Mind's Eye Unveiled.

Dr. Elias Kern, a neurologist specializing in memory disorders, develops a groundbreaking treatment for Alzheimer's disease. His nano-drug, "Mnemosyne," can restore lost memories with pinpoint accuracy. But when patients start experiencing memories that aren't their ownsome pleasant, others terrifyingKern realizes his creation has unintended consequences.

The patient was Mrs. Loretta Thompson, a seventy-three-year-old widow who had outlived her husband and all five of her children. She'd forgotten them all and cried every day over the loss until she couldn't cry anymore.

She certainly didn't recognize the man sitting across from her now. Tall and broad-shouldered with thick dark hair starting to gray at the temples, he held a notepad open on his lap. The name Elias Kern was written at the top.

"I'm sorry," she said for what felt like the millionth time since he'd been treating her. "I don't know who you are."

"That's okay," Kern reassured her gently as always. "We'll get to know each other again."

He'd come to understand that it wasn't just names and faces she'd forgotten but everything connected to them: shared experiences, feelings, emotionsall wiped clean by Alzheimer's insidious advance.

But she remembered him at least for now as someone kind who listened to her ramblings without judgment or condescension so he made progress with her where others hadn't.

"Did I tell you my babies all died?"

"You did," he said nodding sympathetically.

"What happened?" she asked even though he could see in her eyes that she didn't want to know the answer any more than he did telling it.

"They succumbed one by one to an inherited genetic disorder," he said gently quoting from his records of what she told him about them during each session although it was always hard not breaking down while reciting their tragic histories

"Oh no," she murmured her eyes welling up with tears. "Not my babies."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Thompson, I am so very sorry." He stood then and moved around the sofa to her side to hold her hand until the brief storm of emotions passed.

"How do you deal with it?" she asked him once she was composed again.

He'd been asked that question before although never by anyone who had more right than Loretta to know the answer. He tried not to avoid answering directly but he found himself doing just that again when he said, "By focusing on happy memories instead of sad ones."

"But I don't have any happy memories left," she whispered fearfully.

"Yes, you do," he told her firmly even though he wasn't sure it was true but he had an idea for something new to try to help her feel better if only for a little while.

"Tell me about them remember them as best you can and I'll write them down so we can read them together the next time I visit okay?"

She nodded then and closed her eyes at his request but when she opened them a moment later he could see from their vacant expression that she'd drifted off into slumber which wasn't surprising given how easily Alzheimer's patients slipped between wakefulness and sleepiness

But after a few minutes, her lips began moving silently. At first, Kern thought it was just some random twitch or spasm but it kept happening as did intermittent smiles along with the motionless ones she made at other times during their sessions together

So he took out his cell phone and started recording video of what was happening while trying not to let any excitement about discovering something new in Alzheimer's behavior show on his face in case this too turned out to be just another false lead toward a cure

He didn't want Loretta and the others like her getting their hopes up nor did he want his scientific colleagues or the pharmaceutical companies who provided his research funding to think he was exploiting their suffering for personal gain

So after a few minutes, he tucked his phone away and sat back in the chair trying not to feel too disappointed that she'd stopped moving her lips because it meant he could go on with their session without further distractionsIt's okay. Take your time. Tell me about one of your happy memories."

She opened her eyes then and looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite read but then she said something she'd never said before:

"You can be in one of them if you want."

If you're going to record something like this, I need to know what day it is Mrs. Thompson.

"Of course," she said with a little nod of her head although her eyes didn't track his movement as they should nor did they focus on him when he held out his hand so maybe you were just talking in your sleep.

He waited then but didn't hear any more words from her so he got up and went into the kitchen where a wall-mounted calendar showed that today was September 6th which surprised him because when he left his apartment earlier that morning it had been August 11th again according to the calendar there with no signs anywhere else that time had suddenly run backward by three weeks

But before he could dwell on this new anomaly, a loud crash came from Loretta's bedroom followed by a soft moan of pain.

Dr. Elias Kern sprinted down the hallway and burst into the darkened room where shards of broken glass covered the floor around an overturned end table littered with pill bottles some empty others spilled open

Loretta lay motionless in her bed draped across its foot a gash on her forehead oozing blood onto her pillow where she'd scrawled in red liquid letters "Help me" along with another word above "Sorry" which told Elias all he needed to know about what was happening

The Mnemosyne nanobots had somehow granted Loretta access to someone else's memories probably his and it was overwhelming her driving her into a panic until she finally just gave up trying to sort them all out and downed enough sleeping pills to knock out a horse

He called 911 then and stayed with her until the paramedics arrived to take over at which point he stepped away from the chaos outside her front door onto the patio to catch his breath which was still coming in ragged gasps as he fumbled in his pocket for a cigarette

But when he brought it up to his mouth, something made him pause just before lighting it up.

A memory that had nothing to do with him. A man standing on this very same patio staring out at the ocean beyond looking lost and alone.

"Help me," said Elias Kern softly then without even realizing that's what he was saying