie said as he blinked then went back to looking at his fingers. "He can't speak. In fact, he has the mentality of an infant," the doctor said and Rosealie nodded. Jamie looked at Rosealie again when he scrunched up his face and made a soft grunting sound. Roselie noticed the distinct smell of urnine in the air as she lifted the blanket and sighed. "He isnae potty trained, I take it," she said and the doctor nodded. Jamie grinned at her as he softly giggled and she rolled her eyes. 'You wet the bed, Pa-paw?" Zoe giggled and Jamie nodded. "What surprised the people at the hospital was how quickly I relearned things. Within a year, I knew how tae talk, walk an' other things but I didnae ken who I was or what happened tae me," Jamie said and Zoe nodded. "Then what happened?" Zoe asked and Jamie closed his eyes. The room didn't change but Jamie was standing near the window and was watching the rain falling outside the glass. The door opened when Rosealie walked into the room and he turned around, smiling at her. "Good morning, Jamie," she said as he walked to her, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips. Stunned, she moved back as he blinked and titled his head to one side. "No, Jamie, that's not proper!" "Aye, it is," he said with a nod of his head and she frowned. Slowly he took her hand when he placed her hand over his heart and she felt his heart thumping hard and fast against her fingers. He moved closer as he cupped the back of her neck in his hand and kissed her again. Moving back, both of them were breathing hard through their noses and she brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Jamie, no, we cannae do this." "Why?" "It's because you are my patient. I cannae..." she said as he lifted her chin between his fingers and blinked. "But I dinnae want tae be a patient," he said then walked to the window and looked outside. "I want tae go outside." "Where will you go?" she asked as she walked to him and placed her hand on his back. "I dinnae ken, but I do ken that I want tae go," he said then sighed and looked down. "The thing is, when people ask where I'm from, all I can tell them is I used tae live in a hospital. I dinnae want them tae call me..."Crazy Jamie"." "Which is what they called you before, aye?" Zoe asked and Jamie nodded. "No one will call you that," Rosealie said as Jamie looked at her and scrunched his face up. 'You ken that for sure?" he asked and she sighed, watching him turn to her and she stroked his hair. "No, I dinnae ken that for sure." "Then mebbe it would be for the best if I stay here, aye?" "No, that isnae a good idea either." "Then what am I going tae do?" he asked and she sighed, shaking her head. "What did you do?" Zoe asked and Jamie closed his eyes. The room changed to a sitting room with soft tan walls and ceiling and small painting were hung on the walls. The furniture, flooring and bookcases were done in a dark wood, with a soft brown carpet under a large table, and a fire was lit in the fireplace. The door opened while Rosealie led Jamie into the room and she looked at the older man standing by the window. He was tall with graying black hair and was wearing a dark brown suit, a white shirt, a dark brown tie and dark brown shoes. "Father?" Rosealie asked as the man turn around and looked at them. She had told her father about Jamie and was surprised when he agreed to let Jamie live with them and she had Jamie discharged from the hospital. He was excited during the carriage ride to the house but was now feeling shy and his heart thumped hard and fast against his ribs. Her father looked at her then at Jamie, who was standing behind her, when she reached back and gently slid her hand into Jamie's hand. "Ah, this is Jamie, I take it," her father asked as he walked closer and Rosealie stood to one side, allowing Jamie to shake hands with her father and Jamie nodded. "It is a pleasure tae meet you, Sir," Jamie said an Rosealie's father smiled. "A polite lad," he said then turned and looked at Rosealie. "Margret has made a room for him across from yours." "Thank you, Father," Rosealie said as they left the room and the door closed behind them. "Her father was a business man, dealt mostly in wine imports, an' I became his apprentice," Jamie said as Duer nodded and Jamie rubbed his face with his hands. "I was twenty-eight when we got married an' he gave us a small house out in the country. Rosealie insisted that I take drawing an' painting, with hopes it would help me remember things, an' I got really good at it." Jamie