Forget-me-not

Dev glanced at his watch and sighed. It was 4pm and he should have been back at his lab, giving final touches to his paper on LIPS - Lifestyle Induced Paralysis Syndrome. Instead, here he was, in this white little antiseptic room, with nothing on but a green robe.

The door opened, and a doctor who looked like a wrestling champion walked in, accompanied by a brisk nurse.

“Ah! Dr. Dev Kumar! How are we doing today? I’m Dr. Michael Fowler.”

Dev grunted in reply, but the doctor was already busy, looking through his chart.

“I see you’re all fit and fine. So, you ready to take the plunge?”

An unhappy nod was all Dev could muster. After all, this was not his idea.

He had come home a week ago, still ruminating over the conclusions of his experiments, when he noticed the dimmed lights, the soft music, and the candles that glowed over a table set for two, complete with champagne. He stopped in his tracks, a bit alarmed.

“Darling!” Was that his wife Shireen, clad in an unbelievably sexy negligee?

He was now sure that he’d forgotten something. Darn! Was it their anniversary or her birthday? Still, she seemed in a good mood, and he went along with her.

“You still haven’t wished me,” she pouted, as she removed his shirt.

“Er…” Dev’s hesitation snapped the fragile moment.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” she accused him. “You forgot that it was our anniversary. You always do that to me - every single year! You’re unbelievable!”

“Sorry, dear…I’m so sorry!” he apologised, in a weak attempt to mollify her.

“Well, I didn’t forget, and I’ve got the perfect gift for you!” Shireen presented him with an envelope, smiling wickedly as he opened it. A visiting card dropped out.

“MindEye Inc.” it said. “Memory Improvement just a call away!”

“I’ve taken an appointment next week, for you,” Shireen informed him, as she changed into jeans and a T-shirt. “Your dinner’s in the oven - I’m going to Brenda’s.” Dev watched helplessly as she zoomed off to dine with her best friend.

So here he was, with Dr. Mike, who was doing the mandatory pre-op briefing drone, pointing to a large coloured chart of the brain, with multiple arrows pointing in different directions.

“As you might be aware, memory involves encoding, storage, and retrieval. The hippocampus is the main conduit for moving information from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. Remembering new facts involves passing them through the hippocampus repeatedly, through Papez’s circuit. You with me so far?”

Dev nodded.

“Good. In your case, Dev, we will make minor modifications to this path, so that a minimum number of passes is guaranteed. We’ve done this procedure several times before, and we’ve had a 90% success rate. So, there’s absolutely no reason to worry. Feeling comfortable?”

Dev quelled a feeling of uneasiness.

“OK. You do know you will be unconscious for the rest of the day, so I hope you’ve taken the day off!” The doctor’s hearty laugh made Dev scowl in annoyance.

“Tomorrow, if you feel any pain or discomfort, give us a call right away. And you’ll need to come back next week for a follow-up. All right, any questions now?”

Dev shook his head, glum. He winced as the jab of an injection pricked him. His eyes began to feel heavy, and he was barely aware of the nurse helping him walk to the adjoining room for the procedure.

*****

“Now, where the hell are my damn car keys?” Shireen was hopping mad.

“It’s where you left them, dear, on top of the fridge. You’ve also forgotten to cover the left-overs, and throw out the old milk carton.”

Shireen glared at Dev, who was reading the newspaper over his coffee.

“All right, Mr. Know-it-all! What else have I forgotten today?”

“Hmmm…let me see – you forgot to cancel our dinner invitation to the Roys for today, which means you need to run out and buy some fresh fish. You’ve also forgotten to stock up on eggs for your charity bake-a-cake this afternoon. And you’ve forgotten that your credit card bill was due yesterday.”

Shireen gave him a look that would have skewered the insides of lesser men, and stormed out of the house.

“And darling, don’t forget to pick up my clothes from the cleaners!” Dev called after her, an impish grin on his face.