“You took some pills. Don’t move, I’m going to get the doctor,” said Sean as he bolted from the room. A minute later he returned with a man wearing a white coat who was trailed by a nurse.

“See, she’s awake,” said a smiling Sean as they walked over to Zoe’s bed.

“She is indeed. I’m Dr. Hufnagel, Zoe. I’m in charge of your care,” said the smiling doctor. “You gave us quite a scare. You’ve been out for a while. The longer a person remains unconscious the worse the outcome may be. Glad to see you’re awake.”

“Where’s Conner?” said Zoe in a raspy voice.

“He went home a little while ago,” said Sean. “He was here all day.”

“I think it’s best if you relax for the time being,” said the doctor.

“What happened?” said Zoe groggily.

“Looks like you took a fair amount of pills,” said the doctor, “and chased them down with a fair amount of alcohol.”

“I would never do that,” said Zoe obviously confused. “I don’t remember doing that.” She took a breath and tried to string her thoughts together but her mind was all a jumble. “I remember a man came into my apartment with flowers and he knocked me down and tried to choke me.”

Sean stared at his best friend. “That’s the last thing you remember?”

“Yes,” said Zoe closing her eyes.

“That happened several days before we found her unconscious,” said Sean looking at the doctor. “Is it normal to lose memory?”

“There’s no normal when it comes to brain injuries,” said Dr. Hufnagel. “Memory loss after what she’s been through is not unusual. I’ve seen patients with months of memory missing and then I’ve had patients with none.”

“Will she get it back?” asked Sean.

“Maybe or maybe not,” said the doctor. “A nurse will be in soon to check your blood pressure and a few other things. I want you to rest now, Zoe. Okay? I’ll be back in a little while.”

Zoe nodded as the doctor left the room. “I want to see Conner,” she said to Sean.

“I’ll call him, but let me ask you something first. The night we found you, you texted me saying you knew who tried to kill you. That you knew who it was. Do you remember?” said Sean, pulling out his phone and showing her the text message.

“I don’t remember writing that,” said Zoe trying to focus her eyes. “But, I know I didn’t take all those pills. The most I ever take is one.”

“You sent Conner an email an hour before we found you that said, I’m Sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“We assumed for taking all those pills,” said Sean gently.

“Why would I do that?”

“I saw the email, Zoe. Conner thought maybe the depression you had as a teenager had returned.”