Not knowing what else to do, she stared down at the sheet covering her. The sounds of children playing came from downstairs and from the backyard. Out the window, fields rolled on for what looked like miles.
What was this place? Wherever she was, she couldn’t endanger these people by revealing her name to them.
“No. I don’t remember anything,” she lied.
***
"Well, Doctor?" Dominic, Damaris, and their mother were seated in the kitchen with the doctor.
He set his cup of tea down and rubbed his hands together. "It’s like I told you, Dominic. She is having trouble recollecting her memories. It's a case of amnesia, hopefully temporary. She’s probably endured a lot of stress and trauma. Details about herself and her life are difficult for her to grasp. She is trying desperately to place the pieces together."
"How long is this going to last? I mean, she certainly can't stay here forever, but she can't leave if she doesn’t know where to go to," Damaris said.
"It varies. Hard to say. Days, weeks, months, years… Some people never regain their memories, but hopefully, she will."
At this, Constance gasped and they all turned to her. Dominic stretched out a hand and touched his mother's shoulder.
"Mother, why don’t you check on her? Now that she is awake and knows nothing, she must be scared and would appreciate some company."
Constance hurried off, and Dominic sighed. His mother had suffered so much loss and hearing such news was not helpful. He turned back to the doctor and asked, "What do we do, Doctor?"
"First things first. We need to treat the source of the memory loss and, in this case, it is the head trauma she suffered. I will be prescribing drugs for that. And then if it persists, treatment through therapy would help. It is good to show her familiar sights and smells and places, but it is impossible here. Above all, patience is key."
"And she will get better?" an impatient Damaris asked.
"That is the plan." The doctor stood up and rubbed his hands together. "I will be back later."
Dominic nodded at Damaris, urging her to see the doctor out. Once they were out the door, he stood up and headed back to the room. The woman was seated, and there was a wooden tray in front of her with soup and homemade bread. He could see his mother hovering like a hawk while the woman ate. She kept wringing her hands and tugging at her prayer kapp, and he knew his mother well enough to know that she was nervous.
He cleared his throat as he entered the room.
"Why don't you head to the market, Maam? You have those pie and bread deliveries to make. I can take it from here," he told her.
She shook her head nervously as she said, “If I leave you alone with her, it will only raise more brows.”
“Mother, am I doing anything wrong?”
“No, but—”
“That is all there is to it, Maam. My heart and my hands are clean. Go on.”
She nodded, then left. Dominic gestured to the chair by the door and looked at the woman questioningly.
"Can I sit?"
She nodded, setting the bowl of soup down. "Thank you for saving me."
He sat down. "You remember? You were drifting in and out of consciousness."
"Uh… No. Your mother told me about it," she said quietly. She looked up at him with soulful eyes and said, "Thank you."
Dominic nodded and said, "We have the Lord to thank. So, you have no idea what happened to you?"
"No, I don't." She shook her head. "Have you called the authorities?"
"Well... You see, this is an Amish community, and we do not report things to the police."
"And I heard someone mention you don’t have telephones. I don't know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing." She added the last part in a mutter, and Dominic looked at her inquisitively.
“Well, we have one in the community phone shanty down the lane, and most of the Amish businesses have them. We just don’t have them in our homes.”
"I might not remember my life, but I know with all affirmation that all this is new to me."
Dominic smiled and nodded. "Yes, I can confirm that. You were wearing non-Amish clothes and again, you were in a car so... I put that together already. But that’s not the reason why I didn’t call the police. I would have, even though it’s against our ways, but you told me not to take you to the hospital. You said someone would find you. So, I figured I shouldn’t report this either, in case someone really is looking for you. Do you remember who might be after you?”
The woman crossed her arms as she looked at him. She tried to adjust herself, but then she winced, and he stretched out a hand automatically to help her. He set the quilted feather pillows firmly behind her.
"Thanks." She smiled up at him as he hovered over her.
"Uh, sure." He cleared his throat and sat back on the side of the bed. “So, do you?”
She shook her head slowly. “No. I don’t remember who is after me, but I have this terrible feeling that if you do report this to the police or if I did go to the hospital, I would be in danger. So, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You’re safe here.”
"So… Was there anything on me? An ID or anything?" she probed.
Dominic shook his head. “There was nothing—not even a cellphone or purse. I bet they were in the car and burned. Do you remember who Jordan and Megan are?”
Adriana went still, wondering if the panic on her face was as obvious as it felt.
How did he know their names? What else did he know?
Since her phone had been burned in the crash, she’d have to find a phone and call Mrs. Clement to check on Megan as soon as she could walk.
He moved closer to her. "Do you?"
Adriana shook her head, trying to rein in her thoughts. "No, but that name has been resounding in my head since I woke up. I think I'm supposed to know who it is, but I just don't remember," she lied. “Why? How do you know those names?”
"You’ve been saying their names in your sleep. It’s okay. Don't force it. It will come. Well, we don’t know your name, but we need to call you something. What do you want us to call you?"
Adriana fell silent, then turned her head to look out the window at the swirling snow flurrying outside. Good question. What were they supposed to call her?
“How about Snow? I like the snow,” she said, “And you found me in the snow.” She tried not to wince at how bad of a liar she was, and how silly of a name that was, but Dominic didn’t seem to notice.
Dominic grinned. “That’s a great name. I like it. Snow it is.”
Really? He bought that? she thought, tilting her head to the side as she watched him.
There was a sound at the door, and they looked up to see a young woman.
"This is my sister, Damaris," Dominic said. “Damaris, this is Snow.”
“Snow?” Damaris asked in confusion.
“We are calling her that until she remembers her name.”
"Ah. So, you're finally awake. When are you leaving?" Damaris asked, a hand on her hip.
Adriana lifted one eyebrow. “Hey, it’s not like I want to be here, either. Sorry to impose,” she said, then bit her lip, wishing the words hadn’t come out so coldly.