Fragment IV

Doctor : I assume your son took you on the same grand tour?

Cadence : Yes... it brought quite a few memories back.

Doctor : Oh, of course. More that just a feeling of deja-vu, huh? Not that much has changed here in twenty-two years... even some of the same patients and staff are still here...

Cadence : Hmm... quite a few actually.

Doctor : I must admit that I’m curious about your stay here. But I think I can guess by Joseph’s age.

Cadence leans back in her chair to make herself more comfortable but she is obviously agitated as the Doctor once again picks up his clipboard and pen, though this time he doesn’t bother to write anything down.

Cadence : You can, can you?

Doctor : Well, I can assume that your pregnancy was traumatic somehow...

Cadence : Just a bit.

Doctor : May I ask? If there is a history of mental illness...

Cadence : It had nothing to do with mental illness, Doctor. I needed a break from reality, that’s all. After what I had been through I needed to go away... just for a while. Until I gave birth, that is.

Doctor : Have you told Joseph about the... uh... circumstances... surrounding his birth?

Cadence : I told him that his father ran out on us...

Doctor : Well... somehow, he has found out the truth.

Cadence : Has he really...?

Doctor (carefully) : It’s not exactly the type of story that one makes up or lies about...

Cadence (shocked) : Doctor... How would he know?

Doctor : Well, I don’t think any of the staff would’ve told him. That would break the rules about confidentiality. Perhaps your father told him the truth.

Cadence : I don’t think that’s possible.. Since Joseph was born I have never managed to discuss the subject with my father...

Doctor : Did Peter know?

Cadence : No one does, except my father and I don’t think he lets himself believe it...

Doctor : But you did decide to cover it up — at least from your family.

Cadence : Before Peter’s birth... My husband had left me with nothing... My father had taken me in and helped me care for his grandchild. The idea of another child, when I had not even been seeing anyone... it was too much of a shock to him. He went around in a daze until Joseph’s birth. That day he decided he would act as a father to my boys. And despite how hard it has been on me, I have maintained my silence, for the sake of my boys...

Doctor : But that’s what really surprises me... It’s a tragic thing, why hide it?

Cadence : Why should I bring it up? —so I can walk around with a sign declaring the end of the world, screaming to the skies or anyone who’ll listen, that I — Cadence, an ordinary woman — am a victim? I don’t think so. It was a tragedy — trust me, I know — it nearly ripped my life apart. But I’m not going to go around wearing a Victims Anonymous matching shirt and hat. I have a family that I worry more about.

Doctor : I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.

Cadence (compassionately) : No, you probably weren’t. But that’s not really your fault, so I forgive you. You really are only trying to help... I guess you were just curious about the facts...

Doctor : Now that I do know, I’d like to find out who told Joseph and why it is the one event in his life that has not been mutated by this delusion of his.

Cadence : I’d like to know too.

Doctor : You don’t think that Peter would’ve remembered?

Cadence : I don’t think so. Peter would’ve asked about it, I’m sure.

Doctor : Do you have a diary or anything like that?

Cadence : I did... for a few years, but I got rid of it... there was always too much risk...

Doctor : Is there any other way Joseph could know?

Cadence : Aside from you, my father, and my doctor at the time, I’ve only told God.