Chapter 87: DIANE’S AMNESIA

Diane’s P. O. V.

“Opo. B-Best friends ko po sila… sina Karen at Lorenz?” I told the doctor as I dismissed the mentioned guy from my memory.

Patanong ang pagbigkas ko sa mga pangalan nila dahil hindi rin ako sigurado kung tama ba ‘yong alaalang nakita ko. Nakangiting tumango naman si Mama habang magkasalikop ang mga palad nito na waring nagdarasal upang maalala ko ang lahat ng mga tinatanong sa akin ng doktor.

“Okay. So, maaari ko bang malaman kung ano ang huli mong natatandaan, Diane?” tanong ni Dr. Salvatore na siya namang unti-unting nakapagpaluha sa mga mata ko at nakapagpanginig sa buong katawan ko. Sunod-sunod din ang ginawa kong paglunok.

Bakit kailangan niya pang tanungin ang bagay na ‘yon?

“Anak, okay ka lang ba?” tanong ni Mama na agad na hinawakan ang kaliwa kong kamay. “David, Denise, lumabas muna kayo. Ito, bumili muna kayo ng pagkain sa labas…” sabi niya at saka niya inabutan ng tig-isang daan ang mga kapatid ko na sumunod lang naman sa utos niya.

David was even glancing at me habang hawak nito sa magkabilang balikat si Denise. Hinintay ko muna silang dalawang makalabas ng kuwarto, bago ako tuluyang umiyak sa harap ni Mama, ng nurse at ng doktor. Suminghot-singhot pa ako bago ako sumagot.

“D-Dinukot po ako—” I shrugged my shoulders.

“A-Anak? N-Naaalala mo na iyon?” naiiyak na ring tanong ni Mama na lalong lumapit sa akin.

Tumango lang ako habang walang tigil sa pagpatak ang mga luha ko, hanggang sa tuluyan na akong napahagulgol. Ilang saglit pa ay hilam na sa luha ang mukha ko na pinupunasan na lang ng babaeng nurse habang hinihimas nito pataas-baba ang likuran ko.

“Teka, Mrs. Rivera… maaari ko bang malaman kung kailan ho ba itong sinasabi niyang dinukot daw siya?” baling ng doktor kay Mama.

“M-Matagal na ho iyon, Doc. Four years ago na po nang may dumukot kay Diane. Sa kabutihang-palad po ay nakauwi naman siya agad sa bahay kinabukasan, pero nakalimutan na po niya iyon eh. Ngayon lang niya ulit naalala kaya nagulat ako,” paliwanag ni Mama.

Ibig sabihin, apat na taon na ang dumaan simula nang mangyari iyon?

Tumango-tango lang naman ‘yong doktor na tila sigurado na siya sa kalagayan ko. “Well, while we are still waiting for her additional lab results, I think…” he paused for a while before he confirmed my condition, “Diane is suffering from retrograde amnesia¹.”

Amnesia? I frowned.

Saka nagpatuloy si Dr. Salvatore sa pagpapaliwanag, “Hindi na ho ako magtataka kasi may history na rin pala siya nito noon. But this time, this was triggered by her traumatic brain injury² o fracture sa kanyang bungo. It was caused by the car accident two weeks ago, where she also suffered hemorrhage and contusion. Ang contusion po ay pamamaga at ang hemorrhage naman po ay pagdurugo.”

Kahit na ipinaliliwanag naman ng doktor ang iba’t ibang medical terms na sinasabi niya ay hindi ko pa rin ‘yon lubusang maunawaan.

“Her first retrograde amnesia might be caused by her traumatic experience four years ago. Ang retrograde amnesia ho ay isang uri ng amnesia kung saan nakalimutan ng tao ang mga saglit, pero ang iba ay matagal, na pangyayari sa buhay niya bago maganap ang isang trahedya o aksidente. With Diane’s case now, unfortunately, she had lost the last four years of her memory… starting from the time she was abducted.”

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¹Amnesia (from Greek ἀμνησία from ἀ- meaning “without” and μνήμη “memory”), also known asamnesic syndrome, is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma.

Amnesia can also be caused temporarily by the use of various sedatives and hypnotic drugs. Essentially, amnesia is loss of memory. The memory can be either wholly or partially lost due to the extent of damage that was caused. There are two main types of amnesia: retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia.

Retrograde Amnesia is the inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an accident or operation. In some cases the memory loss can extend back decades, while in others the person may lose only a few months of memory.

Anterograde Amnesia is the inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store. People with this type of amnesia cannot remember things for long periods of time.

²Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) occurs as a result of any force that penetrates or fractures the skull areas which are susceptible during an automobile accident.

Trauma to the brain can occur during an automobile accident when the skull strikes, for example, an object like a steering wheel or windshield. There may or may not be an open wound to the skull due to the accident, however in automobile accidents, the skull may not necessarily need to have been penetrated or fractured for a traumatic brain injury to occur.

In the case of an automobile accident the sheer force of the accident can cause the brain to collide against the internal hard bone of the skull. The reason why this can occur is that when a moving head comes to a quick stop, the brain continues in its movement, striking the interior of the skull. This can cause bruising of the brain (referred to as a contusion) and bleeding (brain hemorrhage) which may not be visible at the time of injury.