"So, Dad, we are still on for this weekend, right?" Detective Steve Sloan jokingly asked his father, Mark.

"Sure are, son! I’m looking forward to it," replied Dr. Mark Sloan with a grin.

Mark and Steve had been planning to go on a fishing trip with their friend Jesse for weeks. This would be the first time in a long time that they had a chance to take a vacation together and relax completely without having to worry about work.

"We only have to get through today, and we will have an entire weekend to enjoy!" Steve had almost a boyish enthusiasm surrounding him as he talked about their plans.

Just then Jesse walked up. "I don’t know about you guys, but I am really ready for this weekend! I am so sick of work." Jesse worked in the same hospital as Mark.

"That’s just what we were talking about, Jesse," said Mark, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"You guys don’t know how happy I am that you invited me," said Jesse confidentially, "I just have to get away from Susan for a while. I love her, but I need some time to myself!"

"I know what you mean, Jesse," said Steve sympathetically.

They all finally got off work that day, loaded up all their gear, and headed for the cabin where they would be staying. They arrive at the cabin.

"Wow," commented Jesse, "This is so beautiful! Kinda creepy, but beautiful."

"Yeah, well, just don’t get abducted by aliens or anything this time," said Steve teasingly.

Jesse gave him a look, then realized he was teasing. Steve, Mark, and Jesse unpacked all their things and went out to take a look at the lake. They walked around for a little while before returning to the cabin.

"You guys," said Jesse, "I think I am gonna go out for a walk by myself. The air around here seems to help me clear my head."

Steve looked at Mark and shrugged. Then he looked back at Jesse. "Fine with me. Be careful, though, there’s a lot of wild-life around here."

So Jesse went to take a walk. He had been walking for quite some time when he thought he heard a human voice.

"Here…no here…bury it here! Over here, you idiot!" an angry voice cut through the tranquility of the woods.

Jesse walked to the edge of a clearing up ahead in the woods. Much to his horror, he saw two men dragging a bloody corpse. He had seen many gruesome deaths in the ER, but he had never seen anything like this. Without even realizing it, he made a slight gagging noise at the sight of the disfigured body. One of the men heard him and jerked his head up.

"What was that?" he demanded. He turned and looked directly at Jesse, then started coming toward him.

Jesse turned to run, but his foot caught on a root, and he tripped and twisted his ankle. He heard the men getting closer and closer, as if in slow motion, but there was nothing he could do. He saw one of them picking up a large branch as they continued to move slowly toward him. Then the man swung back the branch, and that was the last thing he saw before he felt the sharp pain in his head and merciful darkness surrounded him.

"Dad, I am beginning to get really worried about Jesse," Steve said, looking very concerned. "I think we should go look for him."

Mark looked out the window. It was beginning to get dark, and, honestly, he had begun to worry about Jesse, too. He looked back at Steve.

"I have to agree with you, Steve. It’s really not like Jesse to just go out and stay for such a long time. I know he wouldn’t want to make us worry."

Steve nodded. "Let’s go then."

Steve picked up a flashlight and headed out the door. Mark followed with his own flashlight in hand. They had been walking for quite some time when Steve stumbled over a lump of leaves. There came an almost inhuman moan from beneath the leaves. Steve’s heart jumped into his throat. He hurriedly began digging up leaves. Once Mark figured out what he was doing, he began frantically helping him. They finally got the body uncovered. It was a man lying face down to the ground. Steve slowly turned the body over.

"Jesse?" Steve said, his heart beating ninety to nothing. The face was so swollen that Steve could hardly recognize it, but he remembered the ridiculous Hawaiian style shirt Jesse had been wearing earlier.

"Dad, help me out here!" said Steve urgently. "I found him, but he is in bad shape from the looks of it."

Mark nudged his way past Steve to get a look at Jesse. He quickly bent down to check on his vital signs before turning to Steve and saying, "We need to get him to a hospital pronto. We can’t move him like this, though. Go find something straight and hard for me to put him on. Then you’ll have to help me get him back to the car."

Steve hurriedly went back to the cabin to find something to lay Jesse on. He was glad to be doing something to help. He found a wooden ironing board stashed away in a closet and hurried back with it to the spot where he had left Jesse and Mark.

Mark and Steve carefully placed Jesse on their makeshift stretcher and carried him slowly back to the cabin. They carefully laid him in the back of the car, and Steve took the driver’s seat. He turned the starter over, and the car wouldn’t crank. He tried again and again, but still it wouldn’t start.

Steve looked at Mark. "It’s not going to crank," said Steve. "Let me check under the hood, we might be out of oil or something."

Steve checked the oil, but the gauge read almost full. Then he looked and saw that the distributor cap was missing.

"Dad, we need to get back in the cabin now!" Steve rushed around to the back seat and started pulling Jesse out. Mark helped him carry Jesse back to the cabin. They set him down on the couch.

"What’s wrong, Steve?" Mark asked. He could tell that something was bothering his son.

"Someone tampered with the car. The distributor cap was gone."

Mark raised his eyebrows. "Steve, Jesse…"

"I know, Dad," interrupted Steve. "Do what you can for him, and I will try to figure something out."