closed his eyes then opened them and the room had changed to a room with soft tan walls and ceiling and the flooring was a soft tan pine. The simple wooden furniture and book cases filled the room and Jamie was sitting at the table, looking at the canvases, sketchbooks and wooden box in front of him. "Wait, the Doctor said that he saw a one room house in the middle of nowhere when he went into your head. Where did all this come from?" Duer thought after he set up a privacy block. "Well, that was the house I was born in. In fact, when I think back on things, I usually use it," Jamie thought. "What about what happened to Mary?" "Well, we did move tae a bigger house near the woods after Daniel was born. We, uh, ran out of room," Jamie thought and Duer smiled, nodding his head. "What is all this for?" Jamie asked as he opened the wooden box and looked at the small bottles of paint, brushes, charcoals and a small knife to sharpen the charcoals. "I thought you'd like tae learn how tae draw an' paint," she said when a kiss on his cheek and he looked at her with a confused look on his face. "Why?" "Well, it might help you remember something," she said and he nodded. "Aye, it would be a change from that journal you gave me. Writing down my dreams didnae help me much," he sighed and she nodded. "What did you dream about?" Duer asked and Jamie slightly blushed, looking down at his feet. "I dreamt aboot having sex with my wife," he thought as he set up a privacy block and Duer smiled. "Just the usual stuff," Jamie said and Duer nodded. "Though I did have a nightmare aboot a silver spider which was trying tae eat my brain." "Ah," Duer said when Zoe walked to him and hugged his waist. "Dinnae fash, Pa-paw, dinnae fash," she said and Duer knew that fash was Gaelic for "worry". He patted her head as Jamie smiled and closed his eyes. "What do you think?" Jamie asked as Rosealie looked at the charcoal drawing of the flowers in the bowl on the table and she placed her arms around his shoulders, placing her chin on the top of his head. "That is really good!" she said and he looked up at her. "Och, you're just saying that." "No, that is really good. In fact, I'm going tae get it framed an' hang it on the wall," she said as she snatched the sketchbook out of his hand and he stood up, walking after her as she left the room "No you're nae!" he said as they walked into the next room and she giggled, placing the sketchbook behind her back. "Come on, give it back!" "Make me!" she said as he breathed hard through his nose and softly laughed. She squealed as he started to chase her then they vanished up the stars and Jamie smiled. "Did she give it back?" Zoe asked as Duer paused the scene and Jamie softly coughed. "Aye, she did," Jamie said with a nod of his head. "How old were you when my daddy was born?" "Well, let's see, I was twenty-nine when your Uncle Alexander was born, your grannie was twenty-six, thirty when your Uncle Donald was born, thirty-one when your Uncle Daniel was born so, um, I was thirty-three then. Though, tae be honest, it was a scary time. Your grannie got very ill while pregnant with him an' I thought they were both going tae die." "But, seeing that you're here, Zoe Toes, they didn't!" Duer said and she giggled. "How did you ken that Daddy was blind?" Zoe asked and Jamie closed his eyes. They looked at the one room house with a stone fireplace to the left of the room and a crude wooden table and wooden stools sat near the table. A stone fireplace was glowing from the fire as three little boys ran around the table and Jamie was chasing them. The wooden beds sat near the wall to the right while Rosealie held onto Hamish and he wiggled in her arms. Setting him on the floor, he crawled straight toward the sound of the giggling then smacked his head into the wall and flopped down onto his tummy. "Wah!" he screeched as Jamie ran to him and picked him up. Hushing him, Jamie looked at Rosealie as she walked to him and Jamie stroked Hamish's little back. "He does that every time he crawls. I think we need tae take him tae see the doctor," she said as he nodded and kissed the top of Hamish's head. "A few days later we took him tae see the doctor an' were told that Hamish was blind," Jamie sighed and Zoe hugged his waist. "I nearly stuck a dirk in his ribs after what he said next." "What did he say?" Duer asked and Jamie sighed. "He said it would be best if we drowned Hamish," he said as Zoe's eyes went wide and he gently stroked her hair.
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