Angie was at the shop waiting for Rollie to call, when the phone rang. "Tyler, FX this is Angie," she said into the phone.
"Hi, Ange, I'm heading back, should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon," Rollie told her, he was excited about something.
"Okay, Rol, I'll be here. I would like to know what's going on," said Angie curiously.
"I'll tell you everything when I get home, okay." He said to her, "bye Angie." "Bye, Rol, be careful coming home," she told him.
"I will, Ange," Said Rollie to his partner.
On his way home he ran into some nasty weather. The report on the radio said, 'The National Weather Service has issued a sever thunderstorm warning for all of up state New York. Rain up to 6 inches; wind in excess of 50 MPH, and dangerous lightning. The National Weather Service strongly recommends taking cover.'
Rollie decided that at the next town he'd pull off and stay the night. Just then a tree fell in front of the truck. He slammed on the brakes, and then a tire blew out, causing Rollie to lose control over the pickup.
When the truck slammed to a stop against the fallen tree it tilted toward the driver's side causing him to hit the side window, breaking it, he lost consciousness.
When he woke up he found himself at the bottom of a hill, his head hurt and his thoughts were confused.
"What the bloody hell?" He muttered to himself, "What happened, why can't I remember?" He reached up to touch his head and found his hair was stiff and crusty and he was mud from head to toe.
He tried to get up, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed him and he fell unconscious again.
Angie was at the shop all afternoon waiting for Rollie to return up state. When 5:00 PM rolled around she started to worry, for the weather was bad last night, but he still should have been home even if he pulled off someplace to wait for the storm to pass.
"Where is he, Blue," she asked the robot dog Rollie had built, "he should have been home by now."
Angie started pacing with Blue watching her, then she stopped picked up the phone and called his cellular, no answer, the GPS couldn't pick him up, so he was more then 10 miles away. So she called Mira's cell phone.
"Mira Sanchez, how can I help you?" Mira said into the phone.
"Mira, it's Angie, I'm worried about Rollie," Angie said to Mira, worriedly.
"Angie, he's a grown man, I think he can take care of himself," Mira said kiddingly.
"I know, but he was supposed to be back from up state early this afternoon and now it's nearly 7:30," Angie told Mira.
Okay, Ange, I'll be at the shop in twenty minutes," Mira said in a tone that made Angie feel a little better.
"Thanks, Mira, I'll be here." Angie said feeling a little calmer.
When he woke up again, it was raining and he was soaked to the bone, he didn't know who he was or where he lived, all he knew was that he had to find shelter somewhere.
He got up a little unsteady on his feet; he swayed and almost fell, "Whoa."
"I wish, I knew where I am, right now." He told himself, "Oh, god, I've got a headache."
He started walking, with no idea of where he was going or who he was. Just his instincts took over and the need to survive.
Mira arrived at the shop twenty minutes after talking to Angie. When she walked in the door she didn't see Angie anywhere, "Angie, are you here?" Mira shouted.
"Yes, I'm upstairs," said Angie to Mira.
Mira came up the stairs to find Angie cleaning the bathroom, "What are you doing?" Asked Mira, a little puzzled to see Angie cleaning Rollie's bathroom.
"Men, do they always have to be so messy?" Asked Angie exasperated by the bathroom.
"Yes, they do have to be messy, it's their lot in life." Mira stated with a comical lilt to her voice.
Angie looked at her for a second then started laughing. "I guess your right, men have to be messy so women have something to do, right."
Angie and Mira looked at each other, "Nah." Then Angie started to cry, "Rollie, should have been home by now," Angie said to Mira.
Mira moved to support Angie then she said, "I know, Ange, but it must be twenty-four hours before a missing persons report can be filed."
"I know," and with that she turned and hugged Mira, "thank you, Mira for being here."
"That's what friends are for," Mira said hugging Angie back.
Then the phone rang, Angie picked it up, "Tyler, FX, this is Angie can I help you?"
"Yeah, this is the state highway patrol, Officer Brickman, ma'am, and we found a red Dodge Ram pickup along state highway 3. No, driver inside." Said the patrolman to Angie.
