Exercise wasn’t something I’d done much of since Ash had left. I hadn’t had the desire or energy, preferring to stay home and work on my driftwood art in the garage. It wasn’t just for the badly needed extra cash my pieces brought in, but also the feeling of satisfaction the work gave me, and the illusion I was doing more with my life than simply letting it pass me by. Barbara, who ran a store in town called Drift and who was charged with selling my pieces, often said she thought I could have a much broader reach if I set up online. Maybe I would now that Ash was back. But first I needed to figure out what was going on with him.

While the rain had stopped, the gray, low-hanging clouds appeared to be in no hurry to make way for the sun, and the crisp air was cooler than I’d anticipated. I went to the back of the yard to the path at the top of the cliffs and turned left, upping the pace, my legs already protesting from the lack of care and attention. I slowed down, deciding on a walk so my lungs wouldn’t collapse, and found a steady rhythm, my feet barely making a sound as they hit the earthy path.

Forcing myself to push some of what I’d seen online the night before from my mind, I focused on what I’d found out about Ash’s potential condition, and the mental notes I’d made. Complete memory loss could have multiple causes, including Alzheimer’s (far too young?), a stroke (no other symptoms?), drugs or alcohol withdrawal (he’d always been antidrugs and drank responsibly), mental health issues (genetic predisposition?), and what Fiona had mentioned, amnesia, which seemed the most feasible but opened up a plethora of possibilities.

Anterograde amnesia was the inability to form new memories, but Ash had mentioned falling asleep in both the trailer and the old house he’d broken into, and when he’d woken up, he’d recalled being at the beach. Transient global amnesia meant forgetting pretty much everything, so it was a contender. However, retrograde amnesia was also the inability to recall past events, and could be caused by a head injury, which Ash had definitely suffered judging by the gash I’d seen last night. I’d read through site after site until the pages blurred and I’d gone cross-eyed. In my mind, if he had amnesia, I ruled out anterograde because the part of his brain that made new memories seemed to be working, but what did I know other than reading up on Dr. Google?