CHAPTER 028

CHAPTER 028
KEISHA’S POV

Beep! Beep!

Something chimed so loud my ears rang. I groaned, trying to move but it felt heavy like an unseen force was pressing me back into the ground. My eyelids twitched, refusing to open. Then, a groan slipped from my throat—painful and sore before my eyes peeled open.

A sharp beam of light stung my eyes, instantly sending it back shut. I slightly moved my arm when a sharp pain struck the back of my neck to my head causing me to whimper in pain.

“Doctor! She’s awake!” a feminine voice jolted my heart rate with a sense of urgency. I heard footsteps fading away and the creaking of the door. 

Slowly this time, I winced, gradually opening my eyes. It was crystal white all around me though blurry until objects around began to take shape and come into clear focus. I heard the door open again, this time it was more than a footstep.

I shifted my focus towards the door as my finger brushed against something soft. A bed! My mind fixed the puzzle. My brows knitted together. When I tried to get up, my arm buckled due to exhaustion, sending me back into bed. My chest heaved harder, quickening the beep I had heard earlier.

“Where…Who…” I tried to speak but each syllable came out sore, scraping my throat like sandpaper.

“Shh…It’s alright. You are okay now!” a female voice cushioned me, pressing me softly back to bed.

People wearing blue attires surrounded me. Some, adjusting the line on my hand while the other adjusted the peeping machine beside me. The lady in white leaned forward, clicking a tiny touch light in her hand.

She reached for my eyelid in a bid to lift it but I resisted, turning my neck to the left. 

“It's okay, sweetheart. You are in safe hands. This is a hospital,” she explained. 

Hospital? What happened? I had no memory of how I got here. My brows knitted in confusion but there was nothing I could do. I could barely move my jelly muscles. So I gave in. 

She flickered the tiny light in my eyes a couple of times before announcing. “She's responding!” She exclaimed. 

I just stared as they hovered around me in urgency, scribbling down notes on a paper.

“Wh…Where is this place?” I finally managed to ask.

The lady in white began to explain. “My name is Doctor Chelsea Cross and you are in the Portland central hospital,” she gave me a comforting smile.

“Hospital?” I retorted. “What happened to me? Why was I brought here?” I queried in a raspy tone, struggling to pull out a memory from my mind but it was all blank. “I can't remember being brought here.”

“It's fine sweetheart. You don't have to force yourself to remember,” Dr. Chelsea pleaded.

Her comforting words didn't settle well with me. Why couldn't I remember a thing about being brought here. A thin line formed across my face as my brows furrowed.

“ How long have I been here?” I asked.

I caught her jaw twitch at my question. She lingered as though trying to find the right words to deliver her response. I kept my hazy eyes on her, anticipating a response. The moment she realized I wasn't giving up on my stare, she decided to speak.

“Uhmm… sweetheart, You've been resting for quite a while,” she stuttered, pausing for a while. “I…uhmm, I don't need you to worry about anything. At least not for now until you are strong enough to have a chat with me. What you need right now is rest,” she advised me with a smile on her face.

“No! I responded. Her words didn't sit well with me. I might be broken physically but my will wasn't. “Doctor, I understand your concerns…,” I paused, dragging a sharp breath into my lungs. 

Each word I managed to speak was labored, squeezing a lot of air out of my lungs thereby constricting my chest. I continued the moment I caught my breath.

“How long have I been resting?” I rasped.

It was at this moment Doctor Chelsea realized I wasn't going to stop asking. She gave in to my demand.

“Okay,” she began. “You have been here for over a month now. You lost total consciousness, after getting involved in a terrible accident. And, you were brought in by the same man that hit you,” she explained.

Accident? My eyes widened in surprise. A man? My eyeballs flicked repeatedly to the left and right in a bid to remember the incident but nothing registered in my mind. At that moment I became frantic.

“Why can't I seem to remember any of these, doctor?” I queried.

She took a file I assumed was my medical report from the nurse standing beside my bed, flipping it open.