"Oh, my god," Angie said as she sank into a chair and started crying.
At that moment Mira took over the phone. "Officer Brickman, this is Detective Mira Sanchez, tell me everything you know."
"By the looks of things, the truck was heading east, toward I-87, then lightning hit a tree and it fell across the roadway, by the marks on the road who ever was driving slammed on the brakes, then the left front tire had a blowout. The left side window was smashed and when I arrived the drivers door was open and the inside of the truck was soaked." Said Brickman to Mira.
"Have you checked the hospitals in the area, Yet?" Mira asked with concern.
"I just found the truck and notified you that it's been found," Stated Brickman.
He walked for three hours in the rain; there was nothing but woods all around him. He was cold, wet, and scared and also confused, he didn't know where he was, he felt so out of control. The one thing he did remember was moss grows on the north side of trees.
"Oh, god, please help me," he said to himself, then continued walking south he hoped.
Then he fell, exhausted under a tree, and fell asleep.
When he woke up the sun was out and his clothes were nearly dry, and he was hungry, he found some berries on a bush and ate them, he was too hungry to care if they were poisonous or not. Then he continued to walk south.
Then suddenly he tripped and fell, screaming in pain. He had fallen on an old bear trap that still worked.
"Oh, god, now I really need you," he groaned.
He tried to open the trap but couldn't. He was already too weak and now he had a bad leg to go with everything else. He slipped into shock and passed out.
Mira took Angie to her apartment and told her to have faith that Rollie would be all right and she would pick her up in the morning and they would fly to Cadyville so they could be there when they found Rollie.
"Thanks, Mira, for being here." Angie told Mira gratefully.
"Your welcome to cry on my shoulder anytime, Ange," Mira said to Ange.
The next morning Mira, Francis, and Angie took off from JFK Airport to Cadyville in hopes to find Rollie. It was a quiet trip and a short one, only about an hour.
When they arrived Officer Brickman who told them, "we already have search teams combing the woods for Mr. Tyler, so for nothing."
"He would head south if he's in the woods," Angie said, "I've seen him find his way out of the woods before and he always headed south."
"Okay, we'll check everything south of where we found the truck," Officer Brickman told them.
When he woke up this time he found himself in a warm cabin on the floor near the fireplace covered with heavy warm bearskins.
A young boy was watching him with big innocent eyes, "hey, mom he's awake," he said.
"Good," said a beautiful woman, "now, go, Michael and fetch some fresh water."
"Who are you?" He asked.
"My name is Rachel, and what is your name, sir?" She asked him.
He tried to sit up but found that any movement hurt in a major way.
"I'm...ah...I don't know who I am." He said miserably, "I can't remember how I even ended up in these woods to begin with."
"It's all right, you'll remember in time and I'm sorry about your leg, that old bear trap usually gives us meat not men," Rachel said smiling.
"How long was I unconscious," he said her.
"You were unconscious for four days with a fever," Rachel told him. "During the delirium you kept saying 'Angie's going to kill me.'"
"Angie, who's Angie," he said in deep thought, "that name sounds familiar, but I can't place it."
"It will come to you eventually, so why don't you rest for awhile," Rachel told him.
"Okay," he said quietly and fell asleep.
Rachel smiled, then left the cabin to tend to where livestock they had.
Angie paced the search headquarters, it had been six days since she heard from Rollie, and she has barely slept in five of those six days and she hasn't eaten enough to sustain herself.
Mira was worried about her, as was Francis, "Ange, why don't you, Mira, and I go get something to eat," Frank said to Angie.
Angie just looked at him, pale; hollow eyed, and shook her head, no.
Mira at this point jumped in, "Well, your not going to do Rollie any good if you make yourself sick, Angie. If you keep this up we'll have to force feed you," Mira stated firmly.
"Okay, we'll go eat then, but what about Rollie, has he eaten? I'll feel guilty if he hasn't and I have," Angie said to them.
