Is Bill really a changeling? What happened to his childhood? He doesn't know. Do you?

Part 3 Does Bill get any answers, or just more questions?

"Hello. This is Florence Hickman. May I help you?"

"Hello, Flo. You got a few minutes?"

"I was expecting your call. If you grab a couple subs, we can talk over lunch and I can give you two hours then."

"Sure, you want a foul one?" I say chuckling. Knowing Flo's propensity to get smoked turkey.

"You are crazy you know Bill. Sure, grab me a turkey. See you about 11:30." I'm sure she was shaking her head. I guess I've used that joke one or two times to many.

"Hello, I'm Bill Wyman, I talked to Dr. Broadhurst a little while ago. I believe she's expecting me."

"Yes. She said to send you right in, if you had a bird in the bag for her." She gave me a funny look, and noticed the Quick Check bag figured out what was going oh. "Oh, lunch." She shook her head. "Well, come on. I'll show you to her office."

She knocked on a door "Dr. Broadhurst, Mr. Wyman comes bearing birds." And she let me into a nice office.

"Hi Bill, I guess Windy figured out our joke." I could hear, I guess she must have been Windy, snort as she closed the door.

"Yea, maybe the bag gave me away?" I pulled out her sandwich and handed it to her along with a bottle of tea.

"Well, what now?" I said as I sat down opposite her, and began opening my sandwich.

"Memory loss isn't really my field, nor am I sure yet what field we're looking at Bill. A lot depends on the cause of the loss. I think we should chat a bit, so I can hopefully eliminate some possibilities. After I have a better picture, we can talk about options. Sound okay?"

"Okay. I've certainly no clue."

"Fine. I believe you said that you don't recall anything before you were 10? How do you figure that?"

"Well Flo, I'm not real sure of the age, but I can tell you that my memories of life in 5th grade on are pretty clear. I moved between 4th and 5th grades. After the move, I can describe my houses layout, school, classes, name teachers. Describe friends, etc. In fourth grade I only have a very few memories, and my only memories of the house are fuzzy, and could be nothing more than recognition from looking at my mom's scrap book. Third grade is worse than that. And the one or two 'memories', if you can call them that, before then are kinda strange. That's how I came up with the dates."

"Okay. That's a starting point for us. Do you remember anything about that time that you think might have been related?"

"I used to think I did."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I used to think I'd hurt my neck going to school one day, and they'd had me on codeine as a pain killer for about a week. I thought that had caused the memory loss."

"Why do you say you thought?"

"Last Christmas, when Becky & I were visiting my parents, childhood memories came up and I trotted out that story, and my parents said it never happened. That my neck had never been hurt. I was shocked, let me tell you."

"Well, that IS interesting. It's strange that you would have such a clear and even reasonable memory for your memory loss, and then to find out it never happened. I don't wonder that you are bothered by this and your memory loss."

"Have you ever experienced any head trauma? In a car accident, playing sports?"

"Not that I know of, and my folks didn't seem to think I had - at least around that time."

"Have you noticed any loss other memories over the years - that is, do you feel like you used to remember something, and can't any more?"

"Nah, it's like I said, I've got really clear memories back to a point - and then poof gone."

"Okay, I see a couple paths you can take, as there are several possible causes of large memory loss. Head Trauma is by the most common, though that tends to be a block of time around the event rather than going back in time from the event. Other possibilities include you blocking the memories yourself to block off some memory that was too painful to deal with at the time. So, if you want we can map out a plan for you to talk to some specialists to see if any of them can point to anything." She was quiet a minute so I responded.

"Well, my insurance should cover some testing I think, and it'd really be nice to know myself." I said with a depreciating chuckle. "I just hope we can find something!"

"Bill, that's one thing. I said before that memory loss is not my field of expertise. But more important than that, you're my friend. That could warp my objectivity and it's conceivable that your memories might be something you'd rather not be known by even friends. You may think that's unlikely, but most of us do things we'd rather our friends not no." I guess I may have squirmed a bit at this, because she continued "Now don't worry Bill, I won't abandon you, and you're free to talk over things with me if you want. I just think you'd be better off working with an expert. If they tell you something that they can't explain or even you don't want them to explain but you do want to talk over I am your friend, and I'll help."

"I can't thank you enough Flo! I guess this has been bugging me long enough. I'll try anyway."

"That's a good idea Bill. Now that I have a better understanding, I think I can Identify the right kind of specialists to help you. I know a good Neurologist, who can look for physical issues that might contribute. It's a long shot, but who knows. Better to eliminate it than skip it and go down false paths. I can give you a referral to him, and explain what we're looking for and to eliminate." I'm nodding, because this sounds good. "I'll give you his contact info in a bit, and I'll get a letter put together for you before you will have a chance to meet with him. Now, the next thing I'm going to suggest is a consult with someone that has had some success with recovering memories for people that have lost them through some sort of event that their sub conscious doesn't want to deal with. I know two who work in the field, but I want to check with them confidentially to see if either has worked with a case like yours before, or if the know someone who has. This could take me a few days, but once I find someone I'll let you know."

"Okay Is that all?"

"You might want to just talk to a general therapist. It would be good to develop rapport with someone to help you integrate any memories that crop up, before that happens. I would like to assume we can help you recover those missing memories, or at least some of them. And, if there were some traumatic events, you may well need someone to help you deal. You're obviously older now, and are likely able to deal with many if not all issues that you might have come across at that young age that were too difficult then. But, it really won't hurt to have help available to make that job easier."

"That’s a good point, I guess. Though it bothers me to think I might need to visit a shrink, present company excepted of course."

Flo laughed "Oh Bill, you don't know how many times I've heard that hesitation, though it is usually from the parents of my patients. Nobody really wants to believe they can't handle things on their own. I can set you up with one of my colleagues that work with adults if you like. You can see if you hit it off and if the two of you don't, we can find you someone else you can talk with. Sound good?"

"I guess. It's a bit much to take in you know. But, I guess I want to get to the bottom of this. Let me know, Okay?"

"Of course Bill. And don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to get somewhere. Maybe not all the way as I said, but I'm sure we can do something. Is there anything else while we're arranging things?"

"No, I'm quite sure that's all. I'll take that neurologists, I think you said, well his name and let you get back to your real patients."

"Don't worry Bill, you brought me my foul lunch today! And it's Neurologist. Let me see if I've got one of his cards," I can see here going through quite a pile in a drawer. "Ahhh, Yes, I thought I still had some of his cards. Here, Bill. Dr. Johanson is really good! I'll get that letter written this afternoon, and drop you a copy on my way home."

"I don't know how I can thank you enough."

"Bill, how long have we been friends? It's not a problem!" She says as we walk toward the door, surprising me by giving me a hug. "We'll get through this Bill. And, let Becky know what we're planning. She'll be happier knowing what's going on."

"Yea, she doesn't do surprises well does she! Thanks again Flo."

Continued… Will Bill go through with this? What will Becky say?

Please let me know if this is worth finishing... Or if it looks like it might be.