While Mark started tending to Jesse, Steve impatiently paced the floor.

What can I do? He thought. Maybe I could go get help and let Dad stay here with Jesse…no, I can’t leave them here by themselves. But what else is there to do?

Steve stopped pacing and said to Mark, "We are going to just have to wait here until someone comes looking for us. There’s no way we can get Jess anywhere without a car, and I’m not leaving you two here by yourselves. Someone is bound to come looking for us if we aren’t back by tomorrow afternoon."

"You didn’t bring your phone?" asked Mark.

Steve shook his head. "No, for once I actually took your advice and left it at home. Great time for me to start listening, huh?"

Mark just turned and started tending to Jesse again. "Steve, can you find me some clean bath cloths and some rubbing alcohol?"

"Yeah, Dad," Steve replied, relieved to finally have something worthwhile to do to help.

Steve found the rags and alcohol and brought them back to Mark. "Here. Is there anything else I can do to help?"

Mark shook his head. "Not right now. The only thing we can really do is make him as comfortable as possible and just wait. I don’t think it is as bad as it looks, though."

Steve looked relieved. He had been feeling a little guilty for letting Jesse go wandering around in the woods by himself.

Mark and Steve sat and waited by Jesse’s side for what seemed like an eternity. They only got up to go to the bathroom a few times and once to get food. Finally, after several hours, Jesse showed some signs of life.

"Jess," Mark said gently, "Can you hear me?"

Jesse groaned. "Ugh, what happened?"

"We don’t really know, Jesse. You went walking in the woods, and we found you beaten up pretty badly. Do you remember?"

"Wha…" Jesse looked perplexed. "No, I… I don’t remember… anything."

"Okay," said Mark, "Let’s just start with the simple stuff. Can you tell me your name?"

Jesse appeared to be straining to come up with a reply. "Well, you called me Jesse." He grinned, then winced.

"Okay, yes, that’s good. Now can you tell me my name?" continued Mark.

Jesse studied Mark thoroughly. "I… I don’t know. I’ve never seen you before in my life!"

Mark glanced worriedly at Steve. This was not good. "What about him?" Mark asked, indicating Steve.

Jesse concentrated, seemingly trying to place a name with the face. He put his hand up to his head, in pain. "I don’t know! I can’t remember!" His voice had an edge of distress and frustration to it.

"Calm down, Jesse. It’ll come back to you soon. You need to get some rest now. Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"No, thanks. What are you, a doctor or something?"
Mark grinned. "Yes, actually, I am."

"Well, I am sure glad you are here. I’m no doctor…well, I don’t think I am," Jesse looked even more confused.

"Actually, you are," said Steve. "Now you had better rest and get your strength up."

Jesse finally turned over and went back to sleep. Steve and Mark headed for the kitchen table to have a conference.

"How bad is it, Dad?" Steve asked, very concerned.

"Well, there’s really no way to tell without being able to scan his brain. Things like these aren’t actually as uncommon as they seem. Lots of people lose and regain their memories after they take a knock to the head."

"Dad, I know you well enough to recognize when you are telling something straight up and when you are telling the sugar-coated version. Now tell me, how bad is it?"

Mark couldn’t help but grin at his son’s straightforwardness. His grin quickly changed to a frown when he thought about Jesse’s condition. "Alright, the straight up truth is, I am not really sure. He might get his memory back, but then again he might not. One thing is for sure, though. If we don’t get him to a hospital soon, he won’t make it at all. Maybe one of us should go get help while the other stays here with Jesse."

Steve looked torn. "Dad, I am not going to leave you two here by yourselves, and I am most certainly not going to let you go wandering around in the woods by yourself! We are either going to have to all go or sit here waiting for help. You know more about the shape Jesse is in, it’s your call."

Mark looked grim. "Honestly, I wouldn’t advise putting any more strain on Jesse than there already is. But if that is what has to be done, then give me another day to try to get his strength up."

"Okay," replied Steve, yawning. He glanced at his watch and was surprised to find that it was nearly two o’clock in the morning. "Dad, you should get some sleep. I’ll stay up and keep an eye on things."

Mark looked as if he was going to protest, but decided against it. "Alright, Steve, but I want you to wake me up at five o’clock and I will take a shift on watch while you sleep."

"Okay, Dad," returned Steve, even though he had no intention of waking Mark up at five o’clock.

Mark headed off to bed while Steve sat back down at the table to wait out the long hours until they would be able to put their plan into action. Steve had been sitting there for what seemed like forever. All of a sudden, Jesse was standing there in front of him.

"How could you let this happen to me, Steve? This is your fault. If you hadn’t been let me go walking in the woods by myself, this never would have happened."

Steve was shocked. "Jess, I…."

"Don’t try to give me some excuse. You know this is your fault!" Jesse began shaking a finger at him. "It’s all your fault…your fault…your fault…"

Steve woke with a start. He looked around to see that it was almost daylight.

"It was just a dream," he told himself. "Nothing more than a simple little dream."

Still, he was shaken by it. He felt really guilty about Jesse’s being attacked and would never forgive himself if Jesse never regained his memory…or worse.

Please let me know what you think! My e-mail is wwsocialite@hotmail.com. Part two coming soon to a web-page near you!