Amnesia

Chapter one

"It's too late", "How much time do we have left", and "What's going to happen" were all I heard as I woke up in a room I've never yet seen before. As I try not to move, I look around at what I could see, hoping I'd recognize where I am. I didn't. All I saw were faces. Faces of people who looked terrified, faces of those who were constantly running back and forth, sweating, trying to do so many things all at once. As time passed, they realized I was conscious and began asking me questions. "Do you know your name?" "Do you know these two people?" "Do you know how old you are?" and others I couldn't answer. Not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't. "My name?" I mumbled. "Yes, yes! Your name! Age? These two people right here?" I heard a voice say. I assumed she was some kind of medic. In front of me were two people who both looked worried sick. Maybe married? Maybe siblings? I didn't know. "I, um, I" I stuttered, half conscious, half drifting away into sleep. "It's okay, take as much time as you need." The medic told me. She had a soothing voice. Made me almost forget about the pain I was in. "I don't think I know them." I said, trying as hard as could to remember. Are they my siblings? My parents? A thousand questions roamed freely in my mind and I felt myself drifting away. I was falling asleep. "Stay with us Kate, stay with us." A voice said. "Kate." was the last thing I said before I fell asleep.

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I woke up later to the sound of people talking in the room next to me. I was in a different room, a bedroom, possibly my bedroom. There were paintings and lights and stuffed animals in every corner. I was on a bed. Everything felt amazing until I realized I was hooked up to many tubes. One for my nutrition, providing fluids, providing medication, and some more I didn't know the use of. No one was in the room except for me, but it felt as if the whole world were watching, staring, and judging me. Soon after, the lady from the hospital room came in. "You're awake." She whispered. "Where am I?" I asked, my heart racing. Why couldn't I remember? "In your bedroom." Her voice calmed me. I knew I wasn't in any danger, yet I was still anxious. "How did I get here? Why can't I remember anything?" I choked up on those last words, holding in tears. She explained to me that she was my mother and that my name is Kate. I'm seventeen years old and I was in the passenger seat on my way home from a concert I went to with friends when a truck hit the driver's side of our vehicle. Everyone lived, with major injuries, but the driver, who happened to be my best friend. "How many people were in the car?" I asked, giving her my full attention. "The driver, Cathryn, you, and two others in the back. Cathryn's boyfriend, Justin, and his friend." "Are they okay? The two others in the back I mean." I asked. "Justin survived with broken ribs, fractured skull, and a broken arm. The other, just like you, is unaware of everything that's happened." She explained to me. I was in shock. There was a bit of silence in the room when mother said she was headed off to bed. "You should get some rest too." She told me. I fell asleep as soon as she finished her sentence.

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The next morning approached, I woke up feeling energized. I yearned to get out of bed and move, walk around. I couldn't though. I was weak everywhere I turned. Mother walked in on me struggling to get out of bed, but told me it's too soon to be up and moving around. Father came in to help me onto the wheel chair because I had yet another appointment at the doctor's office.

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We drove around for what felt like an eternity but eventually arrived at our destination. Mother wheeled me into the building and took me to room W15. A doctor was already in there. "Hi there, you must be Kate." She said with a welcoming smile. "I'm Dr. Johnson." She had curly blonde hair, hazel eyes, and perfectly straight teeth, a smile anyone would die for. "I'm Kate." I said, not remembering if she asked my name. I sat there for a bit listening in on conversations she had with mother and father. "She should be okay to get up and move around in about a week or so. Just try to give her muscles time to adjust and strengthen, but looking at her cat scan, who knows if she'll gain her memory back." I was startled. Sure there was a way I could remember my past. There had to be. I interrupted them by saying, "What if there was a therapy class, or I could just wait over time?" They all looked confused. "For my memory." I added. "I don't think that's how it works, Kate. Sure sometimes that does, but it's very rare. You hit your head pretty hard in that accident, and amnesia can't just be cured overnight." Dr. Johnson said. I was silent. I didn't know what to say, if anything I said would make a difference, or what to do at that very moment.

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A couple doctors did tests on me and we left shortly after. The car ride home was silent, with mother looking back every now and then to check on me. We got home around lunch time I assumed because mother was fixing up a mean but it was too early for dinner. I sat in the living room, right across the kitchen watching mother. How could I have forgotten my own parents? Mother could tell I had questions galore but asked me a couple more. "Surely you remember Dylan?" "Should I?" The name doesn't ring a bell. Mother hung her head low like she does when she's upset. "What about Caleb and Courtney?" she hoped dearly I would remember them. I didn't say anything, giving her a sign I didn't know. "Dylan's your childhood best friend and Caleb and Courtney are twins." With tears in her eyes she asked, "Are you sure you don't remember Caleb?" I shook my head no for the thousandth time. "He's your boyfriend. Ya'll have been dating since the day you turned 16." I felt terrible for not remembering him, but it didn't surprise me. "Both of their families are coming over for dinner tonight. Thought I'd let you know." Mother said. "Thank you." I added after her.

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It was around five o' clock that the first guests arrived. Dylan's family. "Hi, come on in, Kate's on the couch." I heard mother say from a distance. A guy's voice, maybe Dylan's, said, "Is she okay?" "She's fine, just be gentle around her." As soon as Caleb's family arrived, everyone gathered in the living room. For a minute I thought I recognized Caleb. But then I didn't. "Hey." He said, walking towards me. I just gave him a little smile. As crazy as this is for me to think, I don't know why I chose Caleb to be my boyfriend. Sure, I just met him, Sort of, but I just don't have that boyfriend/girlfriend, I love you, mood around him. Something about Dylan seemed more right. More relaxing and less stressful. Caleb and I talked for a bit. Mainly about my accident. I tried changing the subject but he kept going back too it, as if I were some sort of project he's studying and can't pull away from. Dylan walked up to Caleb, whispered something to him, and Caleb got up, Dylan replacing his seat. "Kate?" He said, not looking up at me. "Yes?" "Do you honestly not remember a thing before, you know." I heard his voice as he said that. The sound someone makes when they're on the verge of tears but holds it in with every fighting muscle they can to not let it show. "I wish I could." Was all I said. Dylan, unlike Caleb, started talking about the good times we had, keeping my mind off the accident. Dates we went on as friends, times we hung out as kids, and more. Hearing his voice was something I didn't want to let go of. Caleb was super sweet and all but there's something different about Dylan that just turns me on, that I seem to like more.

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Dinner was ready around six-thirty and we all just ate in the living room because it was too much trouble to move me. Mother was expressing her gratitude towards my survival in the accident, father was talking to Caleb's dad, Mr. Quinn, Dylan next to me, comforting me, and Caleb talking to Courtney about game he's attending this weekend. As soon as everyone finished eating, and everyone left, mother sat down beside me. "How long have I been with Caleb again?" I asked hesitantly. "A little over a year." To be honest, I didn't really have feelings for Caleb. It's like they all went to Dylan. I didn't tell mother that though, she's already had enough enough on her mind for one day. I was exhausted and needed some rest and mother could tell so she got up, kissed me goodnight, turned off the lights, and as I lay there on the couch falling asleep, I thought about how I would start my new life. Who would be in it, and what I would do.

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