Mimi sat in the hospital chair with a policeman on one side of her and a policewoman in front of her.
“My name is Officer Adam Drew,” the man introduced himself.
The woman gave her a small smile. “I’m Officer Belinda May. We’re here to talk to you.
“Now that you know our names,” the lady said gently, “can we know your name?”
She looked at the officer before looking behind her towards the door that Kaidan and his parents had disappeared behind. “Mimi,” she said quietly, wishing that she hadn’t even been put in a situation like the one she was in.
Officer May smiled and leaned forward. “How about you tell me your whole name?”
He had been back with the doctor for a long time. She wondered if he was okay. Someone as good as him...well…he deserved to not be sick. He had given her his cookies- and not just any kind of cookies, but chocolate chip! Not too many other people would have given cookies to someone like her.
“Okay, we’ll come back to that,” the officer reasoned, not losing her smile. “How old are you, Mimi?”
“Five.”
The officer took down a note. “Your birthday?”
“April 11th, 2154.”
Again, she took down a note. “Where’re your mommy and daddy, Mimi?”
“I never met my daddy,” she explained, looking down at her folded hands. “The mean man said that my daddy was just a problem and needed other people to take care of him…like I will be.”
“Who’s the mean man?”
Mimi looked up at the Officer May. “Ryan- he’s mommy’s friend.” She paused. “Well, he was mommy’s friend. Mommy said he was dead.”
The other cop- Officer Drew- leaned forward. “How’d he die?” he asked.
“I put a knife into his neck,” she said simply, emphasizing her words with a shrug. When the officers both leaned back, she rubbed her arm where he had gripped it. “He was hurting me. I had to stop him.”
They both sat quietly for a minute. “Who’s your mommy?” Officer May prompted.
“Her name is Allison.”
“Do you know your address or phone number, Mimi?” the lady asked softly.
Mimi ignored the question. “I know why my mommy sent me away- and it’s not just because of Ryan,” she informed them, twisting her fingers anxiously.
“Why?”
“I’m broken. I told Kaidan, but he didn’t believe me.” She looked up at the cops. “Is that why my mommy doesn’t love me? She never did, you know. I can’t walk right.”
Officer May took Mimi’s hands in her own. “Did she send you away?”
“Mommy told me to leave- so I did. I walked and walked and walked- ‘s not easy since I don’t walk good,” she pointed out. “I know hospitals are asposed to help people, so I came here.” Mimi looked up at the woman after she pulled her hands out of hers. “Please don’t send me back.”
Kaidan walked out from the doors and met her eyes and gave her a small encouraging smile. He gave her a small wave. Since he was smiling, she supposed that he wasn’t sick. His mommy and daddy though…they looked like they were sick as they talked to the lady behind the counter. She wanted to get up and go talk to him.
“We’re going to try to find your mommy, Mimi and see if we can get this fixed,” Officer May said gently.
She shook her head and fought against the tears. “It won’t be different. Mommy doesn’t love me. She’ll just give me up. I’m just a broken girl from a broken mommy.”
That quieted both of the officers. “I’ll be right back,” she murmured, sliding out of her chair and to her feet.
Her walk over to him was slow and awkward- as most of her walking was. She had a strange sort of limp that she could always remember having. If she stood too long, her legs would hurt and she’d fall down.
Maybe the mean man had been right.
Maybe she would be nothing more than a problem for everyone else to worry about.
Maybe she was forever broken.
She stopped in front of Kaidan and smiled up at him. He was quite a bit taller than her and was a whole lot cleaner. None-the-less, he smiled down at her.
“Not sick?” she asked quietly…hopefully.
“Nope.”
Mimi nodded and took off her necklace that had a small M on it. It was old and didn’t have any of the shiny bits still in it, but she had found it in the streets a few years before and had kept it. She stared down at it before taking Kaidan’s hand and putting the necklace in it. He stared at her, confused.
“I want you to promise,” she informed him.
“Promise what?”
“To everyone everywhere, I am not rememberable and I never will be,” she whispered, not looking into his warm eyes. “I need someone to remember me- just one person.”
Kaidan’s hand closed over the necklace and he cupped her chin with his other hand. She looked up at him, startled. “I promise.”
She looked back over her shoulder and then back to Kaidan. “Thank you,” she whispered before turning and slowly making her way back over to the officers.
After she sat down and watched Kaidan leave with his mommy and daddy, she nodded and looked at the cops. “My name is Memory Jordana Shepard. Please don’t make me go back to my mommy,” she pleaded.
