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Tim was relieved as an attendant rolled him out of the Psychiatric Ward to one of the regular medical units, but he was still extremely worried about the missing two days. At least now he had a medical explanation for the blackout, but where in the hell had he been? He certainly hadn’t been running up and down Washington Street for that length of time—although this was Baltimore, where acting strange would not attract much attention.
Tim was taken to a room with two beds, but fortunately the other one was empty. He was able to get up from the gurney to the bed without any help from the attendant and was in the process of making himself comfortable when a nurse arrived with several papers attached to her clipboard.
“Mr. Hall, I have your discharge papers here.”
“Discharge papers? Dr. Ryan told me this morning that she wanted to keep me another day.”
Tim was slightly surprised at this news, but he really did not want to spend another night in the hospital, so he decided not to make too strong of an argument.
The nurse laughed. “You guys come in here all of the time and we tell you to stay, but before we know it, there’s a phone call from upstairs telling us to let you out.”
Tim was confused. What did the nurse mean by “you guys” and “a phone call from upstairs”?
The nurse continued. “Now, when the local cops are admitted, we can’t get rid of them—but you Feds, well, I guess it’s a different world.”
“I think you may have me mixed up with somebody else. I’m retired from the government, and I am not cop—Fed or otherwise,” Tim explained.
“Yeah, sure, and I’m a Secret Service Agent,” the nurse responded as she handed Tim her clipboard and a stack of papers to sign.
Tim was still convinced the nurse had somehow made a mistake, but he decided that he wanted to get out of John Hopkins before anything else happened.
“Here are your clothes, Mr. Hall.” The nurse handed Tim a plastic bag that contained a pair of his blue jeans, a pullover shirt and sweater, shoes, and a jacket. There was another bag that contained Tim’s wallet and house keys. The last thing Tim remembered doing was falling asleep in his living room, but it appeared that he had purposely gotten dressed and gone out. But where did he go?
Tim had finished dressing when there was a knock on his hospital room door. He looked up to see a smiling Mary Ann.
Mary Ann walked directly to Tim and began to hug him tightly. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over town for you!” she exclaimed.
“I don’t know, Mary Ann, but I’m hoping you can tell me,” Tim answered.
Tim and Mary Ann navigated their way out of the massive hospital center and found a coffee shop around the corner on Madison Street. Tim sat and gazed out at the traffic while Mary Ann brought two coffees to the table.
“So, tell me something that I don’t know?” Tim said, trying to be funny, but he was very worried that he was beginning to lose his mind. Wasn’t this the first symptom of dementia?
“Well,” Mary Ann began, “you woke me up at 1 a.m. on Monday morning. You were banging on my door, and I almost called the cops because I didn’t know it was you.”
“But you did not,” Tim said.
“No, but I wanted to. But you said that you had to tell me something important, so I let you in, and...”
“And what?” Tim was becoming slightly impatient.
“You picked me up, carried me to my bed, and said that you were in love with me. And then, well, then we had sex.” Mary Ann grabbed Tim’s hand. “And it was the best I have ever had. I just didn’t think a guy your age could have so much energy. You don’t remember any of this?” she added.
Her face was beginning to register a look of disappointment, so Tim lied and told her that he did remember. Mary Ann began to smile again and continued. “So, we stayed in bed all day Monday, and I didn’t even bother to open up the Goose. I went down and put a note on the door—and remember, we could hear the regulars down on the street banging on the door, and you said, ‘Fuck em if they can’t take a joke?’”
Tim shook his head yes, and suddenly he did remember. He remembered waking up at midnight in his condo, getting dressed, and walking to the Goose. He knew that the Goose closed early on Sunday night, so he’d gone up the stairs to Mary Ann’s apartment.
“You told me to go away when I knocked on your door, right?”
“I told you to go the fuck home,” Mary Ann responded.
“And I said who cares what anybody thinks.”
“Yes, you did.” Mary Ann was now laughing, which made Tim feel good.
Tim began to recall their lovemaking and how long he had lasted, but what was really amazing was the short amount of time it took him to be ready to go again. It had been a very long time since Tim was able to get it up twice in one night, but it seemed that the love fest had gone on the entire next day.
Tim’s memory was coming back a little bit at a time. He remembered that they’d ordered a pizza for dinner on Monday night, watched something on HBO, and had more sex. He recalled Mary Ann telling him on Tuesday that she had to open the Goose, and Tim told her that he was going home and would be back later on. Tim then recalled walking downstairs and around the corner, where there was a black Mercedes SUV and Amin from the Dominican Republic. Was that a dream, or did that really happen?
“Earth to Tim, Earth to Tim,” Mary Ann said as she shook Tim’s hand. “Where did you go, honey?”
“Oh, I’m just thinking,” Tim answered absently. He was still thinking about the black SUV.
“What I want to know is how the hell you ended up at John Hopkins.” Mary Ann was now sounding concerned.
“That, I don’t know,” Tim answered. “I really wish that I did. The cops picked me up on Washington Street and said I was acting crazy.”
“Yeah, that’s how I found out where you were. The Irish cop, Danny B., came by to ask if I knew you. I told him that you were one of my regulars, and he told me the rest. I was very disappointed that you didn’t call me, but I figured you just fell asleep.”
“Mary Ann, I have no idea what happened in the Dominican Republic, but I should not have gone. I was ripped off.”
“Well, they did something to you, Tim, because you seem like a new man.”
Tim leaned over and kissed Mary Ann, and they both go up to leave. It was close to 4 p.m., and Mary Ann had to go and bartend at the Goose. They agreed to meet at Tim’s condo later that night.
Tim watched Mary Ann walk up to Washington Street and wondered why it had taken her so long to ask about his trip to the Dominican Republic, but he decided to let it go. After all, a lot had happened since he’d returned.