“Well, let me start by asking you a few questions if that's okay by you.”

I nodded.

“For the fact you were unconscious for a long period of time, Ma'am, we couldn't figure out what your name was because you didn't have a means of identification on you,” she paused, sitting beside on the bed. “Do you remember your name?” She whispered the question in a low tone.

My name? Is she being serious? Why would I not know my name? Those were the first thoughts that hit my mind. But when I dug into my memory, my confidence crumbled. There was nothing in my head. I couldn't remember. 

“I…uhmm. My name is…?” I raked through my mind, searching the deepest part for a clue but found none. My chest began to heave in panic. 

The heart monitor beside me began to beep faster. 

“Ma'am, please take a deep breath. You don't need to panic. Look, your pulse rate is increasing. Please calm down! Allow me to do the talking,” Doctor Chelsea, pleaded with me.

I redressed into the bed, still trying to figure out what exactly was going on. 

“Well, Ma'am. Like I said initially, you were involved in an accident about a month ago and you were rushed in by a young man who admitted he suddenly ran into you. After the test was carried out, we found out your frontal lobe was affected resulting in a retrograde amnesia as a result of the trauma.”

“Please hold on,” I interrupted, holding my hand over my forehead. “I am a bit confused. Could you please explain all of these in a more simple term?” 

Dr. Chelsea exhaled heavily before speaking. “Well, in simple terms, Ma'am, your memory was affected and I'm afraid you might have difficulties recalling anything from before your accident.

My eyes widened. The weight of her words pressed me down. The walls suddenly felt like they were enclosing me. The bitter taste of bile bubbled in my throat as tears rushed into my eyes. 

The thought of not knowing what I can't remember was more painful than the news. What if I had the best memories I never wished to forget? My family? A job perhaps. I couldn't even remember my name. My heart shattered into a million shreds with tears rolling down to my ears. 

“Okay,” I sniffled. “Are there chances I could recover from this?” I asked.

Her hesitation was all the answer I needed to know I was doomed.

“Well, with therapy there could be improvement but it might be slow,” her brows collapsed as she looked at me in a sympathetic stare. 

Tears skidded down but I chose to remain composed. “Who is this guy, doctor?” I queried with a stiff look on my face. One would think I could stab him at first sight. Maybe, I could, for being the reason for my misfortune. Rage boiled in my heart.

“I think it's better if you meet him in person. He always comes to check up on you, sending you flowers and the rest.  

I gaze shifted to the bouquet of flowers I noticed earlier on the cabinet beside my bed. “Was that from him?” I pointed to it.

“Yes!” She nodded with a soft smile.

My jaw twitched. “I need it out of this room,” I demanded.

“But Ma'am, I mean…they are lovely. It could…

“I said, I need them out, now!” I growled like a cub. My head ached from the minor impact.

“It's okay… it's okay. We'd get them out. Nurse Lily, please could you get them out please?” She instructed.

“Yes ma'am,” Lily responded. Quickly picking them off the cabinets. 

On her way to the door, the knob twisted and someone walked in. My anger dissipated immediately at the sight of him. He was tall and broad shouldered—fair, with perfectly styled hair and tiny curls falling over his face. 

His perfume already swept through the room before he made it half way. My gaze fell on doctor Chelsea who suddenly had a smile on her face at the sight of him. Could it be her husband or a fellow doctor?

I scrapped that thought I had in mind the moment he swung his arm to the front, revealing another bouquet just like the ones I had just ordered out of my room. 

A scowl instantly formed across my face. Could it be him? I turned to the doctor. 

“Who is that?” I asked.

“The gentleman I spoke to you about,” she announced with a soft smile. “He is here again to check up on you.”

I was caught up in mixed feelings. Should I be mad or not? I struggled. 

“Hello Miss. I'm glad you're finally awake. I  wouldn't have forgiven myself if I had never gotten the chance to get to see those beautiful eyes for the first time,” His deep voice sent chills down my spine.