Chapter 60 Memory loss

Chapter 60 Memory loss
Daphne

I wake up in a strange room, disoriented. I can’t even remember my own name. I am confined to a bed. My eyes blink rapidly, trying to adjust to the room.

I try to open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. Where am I? Who am I?

My head hurts. Everything hurts. The lights overhead are too bright. Nothing’s coming back to me. Not a clue about how I ended up here.

The door opens. A white-haired, kind, smiling doctor enters. He examines me cautiously. He’s speaking, his lips are moving but I can’t hear a word he’s saying. Everything’s fuzzy. I drift in and out of consciousness.

The doctor leaves before I could ask him several questions. I shut my eyes and go to sleep. My dreams are terrible. A winged bird-woman haunts my dream, fighting me in a bathroom. I wake out of it. That creature is so terrifying, I can’t even go back to sleep because I am afraid of running into it again.

A few minutes pass while I’m lying still, unable to move. Throughout the day, people come in out. Nurses, doctors, janitors cleaning up the room and some lunches for me that I can’t touch.

I fall in and out of sleep. I can’t keep track of time. Everything’s too hazy. When I finally sleep again, a gorgeous man appears in my dream. He is familiar. Handsome, tattooed, stunning. I see myself in his eyes. His sad eyes. He is apologizing to me for leaving. I can’t make sense of a word he says. He disappears before I can ask him another question.

It’s like I’m stuck in a fantasy world. None of it feels real yet it is real enough that I feel like I’m drowning. When I wake up again, the sun is rising. I can tell by the shadow rays on the walls. This time, my body is feeling a little healed. I can hear clearly. I can move my fingers.

I push the button near my bed. Doctors come running in.

“Ah, look what we have here. You are improving this morning. You are one lucky woman,” the doctor says as he examines.

“Our Jane Doe is awake!” I hear someone else say. Jane Doe?

“Can you tell me your name?” the doctor asks.

“I…don’t know.”

Hearing my own voice say those words terrifies me because I don’t recognize myself. I don’t know how I ended up here.

“Uh, retrograde amnesia,” the doctor whispers to the nurse.

Amnesia? How’d that happen?

“You were in an accident. You were found on the side of a road. You are in LA. There was no wallet to identify you so we are not really sure who you are. I’ve alerted the police. Maybe, somebody somewhere’s missing you. If you are in the police database, I’m sure we can figure out a way to identify you. In the meantime, why don’t you just focus on healing.”

In a way, what he said made sense. I must have hit my head and lost my memories somehow cause I can’t even remember a thing about myself let alone how I ended up here.

I close my eyes when they are gone and try to focus on recalling even the smallest detail about myself. Nothing.

The next day, I am strong enough to walk around the hospital. I head into the cafeteria to get some coffee. There, I run into a tall, model-looking man with white eyebrows and hair. He looks otherworldly, and slightly familiar.

We almost bump into each other. “Hey, you are awake. You are the Jane Doe. You are pretty popular here!” he says.

He is dressed in a hospital gown with some IV stuck in his arm. He extends his free hand toward me. “Hi, I’m Michael. We were brought in around the same time so I guess in a way I’ve been keeping an eye on you. I consider us to be patient-buddies,” Michael says.

I peer at him closely. “I swear you look familiar.”

“Maybe we’ve met in another life. You know, I’m a big believer in the universe working extra hard to put us exactly where we need to be when we need it. So, who knows? It was fate for us to end up in the same hospital right now,” he says.

His voice, his charisma, his body carriage, everything about him seems oddly familiar.

“I don’t know how I ended up here. Did you hear anything?” I ask him a little desperate.

He hesitates for a second, his eyebrows narrowing. “I heard you were in a big accident. I think you got kidnapped and was dumped out of the car. Hit your head and now, you can’t remember who you are.”

“I don’t remember any of that.”

Michael takes my hand suddenly. “Consider it a blessing. A mercy. Not all of us has a chance at a fresh life. This is your opportunity to go out there and rebuild yourself. Forget about your past, make something new of yourself. Live,” Micheal says. He sounds ominous.

“I’m sorry, do we know each other?” I ask him, confused. He has the tone of familiarity, as if he’s sending me a coded message I can’t decode.

“Not really. I just wish I would get the chance to forget who I am. To rebuild a new life somewhere else. I would utilize that opportunity.”

I snatch my hand away from him, annoyed. “Yeah, well, I am not you. I can’t just move on without knowing who I am.”

“You are going to regret it,” Micheal says.

“Well, it’s my right regardless. I don’t care if I regret it or not. I am going to find out who I am. I don’t care how long it takes,” I say, walking away from him. He has soured my mood, I didn’t even feel like getting coffee anymore.

I walk out of the cafeteria, still feeling his eyes on me. What a weird dude, I think to myself on my way out, but deep inside, I wonder if he’s right. what if I don’t like what I find out about myself?