Then Frank said angrily, "We'll all go eat and when they find Rollie and he hasn't eaten you can regurgitate all you've eaten to him, okay."
Angie and Mira looked at Frank and said, "gross."
As they left the search and rescue headquarters they told Brickman where they were going.
I'll let you know if anything changes," said Brickman.
When he woke up this time, he felt much better and stronger. He sat up and really looked around him and also noticed he was butt naked under the bearskin. He tried to move and cried out in pain as he had moved his injured leg.
Rachel heard him cry out and came to him. He looked at her for a moment then said shyly, "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Okay," she smiled and walked into the kitchen and came back with a bedpan. "I'll help you if you need it."
"Okay," he said a little embarrassed about needing help.
Then Michael came in and said, "mom, the search party is nearby."
"Okay, Michael go and tell them we have an injured man here with amnesia," said Rachel to her son.
Michael left to tell the search party that Rollie was with them.
"Did I do something that required a search party," he asked Rachel.
"Yes, you had some kind of accident, I believe," Rachel told him. "You need to eat, now. The search party will be here in about two hours."
"I'm definitely hungry and I'm going to need something to wear, unless you want to give up this bearskin," he said to Rachel with a relaxed smile on his face.
I'm sure I can find something for you to wear, now eat before your food gets cold," Rachel said to him.
By the time Michael returned with the search party, Rachel had Rollie fed, washed up, and somewhat dressed.
At that point the search party took over his care. We've been looking all over for you, Mr. Tyler." Said one of the medics in the group.
He looked at the medic, with a confused look on his face, "Mr. Tyler?" He asked.
"Yes," the medic said, "that's your name, Roland Tyler."
Just call me Rollie, will you?" Rollie said to the medic, "Roland sounds to stuffy to me."
"You bet, Rollie, we'll do that." The medic told him. " Theirs a copper on its way to take you to Cadyville, your friends are they're waiting for you." "Angie, I was supposed to be home five days ago, she'll kill me for worrying her like this." Rollie stated to no one in particular.
Michael came into the cabin and said, "the choppers here," then he turned to Rollie and said, "I'll miss you, Rollie, I hope we can meet again under better conditions and I promise, no bear traps."
"You and your mom are invited to visit anytime in New York," Rollie told the boy, "I will miss you as well, and thank you for all you've done."
"Well, we have to get going, Rollie, your friends are waiting," the medic said to him.
"G'bye, Rachel, thank you for your help. G'bye, Michael, take care of your mom for me, okay?" Rollie said to the two of them.
Then the search party placed Rollie on a stretcher and carried him out the door. The boy was so taken by Rollie ran out after them and gave Rollie a hug then watched him go.
When Angie, Frank, and Mira returned to the search and rescue headquarters Officer Brickman greeted them, with a big smile on his face.
"What happened, did they find Rollie?" Asked Angie.
"Yes, they found him and he should be here in about twenty minutes, now they said he has a head injury and a broken leg but beyond that he seems okay." Officer Brickman told the small group of friends.
"Oh, thank god, and thank you for all your hard work," Angie said to Brickman, then hugged him.
Rollie was flown to Plattsburgh medical center to have his injuries taken care of, and stay for a couple of days to be on the safe side.
When Angie, Frank, and Mira arrived an hour later he was asleep.
Angie went into the room, "Rollie, you scared me again, I wish you'd stop doing that," she said quietly, not wanting to wake him. "Please, don't do this again."
"I won't sweetie, I'm not even clear on what happened," Rollie told her, " and the most frightening thing was I couldn't remember what happened or who I was."
"Rollie, I didn't mean to wake you, I just love you so much and you're my best friend a girl could have." Angie told him, with tears in her eyes, "I thought I lost you for sure this time and that scared me."
"As I said before, I'll be here to torment you for along time," Rollie said sleepily.
"I know, Rol, now why don't you get some sleep, okay," Angie said quietly and bent over and kissed him on the forehead.
When she straightened up to look at him, he was sound to sleep apparently exhausted. She smiled and said softly, "good night, Rollie." Then she turned and left.
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