Blanca Like Snow

Chapter 5 - Nameless

Chapter's Glossary
(in order of appearance. Don't mind if when reading you don't understand. Bear in mind the spoilers)

In Spanish: where... who... it hurts.
In Spanish: What happened? Where am I?
In Spanish: Yes. Everything hurts, even breathing.
In Spanish: You don't understand me?
In Spanish: the what?
In Spanish: I can't remember... I try but I can't
In Spanish: why can't I speak in English?
In Spanish: My name... I can't remember... why can't I remember?!

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          Light doesn't come soon enough, and at first it escapes me. I can hear, I can feel again, but I can't see a thing. There's a constant beep echoing around me and the smell of cleaning products, a sterilised room. Soon, more sound comes to me, a cacophony that makes my head pound. People talking, machines buzzing, footsteps, wheels scratching the floor.

I try to block all the sound and focus on my body that doesn't feel like my own. I try moving it, opening my eyes at the very least, but nothing responds like it should, so I start struggling, attempting to getting out of this stupor, yet the harder I try, the more desperate I grow. My throat is dry and my tongue weighs too much, I can't even lift it to touch the hard palate. I try moving my fingers but it feels like they have gone numb, so I try calling for help, but it doesn't work.

What's going on? I ask myself, wanting to cry because I feel trapped.

If you face the end of the road, close your eyes, take a deep breath and look again. Find another way to keep going or just turn back. It's never really the end, I can hear in my head, a memory perhaps, but I can't place it. I don't know who said it, or when it happened, I don't even know it's just my conscience trying to keep me from freaking out.

Regardless, I do take a deep breath, and then another and try again. My fingers clumsily respond, and as they do, pain comes like millions of needles through my flesh. I groan in agony, although the sound I make echoes worse than it should, yet it alerts people.

"Oh dear, you're awake!" someone says, a feminine voice. "Love, can you hear me?"

I only mumble, my throat is still too dry. I try opening my eyes next and the lids lift, but it's too bright and the lights hurts me, so I close them again, hissing as more pain attacks me. I take another breath but even that hurts. It's as if I've been run over or something.

I open my eyes again, slowly and carefully, letting the light coming in and I can finally see the person leaning forward, almost hovering over me. She's an old woman, her hair white and short, her skin with many wrinkles, her eyelids seem too heavy, trying to hide her green eyes that still look at me with kindness and worry, also happiness.

"A nurse is coming, I'm sure you must feel uncomfortable and in pain. Don't worry, love."

"Donde... quién... me duele..." I mumble, not making any sense, that is clear by the way the lady looks at me with a confused expression.

"You don't speak English? Can you understand me?" I barely nod my head, I do understand her, but it seems she doesn't understand me.

"¿Qué pasó? ¿Dónde estoy?" I ask next, with a lot of difficulty, my throat hurts and my tongue is clumsy., but my sentences are complete and coherent.

"What?" She still doesn't understand what I'm saying, she looks even more confused.

Before I can ask her again to tell me what happened and where I am, someone joins her, a nurse, so that answers my second question: I'm in a hospital. How and when did I end up here? I try to look back, but there's nothing.