ROOM 211

PART TWENTY FIVE

29.

He couldn't imagine all so long ago how difficult it might be, hell, he didn't know much of anything other than the passage of time until now. If he left them once before then, did he know what was coming his way? Did he know he would be leaving for a period of months? If something has carried over from before then this may add to how he is currently feeling.

Still, he feels an absolute stranger in his own body. A husband and a father, what else has he yet to discover? If he hopes to get anywhere, Henry must return to room 211 of The Mulberry Hotel, he must return to the others who have gathered together and then hope, try and do all he can to ensure that memories can return.

He still has some money on his person, so rather than hauling his family, yeah, his family, it will take a while for him to get used to that reality, instead of hauling his family back out and have himself dropped back to town, Henry has a taxi ordered and when it does arrive, he feels the difficulty. He says his goodbyes; he does plan to come back whether or not to if his memory returns.

The kids know not why he is going again, and he assures them he will be back and as he heads out to the taxi Henry hears Jack ask a question of his mother.

'Is daddy all better now?'

Upon hearing this he turns back to his wife Jessie. 'What does he mean by that?'

'Alex ...' she calls him for indeed this is his name no matter how used to being Henry he has become. 'You had Motor Neuron Disease; you may still do but you look fantastic, right now. There is no sign of it at all. This disease, it had been taking effect on you over the six months before you went away.'

'And you are only telling me this now?'

'I thought you were back for good, and we would have plenty of time to discuss it.'

'How bad was I?'

'It was getting there; you were falling a lot before you went away, dropping things, there was slurring that made you appear intoxicated most of the time. The amount of people who kept commenting on you ... now ... now, it appears to be ... gone.'

Taxi driver begins to act up a little, he and the company he works for have a backlog of customers and he has no time to be waiting around. Henry is still a customer and should be treated as such though pressure is taking a hold on the driver. Now Henry would rather talk some more before heading away but he gets on with it.

'Sorry about rushing you away ...' says the cab driver.

'Not to worry, I take it you are flat out' Henry says once he is in the cab.

'Yes, more passengers waiting than taxis available.'

'That's a good thing, right?'

'Oh, it is, yeah. So where to?'

'The Mulberry Hotel.'

'You got it. I had the strangest of bookings two days ago you know, and it was to The Mulberry Hotel. One lady placed another lady into the back of the cab and paid for the journey. The passenger was out cold. She woke in the cab with a headache and a nosebleed, then she couldn't remember who she was.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, the strangest thing, I offered to take her to the hospital and even to stay with her until she could be seen to, but she wasn't having it, so I dropped her to the hotel. I felt so guilty leaving her there. I hope she is doing alright.'

'The lady who paid the fare, you didn't catch her name, did you?'

'No, why? Mean something to you, does it?'

'I have just heard one or two similar stories of late ...'

'Though I tell you what ...' the driver continues, excitement rising with the telling his story. 'Pick up was out by an unused building not all so far from town.'

'Yeah, I think I know the one ...'

The hotel is soon reached. The cab driver is paid and tipped no matter the rush he had put on Henry for job is done, Henry is where he needs to be and there now is plenty to be discussed. He is hardly in the lobby a second or two when his attention is immediately grabbed by the sight of Bonnie calmly walking into the hotel restaurant.

The whole forgotten crew are seated at a large table and are about to have lunch, sure Archer got the money from the car Henry first arrived at the hotel in. Archer, the moment he sees Henry, gets up and heads straight for him.

'Oh steady' speaks Blue. 'Here's trouble.'

Almost everyone in a way expecting an argument to break out though it only starts as such, as Bonnie said he would, Henry is back.

'So, the prodigal son is back, hey.'

There is silence between the two only for a couple of seconds.

'We do have a mystery to get through ... and I may have something to bring to the table ... so to speak' says Henry hoping to lighten the mood. 'I take it you discovered the whereabouts of the money?'

'I did ...'

'Then what are we waiting for ... let's get ourselves a feast.'

They, Henry, and Archer, make themselves a deal and have it backed up by the others. Henry will remain Henry for the time being to go easy on possible confusion. For the immediate moment, a feast was to be had and for the duration of it they were gonna forget, forgive the pun, their plight. If they can simply enjoy each other's company and enjoy a good feed then that is what they'll do, discussion can wait until they are back in room 211. The only business briefly open is the statement that Henry is back to see things through.

As odd as everything is and with Henry having come from his actual family, this right here in the hotel restaurant is as close to family, so at least they all feel. Yeah, Henry has yet to officially meet the latest inductees to the group, but this can occur during the meal.

It is so odd, everything is odd. This right here indeed feels like family. Eight people sitting together, enjoying each other's company, appearing as happy as they can be. An outsider could not guess just by looking at these guys that they are not family, apart from the twins that is.

Just as this feast comes to an end, the mood drops completely with the arrival of Sander's friend Mandy. She is invested in this, all of it, whatever it may be, and she can't just simply walk away. Sander's life has been lost and Mandy is eager to find out why this has happened. She too could have just as important a role to play as anyone else. Yeah, the mood drops to the point that there are tears, Mandy's at first and her tears are more than a little contagious.